Safie=Mary Shelley

                   As I have mentioned, the novel Frankenstein incorporates aspects of Mary Shelley’s life. In class, we had discussed Mary Shelley’s connection to Margaret Saville since they “coincidentally” shared the same initials, M.S. However, I felt that Mary Shelley had a more deep connection to Safie, Felix’s new bride. Safie like Shelley had a profound connection with her independent mother who eventually died. Safie’s mother “instructed her daughter in the tenets of her religion, and taught her to aspire higher powers of intellect, and an independence of spirit, forbidden to the female followers of Mahomet” which resembles to Mary Wollenscraft’s pro-feminist views (110). Also, Safie’s decision to marry Felix despite her father’s opposition strongly resembles to Mary’s marriage to poet, Percy Shelley.  (Mary married Percy which resulted in an estrangement between Mary and her father.) Safie marries Felix for love but also because of “the prospect of marrying a Christian, and remaining in a country where women were allowed to take a rank in society” (110). She was simply intrigued by the rights she could obtain by moving into this country. In my opinion, Safie seems to desire independence more than her love for Felix because of her mother’s powerful guidance. However, she does indeed love Felix as well since she even defies her father to “arrive in safety at the cottage of her lover (113). It can be said that her dangerous journey to Germany symbolizes her first steps toward independence. Shelley’s marriage as well seems to signify her desire for independence. Shelley elopes with Percy at the age of 16 despite the fact that he is married and both parents strongly forbid their matrimony. It seems likely to me that Mary defied her family in order to discover her self-identity. Shelley disliked her stepmother, Mary Jane Clairmont, who objected to Mary’s education and was jealous of the relationship between Mary and her father. Therefore, Shelley was forced to remain at home under the watchful eyes of her step-mother. Mary, who greatly respected and loved her biological mother, recognized her duty to her mother which led her to make this drastic decision. (Her mother’s wish was for Mary to become an assertive woman which her father failed to fulfill.) Mary and Safie both chose to listen to the advice of their strong willed mothers presenting themselves as an opposite of passive women. The last similarity I noticed was that both women were strongly encouraged by their respective husbands. Felix symbolizes as a door of endless possibilities to Safie because he can offer her freedom she desperately wants. For instance, he encourages her freedom by helping her father escape prison so he can make her his bride. He even faces great dangers for Safie despite the devastating consequences he receives.  He further encourages Safie by persuading her to “learn their language” helping her to become an educated woman as well (105). Percy Shelley displays his great support by encouraging Mary to write the novel Frankenstein. Percy was well aware of Mary’s outstanding talent so he taught her that writing can be the means of expressing independence and creativity. Both Safie and Mary Shelley value feminism but the strong presence of men in their lives contributes to their self-discovery.