Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley was born on August 30, 1797, in London, England. She was destined to live an extraordinary life. Her parents were two of the most noted freethinkers of the Enlightenment era. Her father, William Godwin, was a celebrated philosopher and historian. He was known for overeating and borrowing money who would give him a loan. He didn’t have much time for anything but his philosophical ideas.
He met his match in Mary Wollstonecraft, Mary’s mother. She was every bit as much a radical thinker as Godwin. She declared herself independent at the age of 21. She and her sisters ran a school in France, where she had an affair with an army captain and had her first child, Fanny, out of wedlock.
After being abandoned, she and Fanny moved back to England and attempted suicide. She began writing. She was well-known for her revolutionary feminist writings. Wollstonecraft and Godwin met a dinner party at Godwin’s home and the two began an affair. Wollstonecraft was five months pregnant when she married Godwin. Although Godwin and Wollstonecraft didn’t agree with the whole marriage thing, they wanted Mary’s children to be legitimate children.
Mary’s mother died of complications just ten days after Mary was born. Her father was a self-absorbed intellectual and was left to take care of his daughters all alone. Although he loved his daughters, the responsibility of raising them on his own was too much for him and soon began looking for a wife. Godwin married four years later to Mary Jane Clairmont. She turned out to be a mean and shallow woman who favored her own two children over Mary and Fanny. Mary was a lively child and was often treated unfairly by her stepmother.
The Essay on Mary Shelley Wollstonecraft
... of her life into the novel. Mary Shelley was born to Mary Wollstonecraft and William Godwin on August 30, 1797. Her mother ... hardship as she struggled to support herself and her child. Mary published four novels after Percy?s death. She also contributed ... that left her father, Godwin, an undemonstrative and self absorbed intellectual to care for both Mary and Fanny Imlay, (Wollsonecraft's daughter ...
She received frequent whippings which led to her rebellion of a girl’s traditional role. As a result of this, Mary kept to herself and was unhappy and alone. Although she didn’t have a formal education, she picked up on the intellectual environment created by her father and his visitors. Mary was quite bright and began reading the writings of her mother around the age of eight. She had memorized every word by the age of ten.
Mary spent many hours at her favorite reading spot, her mother’s grave. Percy Shelley, a poet, was an admirer and friend of William Godwin and spent a great deal of time at the Godwin house. Shelley also admired the writings of Mary’s mother. Mary was impressed by him and their friendship rapidly grew. They were inseparable. Percy was married with his second child on the way but they believed that they should follow their hearts rather than be bound by laws.
Percy and Mary eloped and were married a month before Mary’s seventeenth birthday. Percy was twenty-two. They spent the next few years traveling in Switzerland, Italy, and Germany. During these years, there was a lot of financial difficulty and personal tragedy. After they got married, Percy’s father cut off his allowance which left them broke. Then Mary’s half sister committed suicide and a few weeks later, Percy’s wife drowned herself.
Mary and Percy had three children that died in infancy. They tried to gain custody of Percy’s children by his first wife and were denied. Mary fell into a deep depression that was barely relieved with the birth of her only surviving child, Percy Florence in 1819. Their marriage had also suffered greatly in the middle of this tragedy. Percy formed romantic attachments to other women.
Even in the middle of all these circumstances, Mary and Percy maintained a study schedule. They studied classical and European literature, Greek, Latin, Italian, music, art, and ambitious writing. Mary wrote two of her novels, Frankenstein and Valperga, during this time. The Shelleys were living near Le nci, Italy, on the Gulf of Spezzia in 1822 when Percy drowned in a storm. He was sailing to meet some friends, Leigh and Marianne Hunt. Mary continued to live in Italy for one year before she permanently moved back to England with her only son, Percy Florence.
The Essay on Parating Mary Shelley
... Mary Shelleys life. She heightened her previous infamous life by running off with Percy Bysshe Shelley in 1814 (Patnaik 1). Shelley was only seventeen years ... drowning herself (1). Through these deaths, Mary Shelley reanimated her tragedies in her writings (AuthorWorks 52). She told an ... (1). Before their marriage in 1816, Mary and Percy had two illegitimate children while living together (1). Due to ...
After Percy’s death, Mary’s life was full of hardship and depression as she struggled to take care of herself and her child. Sir Timothy Shelley gave her a very small allowance of money under the condition that she keep the Shelley name out of print. That is why she published all of her works anonymously. When Percy Florence became of age, Sir Timothy Shelley increased Percy’s allowance which allowed Mary and her son travel in Italy and Germany. She was unable to finish her most cherished writing project, a biography of her dead husband, in the last few years of her life due to illness. Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley died in her sleep at age fifty-four in 1851.
BiographyofMary Wollstonecraft Shelley 1797-1851.
