Mary Shelley’s Past Experience In Her Novel "Frankenstein"
Many of Mary Shelley’s life’s struggles appear subtly throughout the novel Frankenstein. Some of her early difficulties include her mother passing away after giving birth. Facing mistreatment from her stepmother for not being one of her own and later in life losing her much-loved husband. Throughout these events, she maintained a solid relationship with her father, but this would not make up for the lack of a maternal figure. These and many other events that take place in the novel leads one to question whether Frankenstein was influenced by the conflicts Mary faced in her own personal life. Sadly, for Shelley, she never really knew her mother who died shortly after her birth. Her father William Godwin was left to care for Shelley and her older half-sister Fanny Imlay. Imlay was Wollstonecraft's daughter from an affair she had with a soldier. (Latson, Jennifer). Godwin would begin to blame himself for the cause of her death and question his ability to take care of a child on his own.
A few years after Wollstonecraft’s passing, Godwin would go on to remarry. Shelley would now have a stepmother and two stepsisters. Godwin figured it would be a positive development to get remarried to support his daughter. Unfortunately, this would end up having the opposite effect as Mary’s stepmother already had two daughters and she would not accept her as her own. Which in turn would often leave Mary to feel overlooked.
Many of Mary’s conversations with her stepmother were often very hostile. This due to her resentment towards Mary for the connection she had with her father. Harriet believed Mary received the most attention from Godwin than anyone else. Unable to get along with her stepmother, Mary often visited her mother’s gravesite. Throughout her visits she would often read her mother’s journals and create her own writings. Although her education was limited, she learned many things from her father and those who visited their home. “Some of their visitors included Samuel Taylor Coleridge and Percy Bysshe Shelley, Mary’s soon to be husband. Percy praised her father’s views and even spent a night at their home. ” (Mary Shelley). Although these encounters at their home weren’t the only the times they saw each other. They initially met at her mother’s gravesite and the two became attached to each other, but neither acted on their passion.
This was primarily due to the fact that Percy was married and Mary was only fourteen at the time. Twenty-one-year-old Percy would eventually run off with Mary to be married. Percy would leave his impregnate wife with a child and the couple would leave behind their homes in Holborn and head towards Switzerland. They would spend time traveling all over Europe for months after the wedding. Mary would also give birth to a child during this time. Sadly, a few weeks later the child would die. Mary would miscarry five children after this. The two would attend many parties where there were games that would challenge their intellectual minds. A particular party hosted by Lord Byron would result in the creation of Frankenstein. During a stormy night, the attendees decided it would be exciting for everyone to create a terrifying story. This is when Mary would come up with the idea of a scientist creating a human being without the help of God. Mary’s fascination of creating a story that involved an artificial life did not end at this gathering, rather she would continue the project at home. Many have debated how Mary came to the idea of writing about this particular topic. It can be said that artificial life was a popular subject at the time and this helped her develop the idea. But one can also come to the conclusion that Mary decided to write Frankenstein to drive out her own nostalgic thoughts. Shelley expressed her opinions on artificial life, but also added some of her own personal experiences and characteristics.
Throughout the story, Mary expresses her feelings for her biological mother. Shelley always felt responsible for her “killing” her mother. It can be said that Shelley compares herself to the monster for killing its creator. It also can’t be denied that Mary and the monster share many of the same characteristics. After Frankenstein is let loose, he educates himself to read and function in society, similar to the way Mary was brought up. The manner in which the monster is perceived by society is another similarity to Mary’s personal experiences. After her father remarried, she felt alienated from the family as her stepmother neglected her for her two other children. Throughout the story, the monster constantly seeks companionship. One could make the argument that this reflects Shelley’s decision to pursue marriage so early in life.
To conclude, Mary’s ability utilizes all these past experiences to express her feelings through writing is very admirable. Major life events such as her mother’s death is used create a monster that kills it creator. Her stepmother’s jealousy and hate is expressed through the monster’s feeling of being alienated from the world. Lastly, her companionship with her husband to give reason for why the monster so desperately seeks friendship. All these hardships combined allowed her to create a story that will be remembered for years to come.
