Percy Bysshe Shelley

Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, born in 1797, was an English novelist renowned for her Gothic work 'Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus,' an early science fiction example. Raised by her philosopher father, William Godwin, after her mother's early death, she received an unconventional education that encouraged intellectual pursuits and exposure to radical political theories. At sixteen, she began a romance with the married Romantic poet Percy Bysshe Shelley, eloping with him to Europe. The couple faced significant hardship, including debt and the loss of children. They married in 1816, the same year she conceived the idea for 'Frankenstein' during a summer with Lord Byron. After moving to Italy and enduring further personal tragedies, including her husband's drowning, Shelley returned to England to raise their surviving son and pursue her writing career. Her later works, including historical and apocalyptic novels, suggest a continued adherence to radical political ideas, often emphasizing cooperation and sympathy as means of societal reform, contrasting with her husband's individualistic Romantic ethos.

Born Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin in London, Mary Shelley's parents were prominent intellectuals: her mother was the feminist philosopher Mary Wollstonecraft, and her father was the philosopher and novelist William Godwin. Her mother died shortly after her birth, leaving her to be raised by her father. He provided her with a rich, informal education, encouraging her to engage with his own anarchist political theories and exposing her to the many intellectuals who frequented their home. Despite limited formal schooling, she received an advanced education for a woman of her era, including tutelage and access to her father's extensive library. Her father's financial difficulties and remarriage to Mary Jane Clairmont, with whom Mary had a strained relationship, marked her early years.

In 1814, at the age of sixteen, Mary began a passionate romance with the already married poet and philosopher Percy Bysshe Shelley, a follower of her father's political ideas. Their relationship, which began in secret, led to their elopement to France with Mary's stepsister, Claire Clairmont. The couple endured considerable hardship, including poverty, social ostracism, and the tragic loss of their first child. They married in late 1816, following the suicide of Percy Shelley's first wife. This period also saw the conception of Mary Shelley's most famous work, 'Frankenstein,' during a summer spent near Geneva with Lord Byron and John William Polidori.

After moving to Italy with Percy, the couple faced further personal tragedies, including the deaths of two more children. Percy Bysshe Shelley drowned in 1822. Mary Shelley returned to England the following year and dedicated herself to raising their surviving son, Percy Florence Shelley, and to her career as an author. While initially known primarily for 'Frankenstein' and her efforts to publish her husband's works, later scholarship has highlighted her broader literary achievements. Her novels, such as 'Valperga,' 'The Last Man,' and 'Falkner,' along with her travel writings and biographical articles, reveal a consistent engagement with radical political thought, often advocating for cooperation and sympathy as forces for social change, a perspective that contrasted with the individualistic Romanticism of her husband and the Enlightenment theories of her father.

“It was acting in a novel, being an incarnate romance”

“my excessive and romantic attachment to my father”