On this day in 1851 Mary Shelley was born, the author who, before turning 19, gave the book world a truly masterpiece hero, Frankenstein’s monster. Romantic, independent and free in spirit and eroticism, Mary Shelley lived an adventurous life, with many events that helped shape her character and writing.

Her father was William Godwin, a philosopher and one of the first anarchists and she was lucky enough to have Mary Wollstonecraft as her mother, who wrote one of the first feminist textbooks, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman. Her mother’s life was short, as she died of a hemorrhage a few days after her daughter was born, thus depriving Mary of the opportunity to live with her dynamic and talented mother, but not the talent genes.

In her life, Mary grew up with different rules, from the rest of the young girls of the time. Her father, as a genuine radical character, could not force her to spend herself in formalities. Her education, as well as the freedoms offered to her, could not be compared to those of other women and to the rules of the time, which wanted women confined to the home.

Her younger years

In 1801, Mary was forced to grow up with her stepmother, Mary-Jane Clermont, with whom their relations were frosty. Her father’s new wife had banned her from school, but this did not prevent Mary from receiving an education from the thousands of books in their home library.

Writing offered her one of the best outlets, and the stories she created showed real talent. At the age of only ten, she published her first poem, from the publishing company her father worked with.

The Percy Shelley chapter

In her father’s circles she met the witty and romantic poet Percy Shelley. Of aristocratic origin but quite philanthropic and opposed to the views of the aristocracy, he is ostracized by his parents. With Mary, the love was mutual and lightning fast. He suggests that they travel together to England and she accepts happily and blinded by love. However, the fact that Percy was married and his wife was pregnant, angered Mary’s father, who never spoke to them again.

The financial distress in England struck them like a bolt from the sky, and they decided to turn back, where they had lost support from everyone. But Mary was pregnant and only seventeen years old. Her first child was lost, and if Shelley hadn’t quickly put her in the tub of cold water to wake her up from the shock of the birth, she too would have been lost.

By Mary’s second pregnancy their financial situation was now good, as Shelley had inherited quite a bit of money. In their new villa they live with their son William, but also Mary’s cousin, who is the companion of Lord Byron, who will be the subject of a leading novel.

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