We may observe how totally within a masculine prerogative lie the consummation, delay,
or even the value of a marriage. Values like "honour and utility" are not to be thought
of in relation to women's lives. Before questioning why Mary Shelley would adopt so
seemingly unfeminist a posture, we should recognize that this is exactly how Mary
Wollstonecraft saw the case: see, for instance, Vindication of the Rights of Woman
(12.25).