English writer Shelley Mary: biography, creativity, personal life

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Everyone has probably heard of Frankenstein. But who invented it, not many people know. We will talk about the British writer of the early nineteenth century - Mary Shelley (a biography and interesting facts from her life are waiting for you below). It turns out that it was she who created this mystical creepy image, which is now so mercilessly exploited by the creators of horror films.

What is Mary Shelley famous for?

This beautiful graceful woman became famous not only for her creativity and world-famous novel, but also for interesting and complex turns in her life path.

Young Mary at the age of 18, in a dispute with George Byron and her husband, created the world's first gothic novel. This is what she became famous for, because, in fact, the girl introduced a new genre into literature.

Now many people associate the name of Frankenstein with horror films. Few people know that the image of the creepy creature created by the mad scientist was not invented by the "filmmakers", but by this beautiful spiritual lady - Mary Shelley. Photos of her portraits can be found in the materialsarticles.

But not only creativity is known to Shelly. For connoisseurs of romantic poetry, her surname will surely remind the famous British romantic poet, friend of George Byron - Percy Bysshe Shelley, with whom, according to all the canons of romanticism, the young beauty ran away from her father's house.

Mary Shelley: biography, summary. Childhood

The writer was born in the right place for the future queen of the gothic novel - in the capital of foggy Albion, London.

Her full name is Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin. Thanks to her husband and the only beloved man, the poet Percy Shelley, she began to be called Mary Shelley. The years of the life of the writer - 1797-1851.

The girl was born into the family of the then-famous feminist Mary Wollstonecraft and William Godwin, a journalist famous for his anarchist and atheistic views. The mother of the future writer died after a difficult birth complicated by an infection, leaving the newborn Mary and two-year-old Fanny (her daughter from a previous love affair) to an orphaned father.

The father, though grieving over the death of his beloved wife, soon married again with his neighbor, the widow Mrs. Clermont, who had two children of her own. The eldest daughter, Claire Clermont, became Mary's friend and even fled with her and her lover to France, and then to Switzerland, where she began to annoy the couple with her ex altation and obsession.

Despite the fact that education for girls at that time was considered completely superfluous, Mary's father gave her a decent knowledge base at home and helped his daughterlearn.

Shelly Mary. Love and Escape

When the girl was sixteen years old, she met the young poet Percy Shelley. According to biographers, he once came to the Godwin family shop with his wife Harriet. There he saw Mary and, it seems, was fascinated by the girl from the first meeting, because he began to appear more and more often there, but already without his wife. Shelley's marriage was already in shambles, although three years earlier he had dropped everything and fled with Harriet to France. He also took sixteen-year-old Mary, who was madly in love with him, from his native home there. A few weeks later, the lovers, but completely impoverished romantics returned to the father of the future founder of the Gothic novel. But, to the surprise and chagrin of both, he was very hurt by his daughter's act and said that he no longer wanted to see her.

Now the family must be fully provided by Shelley. Mary madly loved her named husband and did not grieve at all about life in her father's house. Although attempts to improve relations with her father were made by her in the future.

The romantic poet and the future writer at first perfectly understood and complemented each other. But over time, they began to disagree. Percy, while proclaiming pure, radiant love in his poetry, was actually quite frivolous about marital fidelity, which shocked and offended Shelley Mary. Nevertheless, she retained love and devotion to her husband for life.

Maturity and family

Behind the romantic youth came the time of bitter maturity for the writer. Her named husband could not become herofficial spouse, since he was not divorced from Harriet. The poet was forced to provide for the children and his ex-wife, plus himself and Mary Shelley. Children in their relationship were born and died, which hurt the young woman madly. Only the writer's fourth son, Percy Florence, survived and saved his mother from despair.

In 1817, Shelley's wife Harriet drowned in a pond. Mary and Percy wanted to shelter her children, but the public did not allow the poet, fanned by dirty rumors, to do this.

Mary's sister, Fanny, committed suicide. At 19, Shelley Mary has seen enough to know what despair, pain, rejection and spiritual loneliness are. These are the feelings she instilled in her monster character in the novel.

Creativity

Mary Shelley, born into a family of talented and free-thinking parents, probably could not have chosen a different path. In her memoirs, she often confessed that since childhood she had been “soiling the paper” with different stories. Before the novel "Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus" she wrote a lot. Among her early works, an unfinished novel called "Hatred" should be highlighted.

Young Mary Shelley (her biography is summarized above) entertained her husband with her essays, but many researchers believe that Percy was unfavorable to his wife's more serious steps in literature. Perhaps he was afraid that Mary could outshine him with her success.

Friendship with Byron

As you know, Percy Shelley was a close friend of George Byron.

