ABSTRACT. From its first publication, Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein has stirred discussions and controversies. The novel has been labelled as the first novel of several literary genres (such as science fiction or dystopia). Our argument is that Frankenstein is the first feminist dystopia, since it is influenced by feminist ideas, especially by Mary Wollstonecraft’s (Mary Shelley’s mother) and portrays a world that is a “bad place” for women. Could the exclusion of women from male narratives be read as a mere description of the society of that time or as a social commentary?

Keywords: feminist dystopia; Frankenstein; female body; women’s literature; early feminism