Biography about mary shelley life influenced frankenstein

English writer (1797–1851)

"Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin" redirects here. For her mother, see Mary Wollstonecraft. For other uses, see Mary Shelley (disambiguation).

Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley (WUUL-stən-krahft, -⁠kraft;née Godwin; 30 August 1797 – 1 February 1851) was an English novelist who wrote the Gothic novelFrankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus (1818), which is considered an early example of science fiction. She also edited and promoted the works of her husband, the Romantic poet and philosopher Percy Bysshe Shelley. Her father was the political philosopherWilliam Godwin and her mother was the philosopher and women's rights advocate Mary Wollstonecraft.

Mary's mother died 11 days after giving birth to her. She was raised by her father, who provided her with a rich informal education, encouraging her to adhere to his own anarchist political theories. When she was four, her father married a neighbour, Mary Jane Clairmont, with whom Mary had a troubled relationship.

In 1814, Mary began a romance with one of her father's political followers, Percy Bysshe Shelley, who was already married. Together with her stepsister, Claire Clairmont, she and Percy left for France and travelled through Europe. Upon their return to England, Mary was pregnant with Percy's child. Over the next two years, she and Percy faced ostracism, constant debt and the death of their prematurely born daughter. They married in late 1816, after the suicide of Percy Shelley's wife, Harriet.

In 1816, the couple and Mary's stepsister famously spent a summer with Lord Byron and John William Polidori near Geneva, Switzerland, where Shelley conceived the idea for her novel Frankenstein. The Shelleys left Britain in 1818 for Italy, where their second and third children died before Shelley gave birth to her last and only surviving child, Percy Florence Shelley. In 1822, her husband drowned whe

(1797-1851)

Who Was Mary Shelley?

Writer Mary Shelley published her most famous novel, Frankenstein, in 1818. She wrote several other books, including Valperga (1823), The Last Man (1826), the autobiographical Lodore (1835) and the posthumously published Mathilde.

Early Life

Shelley was born Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin on August 30, 1797, in London, England. She was the daughter of philosopher and political writer William Godwin and famed feminist Mary Wollstonecraft — the author of The Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792). Sadly for Shelley, she never really knew her mother who died shortly after her birth. Her father William Godwin was left to care for Shelley and her older half-sister Fanny Imlay. Imlay was Wollstonecraft's daughter from an affair she had with a soldier.

The family dynamics soon changed with Godwin's marriage to Mary Jane Clairmont in 1801. Clairmont brought her own two children into the union, and she and Godwin later had a son together. Shelley never got along with her stepmother. Her stepmother decided that her stepsister Jane (later Claire) should be sent away to school, but she saw no need to educate Shelley.

The Godwin household had a number of distinguished guests during Shelley's childhood, including Samuel Taylor Coleridge and William Wordsworth. While she didn't have a formal education, she did make great use of her father's extensive library. Shelley could often be found reading, sometimes by her mother's grave. She also liked to daydream, escaping from her often challenging home life into her imagination.

Shelley also found a creative outlet in writing. According to The Life and Letters of Mary Wollstonecraft, she once explained that "As a child, I scribbled; and my favourite pastime, during the hours given me for recreation, was to 'write stories.'" She published her first poem, "Mounseer Nongtongpaw," in 1807, through her father's company.

Husband

During the summer

| By Gale Staff |

Mary Shelley is best known for her iconic novel, Frankenstein. Published in 1818, this gothic masterpiece has captivated readers for centuries with its exploration of themes such as scientific progress, human ambition, and what happens when the two collide.

Let’s delve into Mary Shelley’s life and examine Frankenstein’s enduring legacy with help from theGale Literature Resource Center. The FrankensteinWork page gives you access to overview documents that provide essential background and orienting information, laying the groundwork for a deeper understanding.

The Life of Mary Shelley

Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley was born on August 30, 1797, in London, England. She was the daughterof two influential intellectuals: the feminist philosopher Mary Wollstonecraft and the political philosopher William Godwin. Tragically, Shelley’s mother died shortly after giving birth to her, leaving a profound impact on her life and shaping her feminist ideals.

Shelley’s early years were marked by a love for literature and writing. At the age of 18, she embarked on a journey that would forever change her life—and the course of literary history itself. During the summer of 1816, Shelley and her husband, the poet Percy Bysshe Shelley, spent their vacation in Switzerland with Lord Byron and John Polidori. During this time, Shelley conceived the idea for her magnum opus, Frankenstein.

The Creation of Frankenstein

Frankenstein emerged from a literary competition among Mary Shelley, her husband Percy, Byron, and Polidori to write the best horror story. Inspired by a nightmare she experienced during their stay in Geneva, Shelley crafted a tale that would become one of the most enduring works of science fiction.

The novel tells the story of Victor Frankenstein, a young scientist who becomes obsessed with the idea of creating life. Through a series of scientific experiments, Frankenstein succeeds in bringing a creature to life,

by Hilary Rappaport

Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin (Mary Shelley) was born on August 30, 1797 in London. Her mother was Mary Wollstonecraft, an English writer, philosopher, and advocate of women’s rights best known for A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792). In it, she argues that women are not naturally inferior to men, and that men and women should be treated as rational beings, proposing a social order founded on reason.  Mary Godwin never knew her mother who died 11 days after giving birth to her. Mary Godwin’s father, William Godwin, was also a philosophical thinker, and wrote Enquiry Concerning Political Justice: And Its Influences on Morals and Happiness, a book which argued against the institutions of government and marriage.

Her father remarried in 1801 and Mary, who revered the memory of her mother, never got along with her stepmother, Mary Clairmont. Clairmont had two children of her own. She and William Godwin had a son, William, in 1803. Mary Godwin also had an older half-sister named Fanny, a child of her mother’s relationship with another man. In all, there were five children in the Godwin home, none with the same two parents.

Mary’s father and stepmother ran a publishing firm for children’s books and though Mary did not have a formal education, she was a voracious reader in a home filled with books. A constant stream of intellectuals visited her home including the writers Wordsworth and Coleridge as well as scientists, doctors, politicians, philosophers and actors. Because of tensions with her stepmother and illness, in 1812 Mary was sent to live in Scotland with William Baxter, an acquaintance of her father. There she became friends with his daughter Isabell, and later wrote that in Scotland she made up fantasy tales. Scotland features prominently in Frankenstein.

She returned home in 1814 at the age of 17 and began spending time with the poet, Percy Bysshe Shelley, for whom her father acted as a mentor. Shelley had left Oxford i