Mary Shelley

For this blog I wanted to do something different. Although the story is interesting, I wanted to focus this discussion on the author and the reactions to the story. The Novel Frankenstein or the Modern Prometheus was written by Mary Shelley. Shelley started the novel when she was eighteen after traveling t o Europe with her stepsister and not so yet husband Percy Shelley. It wasn’t until the age of twenty-one when the novel was published. Shelley father was who William Godwin, writer of An Enquiry into Political Justice, and Mary Wollstonecraft a feminist who wrote A Vindication of Women’s Rights. (Preface 8.)

When the novel was first published it was done so anonymously. Research shows that in the first edition was perceived to be written by her husband Percy Shelley. It wasn’t until the second edition was published she revealed herself as the author.

When the book was first published reviews were not so much on Shelley’s favor due to no acknowledgment of who the author was. That however didn’t stop the success of the novel. Some viewed the novel “ impressive with a high idea of the author’s original genius and happy power of expression,” (Scott, Walter.)

However some viewed the story as “ a tissue of horrible and disgusting absurdity.” (Quarterly Review.)

People who opposed the novel saw it as degrading. They believed t attack her integrity as a woman. The Literary Panorama and National Register attacks the novel as a "feeble imitation of Mr. Godwin's novels" produced by the "daughter of a celebrated living novelist" (Enotes 414).

Despite all negative feedback Frankenstein has become one of the “popular texts for literature courses, and Mary Shelley has come to be known as a major writer and something of a culture hero,” (Preface 11.) Shelley’s book has opened doors to genres such as horror, science fiction, and romance.