Mary's half-sister, Claire, wasrecklessly in love with the young lord, who was destined to become the founder of romanticism, and literally pursued him. The poet, not distinguished by the purity of morals, soon responded to the advances of the persistent girl, and they became lovers. Soon, this couple had a girl - Allegra, whose fate, due to the extravagance and windiness of her parents, turned out to be tragic.

The story of the creation of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, and such an early and unpredictable death of Percy (he died when he overtook George Byron's Ariel yacht) at the age of 29 are connected with Byron.

The story of the creation of the novel "Frankenstein, or Modern Prometheus"

When love-seekers Mary and Percy moved to Switzerland, Byron happened to be their neighbor. In the long rainy evenings by the fireplace, friends told each other scary stories. One day they decided to compete in writing creepy stories. As a result of the dispute, Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein" appeared. The date of "birth" of the work is approximately 1818.

"Frankenstein, or Modern Prometheus". What is the novel about?

Frankenstein has become the flagship of the gothic and fantasy novel genre. In 1818, the work was published anonymously. Only in 1831 did the creator give him her name.

So who is this Frankenstein whose name has erroneously become a household name for a terrible monster, and whose image has inspired talented people to create many fantastic films?

Actually, Frankenstein is not the monster itself, but its creator.

Somehow a scientist-the metaphysician Victor with the surname already known to us performed a very complex and dangerous experiment. He aspired to study the most hidden corners of science. Once he managed to discover the secret of life and death. Knowledge gave him the ability to revive a dead body. In anticipation of a brilliant discovery, he did it and got a result that horrified him. The creature he created seemed so creepy to the scientist that he fled from his laboratory and from the city.

The plot of the main work of Mary Shelley

The story begins from the moment when the explorer and gold digger W alton goes to the North Pole. On the way, he finds a man emaciated and on the verge of insanity. On the ship, he talks about his terrible experiment.

He was able to create and revive the giant, but was so scared that he abandoned it in the laboratory and fled. After some time, Victor learned about the death of his younger brother. William was brutally murdered. And even though the maid Justine was declared his killer, Frankenstein knew who was really to blame. His guess was confirmed when he returned home and found his monster there.

And so there was a meeting between the creator and the subject of his experiments. The creature said that for a long time he lived in the barn of one man and learned to speak there. The monster was insanely lonely and wanted to befriend a blind old man. But the old man's children beat him severely, mocking at the terrible sight. Rushing about in despair, the monster found Victor's diary, from which he learned about the history of his creation.

After a long conversation, the monsterasked me to create a girlfriend for him. They left for a remote island, where Victor set to work. When the new creation was almost created, he suddenly realized the danger of this union of two beings and destroyed the "bride". The enraged monster ran away and killed Frankenstein's close friend Anri.

Victor returned home and married his first love, Elizabeth. On her wedding night, a monster entered her bedroom and killed her. Victor's father died from the blow he received. So overnight the whole family of the scientist died. Frankenstein vowed to kill the monster and chased him to the North Pole. The monster disappeared, and W alton found Victor. Shocked by the story, the explorer turned his ship back. Along the way, Victor died, and on his ship the explorer found the monster itself. The monster admitted that he was remorseful and wanted to commit suicide. With this oath on his lips, he fled the ship.

The place of the novel "Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus" in world literature

As we have already said, the work was the first in its genre. Just as Poe created the detective genre, so Mary Shelley wrote the world's first gothic novel. Her work made a splash in a small company consisting of the poets Byron and Shelley. The novel, moreover, had a fairly serious success almost immediately after publication. And to this day, it has not lost its literary and historical value.

Writing in a completely new way, Mary Shelley, whose husband and children were her inspiration, created her novel on a bet. And as a result, heput her on a par with the great novelists of world literature.

Frankenstein owes its success to the masterfully written images of a brilliant scientist who was able to create something great, but did not find the strength to answer for his creation, and a monster who, despite his terrible appearance and bloodied hands, strives to to people, wants to become a friend and lover. The monster understands that humanity will not accept him, because he is completely different. His atrocities are an outpouring of pain and suffering, a silent reproach to the creator who treated him so cruelly.

The writer leaves the end of the work open, gives readers a chance to think for themselves what will happen to the creepy, useless creature. The Creator died, but his deeds will live on in the monster, who also knows how to suffer and be sad and is looking for a place in the human world.

In conclusion

English writer Mary Shelley lived a life full of sorrows and anxieties. But she managed to keep a bright pure soul and faith in love. It was love that was the purpose of her life. In the name of the love of art, Mary also created her amazing novel about Frankenstein and his monster, which is still a pleasure to read and study.

Mary was a worthy wife of a great writer and a talented author.