Mary Shelley

The Life and Literary Works of Mary Shelley
Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley (August 30th 1797- February 1st 1851) was born in London England and was an editor, dramatist, essayist, and novelist best known for her novel Frankenstein (1818). Her father, William Godwin, was a political philosopher, and her mother, Mary WallStonecraft, was a philosopher and feminist. Mary Shelley’s mother died when she was 11 days old due to complications from child birth. Although Mary received little formal education, her father tutored her on a wide range of subjects. Mary was also educated and influenced by many of the political and philosophical associates of her father (“Biography”). One of whom was the romantic poet Percy Shelley who she fell in love with in 1914. Mary and Percy eloped to France together in 1914 leaving behind Shelley’s pregnant wife. During the journey she became pregnant, and gave birth to a still born after returning to England. She married Percy Shelley in 1816, after the suicide of Percy’s wife Harriet. In May of 1816 Mary and Percy travelled to Geneva Switzerland, where they stayed with the romantic writer Lord Byron for the summer. There she first conceived of the idea of writing a story based on the reanimation of corpses, which later resulted in her novel Frankenstein (Wolfson 22). She later gave birth to three more children, two of whom died independently of each other on their trip to Italy in 1818-22, Percy Florence, her only surviving child, was born in November of 1819. Mary’s Husband Percy Shelley then drowned to death on a sailing trip in July of 1822 while still in Italy. After her husband’s death she returned to England and devoted herself to the upbringing of her son and her career as a professional author. She continued to publish and promote her late husband’s literary works (Wolfson 43). Her novel Frankenstein rose to fame during her lifetime, and as a consequence she did as well. She died on 1st February 1851 from what her physician suspected to be a brain tumor. Her novels The Last Man (1826), Perkin Warbeck (1830), Lodore (1835), and Falkner (1837) are still studied and debated by scholars today, and Frankenstein is still popular today due to its many film adaptations.

Mary Shelley was devoted to a literary lifestyle, and her favourite past-time as a child was writing stories. When she was 18 she began writing her first novel: Frankenstein. Several segments of Mary’s novels are interpreted autobiographically. Most notably Mathilda (1820) is often understood autobiographically, recognizing Mary and Percy Shelly, as well as William Godwin, as the three main characters in the novel. Additionally the character Adrian in the novel The Last Man (1826) dies when his boat sinks similarly to Mary’s husband Percy, and has a utopian view of the future like Percy. However Mary refuted the claim that many of her novels are autobiographical in nature, stating that authors were not “merely copying from our own hearts.”(“Godwinian”) Mary Shelley’s works, particularly Frankenstein, have been extensively studied from a feminist point of view. Scholar Anne K. Mellor suggests that, from a feminist point of view, Frankenstein is a story “about what happens when a man tries to have a baby without a woman”, or rather the result when a man raises a child without any maternal influence. Also Victor Frankenstein’s disappointment as a parent in the novel has been viewed as a manifestation of some of the angsts which accompany pregnancy, childbirth, and parenthood. (Mellor 23-45) Mary Shelley also believed in the enlightenment idea that people could improve society though responsible exercise of political power, however her literary works often showed her fear of this power being used irresponsibly. Many of Mary’s Novels such as Frankenstein, and The Last Man criticize Enlightenment and endorse Romanticism. Her works disparage the way 18th century philosophers such as her parents believed such change could be implemented. For example, the creature in Frankenstein reads books associated with radical ideas, but the knowledge he gains from them is ultimately unusable. (Shelley 256) She rejects the Enlightenment political ideals, but she also discards the Romantic concept that the poetic or literary imagination offers any realistic alternatives.