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Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley

Born

in Somers Town, London, England

August 30, 1797

Died

February 01, 1851

Genre

Literature & Fiction, Horror, Science Fiction & Fantasy

Influences

Percy Bysshe Shelley, William Godwin, Mary Wollstonecraft, John Milton ...more

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Mary Shelley (née Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin, often known as Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley) was an English novelist, short story writer, dramatist, essayist, biographer, travel writer, and editor of the works of her husband, Romantic poet and philosopher Percy Bysshe Shelley. She was the daughter of the political philosopher William Godwin and the writer, philosopher, and feminist Mary Wollstonecraft.

Mary Shelley was taken seriously as a writer in her own lifetime, though reviewers often missed the political edge to her novels. After her death, however, she was chiefly remembered only as the wife of Percy Bysshe Shelley and as the author of Frankenstein. It was not until 1989, when Emily Sunstein published her prizewinning biography Mary Shel Mary Shelley (née Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin, often known as Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley) was an English novelist, short story writer, dramatist, essayist, biographer, travel writer, and editor of the works of her husband, Romantic poet and philosopher Percy Bysshe Shelley. She was the daughter of the political philosopher William Godwin and the writer, philosopher, and feminist Mary Wollstonecraft.

Mary Shelley was taken seriously as a writer in her own lifetime, though reviewers often missed the political edge to her novels. After her death, however, she was chiefly remembered only as the wife of Percy Bysshe Shelley and as the author of Frankenstein. It was not until 1989, when Emily Sunstein published her prizewinning biography Mary Shelley: Romance and Reality, that a full-length scholarly biography analyzing all of Shelley's letters, journals, and works within their historical context was published.

The well-meaning attempts of Mary Shelley's son and daughter-in-law to "Victorianise" her memory through the censoring of letters and biographical material contributed to a perception of Mary Shelley as a more conventional, less reformist figure than her works suggest. Her own timid omissions from Percy Shelley's works and her quiet avoidance of public controversy in the later years of her life added to this impression.

The eclipse of Mary Shelley's reputation as a novelist and biographer meant that, until the last thirty years, most of her works remained out of print, obstructing a larger view of her achievement. She was seen as a one-novel author, if that. In recent decades, however, the republication of almost all her writings has stimulated a new recognition of its value. Her voracious reading habits and intensive study, revealed in her journals and letters and reflected in her works, is now better appreciated. Shelley's recognition of herself as an author has also been recognized; after Percy's death, she wrote about her authorial ambitions: "I think that I can maintain myself, and there is something inspiriting in the idea". Scholars now consider Mary Shelley to be a major Romantic figure, significant for her literary achievement and her political voice as a woman and a liberal. ...more

Combine Editions
Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley’s books

Average rating: 3.87 · 1,676,052 ratings · 70,446 reviews · 1,645 distinct works • Similar authors

	Frankenstein: The 1818 Text by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, Charlotte Gordon (Goodreads Author) (Introduction) 3.87 avg rating — 1,625,265 ratings — published 1818 — 13398 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Last Man 3.37 avg rating — 5,922 ratings — published 1826 — 1689 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Mathilda 3.38 avg rating — 5,114 ratings — published 1959 — 658 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Frankenstein / Dracula / Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, Bram Stoker, Robert Louis Stevenson 4.28 avg rating — 2,918 ratings — published 1978 — 60 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Mortal Immortal: The Complete Supernatural Short Fiction of Mary Shelley 3.73 avg rating — 1,921 ratings — published 1831 — 338 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Transformation 3.52 avg rating — 1,058 ratings — 21 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Mary Shelley: Gothic Tales 3.62 avg rating — 469 ratings — 18 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Frankestein: (Vintage Edition) (Bestsellers: Classic Books) 4.11 avg rating — 360 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Frankenstein: A Guide to Reading and Reflecting by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, Karen Swallow Prior 4.41 avg rating — 287 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Kärleksprövningen by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, Helena Hansson (Översättare) 3.21 avg rating — 368 ratings — published 1835 — 5 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

More books by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley…

Series by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley

الإنسان الأخير (3 books)
by

Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley,

عبدالعزيز عواد العنزي (Translator )

3.85 avg rating — 13 ratings

Lives of Eminent literary and scientific men of Italy, Spain, and Portugal (3 books)
by

Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley,

John Taylor,

Edward Francis Finden

it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 4 ratings

Science fiction, as a genre, has been on a roll since 1818, when Mary Shelley published her famous book Frankenstein, generally considered the...

Polls

October 2014 Revisit the Shelf Poll

1818, Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, 273 pages

25 votes, 14.6%

1860, The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins, 672 pages

23 votes, 13.5%

1925, The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, 180 pages

20 votes, 11.7%

1953, Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, 227 pages

15 votes, 8.8%

1847, Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë, 507 pages

13 votes, 7.6%

1929, A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway, 355 pages

13 votes, 7.6%

1847, Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray, 867 pages

12 votes, 7.0%

1935, Jamaica Inn by Daphne du Maurier, 320 pages

12 votes, 7.0%

1897, Dracula by Bram Stoker, 488 pages

11 votes, 6.4%

1951, The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, 277 pages

10 votes, 5.8%

1814, Mansfield Park by Jane Austen, 507 pages

7 votes, 4.1%

1876, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain, 231 pages

6 votes, 3.5%

1851, Moby-Dick; or, The Whale by Herman Melville, 663 pages

4 votes, 2.3%

171 total votes

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