Dec 31, 2021
Frankenstein and Handmaids: objects in frames
‘Atwood’s two dedications, three epigraphs and the pseudo-factual historical notes act as a frame around an enclosed space, presenting Offred as an object.’ (x, script A)
Similarly, the framing nature of the epistolary letters in Frankenstein act as a frame around which to present the warnings for the future Mary Shelley incites with her science fiction themes.
The Romantic hero reflects this framework, with the centralising of the self over all else. The rest of the world acts as a frame around an idealised identity. In Handmaids, this is Offred trying desperately to remember her old world before Gilead, and in Frankenstein this is Victor’s rise from ambitious student to failure.