Mary Shelly

Mary Shelly

Aug. 30, 1797 - Feb. 1, 1851

Mary Wollstonecraft Shelly, an English Author, whose father William Godwin was a philosopher and novelist; he was considered radical because he favored Utilitarianism and was the first modern proponent of Anarchism. Godwin published two books in one year the first was an attack on political institutions, the second a mystery novel designed with intent to attacking aristocratic privilege. The father and daughter had a close relationship but it was stained as Godwin had to work abroad to support his family, as her relationship with her stepmother was rocky. Godwin has been quoted to describe Mary as ‘singularly bold’, imperious and active of mind. Her mother, Mary Wollstonecraft was a defender of women’s rights and had written a book on her travelers to Scandinavia, where she gave birth to a daughter Fanny Imaly, A daughter out of wedlock which was a situation frowned upon by their peers, and by society at the time. Godwin pursued and married Mary Wollstonecraft when she fell pregnant with Mary; and to ensure Mary Shelly's birth was legitimate. Shelly herself was born in London, August 30, 1797.  After giving birth to Mary her mother died a few days later. Four years later, her father remarried and Mary Shelly would eventually become the sister to five semi-related siblings.  

At Age 16 Mary eloped to Italy and became the second wife of Poet Percy Bysshe Shelly.  Shelly’s original wife died of suicide; Mary would bare Percy several children of whom only one survived a son Percy Florence.

Mary Shelly’s first book, Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus (1818), was conceived for a ghost-writing contest; on a stormy night in June 1816. Influenced by the experiments of Luigi Galvani, an Italian physician, physicist, biologist and philosopher who pioneered bioelectromagnetics. In 1780, Galvani discovered animal electricity, more specifically muscles of dead frogs ‘legs twitched when struck by an electrical spark.  The creation of her novel won for her a place among the imaginative writers of England, it was an instant wonder, and has spawned a mythology all its own to this very day.  Many believed Percy had written it since he penned its introduction and the book debuted as a novel from an anonymous author.

 After Percy’s death from an accidental drowning in 1822, Mary returned to London with their son and pursued a successful career in writing.  Frankenstein was followed up by Valerga (1823), The Last Man (1826), Lodore (1835), and Falkner (1837).  Mary Shelley would succumb to brain cancer and died on February 1, 1851. Her final novel Mathilda was finally published over a hundred years later in 1959.  There was a loosely adapted autobiographical movie released in September 2017 along the festival circuit, before reaching a theatrical debut in the spring of 2018 starring Elle Fanning in the title role; the film does depict the turbulent years, and infidelity that Shelly experienced in her marriage with Percy.