Wednesday
My Quotes
"Nothing is so painful to the human mind as a great and sudden change."
"No man chooses evil because it is evil; he only mistakes it for happiness, the good he seeks."
"The beginning is always today."
"Invention, it must be humbly admitted, does not consist in creating out of void but out of chaos."
". . . the companions of our childhood always possess a certain power over our minds which hardly any later friend can obtain."
"Solitude was my only consolation - deep, dark, deathlike solitude."
"My heart was fashioned to be susceptible of love and sympathy, and when wrenched by misery to vice and hatred, it did not endure the violence of the change without torture such as you cannot even imagine."
" My dreams were all my own; I accounted for them to nobody; they were my refuge when annoyed - my dearest pleasure when free. "
"The fallen angel becomes a malignant devil."
"No man chooses evil because it is evil; he only mistakes it for happiness, the good he seeks."
"The beginning is always today."
"Invention, it must be humbly admitted, does not consist in creating out of void but out of chaos."
". . . the companions of our childhood always possess a certain power over our minds which hardly any later friend can obtain."
"Solitude was my only consolation - deep, dark, deathlike solitude."
"My heart was fashioned to be susceptible of love and sympathy, and when wrenched by misery to vice and hatred, it did not endure the violence of the change without torture such as you cannot even imagine."
" My dreams were all my own; I accounted for them to nobody; they were my refuge when annoyed - my dearest pleasure when free. "
"The fallen angel becomes a malignant devil."
List of My Works
novels:
poems:
- Frankenstein; Or, The Modern Prometheus
- Valperga: Or, the Life and Adventures of Castruccio, Prince of Lucca
- The Last Man
- The Fortunes of Perkin Warbeck, A Romance
- Lodore
- etc.
poems:
- "Absence; 'Ah! he is gone—and I alone!—'"
- "A Dirge; 'This morn, thy gallant bark, love'"
- "A Night Scene; 'I see thee not, my gentlest Isabel'"
- "Song; 'When I'm no more, this harp that rings'"
- "The Death of Love"
- etc.
Timeline of My Events
1797 mother dies giving birth
08/30/1797 Mary is born in Somers Town, Great Britain, to well-known parents: author and feminist Mary Wollstonecraft and philosopher William Godwin.
1807 She published her first poem at the age of ten
Approx 1813 When Mary is sixteen she meets the young poet Percy Bysshe Shelley, a devotee of her father`s teachings
1816 they go abroad again, this time spending time with Byron and his friend Polidori in Geneva
1816 William was born.
Approx 1816 in Geneva, Byron suggests that they should all write a ghost story. Mary writes Frankenstein, the only story of the four that was ever to be published as a novel.
1816 Percy`s wife drowns herself: Percy and Mary marry in December
1817 History Of Six Weeks` Tour the Shelleys jointly recorded their life
1818 Frankenstein
1818 the Shelleys left England for Italy
1819 Mary suffered a nervous breakdown after the death of William
1819 Birth of Percy Florence Shelly; only child of Mary`s to survive childhood
1819 begins work on Mathilde which draws on her relations with Godwin and Percy Shelley. this work is not published until long after her death (1959)
1822 Percy drowns during a sailing trip in the Bay of Spezia near Livorno
1822 she has a dangerous miscarriage
1823 she returned with her son to England, determined not to-re-marry
1823 Valperga, which is a romance set in the 14th-century
1826 The Last Man, depicts the end of human civilization, set in the 21st century.
08/30/1797 Mary is born in Somers Town, Great Britain, to well-known parents: author and feminist Mary Wollstonecraft and philosopher William Godwin.
1807 She published her first poem at the age of ten
Approx 1813 When Mary is sixteen she meets the young poet Percy Bysshe Shelley, a devotee of her father`s teachings
1816 they go abroad again, this time spending time with Byron and his friend Polidori in Geneva
1816 William was born.
Approx 1816 in Geneva, Byron suggests that they should all write a ghost story. Mary writes Frankenstein, the only story of the four that was ever to be published as a novel.
1816 Percy`s wife drowns herself: Percy and Mary marry in December
1817 History Of Six Weeks` Tour the Shelleys jointly recorded their life
1818 Frankenstein
1818 the Shelleys left England for Italy
1819 Mary suffered a nervous breakdown after the death of William
1819 Birth of Percy Florence Shelly; only child of Mary`s to survive childhood
1819 begins work on Mathilde which draws on her relations with Godwin and Percy Shelley. this work is not published until long after her death (1959)
