Mary Shelley: Biographical Information

Mary Shelley was the daughter of William Godwin, a prominent anarchist and utilitarian political and philosophical writer, author of Political Justice; and Mary Wollstonecraft, a pioneer in women’s rights and education, author of A Vindication of the Rights of Woman.

Her mother died 11 days after her birth, but Mary studied her mother’s works intensely, drawing much from her mother’s ideas about democracy, women’s roles and rights, and how women and men should work together to create happy homes and moral children capable of contributing to a strong democracy.

Mary was also much influenced by her father’s political works, and he not only made sure she received the best possible education, but also provided her a home full of the brightest and most influential writers of their time.

Mary was nine when she first heard Samuel Taylor Coleridge recite his famous Romantic poem, “The Rime of

the Ancient Mariner” in her home, a poem to which she alludes in the beginning of Frankenstein.

Mary Shelley’s parents believed fervently that all men should be equal, and they supported the idea that a revolution was needed to get rid of the unfair class system and abolish aristocratic rule in favor of democracy. They also felt it was the individual’s responsibility to behave in a virtuous and responsible manner and felt virtuous individuals could change the world for the better through their own actions and behavior in daily family life. A strong society was built on the foundation of a strong family in which women and men were equals and children were loved, cared for, and educated. The importance of a loving family and friends, inequality, and even the high hopes and ultimate failure of revolutionary impulses are key subjects of Frankenstein.

Percy Bysshe Shelley and his circle of friends also had a strong influence on Mary. Mary met Shelley at the young age of 16, and they quickly began an illicit relationship, despite the fact that Shelley was already married.

Shelley was an extremely influential Romantic poet, and he was also one of her father’s political followers and patrons. Even so, her father did not approve of their relationship, believing it was wrong that they were not married. This drove a wedge between Mary and her father, which troubled her greatly. However, after the death of Percy’s wife, Mary and Percy did marry, giving in to immense social pressure despite being personally opposed to marriage.

Introducing the Novel

“I busied myself to think of a story, […] One which would speak to the mysterious fears of our nature and awaken thrilling horror.” —Mary Shelley

In the introduction to the 1831 edition of Frankenstein, Mary Shelley explains how she came to write her famous novel.

In the summer of 1816, when Mary was 18, she and Percy Shelley were living with the poet Lord Byron, his doctor-friend John Polidori, and Mary’s step-sister, Claire Clairmont on Lake Geneva in the Swiss Alps. During a period of incessant rain, the four of them were reading ghost stories to each other when Byron proposed that they each try to write one. For days Shelley could not think of an idea. Then, while she was listening to Lord Byron and Percy discussing the probability of using electricity to create life artificially, according to a new theory called galvanism, an idea began to grow in her mind; she wrote in her journal, “Perhaps a corpse would be re-animated; galvanism had given token of such things: perhaps the component parts of a creature might be manufactured, brought together, and [endued] with vital warmth.” The next day she started work on Frankenstein. Mary had recently lost her first baby, and Percy’s wife, Harriet, drowned herself, pregnant, in December of 1816; Mary’s half-sister, Fanny, also committed suicide that year. Death, loss, and resurrection are all central components in her novel, which was finished in 1817 and published in 1818.

Literary Movements

Both Romanticism and the Gothic movement heavily influenced Mary Shelley’s work, although her novel is not necessarily uncritical of Romantic ideals. Many also consider Frankenstein to be the first Science Fiction novel.

Despite what you may be thinking, Romantic literature is not “romantic” in the way we use the word now. Instead of focusing on love, passion, or affection, the Romantic Movement (1789-1865) actually emphasized emotion, individualism, and optimism.

When Mary sat down to write Frankenstein, not only was Romanticism the major artistic movement of the age, but her husband, Percy Bysshe Shelley, and her good friend Lord Byron were two of the most influential Romantic poets of the time. Her father was also good friends with numerous influential Romantics, including Samuel Taylor Coleridge.

Romanticism was, of course, in part a reaction to earlier movements. The Neoclassical Period (1660-1789) valued

order, moderation, limits, structure, and reason. It was extremely socially conservative. Enlightenment thinkers (1715-1789) agreed with most of this, but emphasized individualism and reason over superstition, faith, and tradition. Romanticism, on the other hand, rejected most of these ideals, though it retained the passion for individualism.

