Mary Shelley (1797-1851) wrote a spooky story that has stood the test of time. A character from her book is still an iconic Halloween costume. At only eighteen years of age, this Womanican began writing her most famous work: “Frankenstein.”
Mary Shelley (1797-1851) wrote a spooky story that has stood the test of time. A character from her book is still an iconic Halloween costume. At only eighteen years of age, this Womanican began writing her most famous work: “Frankenstein.”
History classes can get a bad rap, and sometimes for good reason. When we were students, we couldn’t help wondering... where were all the ladies at? Why were so many incredible stories missing from the typical curriculum? Enter, Womanica. On this Wonder Media Network podcast we explore the lives of inspiring women in history you may not know about, but definitely should.
Every weekday, listeners explore the trials, tragedies, and triumphs of groundbreaking women throughout history who have dramatically shaped the world around us. In each 5 minute episode, we’ll dive into the story behind one woman listeners may or may not know–but definitely should. These diverse women from across space and time are grouped into easily accessible and engaging monthly themes like Educators, Villains, Indigenous Storytellers, Activists, and many more. Womanica is hosted by WMN co-founder and award-winning journalist Jenny Kaplan. The bite-sized episodes pack painstakingly researched content into fun, entertaining, and addictive daily adventures.
Womanica was created by Liz Kaplan and Jenny Kaplan, executive produced by Jenny Kaplan, and produced by Liz Smith, Grace Lynch, Maddy Foley, Brittany Martinez, Edie Allard, Lindsey Kratochwill, Adesuwa Agbonile, Carmen Borca-Carrillo, Taylor Williamson, and Ale Tejeda. Special thanks to Shira Atkins.
Original theme music composed by Miles Moran.
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Hello! From Wonder Media Network, I’m Luvvie Ajayi Jones. I’m a NYT Best Selling author and host of the podcast Professional Troublemaker. I’m so excited to be your guest host for this month of Womanica!
This month we’re highlighting Prodigies: women who achieved greatness at a young age.
Today we’re talking about a woman who wrote a spooky story that has stood the test of time. A character from her book is still an iconic Halloween costume. At only eighteen years of age, this Womanican began writing her most famous work: “Frankenstein.” Please welcome Mary Shelley.
Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin was born in Somers Town, London on August 30, 1797. Her father, William Godwin was a radical British political thinker and an atheist, which was extremely uncommon at the time. Her mother, Mary Wollstonecraft, was an ardent feminist who in 1792 published, “A Vindication of the Rights of Woman.” Sadly, just eleven days after Mary was born, her mother passed away due to birthing complications.
Mary was raised alongside Fanny Godwin – a half sister on her mother’s side. Though Fanny was not his biological child, William adopted her and raised her as his own.
In 1801, William remarried. His new wife brought with her two children of her own and a few years later a fifth child joined the family.
All of the children were educated in the home and due to his radical beliefs, William didn’t differ their education based on sex. Mary was an intellectual child and learned a bit of Latin, Greek, French and Italian. Because their father ran in London’s intellectual circles, the children were exposed to various thinkers and scientists of the time whose work would later influence Mary’s writing.
When Mary was fourteen, her father sent her to live in Scotland. During one of her returns from Scotland, she got to know a young man by the name of Percy Bysshe Shelley, who was an admirer of her father’s.
Percy came from a posh family. His father was a conservative member of Parliament and Percy wanted to rebel against everything his father stood for. Though he attended Oxford, he was kicked out for distributing a pamphlet called, “the necessity of atheism.”
Despite the fact that Percy had a wife, Mary and Percy fell in love. In 1814, the pair eloped and spent time traveling throughout Europe, though they couldn’t legally marry as Percy was not divorced.
After returning to England from their two month tour, Mary was pregnant. However, much like her own mother’s experience, Mary’s births weren’t without tragedy. Her first child, a daughter, died only a few weeks after she was born. Soon after, Mary was pregnant with another child. She named him William after her father, but he too died in infancy. Several years later, Mary lost a third child, another daughter who was barely a year old. Only Mary’s fourth child, also named Percy Shelley, survived to adulthood.
In 1816, Mary set off again for Europe with Percy. This time, her step-sister Claire and Claire’s lover, the poet Lord Byron, joined the trip. Their travels brought them to a villa on the shores of Lake Geneva.
Though the exact details of this trip are often disputed, a popular recounting claims Lord Byron suggested to his villa guests that they all write a ghost story. This prompt spurred what would eventually become Mary’s most famous novel, ‘Frankenstein.’ Mary was just eighteen when she wrote the story and only nineteen when it was published anonymously.
Frankenstein was the tale of a scientist who creates a man from parts of corpses and brings him to life. Some historians point to the ideas at the time about galvanism and the ability to use electricity to reanimate human corpses as inspiration for the tale.
Since its publication, readers have found various forms of deeper significance in the text. Some of these claims include that it is an allegory of the French Revolution and that it is a commentary on industrialism.
Though Mary was now beginning to find literary success, tragedy was pervasive in her life. First, her sister Fanny died by suicide. Then Percy’s wife drowned herself while pregnant with his child. Despite these solemn events, Percy and Mary were wed just two weeks after hearing the news of her death.
Mary and Percy decided to pick up and move to San Terenzo, Italy. There, Mary suffered a miscarriage in which she lost so much blood that she nearly died.
In 1822, Percy embarked on a trip in his boat, the Don Juan, to meet up with several poets. On the return trip, a violent storm hit and Percy along with the rest of the crew on the boat drowned in the Gulf of Spezia. He was only twenty nine years old at the time of his death.
His death was hard on Mary, both emotionally and financially. She ran out of money and returned to London. Though nothing else she wrote paralleled the success of “Frankenstein,” she continued writing. She published several novels as well as other volumes of prose including biographies, short stories, and travel writings.
Mary did live to see her surviving son wed in the summer of 1848. Five years later, at the age of fifty-three, Mary died in her home in London.
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Special thanks to creators Jenny and Liz Kaplan for having me as your guest host..
Talk to you tomorrow!