Frankenstein: A Revelation of Mary Shelley's Life

            Mary Shelley was born to the great writers, William Godwin and Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin, which most likely gave her an innate skill for literature. She did indeed justify this assumption by releasing her book Frankenstein to the public. The novel Frankenstein was praised for its revelation on human nature such as unjust society, danger of knowledge, birth and creation and the overreacher. Some might wonder how a young woman could come up with such themes that still mystify and surprise readers. Fortunately, I believe I have the answer. A look into Mary Shelley’s life raises a great deal of connections between her and her famous novel.

                Mary Shelley’s birth serves as a connection to the theme of birth and creation. Mary Shelley’s mother died 11 days after the birth of Mary leaving her to lose an important female parental figure. Therefore, Mary Shelley seems to emphasize the significant role of women in the process of birth and creation. She reveals her admiration for a female parental figure when she describes Victor’s mother. Victor states that “my mother’s tender caresses and my father’s smile of benevolent nature pleasured while regarding, are my first recollections” (29). The admiring tone and diction of “my mother’s tender caresses” reflects Mary’s nostalgic emotions toward motherhood and quite possibly a yearning for a mother’s love (29). Also, she further romanticizes the role of a mother by depicting the death of Victor’s mother as pure and angelic. She states that Victor’s mom “died calmly and her countenance expressed affection even in death” (38). Maybe Shelley was imagining her own mother’s death which led her to incorporate an angelic tone in the depiction. Also, Shelley must have wanted to imagine her mother as a beautiful creature and not a woman who died so tragically. Shelley’s feelings towards her mother’s death is also portrayed in Victor’s quote “It is so long before the mind can persuade itself that she, whom we saw every day, and whose very existence appeared a part of our own, can have departed for ever -- that the brightness of beloved eye can have been extinguished, and the sound of a voice so familiar, and dear to the ear, can be hushed, never more to be heard” (39).  This quote is embodied with such passionate emotions of grief and sadness which most likely infers that Shelley was sharing her intimate feelings.

                Another vital person in Shelley’s life is her husband Percy Shelley who depicts the theme, overreacher. Here’s a brief story: Mary and Percy Shelley fell in love in 1814 despite the fact that Percy was already married. They went through great adversities such as estrangements from both parents, miscarriages, and the suicides of their loved ones. Anyhow, Percy is incorporated in the novel due to the fact that he is an overreacher. Percy first showed these tendencies when he secretly published a writing on atheism. In his writing, he berated God which was extremely radical in 19^th century England. What is ironic is that Mary implies in her novel that Victor’s attempt to play God is misguided when her own husband is condescending toward God. Most importantly, the death of Percy hints the consequences of being an overreacher. Percy drowned when his boat sunk during a storm which is coincidentally similar to Walton’s voyage. Percy was traveling to meet a fellow writer in order to establish a radical magazine which reflects his overbearing dreams and selfish tendencies as well.(He left Mary when she had just suffered a miscarriage) This strongly connects to Walton again since Walton abandons his family for a journey “to unexplored regions” (18). Finally, Mary reiterates her point by presenting herself as Margaret Saville in the hopes of cautioning readers of this theme. For instance, she states as Margaret that Walton’s enterprise is of “evil forebodings”.

            One must admit that Shelley has brilliantly incorporated herself in the novel in such a surreptitious way. Yet, the fact that Shelley’s life is reflected in this book is a sad reminder that she did not have a happy ending after all.