Mary Shelley and Parallels

Novels, are they parallels of the authors lives’?


The story of Frankenstein is the first articulation of a woman’s experience of pregnancy and related fears. Mary Shelly, in the development and education of the monster, discusses child development and education and how nurturing of a loving parent is extremely important in the moral development of an individual. Thus, in Frankenstein, Mary Shelley examines her own fears and thoughts about pregnancy, childbirth, and child development; hence a link between her and the novel is created.





Pregnancy, childbirth, as well as death, played an integral role in the young adult life of Mary Shelley. She mothered four children a miscarriage that almost lead to her death, all before the age of twenty-five. Only one of her children, Percy Florence, survived to adulthood and outlived her. In June of 1816, when she had the waking nightmare, which became the catalyst of the tale, she was only nineteen and had already had her first two children. Her first child, Clara, was born prematurely February 22, 1815 and died March 6. Mary, as any woman would be, was devastated by this and took a long time to recover. The following is a letter that was written by Mary to her friend Hogg the day that the baby died.





6 March 1815





My dearest Hogg my baby is dead – will you come to see me as soon as you can – I wish to see you – It was perfectly well when I went to bed – I awoke in the night to give it suck it appeared to be sleeping so quietly that I would not wake it – it was dead then but we did out find out till morning – from its appearance it evidently died from convulsions – Will you come – you are so calm a creature and Shelley is afraid of a fever from the milk – for I am no longer a mother now





Mary





What is informative and devastating about this letter is that Mary turned to Hogg because Percy was so unsupportive. Actually Percy didn’t...