Emotional Construction and Otherness in Frankenstein: A Feminist Literary Critique

Abstract

This paper examines the emotional development of the Creature in Frankenstein through a feminist literary critical lens, arguing that his so-called monstrosity is not inherent but socially and ethically constructed. While the novel is frequently interpreted as a warning against scientific overreach, this study shifts the focus to the gendered dynamics underlying Victor Frankenstein’s act of creation and its consequences for emotional formation. By excluding the female body from reproduction and appropriating maternal functions through technological means, Victor enacts a form of patriarchal control that disrupts the conditions necessary for nurturing, attachment, and relational identity. The first part of the paper explores the Creature’s emotional awakening in the absence of maternal care. Unlike a human infant, he is deprived of nurturing relationships and thus lacks the emotional framework necessary for self-recognition and stability. His early experiences demonstrate that emotional capacities are not innate but developed through social interaction and care. The denial of maternal presence leads to a fragmented sense of self, positioning the Creature’s vulnerability as a product of structural neglect rather than natural deficiency. The second section analyzes the process of emotional othering, through which the Creature is systematically excluded from human society. Drawing on feminist theories of otherness, the paper argues that the Creature occupies a position analogous to marginalized subjects, whose identities are defined externally and denied legitimacy. His repeated rejection—based primarily on physical appearance—transforms his emotional landscape, turning empathy and longing into anger and despair. This shift underscores the role of social exclusion in producing violence, reframing the Creature’s actions as responses to denied recognition rather than expressions of inherent evil. The final section focuses on the Creature’s demand for a companion as an ethical claim to emotional recognition and relational existence. Victor’s refusal to fulfill this request, particularly his destruction of the female Creature, reflects deep-seated anxieties about female autonomy and reinforces patriarchal control over reproduction and relational structures. Through this analysis, the paper highlights the ethical failure at the heart of the novel: the refusal to acknowledge care, responsibility, and emotional subjectivity. Ultimately, this study argues that Frankenstein offers a powerful feminist critique of a society that denies emotional legitimacy to marginalized beings. The Creature’s tragedy reveals the consequences of a world that suppresses care and relationality, calling for an ethics grounded in empathy, recognition, and responsibility.