Mary Shelley’s Early Life
Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, born in 1797, was an English novelist and the wife of Romantic poet and philosopher Percy Bysshe Shelley. Best known for her Gothic masterpiece Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus, her path was thorny, lined with milestones of struggles, loss, and triumphs that left an indelible mark on the literary world.
Born into a family of radical thinkers, Mary was the second child of the feminist philosopher Mary Wollstonecraft and the political philosopher and novelist William Godwin. Tragedy struck early, as her mother died just eleven days after Mary’s birth, leaving her father to raise her and her half-sister Fanny Imlay, Wollstonecraft’s illegitimate daughter.
Mary’s relationship with her stepmother, Mary Jane Clairmont, was strained, as the latter reportedly favoured her own children—a son by Godwin and two illegitimate offspring from her previous life. Despite this, Mary grew close to her stepsister, Claire Clairmont.
The household was a busy one, with five children growing up under the influence of Godwin’s anarchist philosophy. He encouraged their intellectual development with wide reading and daily lectures. However, financial troubles overshadowed the family, as Godwin’s ventures in children’s publishing, games, and stationery often left him burdened with debt.
“But success SHALL crown my endeavours. Wherefore not? Thus far I have gone, tracing a secure way over the pathless seas, the very stars themselves being witnesses and testimonies of my triumph. Why not still proceed over the untamed yet obedient element? What can stop the determined heart and resolved will of man?” —Mary Shelly; Frankenstein
Her Only Love, Percy Bysshe Shelley
When Mary’s father did not know where to turn, a radical poet from an aristocratic family, Percy Bysshe Shelley, came onto the scene, offering a potential solution to Godwin’s financial woes. However, Shelley’s family vehemently opposed his intention to donate money to any “political justice,” leaving Godwin feeling betrayed.
Meanwhile, Percy and the 16-year-old Mary began meeting in secret at her mother’s grave in St Pancras Old Church, where their relationship first became intimate. At the time, 21-year-old Shelley was married to Harriet Westbrook, with whom he had a daughter, though their marriage had become strained.
When Godwin discovered their affair, he forbade Mary from seeing Shelley, further frustrated by Shelley’s inability to rescue the family from its financial struggles. Unwilling to be separated, the couple eloped to France on 28 July 1814, taking Mary’s stepsister Claire Clairmont with them. Before leaving, Shelley secured a £3,000 loan, leaving most of it to Godwin and his wife Harriet, who was pregnant with their second child.
The stepmother followed them to Calais, where the trio convinced her that they did not wish to return. They travelled through a France ravaged by war, eventually reaching Switzerland. However, the romanticism of their escape soon gave way to harsh realities, and by September, they were forced to return to England penniless.
With Empty Pockets
Mary was faced with a series of unpleasant surprises after their return. First, she discovered that she was pregnant, and soon after, her father refused to have anything more to do with her. The trio remained together, surviving through a routine of reading and writing, with the support of Percy’s friends, such as Thomas Jefferson Hogg and Thomas Love Peacock.
Constantly plagued by illness, stress, and the looming fear of debtors, Mary found herself burdened with even more concerns. Percy’s wife, Harriet, had given birth to his first son, while Percy was involved in an affair with Mary’s stepsister, Claire. Mary, despite her belief in the principles of free love, could not bring herself to accept this, though she was in a relationship with Thomas Hogg, an affair which Percy openly supported.
In February 1815, Mary gave birth to a premature daughter, who did not survive more than two weeks. In her grief, she sought solace in the company of Hogg, to whom she confided in a letter. The loss of her child deepened Mary’s depression, and she became haunted by hallucinations of the baby. Yet, by summer, she began to recover. The death of Percy’s grandfather improved their financial situation, and by January 1816, Mary gave birth to a son, William.
First Novel
In May of the same year, the couple, along with their child and Claire, travelled to Geneva to spend the summer with poet Lord Byron, whose recent affair with Claire had left her pregnant. There, by the shores of Lake Geneva at Byron’s villa, Mary found the inspiration for her first and most famous novel, Frankenstein, which she began working on, greatly encouraged by her partner, Percy. She later described that summer in Switzerland as the moment “when I first stepped out from childhood into life.”
In September, they moved on, hoping to keep Claire’s pregnancy a secret. But the autumn brought news from Mary’s half-sister, Fanny Imlay, whose unhappy life had prompted her to reach out. A few days later, Fanny was found dead, with a suicide note and a laudanum bottle beside her. Then, in December of the same year, Harriet, Percy’s wife, drowned herself in the Serpentine, a lake in Hyde Park, London.
On 30 December 1816, Percy and Mary married, following the advice of a lawyer, in order to gain custody of Harriet’s two children. The marriage also served to heal the rift within the family, as William Godwin’s approval was required, since Mary had not yet turned twenty-one. However, the court ruled that Percy Shelley was morally unfit to assume custody of his children, and they were placed with a clergyman’s family. Meanwhile, in January 1817, Claire gave birth to a girl, Allegra, and Mary followed suit in September, also giving birth to a daughter, Clara.
In the summer of the same year, Mary completed Frankenstein, which was anonymously published in January 1818. Reviewers initially assumed that Percy Shelley was the author. It wasn’t until the second edition, published in Paris in 1821, that her name appeared in print.
The Shadows in Paradise
In March, the couple took their children and, together with Claire and her baby girl, fled to Italy with no intention of returning, driven by the threat of debtor’s prison, their ill health, and the fear of losing custody of their children.
Claire sought out Lord Byron, but he rejected her. She insisted that he at least take care of their daughter, Allegra, a decision she later deeply regretted. The child was sent to a Capuchin convent in Bagnacavallo, where she was never seen by either parent again and died of fever at the age of five.
The Shelleys continued their roving existence, never settling in one place for long, devoting themselves to writing, reading, learning, sightseeing, and socialising. However, their adventurous lifestyle came at a high cost, as they lost both of their children—Clara in September 1818 in Venice, and William in June 1819 in Rome. Mary, isolated from Percy, sought solace in writing, until the birth of her fourth child, Percy Florence, on 12 November 1819, which lifted her spirits. Yet, she carried the memory of her lost children with her for the rest of her life.
Despite the personal tragedies she endured, Italy became, for Mary Shelley, “a country which memory painted as paradise.” The Italian years were a period of intense intellectual and creative activity for both Shelleys. Mary wrote her historical novel Valperga, as well as the plays Proserpine and Midas, alongside her novel Matilda, which explored themes of suicide and incest.
But Mary Shelly faced even more difficult times.
She miscarried in June 1822 and nearly died, saved only by Percy, who placed her in an ice bath to staunch the bleeding. This did not deter him from meeting other women, while Mary fell into depression, consumed by jealousy—an emotion she could never quell through logic or the principles of free love.
Percy’s death a month later did little to alleviate her suffering. Percy’s death a month later did not alleviate her suffering at all. It only intensified her grief, as she was left to navigate life without the person who had been both a source of inspiration and turmoil.
This, however, marked only the end of one stage in Mary Shelley’s life. The rest of her story, along with my reflections, will be revealed in the next post.
Thank you for reading so far. I hope you’ve learned something new about this incredible woman.
Yours Truly,
Nathaniel Wonderful
Sources:
Wikipedia, Britannica
Author
nathanielwonderful@gmail.com
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