It might be said that the novel, as a form of creation, is a creature in itself. Discuss possible parallels between Mary Shelley and Victor Frankenstein. What commentary could Shelley be making about the nature of both creation in general and artistic creation in particular? What about the issue of gender in artistic creation?

Frankenstein was the result of a challenge put forth by Lord Byron during the summer of 1816, when a group of talented artists, including eighteen-year-old Mary Shelley and her lover, Percy Bysshe Shelley, spent a stormy afternoon at Byron's Villa Diodati.
If you think about the parallels between the creation of the novel and the creation of the "daemon" itself, you can draw some connections.
First, both Victor's concept of "a creature" and Mary Shelley's own concept of its creation stem from minds that share a natural curiosity of the origin of life. Victor wants to recreate life and give himself praise. Mary Shelley questioned whether it would be possible to give life to an inanimate body based on the belief systems that were set in place during her lifetime.
Second, the novel and its central theme of creating life is likely to stem from three social philosophies that were pretty big at the time: galvanism, spiritualism, and the possibility of resuscitation. These three concepts most certainly would have caused intrigue and anxiety in a society that was devoid of the modern medicine, knowledge of the spread of diseases, technology, and current conveniences that we possess today.
As such, Mary Shelley would have seen the creation of her novel no differently than her character saw the creation of his creature. The creations are products of their time. They are the result of an inner curiosity about nature, life, and the rules that govern us.
Victor Frankenstein's creativity comes out of a sickening ambition to play God. Mary Shelley's creativity comes out of an inner desire to understand life from another point of view. This is clearly reflected in the novel when we see how Victor does not fully comprehend the consequences of his actions: he acts out of pure, morbid curiosity. Yet, he still needs to atone for his extreme behavior.
As far as gender goes, Mary Shelley benefited from her mother being Mary Wollstonecraft. A writer and an incredibly wise philosopher, Wollstonecraft was also an advocate of woman's rights. Although she died shortly after Mary Shelley's birth, it is clear that the daughter benefited from her mother's influence. Mary Shelley's unique perspective was evoked when she was challenged to come up with "a story." Her story is not like any story every written before, or after. It is an icon that has lasted for centuries, even more significantly than any work of Lord Byron or Percy Bysshe Shelley himself.
Hence, it is likely that, aside from the conventions of the time when she was raised, Mary Shelley did not see herself any differently than any of her peers when it came to talent and creativity. Yes, she likely understood that women were still unequal in society, but she, of all women, would have known that such social rules can be disputed. Women who wanted to pursue and achieve had to work harder and fight more than men, but their talents spoke for themselves, thus engraving their names in history for good.
https://www.bl.uk/romantics-and-victorians/articles/the-science-of-life-and-death-in-mary-shelleys-frankenstein