Personal Influences on Mary Shelley Creation
Personal influences on mary shelley’s conception of ‘frankenstein’
“It is not singular that, as the daughter of two persons of distinguished literary celebrity, I should very early in life have thought of writing”. In order to better understand the intentions and conception of Mary Shelley during the creation of her Masterpiece, one should take a closer look at her life and people who surrounded her. Much of the influence had come from her parentage, her husband and close friends. It is them, from whom she gained the most intellectual curiosities and beliefs, and that, one must be aware of, were very distant from traditional viewpoints and commonly accepted behaviours of her times. This chapter is meant to highlight the fact that “Frankenstein” is at most an obvious culmination of the influences on the author’s life and at the same time a window through which one may see the mind of a young woman being far beyond the world surrounding her. The most important people in Mary Shelley’s life were: her mother – Mary Wollstonecraft, father – William Godwin, the husband – Percy Shelley, Samuel Taylor Coleridge and Lord Byron.
Mary Wollstonecraft
Along with Godwin, Mary Wollstonecraft believed that through their writings they could change the world, or at least reform the society by the power of reasoned argument. Mary Wollstonecraft, born in 1759 died in 1797, shortly after giving birth to her daughter. She was the author of “A Vindication of the Rights of Women” (1792), where she made the case that male superiority was only physical and that any inferiority was the result of a false system of education which viewed females rather as women than as human creatures and encouraged ignorance and superficiality. Her treatise made Mary Wollstonecraft the most intense advocate for the education and developments of female capacities. After her death, William published an account of her life and writings. They contained some personal histories about Mary’s platonic
“It is not singular that, as the daughter of two persons of distinguished literary celebrity, I should very early in life have thought of writing”. In order to better understand the intentions and conception of Mary Shelley during the creation of her Masterpiece, one should take a closer look at her life and people who surrounded her. Much of the influence had come from her parentage, her husband and close friends. It is them, from whom she gained the most intellectual curiosities and beliefs, and that, one must be aware of, were very distant from traditional viewpoints and commonly accepted behaviours of her times. This chapter is meant to highlight the fact that “Frankenstein” is at most an obvious culmination of the influences on the author’s life and at the same time a window through which one may see the mind of a young woman being far beyond the world surrounding her. The most important people in Mary Shelley’s life were: her mother – Mary Wollstonecraft, father – William Godwin, the husband – Percy Shelley, Samuel Taylor Coleridge and Lord Byron.
Mary Wollstonecraft
Along with Godwin, Mary Wollstonecraft believed that through their writings they could change the world, or at least reform the society by the power of reasoned argument. Mary Wollstonecraft, born in 1759 died in 1797, shortly after giving birth to her daughter. She was the author of “A Vindication of the Rights of Women” (1792), where she made the case that male superiority was only physical and that any inferiority was the result of a false system of education which viewed females rather as women than as human creatures and encouraged ignorance and superficiality. Her treatise made Mary Wollstonecraft the most intense advocate for the education and developments of female capacities. After her death, William published an account of her life and writings. They contained some personal histories about Mary’s platonic