Mary Shelley: A Troubled Life

Not many people know that history’s first major science fiction novel was the novel Frankenstein (also called The Modern Prometheus ), written by Mary Shelley. Her famous book has since been adapted for film, television and even comics. However , it was written at a time when there were very few female writers, and even fewer of them achieved success.

Mary Shelley’s life was as fascinating as her work. Terrible tragedies, a great love in her heart until she died, and boldness and adventure filled her life.

Although Mary Shelley was inducted into the Hall of Fame as one of history’s greatest authors with her book Frankenstein, this  was not her only novel. She also wrote other novels and plays, which have received more and more attention from experts in recent decades. During her life, the success behind this novel was so great that it overshadowed her other works.

Mary Shelley was a very different girl

Mary Shelley was born in London, England on August 30, 1797. The family was undoubtedly very forward-thinking. Mary was always close to her father, who was the philosopher, journalist and novelist William Godwin. Her mother, Mary Wollstonecraft, was a philosopher and a pioneer in the feminist movement.

Unfortunately, Mary’s mother died during the birth of Mary. According to reports, she contracted an infection and the subsequent fever became uncontrollable and led to her death. Mary’s mother got her while she was still single, but Mary’s father welcomed her into his family with the daughter he already had. The two girls grew up as sisters and had a close relationship throughout their lives.

When Mary was three years old,  her father married a woman who already had two daughters. Mary began to hate her stepmother. Despite this, however, she had a happy childhood and adolescence. Her father raised her and her sister Claire in a very liberal way, and gave them a good education.

A secret love

When Mary was 17, she met the poet and writer Percy Bysshe Shelley, who was married. He was 22 at the time, and often visited Mary’s family home as he was friends with her father. The two began to meet in secret at Mary’s mother’s grave, which was a special place for her. She said she learned to write by tracing her mother’s name with her finger on the tombstone.

Mary Shelley had a liberal view of marriage and love. Both her father and society in general opposed their relationship. However, the lovers fled to Paris in France with Claire, Maria’s step-sister. The couple’s relationship was based on a mutual interest in literature and new ideas. However, Percy had to keep moving often to avoid his creditors.

These separations made Mary, who became pregnant in 1814, very worried. At this point, Percy also flirted openly with Mary’s step-sister. Mary gave birth in February 1815, but the daughter died before she was a month old. This, naturally enough, plunged her into a deep depression.

A great writer

Shortly after these events,  Percy’s wife took her own life. As a result, much of society rejected Percy’s relationship with Mary. Because of this and all their debt, they decided to move. They went to Geneva, where they had interesting evenings with Lord Byron (Baron Byron), the great poet, who also had a son with Mary’s step-sister. These evenings inspired Mary,  who had dreamed of the plot in  Frankenstein  and began writing shortly afterwards.

Mary had two more children with Percy. After that they went to Italy, where they lived a nomadic life. The couple’s eldest son died in 1818, and a year later their youngest daughter died. Mary was depressed and ill most of the time. In 1819, however, they had their fourth child, who was the only one who survived.

In 1822, Percy drowned on a sailboat trip. Mary asked to have his body cremated, but that his heart be taken out first. Shortly afterwards, she returned to England with her fourth child, Percy Florence. In the last years of her life, Mary suffered from paralysis in various parts of her body. She died at the age of 54, probably as a result of a brain tumor.

After she passed away, people came across her desk as they looked through her house. In one of the drawers, they found the man’s heart,  wrapped in a piece of silk that contained one of her poems, along with some of the ashes. They also found hair that belonged to her three children who had passed away.