Mary Shelley
Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley (; ; 30 August 1797 – 1 February 1851) was an English novelist who is best known for writing the Gothic novel ''Frankenstein; 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 philosopher William 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 if 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 came to have 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 first 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 when his sailing boat sank during a storm near Viareggio. A year later, Shelley returned to England and from then on devoted herself to the upbringing of her son and a career as a professional author. The last decade of her life was dogged by illness, most likely caused by the brain tumour which killed her at the age of 53.
Until the 1970s, Shelley was known mainly for her efforts to publish her husband's works and for her novel ''Frankenstein'', which remains widely read and has inspired many theatrical and film adaptations. Recent scholarship has yielded a more comprehensive view of Shelley's achievements. Scholars have shown increasing interest in her literary output, particularly in her novels, which include the historical novels ''Valperga'' (1823) and ''Perkin Warbeck'' (1830), the apocalyptic novel ''The Last Man'' (1826) and her final two novels, ''Lodore'' (1835) and ''Falkner'' (1837). Studies of her lesser-known works, such as the travel book ''Rambles in Germany and Italy'' (1844) and the biographical articles for Dionysius Lardner's ''Cabinet Cyclopaedia'' (1829–1846), support the growing view that Shelley remained a political radical throughout her life. Shelley's works often argue that cooperation and sympathy, particularly as practised by women in the family, were the ways to reform civil society. This view was a direct challenge to the individualistic Romantic ethos promoted by Percy Shelley and the Enlightenment political theories articulated by her father, William Godwin.
Provided by Wikipedia
Showing 1 - 16 results of 16 for search 'Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft, 1797-1851', query time: 0.03s
Refine Results
-
1
Frankenstein / by Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft, 1797-1851
Published 1985Call Number: Loading…
Located: Loading…Book Loading… -
2
Frankenstein : complete, authoritative text with biographical and historical contexts, critical history, and essays from five contemporary critical perspectives / by Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft, 1797-1851
Published 1992Call Number: Loading…
Located: Loading…Book Loading… -
3
Frankenstein : the 1818 text, contexts, nineteenth-century responses, modern criticism / by Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft, 1797-1851
Published 1996Call Number: Loading…
Located: Loading…Book Loading… -
4
Frankenstein, or, The modern prometheus / by Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft, 1797-1851
Published 1992Call Number: Loading…Publisher description
Located: Loading…
Book -
5
Frankenstein or, The Modern Prometheus / by Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft, 1797-1851
Published 2001Call Number: Loading…An electronic book accessible through the World Wide Web; click to view
Located: Loading…
Electronic eBook -
6
Mathilda / by Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft, 1797-1851
Published 2010Call Number: Loading…An electronic book accessible through the World Wide Web; click to view
Located: Loading…
Electronic eBook -
7
Mathilda / by Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft, 1797-1851
Published 2010Call Number: Loading…An electronic book accessible through the World Wide Web; click to view
Located: Loading…
Electronic eBook -
8
Frankenstein / by Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft, 1797-1851
Published 1985Call Number: Loading…
Located: Loading…Book Loading… -
9
Frankenstein : complete, authoritative text with biographical and historical contexts, critical history, and essays from five contemporary critical perspectives / by Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft, 1797-1851
Published 1992Call Number: Loading…
Located: Loading…Book Loading… -
10
Frankenstein : the 1818 text, contexts, nineteenth-century responses, modern criticism / by Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft, 1797-1851
Published 1996Call Number: Loading…
Located: Loading…Book Loading… -
11
Frankenstein, or, The modern prometheus / by Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft, 1797-1851
Published 1992Call Number: Loading…Publisher description
Located: Loading…
Book -
12
Frankenstein Annotated for Scientists, Engineers, and Creators of All Kinds / by Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft, 1797-1851
Published 2017Call Number: Loading…Full text available:
Located: Loading…
Electronic eBook -
13
Frankenstein : Annotated for Scientists, Engineers, and Creators of All Kinds / by Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft, 1797-1851
Published 2017Call Number: Loading…Full text available:
Located: Loading…
Electronic eBook -
14
Frankenstein or, The Modern Prometheus / by Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft, 1797-1851
Published 2001Call Number: Loading…An electronic book accessible through the World Wide Web; click to view
Located: Loading…
Electronic eBook -
15
Frankenstein Annotated for Scientists, Engineers, and Creators of All Kinds / by Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft, 1797-1851
Published 2017Call Number: Loading…Full text available:
Located: Loading…
Electronic eBook -
16
Frankenstein : Annotated for Scientists, Engineers, and Creators of All Kinds / by Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft, 1797-1851
Published 2017Call Number: Loading…Full text available:
Located: Loading…
Electronic eBook
Search Tools:
Related Subjects
Monsters
Scientists
Frankenstein (Fictitious character)
Fiction
Horror tales, English
History and criticism
Monsters in literature
Science in literature
Scientists in literature
FICTION / Gothic
Fathers and daughters
Frankenstein's monster (Fictitious character)
Frankenstein, Victor (Fictitious character)
Guilt
History
Incest
Monstres
Sciences dans la litterature
Women and literature