Mary Shelley Bio

Mary was born on August 30th, 1797 in London, England. Her full name was Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin. Her mother, a famous feminist, died ten days after her birth, but her father, William Godwin, who was both an anarchist and aetheist philosopher, lived on to raise her. While in her childhood, Mary was homeschooled by her father, who gave her a strong education, and also met one Percy Bysshe Shelley, whom she fell in love with. Percy returned her feelings, and they went on a trip to France in 1814. Her father disowned her afterwords. The couple would often spend time reading classic novels and poetry. In May of the year 1816, the couple went to stay at Lake Geneva, as well as to visit a fellow writer, known as Lord Byron. It was here that Mary was first inspired to write a novel, and the group began to have a contest to see who could write the best "ghost/horror" story. Mary went to bed uninspired, but during the course of the night, had a chiling dream in which she beheld "the pale student of unhallowed arts kneeling beside the thing he had put together." This dream served as the inspiration for her famous work, "Frankenstein." In September of 1816, the couple returned to England, and shortly after that, Mary's half sister committed suicide. on December 10th, 1816, Percy's first wife also committed suicide, drowning herself in Hyde Park. After the death of his wife, Percy proposed to Mary, who accepted, and they were able to reconcile with Mary's father, who blessed the marriage. Although the couple had three children, two of them died, leaving them with only one son, known as Percy Florence Shelley. In 1817, Mary finished Frankenstein, which became a gigantic success, and is still commonly read today. The family moved to Italy, where Mary nearly died of a miscarriage. Her husband, Percy, went sailing on the Italian coast. This proved to be fatal, as he was caught at sea in a storm, and died on July 8th, 1822. Mary still produced work, and published many even after Percy's death, but none of them were as successful as Frankenstein. She died February 1st, 1851 due to brain cancer. She is buried in St. Peter's Churchyard in Bournemouth, England.