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Mary Shelley Biography Essay

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Mary Shelley was an English novelist, short story writer, dramatist, essayist, biographer, and travel writer, best known for her Gothic novel Frankenstein: or, The Modern Prometheus (1818). She was born on August 30, 1797 in London, England. Mary was an only child to her mother, Mary Wollestonecraft, and father, William Godwin, but had a step sister, Fanny Imlay. Mary Wollestonecraft was a well-known philosopher and feminist. Her most famous piece of work was her A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792). Shelley’s father was a political philosopher and a writer. He was an advocate for utilitarianism and anarchism. Eleven days after Shelley was born, her mother passed away. William Godwin raised his daughter, showering her with an untraditional, …show more content…

Its use of human nature and realistic actions make it so intriguing. Shelley lived a tough life and her ability to overcome adversity is poured out into her most famous novel. Perhaps the reason this novel received so much fame is because it happened to be in the right place at the right time. Sometimes known as “the greatest of Gothic Romances”, Shelley put her romanticized novel out in the middle of the romantic period. In my opinion, I like this book so much because Shelley makes it so realistic. At certain times, her protagonist, Victor, makes selfish and, in our eyes, horrible decisions. But I think that this creates a very interesting variable to the story because those are actions normal people would make. We hold our protagonist to a higher standard, but Shelley keeps him down to earth. This exemplifies her genius and how ahead of her time she was. Her other character, The Monster, also has a ton of depth. She spends a lot of time giving him an interesting and yet miserable backstory. Perhaps she’s reflecting on her own life. Shelley had many unfortunate things happen to her, so it’s possible that she depicted herself as the Monster. Overall, reading and analyzing the novel has taught me to be nicer to people I don’t know, to take accountability for my own actions, to think out tough decisions instead of acting recklessly, and to not take anything for granted. I think that’s what Shelley was trying to get at and she did that flawlessly. This novel had so much hidden depth and lessons to be learned that hit me so hard. I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a good

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