Background to Mary Shelley’s
Frankenstein
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Gothic Literature
 part of the Romantic period in England (1798-1832)
 prominent features include:
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terror
mysterious events
the supernatural
ghosts
gloomy, remote settings
haunted buildings
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castles
chains & trap doors
doom
death & decay
madness
curses
 meant to show the dark side of human nature and evoke terror in readers
 common themes: characters’ inner emotional lives
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the struggle between good and evil
“Gothic” is a reference to the barbaric Gothic tribes of the Middle Ages, or to medieval
times in general with its castles, knights, and adventure
Author’s Biography
 Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley was born in 1797 to William Godwin and Mary
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Wollstonecraft, two distinguished English writers of the time
Shelley’s mother died shortly after giving birth, and Shelley was raised by her father
and her stepmother Mary Jane Clairmont (she and Shelley did not get along).
Shelley’s father was always emotionally cool and distant, but he encouraged her
intellect and considered her to be a very talented writer like himself.
As a child Shelley was bookish and disciplined, and she enjoyed listening to her father
and his literary friends read their works.
At age 17, she met 19 year old Percy Shelley, a hot-headed, eloquent Romantic poet
who was a disciple to her father.
Percy and Mary became romantically involved, and although Percy was already
married, he and Mary eloped to travel Europe together.
Percy’s pregnant wife drowned herself, and he and Mary were legally married a few
weeks later (this was obviously a very controversial relationship).
Mary and Percy had four children, but only one child survived past the age of 3.
On their second trip around Europe in 1816, Mary and Percy spent a dreary summer in
Switzerland with well-known writers like Lord Byron. It was here that Mary thought up
and wrote Frankenstein (she was only 19 years old!). Percy helped her edit the novel.
Frankenstein was first published in 1818 (anonymously) and was a universal success
The 1831 revised edition was more popular and is what we read today
Percy died at sea in 1822, meaning that at 23, Mary had lost her mother, 3 children,
and her husband.
She continued to write and lived with her only surviving child, Percy Florence, until her
death in 1851 at age 54.