Introduction Blog

    How did Marriage and Familial Relationships
Influence Frankenstein?   

(3) Mary Shelley and Percy Shelley respectively

Mary and Percy Shelley's Relationship and Marriage

      November of 1812, Mary Shelley met her future husband, Percy Shelley at her home as he possessed an intellectual relationship with her father William Godwin who served as his mentor. Percy entered the mentorship in admiration of Godwin's ideas while Godwin did it as he needed money which Percy could provide as a benefactor (3). 

   

The pair would not begin a relationship until a few years later though because Mary left for Scotland.  When she returned, she was 16 years old, and Percy was already in a marriage with another, Harriet Westbrook. The two would eventually form a close relationship having late night rendezvous to her mother's grave and falling in love as a result. Despite, his previous attachments Percy even begged Mary to reciprocate his feelings or else he would have to kill himself (3). 

       

      Their love was so strong that the couple ran away together to elope when Mary was just 16 and Percy was 21 with attachments to a whole other family (4). They were only able to do so after Percy had paid off Godwin to win is support (3). Shortly, after their elopement, they travel on a honeymoon of across Europe part of the journey was in a boat among the English Channel. The journey was far from smooth sailing as they encountered several storms. Mary Shelley documented her travels in a journal called History of a Six Weeks' Tour. (4) I would propose that this sailing experience served as a basis for Mary Shelley to draw from for her depiction of Walton's journey at the beginning of Frankenstein.

How else did Percy Shelley Influence Frankenstein?

(7) International Race 1851

It was stated that William Godwin did not think Percy to be a good match for his daughter because he was seen as being "irresponsible", "prone to volatile moods", and while he try to act morally, he was also a "selfish" person (3). As seen by his interest in William Godwin's work he can be seen as having a fascination with knowledge (1). These parallels with Victor Frankenstein suggest that Mary Shelley might have modeled him from her husband.

        

Percy Shelley was noted to have simply abandoned his children from his first marriage when he fell in love with Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley similarly to how Victor abandoned Junior (1). Percy Shelley died when he got lost at sea in the Italian coast (1). The circumstances of Percy's death could be seen as influencing Mary Shelley as the circumstances reflect Junior's plans for himself and Walton's exploration. Following Percy's death Mary expresses how she felt alone. This connects to the loneliness that Walton when he is without a friend and that feeling of being alone that Junior expresses (1).

(8) Mary Wollstonecraft

About Mary Wollstonecraft, Mary Shelley's Mother

Mary Wollstonecraft was in advocate for reform while she was alive. Her most famous work was her political piece, A Vindication of the Rights of Women.

The work criticized the role of women at the time like how they were viewed as difficult and unintelligent and possessed no rights (2). Surprisingly, her husband William Godwin also had radical beliefs of women, making both Mary Wollstonecraft and Godwin against marriage because of how it made women into possessions, but they got married for the legitimacy of Mary's daughter from a previous relationship, Fanny (1).

(7) Henry Fuesli painting: The Nightmare

How did Mary Wollstonecraft Influence Frankenstein?

Mary Wollstonecraft died shortly after she gave birth to Mary Shelley because of poor sanitation practices that had been used (1).  Her absence from Mary Shelley's life is represented in the lack of a female presence in Frankenstein, as it could be argued that she didn't have the experience to be able to write about this area with great accuracy. 

       Mary Shelley was also influenced by the affair that her mother had with the painter Henry Fuseli. This connection gave Mary Shelley a reason to study his work and the subject matter of his painting, The Nightmare served as inspiration to Frankenstein. Mary was privy to her Henry Fuesli because her father was very open about the affair following Wollstonecraft's death (1). Wollstonecraft was also another influence of the idea of abandonment in the novel because her lover Gilbert Imlay abandoned her and their daughter Fanny (1).

(9) Portrait of an older William Godwin

Beliefs of William Godwin, Mary Shelley's Father

William Godwin was the founder of philosophical anarchism (2). Philosophical anarchism was the idea that there could be productive conversation that individuals could engage in of their own free will and free from governing bodies (5). One of his best-known works was Enquiry Concerning Political Justice, and its Influence on Genral Virtue and Happiness which summed up Edward Burke's own ideas about government.

How William Godwin influenced Frankenstein?

Following the death of his wife, Mary Wollstonecraft, Godwin had to take on the role of educator for his children. The thing that the taught the heaviest was impassive philosophies (1). I think that Victor's own education may be reflective of some of what Mary learned from her father. For instance, Victor's studying of natural philosophy is what leads him down the path to creating Junior. Godwin was said to be detached, distant, and neglectful which connects to the character of Victor Frankenstein's father Alphonse Frankenstein (1). 

        After Wollstonecraft's death, Godwin remarried a woman named Mary-Jane Clairmont and taking on her illegitimate children Charles and Jane (who would change her name to Claire). There was a lot of friction between Mary Shelley and her stepmother and stepsister. The overall climate of the household could have influenced the familial relationships that we see in Frankenstein (1). 

Godwin wrote a novel called The Adventures of Caleb Williams, which tells the story of two men in a pursuit of one another (1). If Mary was familiar with the book that might explain the chase of Victor and Junior in Frankenstein. Godwin's book also contained the concept of wrongful conviction which is echoed by Justine in Frankenstein (1). 

In her youth, Mary was noted with possessing a God like conception of her father, therefore the ego of being a god in Frankenstein could be born of Mary's own ego and the experiences that she faced from this preconception (1). Godwin's notions also served as inspiration for Victor Frankenstein's violation of life and death (1).

Works Cited

(1) Baumann, Rebecca, and Jody Mitchell. Frankenstein 200 : The Birth, Life, and Resurrection of Mary Shelley's Monster. Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana UP, The Lilly Library, 2018. Web.
(2) "Mary Wollstonecraft." Biography, 27 Feb. 2018, www.biography.com/scholar/mary-wollstonecraft.(3) Pearson, J. "Biography of Mary Shelley, English Novelist, Author of 'Frankenstein'." ThoughtCo, 20 Feb. 2020, www.thoughtco.com/biography-of-mary-shelley-frankenstein-4795802.
(4) Sampson, F. "The Treacherous Start to Mary and Percy Shelley’s Marriage." Literary Hub, 3 Apr. 2019, lithub.com/the-treacherous-start-to-mary-and-percy-shelleys-marriage/.
(5) Simmons, A. J. "Philosophical Anarchism (Chapter 6) - Justification and Legitimacy." Cambridge Core, 5 June 2012, www.cambridge.org/core/books/abs/justification-and- legitimacy/philosophical- anarchism/D0AF206440484138D4A546B679D4A011.

Images

6) Bennett, Richard. "Survival storm conditions in the infamous 1998 Sydney-Hobart Race." Photograph. Sailing Magazine, 1998, www.sailmagazine.com/cruising/storm-sails-do-you-need- them.

(7) Lane, Fitz H. "The Yacht "America" Winning International Race." Painting. Quartz, Quartz Media Inc., 1851, qz.com/1193455/the-speed-of-europes-18th-century-sailing- ships-is-revamping- historians-view-of-the-industrial-revolution/.

(8) "Portrait of Mary Wollstonecraft " Photograph. Thought Co, 2 June 2019, www.thoughtco.com/mary-wollstonecraft-early-years-3530791.


(9) "Portrait of William Godwin." Photograph. Famous People, www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/william-godwin-3377.php.


(3) "Portraits of Mary Shelley and Percy Bysshe Shelley." Photograph. Literary Hub, 31 May 2018, lithub.com/the-treacherous-start-to-mary-and-percy-shelleys-marriage/.