Biography of Mary Shelley

By Regan, Cece, and Marinn

Mary Shelley’s Parents

• Mary Wollstonecraft and William Godwin were her parents. They were both authors.• Mary Wollstonecraft unsuccessfully attempted suicide twice.• Mother died after Mary’s birth and left William with two daughters, Mary and her other

daughter from a previous marriage. • Mary Shelly soon became William’s favorite child. • After Mary Wollstonecraft died, William Godwin collected her papers, and began writing the

story of her life.• William married again. His new wife, Mary Jane Clairmont, had two children.• Mary Shelly’s stepmother was not who she said she was, her real name was Mary Jane Vial,

and she was a spinster.• Mary’s stepmother took away her privacy and her privileges to see her father. • Mary’s stepmother favored her own children and Mary felt alone and unhappy• Mary Shelly found comfort in reading and writing.

Overall, Mary Shelly’s life was not all that great growing up. Her mother passed away soon after Mary Shelly was born, and her stepmother hated her.

Percy and Mary Shelley•Mary and Percy met when she was fourteen•They fell in love when they met again, two years later•Percy was already married and his wife was expecting a second child.•In 1814, they eloped and traveled across Switzerland, Germany, and Italy.•While they were traveling, Percy’s father cut him off, Mary’s half sister, Franny, committed suicide, and Percy’s wife, Harriet, drowned herself.•Percy and Mary married in London to try to gain custody of Percy’s children, but custody was denied.•The three children they had so far died in infancy, and Mary fell into a depression.• Her depression was lifted by their fourth and only surviving child, Percy Florence.•Percy and Mary’s marriage suffered as their children died, and Percy began to have affairs with other women.•Percy drowned sailing to their friend’s house in 1822.•Mary Shelley never remarried.

How Mary Got the Idea for Frankenstein

• In 1815, Mary Shelley had a dream that her first baby girl, one who died three days after her birth, came back to life. She recorded the incident in her journal for further reference, thinking it inspiration for a story... dead things coming to life!

• On a rainy evening in June 1816, the household gathered to read a collection of German ghost stories by fire light.

• Lord Bryon, a visitor, suggested that they each write their own horror story; everyone agreed.

• Lord Bryon, Percy, and Claire Clairmont A.K.A. Jane, read their stories the next night, but Mary hadn’t come up with an idea yet.

• A few nights later, Byron and Percy were talking about a scientist who successfully made a piece of a piece of a vermicello (a type of food) move voluntarily. Mary overheard the conversation. It was then that she came up with the idea for Frankenstein. The next night, Mary began writing...

• While she was writing the book, Mary lost another child and was pregnant twice. Her child born in 1816 died the year after Frankenstein was published (1818.) During this time, her half-sister, Fanny Imlay-Godwin, and Percy’s wife, Harriet Shelley, both committed suicide.

Motivation for Frankenstein

• At the time, Mary's first baby had been born prematurely and had died. This gave her many anxieties about motherhood, and she was frustrated about her inability to give life. This led her to want to write a book about a scientist who gives life using unnatural methods, (no women needed.)

• She wanted to write a fabulous horror story that would scare her friends Percy Shelley, Clair Clairmont, and George Gordon, A.K.A. Lord Byron.

The End