Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley

1. Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley (1797-1851) English author who wrote the Gothic horror story Frankenstein or; The Modern Prometheus (1818)

2. Her Birth • Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin • born on 30 August 1797 - London, England • 2nd daughter of Mary Wollstonecraft (1759-1797)

3. Mother: Mary Wollstonecraft (1759-1797) Feminist - A Vindication of the Rights of Women (1792). Had 2 children in her lifetime, Fanny Imlay, was born May 14, 1794. Unwed mother. Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin, 1797 The mother died of "child-bed“ fever 11 days later.

4. Father: William Godwin(1756 - 1836) • Believed in alternative, free, education. • William Godwin and Mary Wollstonecraftbecame lovers. • Got pregnant: Wollstonecraft asked Godwin to marry her in • Eventually married BUT he was deeply critical of marriage • in this instance the ‘goods’ outweighed the ‘evils’).

5. Evil Stepmother? • 1801 Father Remarried Mary Jane Clairmont. • gained a stepsister, Claire. • Claire and Mary would remain very close for the rest of their lives. • Result: bitter times for Mary • Cruel step mother • Emotionally distant father • consoled herself: mother’s graveside & Scotland

6. Sweet Step-Sister Portrait By Aemilia Curran, 1819’ Claire Clairmont • half-sister, • ran off w/ Mary and Percy • to Lake Geneva • was present when Mary first madeup the story of Frankenstein. • Love affair with Lord Byron • daughter, Allegra, January 1817.

7. Mary’s Education • Tutors. Studied : • parent’s writings • literature and poetry • Latin, French, and Italian. • Enlightenment literary figures • William Blake • Samuel Taylor Coleridge • Charles Lamb. • 1st publication: a poem at the age of 10.

8. Dear Husband Percy Bysshe Shelley • political radical • free-thinker • He & 1st wife Harriet • visited Godwin's London.

9. Eloped: July 1814 @ 16 Godwin wont speak for the next 2 ½ years Harriet, Percy’s 1st wife, is pregnant with 2nd child Harriet gives birth in November 1814.

10. Clara, William, Clara, and Percy Florence Shelley 1815 - Clara, born premature. Dies 2 weeks later. 1816 Harriet: suicide Percy and Mary get married 1816- William (1816-1819) 1817- 2nd daughter, Clara (1817-1819) 1819 – Percy Florence Shelley

11. 1822, nearly fatal miscarriage Percy sailing a sudden storm struck and it sank. Percy’s body washed ashore Mary compiles his writing in The Complete Poetical Works of Percy Bysshe (1824).

12. 1823 Mary returned to England w/son Percy. • Percy Bysshe’s father Sir Timothy Shelley provided an annual income • Percy, Jr. inherited estate and title in 1844 • Mary: wrote numerous short stories, essays, poems, and reviews

13. Other works • The Last Man(1826) • Perkin Warbeck (1830) • Ledore(1835) • Falkner(1837) • Rambles in Germany and Italy (1844)

14. The End of Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley Bouts of illness beginning in1840’s Died at home in London, age of 54 on 1 February 1851. Buried in St. Peter’s Bournemouth, Dorset, England.

15. 3 Questions What do you think drew Mary to Percy Shelley? What do you think was the saddest part of her story? The best part? How do you think her life impacted her writing of Frankenstein?

16. Quiz anyone? http://www.online-literature.com/quiz.php?quizid=388