Treasures: The Fate of Frankenstein

Narrative text reads: Mary Shelley was born Mary Godwin on August 30, 1797 to Mary Wollstonecraft and William Godwin, both authors and radical political philosophers. Just ten days after baby Mary was born, her mother died of childbed fever.

Spirit of Mary Wollstonecraft says: "Write plenty—only promote goodwill and equality for women."

Narrative text reads: Truly the daughter of her writer parents, Mary was often found as a child tearing through the volumes in her father's study. Her curiosity was met with an uncommonly wide education for girls at the time. It wasn't long before Mary began to produce volumes of her own.

Narrative text reads: When Mary was 16 she befriended the poet Percy Bysshe Shelley, whose interest in radical politics had often brought him to the Godwin home as a disciple of Mary's father. Despite the fact that Shelley was 5 years older and already married, they developed a strong romantic interest in each other.

Narrative text reads: Mary's father disapproved of Mary and Shelley's budding romance. Regardless, the lovers often secretly met at Mary Wollstonecraft's gravesite and fell deeply in love.

Spirit of Mary Wollstonecraft says: "Sigh ... what a wild, anti-patriarchal young woman this proud mother has birthed. Sorry, William."

Narrative text reads: Tired of her father and stepmother's attempts to end her relationship, Mary ran away from home to elope with Shelley, accompanied by her stepsister, Claire.

Shelley says: "The carriage is this way."

Mary says: "If he were truly radical, he'd let us be."

Claire says: "Shhhh! We must hurry."

In 1816, Mary and Shelley travelled to Lord Byron's Geneva mansion with Claire, who was pregnant with Byron's child. On a stormy June night, challenged by a ghost story telling contest, Mary began to pen her first novel, Frankenstein.

Byron says: "Mary, why the long wait for your ghost story?"

Mary says: "Oh, Byron. Creating a new genre takes time."

Narrative text reads: On January 1, 1818, Mary published Frankenstein anonymously. Reviews were mixed and initial sales were modest, but interest in the book surged years later. Now regarded as a classic and recognized as the first science fiction novel, Mary Shelley's gothic tale of a scientist and his monster has dazzled generations and inspired countless stage and film adaptations.

Narrative text reads: Throughout Mary and Shelley's creatively fruitful and loving relationship, (they finally married after Shelley's wife committed suicide), they endured the staggering succession of deaths of their first 3 children. Only their fourth child, Percy Florence Shelley, survived to adulthood.

Narrative text reads: The Shelleys' life together was cut short when, in the summer of 1822, Shelley drowned in the Gulf of Spezia, Italy. His body washed up on the shore 10 days later and was buried on the beach, but quarantine rules dictated that he be dug up and burned. Though she did not attend, Mary delegated a friend to stage Shelley a hero's cremation.

Narrative text reads: Mary attempted romance after Percy's death (including a brief interest in Sleepy Hollow author Washington Irving), but never found love again. She instead devoted her life to raising her son and her writing, moving frequently and often financially challenged.

Mary says: "Kiss me."

Washington Irving says: "I should get back to my writing."

Narrative text reads: Forced to live off the pittance of an allowance given to her by Shelley's father, Sir Timothy Shelley, Mary wrote prolifically to make money to help raise little Percy. Though she was known as "the author of Frankenstein," she wrote short stories, poetry, articles and reviews for literary magazines, and also published biographies, travel writing and several more novels.

Narrative text reads: Upon Sir Timothy Shelley's death, Mary and her son inherited the Shelley estate. Sadly, her newfound financial security coincided with a decline in her health; she was often beset by terrible headaches. On February 1, 1851, she died of a brain tumor, at the age of 53.

Narrative text reads: Although she never matched the success of Frankenstein, its enduring significance in literature and popular culture has rendered Mary Shelley not only a classic author, but a feminist hero like her mother, beside whom she is buried. Her perseverance and independent imagination continue to inspire.

List of selected works reads: Frankenstein (1818), Mathilda (1819), Valperga (1823), The Last Man (1826), The Fortunes of Perkin, Warbeck (1830), Lodore (1835), Falkner (1837), Rambles in Germany and Italy (1844).