Welcome to Mary Shelley's Frankenstein
“Life, although it may only be an accumulation of anguish, is dear to me, and I will defend it.”
~ Mary Shelley, Frankenstein
Mary Shelley's Frankenstein is not the Hollywood interpretation of modern television and film we have grown to know today. However, to know the story we must first delve into the author's background to truly understand the soul of the book.
Mary Shelley was born in Sormers Town, London, England on August 30th, 1797. Her life was not a happy one, its filled with death and sadness from the very beginning. Shelley was very young when her mother died, she and her half sister Fanny Imlay were henceforth raised by their intellectual father, William Godwin. He is somewhat responsible for Mary's writing success,by
encouraging Mary to write and read at a young age and inviting distinguished guests to social events in their home that no doubt opened Shelly's mind through intelligent conversation. When Mary turned four her father remarried their neighbor Mary Clairmont, who refused to send Shelley to receive an education and instead sent her own daughter. However, Shelley wasn't discourage she continued to learn through her father's library, her governess, and a private tutor. As she entered her teenage years, she was outspoken and dedicated to her education.
Mary Shelley was born in Sormers Town, London, England on August 30th, 1797. Her life was not a happy one, its filled with death and sadness from the very beginning. Shelley was very young when her mother died, she and her half sister Fanny Imlay were henceforth raised by their intellectual father, William Godwin. He is somewhat responsible for Mary's writing success,by
encouraging Mary to write and read at a young age and inviting distinguished guests to social events in their home that no doubt opened Shelly's mind through intelligent conversation. When Mary turned four her father remarried their neighbor Mary Clairmont, who refused to send Shelley to receive an education and instead sent her own daughter. However, Shelley wasn't discourage she continued to learn through her father's library, her governess, and a private tutor. As she entered her teenage years, she was outspoken and dedicated to her education.
When she turned seventeen young Mary caught the interest of Percy Shelley, a student of her father and unfortunately a married man. Mary and Percy runaway from England with her stepsister Jane, as a result Mary's relationship with her father was distant for some time. Together Percy and Mary traveled throughout Europe (visiting locations that would most likely end up in her most famous novel), however running away from her homeland didn't leave Mary's unlucky life behind. In 1815 Shelly delivered her first child, a girl who died only a few days after passing away.
The next summer Mary and her husband Switzerland with Jane Clairmont, Lord Byron along with John Polidori. On a rainy night the group entertained themselves by reading ghost stories until Lord Byron suggested they all attempt to write their own ghost stories. This is the beginnings of Mary's most famous novel Frankenstein. Later the same year tragedy strikes Shelly when her half sister Fanny committed suicide, further Percy's current wife committed suicide allowing he and Mary to finally be married. In 1818, the now Mary Shelley published her book, Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus and was received with great success.
While her writing career skyrocketed, her personal life spiraled into depression, in 1819 Shelley's son Percy Florence was born but he would only live to adulthood, then in 1822 on a sailing trip Percy Godwin drowned to death in the Gulf of Spezia. At this time Mary was only 24 years old and widowed, she was able to support herself and he son through her writing. Shelley also strived to publish her husbands poetry and writings to leave his mark on the literary word. Mary Shelley died at the age of fifty-three from a brain tumor, she was buried alongside her mother and father with the ashes of Percy with her body. Today Frankenstein is one of the most widely known and referenced horror novels of the genre. It cannot go unsaid that the tragedies that Shelley was faced with as a young woman were drawn upon to create Victor's struggles in the novel, in fact Shelley's empathetic understanding of Victor's suffering so clearly and powerfully presented to the audience is an element of Frankenstein that makes the novel consuming to it audience now and for generations to come.