20 Things You Didn’t Know About Mary Shelley

Mary Shelley never knew her mother, Mary Wollstonecraft, who died shortly after giving birth to her. But her legacy was considerable. In 1792, Wollstonecraft published her seminal work, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, a groundbreaking book calling for education and equality for women—ideas that shaped Mary’s worldview.

After her mother’s death, she was raised by her father, William Godwin, a radical philosopher known for his progressive ideas. Their home became a gathering place for writers and thinkers, exposing Mary to bold conversations and revolutionary beliefs from a very young age.

Mary did not get along with her mother-in-law, Mary Jane Clairmont. Their tension stemmed from jealousy, a desire for control, and their intellectual differences. This conflict led Mary to spend time away from home and played a role in her decision to run away with Percy Shelley.

Her first known published work appeared when she was only ten years old. It was a short poem printed in her father’s publication, The Juvenile Library. Even as a child, she was already taking her first steps into the literary world around her!

At just 16 years old, Mary eloped with Percy Bysshe Shelley, who was already married. Their scandalous relationship shocked London society, but despite the controversy, the two shared a deep intellectual bond, writing, traveling, and defying convention together throughout their passionate but turbulent partnership.

In 1816, Mary spent some time at Lake Geneva with Percy and Lord Byron. The cold, stormy weather caused by the eruption of Mount Tambora forced them to stay indoors, so Byron proposed a challenge: to write a ghost story. From this eerie gathering emerged Frankenstein and even the first vampire stories.

She was only 18 years old when she conceived the story of Frankenstein. She later explained that the idea had come to her in a very realistic daydream, and even in her 1831 introduction, she emphasized that the story was not planned but had simply sprung from her imagination.

When Frankenstein was published in 1818, Mary Shelley’s name did not appear on the cover. Readers and critics assumed that her husband, the poet Percy Shelley, had written it. Her name did not appear until years later, after the book had become a success and people finally learned who had truly created the monster.

Many critics called Frankenstein immoral and disturbing when it was first published. But things changed when stage adaptations began to appear in the 1820s. These plays allowed the story to reach a wider audience; some people saw it on stage before they had even read the book.

Mary Shelley didn’t just write about monsters and plagues. In the early 1820s, she wrote children’s stories such as Proserpine and Midas, which retell ancient myths in a simple and captivating way. She wrote them while living in Italy with Percy and their young son.

She lost her husband, Percy Bysshe Shelley, in a tragic drowning accident in 1822. She was only 24 years old. Despite her young age, she never remarried. Instead, she devoted much of her life to preserving and promoting Percy’s poetry and legacy.

After Percy’s cremation in Italy, something shocking happened: his heart did not burn. She kept the calcified remains wrapped in paper for years. The heart remained with her long after her death and was not discovered among her belongings until after she passed away.

Mary became Percy’s literary guardian after his death; she edited his poetry collections, added notes, and wrote introductions. Her dedication ensured that his work would reach future generations. Without her efforts, much of his poetry might have been lost to oblivion.

After Percy’s death, Mary did not rely on the family fortune. She supported herself and her son by writing biographies and novels. In a literary world dominated by men, she built a career for herself through her talent and intellectual credibility.

She gave birth to four children, but only one survived into adulthood. Of course, the deaths of her babies and young children devastated her, and these personal tragedies haunted her throughout her life and shaped the emotional depth found in much of her writing.

Her life was not confined to England. She lived in Italy, Switzerland, and France at various times, often with Percy and their circle of friends. These travels exposed her to political upheavals and new cultures that profoundly influenced her worldview and her writings.

She never stopped challenging authority. Even after Percy’s death, her novels continued to question inequalities and criticize power structures. Although her tone became more moderate over time, she remained committed to reformist ideals and used fiction to fight against injustice and oppression.

Long before apocalyptic fiction became popular, Mary envisioned a future ravaged by disease. Her 1826 novel, The Last Man, tells the story of a global epidemic that wipes out humanity. It is now considered one of the earliest works of dystopian science fiction.

Shelley’s Frankenstein did not rely on ghosts or magic, but explored scientific experiments and the consequences of human ambition. Many scholars consider it the first true science fiction novel. Mary herself had called it a “scientific romance,” long before the genre was defined.

Since the early 1900s, Frankenstein has been adapted for the screen more than fifty times. The adaptations range from silent films to modern remakes in various languages. It remains one of the most frequently reimagined stories in the history of cinema, a timeless tale about science and its consequences.