Why the Women Die in Frankenstein

Why does every major female character in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein die, fade away, or get erased? In this video essay, we explore the hidden structural argument of Shelley's 1818 masterpiece: Victor Frankenstein's real transgression isn't simply "playing God" or harvesting life. It's harvesting life without a woman. From Victor's womb-like solitary workshop to the destruction of the female creature, we trace how the systematic removal of female agency drives the novel's core horror.

We read the text through three lenses:

Mythological: Victor as Prometheus, usurping the natural order. Psychological: a creature raised without maternal attachment, trapped in a warped Oedipal structure.

Historical: Regency Britain's coverture laws and the reduction of women to a single function.

CITATIONS: Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus (1818). Mellor, Anne K. Mary Shelley: Her Life, Her Fiction, Her Monsters. Punter, David. The Literature of Terror: A History of Gothic Fictions.