Romantics believed all truth and knowledge could NOT be discovered through using reason and logic, science and math. They felt truth and knowledge were to be found in our emotions, in our hearts—not in our heads. Emotions ruled the day, especially passionate ones like love, terror, and sadness.

But what does it mean to value the heart over the head? “Intuition,” or listening to one’s feelings, emotions, impulses, and instincts, was valued over using logic and reason to find out what is true or good. This led to an emphasis on individualism. Romantics believed people should listen to their own feelings and follow their own moral compass to guide their actions and to find what is good and right.

Neoclassical thinkers would have said people should respect tradition and follow what society says is right or good. Enlightenment thinkers would have said people should use the scientific method to figure out what was right, good, and true. Romantics felt society was bad and led us to false truths; they felt logic missed out on something deeper within us; thus, they felt we should be true individuals and search for our own individual truths.

Mary Shelley’s parents, her husband, and her friends were pro-individual, pro-democracy, and anti-tradition. These concerns are heavily present in the novel. (Although that does not mean that Mary does not question or even condemn them in some ways.)

Nature was also a huge component in Romanticism. Because Romantics believed emotions lead to truth, they sought out intense emotional experiences. “The sublime” is a combined feeling of awe and terror. Romantics felt nature was powerful, immense, and majestic, so it could easily make people feel awe and fear at the same time. Mary Shelley uses nature in her story to evoke these intense emotions in both her characters and the reader.

The supernatural was also a key element in many Romantic works. The Romantic disregard for logic and their desire to tap into man’s deepest emotions led them to often include dream states, the supernatural, the weird, and the horrifying in their work. This is where the Romantic sometimes crosses the line into Gothic.

Finally, the Romantics were optimistic. They were idealists, believing man was good and could make the world a better place. Frankenstein is NOT an optimistic novel, but this does not negate its numerous Romantic qualities. The negative elements in it lead us to categorize it as Romantic and Gothic.

Interestingly, both the French Revolution and the Industrial Revolution heavily influenced the literature of the time. Many were extremely optimistic about what the future held; they saw democracy for all and an increasing

standard of living as the wave of the future. This was the Fin de Siècle, the end of the century, and many looked forward to brighter times.

However, there was also a dark side, a pessimistic notion, rearing its head. The French Revolution had turned to violence and destruction with the Reign of Terror, and as rural, farm life gave way to industrial, urban societies, the shift to mass production, factory work, and an improved standard of living for some, also led to grim working and living conditions for the poor and working classes.

This was a time of economic suffering and social disorder. Romantics wanted a more just and equal democratic society where people helped the less fortunate and where the law treated people of all social classes equally. Shelley’s readers lived in hopeful, but also turbulent times.

Gothic literature, which flourished from 1760 to 1820, was a reaction to the Enlightenment, as Romanticism was. Both wanted to free man’s imagination from the constraints of logic and reason. Both emphasized the importance of the emotions. However, Gothics saw a dark future and potential evil in the individual, while Romantics saw a bright future and goodness and hope in the individual. The horrors of the Industrial Revolution and the aftermath of the French Revolution encouraged a pessimistic view of human nature, which the Gothics expressed.

The main ingredients of the gothic novel are mystery, horror, and the supernatural. In literature, “gothic” applies to works with a brooding atmosphere that emphasize the unknown and inspire fear. Gothic novels typically feature wild and remote settings, such as haunted castles or wind-blasted moors, and their plots involve violent or mysterious events.

However, Mary Shelley’s novel is far more than a simple horror story. It is also more than a simple regurgitation of Romantic ideas or of her mother and father’s ideas. Shelley’s characters are complex, and her novel poses profound questions about science, society, and the positive and destructive sides of human nature. Frankenstein tackles great questions about man’s quest for knowledge, man’s need for acceptance, his propensity to judge others based upon their appearances, and what happens when man oversteps his bounds – when he “plays God.”

Literary Devices in Frankenstein

Frame

The story of an Arctic adventurer, Robert Walton, creates a frame for the novel. The beginning and end of the story are made up of letters from Walton to his sister. He meets Victor Frankenstein, the man who created the “monster,” and Frankenstein tells him his unfortunate story. Frankenstein’s story is like the cream between Walton’s oreo cookies.

Near the beginning of the second volume, the monster himself takes control of the story to tell about his own experiences, turning Frankenstein’s story into a frame around the monster’s own story. There is even another, short, framed story within the monster’s story. It is the story of a family the monster secretly lived near to and what happened to them when they helped a girl named Safie and her father.

