Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley 1797 1851 They say that

Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley 1797 -1851 § „They say that thou wert lovely from thy birth, of glorious parents, thou aspiring Child” – Percy Shelley § Said of her father, he „was my God—and I remember many childish instances of the excess of attachment I bore for him” § Mother, Mary Wollstonecraft, died of a fever within a month after giving birth, raised by stepmother § At the age of fourteen went to live in Scotland in Dundee with a friend of her father for two years § Returned to London when she was sixteen, met Percy Shelley at her father’s house. He was twenty-one § Became pregnant within a few months, travelled to Europe with Percy

§ § § § § After returning to England, gave premature birth to a daughter who died when she was twelve days old; a year later they had a son, William, in 1816 Returned to Europe in the spring of 1816, settled in Geneva near Byron as Mary’s half sister Claire was in love with him Frankenstein published anonymously in 1818 September 1818 death of another infant daughter, then the death of two and a half year old William from malaria in Rome Second son, Percy Florence, born in November 1819, miscarriage the next spring Percy Shelley dies in a boating accident in 1822, Mary a widow at twenty-four Back in England supported herself through writing and small allowance from her fatherin-law Sir Timothy Shelley (demanded she never use Shelley name or write biography of son) Wrote a novella, Matilda (1819) and five novels, Valperga (1823), The Last Man (1826) Added prefaces and notes , relating to Shelley’s writings to the circumstances of his life and thought Sir Shelley died in 1844, Mary’s son became his heir; lived with her son in comfortable circumstances until her death in 1851

„Some have a passion for reforming the world; others do not cling to particular opinions…for myself, I earnestly desire the good and enlightenment of my fellow creatures, and see all, in the present course, tending to the same, and rejoice; but I am not for violent extremes, which only brings on an injurious reaction. ” from her journal, October 1838

„In 1816, when Mary started writing it, the study of natural phenomena wasn’t yet a proper profession; the term “scientist” had yet to be invented. Amateur speculation could be cutting-edge. Those who were professional gave fashionable public lectures, which encouraged more amateur participation. When Mary was in her teens, these lecturers included her father’s friend, the chemist and inventor Sir Humphry Davy; the Italian physicist and philosopher Dr Luigi Galvani and his nephew Giovanni Aldini, each of whom gave demonstrations of how to pass an electric current through the nerves of a dead body. ” –Fiona Sampson, The Guardian, January 2018

„After they had spent an evening in June 1816 reading ghost stories together, Lord Byron set a group of his guests at Villa Diodati, on the banks of Lake Geneva, a writing competition. As Mary recalled: “‘We will each write a ghost story, ’ said Lord Byron … I busied myself to think of a story, a story to rival those which had excited us to this task. ” –Sampson, The Guardian

„Frankenstein shows us that aspiration and progress are indistinguishable from hubris – until something goes wrong, when suddenly we see all too clearly what was reasonable endeavour and what overreaching” –Fiona Sampson, The Guardian, January 2018

„The question it asks, “How far is too far? ”, is at the very heart of modernity…Frankenstein identifies the mismatch between human experience and what we are expected to become as technology and science advance. ” –Sampson, The Guardian

Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus, 1818

„I saw the pale student of unhallowed arts kneeling beside thing he had put together. I saw the hideous phantasm of a man stretched out, and then, on the working of some powerful engine, show signs of life, and stir with an uneasy, half vital motion. Frightful must it be; for supremely frightful would be the effect of any human endeavour to mock the stupendous mechanism of the Creator of the world” –Mary Shelley, from the intro to 1831 edition

Characters Captain Robert Walton—in search of a place where heaven meets earth at the North Pole Victor Frankenstein Henry Clerval Justine Moritz Elizabeth Lavenza The Creature Victor’s father, Alphonse Frankenstein Caroline Beaufort (Victor’s mother) Ernest William (Victor’s youngest brother murdered by the Creature)

„We are unfashioned creatures, but half made up, if one wiser, better, dearer than ourselves—such a friend ought to be—do not lend his aid to perfectionate our weak and faulty natures…you seek for knowledge and wisdom, as I once did; and I ardently hope that the gratification of your wishes may not be a serpent to sting you, as mine has been. ” –Victor Frankenstein to Walton

„…nothing can alter my destiny; listen to my history, and you will perceive how irrevocably it is determined. ” --Frankenstein

„While my companion contemplated with a serious and satisfied spirit the magnificent appearances of things, I delighted in investigating their causes. The world was to me a secret which I desired to divine…it was the secrets of heaven and earth that I desired to learn…natural philosophy is the genius that has regulated my fate…”

„I will pioneer a new way, explore unknown powers, and unfold to the world the deepest mysteries of creation…whence, I often asked myself, did the principle of life proceed? Life and death appeared to me ideal bounds, which I should first break through, and pour a torrent of light into our dark world. ”

„I saw the dull yellow eye of the creature open; it breathed hard, and a convulsive motion agitated its limbs. How can I describe my emotions at this catastrophe, or how delineate the wretch whom with such infinite pains and care I had endeavoured to form? …but now that I had finished, the beauty of the dream vanished, and breathless horror and disgust filled my heart. ”

„When happy, inanimate nature had the power of bestowing on me the most delightful sensations. A serene sky and verdant fields filled me with ecstasy…I contemplated the lake: the waters were placid; all around was calm; and the snowy mountains, ‚the palaces of nature, ’ were not changed. By degrees the calm and heavenly scene restored me…”