Point of View

The “frame” sets up a double perspective: Walton’s and Frankenstein’s. Walton writes the letters at the beginning and end of the story, and the chapters are Victor Frankenstein’s story, as told to Walton and recorded by Walton.

Readers must remember that they are getting the story from Frankenstein. Consider, for instance, that although Frankenstein views his creation with fear and hatred, the creature might not actually be as grotesque as Frankenstein’s version of the story would lead one to believe. To emphasize this point, Mary Shelley also often adds letters even within the main chapters; this gives readers insight into the feelings and thought-processes of even more characters and helps readers see there are many points of view. We should not take Walton or Victor’s perceptions or opinions as fact.

Foreshadowing

Readers come across Frankenstein’s tale in media res, meaning “in the middle of the action.” In the beginning, Walton’s crew comes across Frankenstein in the Arctic, chasing the monster. Then the story turns into Victor’s story (as it was told to Walton).

Because Victor himself knows the outcome of his story, he constantly gives clues to what will happen in “the future” – things that happen ahead of where he is at in the telling of his tale. For example, as he describes his schooling, he refers to his studies as “the fatal impulse that led to my ruin.” By that same token, he often refers to his studies as “fatal” even though he is not dead (yet). He will die, in the very end, after Walton resumes telling the story through his letters.

Allusion

Shelley draws heavily on the Prometheus Story and on Adam and Eve’s creation and fall. However, Shelley also constantly refers to other texts throughout the work. Most notable among these include Miltonʼs Paradise Lost, and Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s “Rime of the Ancient Mariner.”

Paradise Lost is about Adam and Eve—how they came to be created and how they came to lose their place in the Garden of Eden, also called Paradise. It's the same story you find in the first pages of Genesis, expanded by Milton into a very long, detailed, narrative poem.

It also includes the story of the origin of Satan. Originally, he was called Lucifer, an angel in heaven who led his followers in a war against God and was ultimately sent with them to hell. Thirst for revenge led him to cause man's downfall by turning into a serpent and tempting Eve to eat the forbidden fruit.

“The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” starts with a wedding guest who is told a tale by an ancient mariner. This ancient mariner purposefully killed a good luck albatross, bringing a curse upon himself and the rest of the crew. After this, the ancient mariner began travelling the world to tell his story to everyone who needs to hear it; the wedding guest is his latest audience.

Robert Walton is similar to the wedding guest, and Victor Frankenstein is like the ancient mariner. Victor, also, feels compelled to tell his story. The biggest theme in “Rime of the Ancient Mariner” is that love conquers all; this is a clue as to how the tragedy of Frankenstein could have been avoided.

Motifs

Curiosity/Forbidden Knowledge The novel is subtitled “The Modern Prometheus,” and Prometheus was the Titan who created man out of clay. He also stole fire from Mount Olympus and gave it to mankind. However, this led the gods to create Pandora, the first female human, and to give her a jar filled with sickness, woes, and all manner of evils, which she opened and unleashed upon

humanity. Obviously, there are clear connections here to the fall of man and to Victor Frankenstein’s story.

Nature: One element of Romanticism is their belief in the great, beautiful, and horrifying power of nature. Frankenstein finds the sublime (fear and awe) in nature. This is the intense emotional experience Romantics sought out within nature. Also, the novel shows that man may wish to recreate nature’s power, but he cannot. Finally, the monster is an “unnatural” being, and Victor Frankenstein feels nothing but horror and loathing toward it. Perhaps this shows that because man is imperfect, he cannot and should not play God.

Responsibility: All of Frankenstein’s woes can be traced back to him not taking responsibility for his actions. He hides what he has done and shuns his creation. Parents should be responsible for their children, as people should be responsible for their actions more generally. The responsibilities of parenthood, the necessity of love and care within the home, and the proper moral instruction of children are all elements Mary Shelley considers with regard to human families and the monster himself, as Frankenstein’s “child.”

Isolation: Frankenstein, his monster, and Walton all must deal with being or feeling isolated, and they all intensely seek out or hope for acceptance from others. The need to belong and the need to be cared for are central ideas in this text.

Anticipation Questions

True or False?

1. Everyone has the potential to become monstrous.

2. It is important to “fit in.”

3. Parents have a never-ending responsibility for their children.

4. Man should not try to recreate the power of nature (or God’s power).

5. It is better to deal with our problems on our own and not involve other people.

6. It is always good to seek knowledge; there should be no forbidden knowledge.