1822 Percy drowns during a sailing trip in the Bay of Spezia near Livorno
1822 she has a dangerous miscarriage
1823 she returned with her son to England, determined not to-re-marry
1823 Valperga, which is a romance set in the 14th-century
1826 The Last Man, depicts the end of human civilization, set in the 21st century.
My World
Why hello there, I am Mary Shelley, and many people know me as the renowned novelist, short- story writer, dramatist, biographer, essayist, and travel writer. I live during the Romantic period in which "a culture in an age of reaction and revolution" occured. Also, that was when Gothic literature appeared and attracted the "bizzare and unusual". Furthermore, I was born on August 30, 1797 in Somers Town, London from a prominent mother who was a philosopher and feminist named Mary Wollstonecraft, and a father who was a political philosopher named William Godwin. My mother sadly died after the eleventh day of my birth. I had to leave with my older, half-sister, Fanny Imlay, to live with my father, and there he married our neighbor. Around the year 1814, I fell in love with my father’s political follower, Percy Bysshe Shelley, and we eventually got married. Meanwhile, we moved to Geneva to live with some close relations, and Geneva was where I got my idea for my famous publication, Frankenstein. When I was a child, my father would used to take me out occasionally to educational outings, and he was the one to teach me a broad range of subjects. When he found out about my relationship with Percy, he was not quite fond of it, and Percy and I had to leave eventually to go on with our own lives. We had four children but only the last child survived... what sad luck did we have. We were considered exiles along with Lord Byron, and we went to live in Italy. Also, I had to help hide the fact that my step-sister, Claire Claremont, was pregnant and eventually gave birth to the child. My beloved Percy ended up leaving me due to a sudden tragic death.
Later on in my life, I had to survive by writing and help bringing up my lovely son, Percy Florence, and eventually, my attachment with Percy was very close that he came to live with me after going to university. The difficulties I had to go through were tremendous. I would get allowance from my husband’s father, but he did not encourage me in what I was doing with his son’s writings. The bond between me and Percy Shelley’s father was indeed a bit tense. It is obvious that his father never approved of our marriage. Moreover, after that sorrowful death of my husband, Percy Shelley, I ended up looking for some new relationships, but none really turned out well. I just kept writing for the rest of my life. My novels included elements of novelistic genres. Many of them consisted of the topics on gender, politics, Enlightenment, and Romanticism. Others were short stories from real life experiences, travelogues, biographies, and editorial writings from Percy Bysshe’s well-thought out works. The down side was that I was not taken seriously as a writer. Then, in the mid-1840s, several blackmailers appeared to me threatening me of my personal information. This shows how much I had to handle, taking in the fact that I was becoming somewhat ill. Overall, I am a woman who was treated like no other and was not admired until it came to the actual realizations of my astounding writing talents.
Sources: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Shelley
http://www.shmoop.com/mary-shelley/timeline.html
Western Civilization- Spielvogel Sixth Edition
Loving that Special Someone
My Beloved
Around 1814 to the current year 1826 is when I finally establish a life with my true love. Percy Bysshe Shelley is an admirer of my father, Godwin, and Percy often visits him. He comes to see my father because he promised Godwin that he would help pay for Godwin’s debts but eventually failed in doing so. Also, it is said that Percy was married a couple years ago with a woman named Harriet but has recently become estranged from her.
The St. Pancras Churchyard
Moreover, regarding to my relationship with Percy, we secretly meet at my mother’s grave in St. Pancras Churchyard and eventually fell in love. Sadly, however, both of our parents disapprove of our love for each other. I believe that “ties of the heart are more important that legal ones”. My father, Godwin, tried to recover the “spotless frame” of my image. The fact that Percy cannot assist my father in paying his debts just made the situation worse. Likewise, after our decision to leave to go to France, Percy’s father decided to end Percy’s great amount of allowance after we furtively ran away together. We take my step-sister, Claire Clairmont, with us on our journey to the unknown. However, Percy chooses to leave his wife behind and later caused the suicidal death of Harriet. Nonetheless, in my opinion, our adventure seem to turn out “being an incarnate romance”. I deeply hope that our passionate marriage will end up successful; anyhow, I soon discover that Percy has been having affairs with other women. This shows that are love is somewhat tearing apart. Despite our failures in producing children who survive, I am wishing the best of luck for me and Percy to live the rest of our lives to the fullest.
Sources: http://www.notablebiographies.com/Sc-St/Shelley-Mary.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Shelley
http://www.xs4all.nl/~androom/biography/p000047.htm
Moreover, regarding to my relationship with Percy, we secretly meet at my mother’s grave in St. Pancras Churchyard and eventually fell in love. Sadly, however, both of our parents disapprove of our love for each other. I believe that “ties of the heart are more important that legal ones”. My father, Godwin, tried to recover the “spotless frame” of my image. The fact that Percy cannot assist my father in paying his debts just made the situation worse. Likewise, after our decision to leave to go to France, Percy’s father decided to end Percy’s great amount of allowance after we furtively ran away together. We take my step-sister, Claire Clairmont, with us on our journey to the unknown. However, Percy chooses to leave his wife behind and later caused the suicidal death of Harriet. Nonetheless, in my opinion, our adventure seem to turn out “being an incarnate romance”. I deeply hope that our passionate marriage will end up successful; anyhow, I soon discover that Percy has been having affairs with other women. This shows that are love is somewhat tearing apart. Despite our failures in producing children who survive, I am wishing the best of luck for me and Percy to live the rest of our lives to the fullest.
Sources: http://www.notablebiographies.com/Sc-St/Shelley-Mary.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Shelley
http://www.xs4all.nl/~androom/biography/p000047.htm
A Monster Rising into Humanity
It is the summer of May 1816, and I am currently at Geneva along with Percy and Claire Clairmont. We are visiting the experienced poet, Lord Byron. He decides to rent a building near Lake Geneva, and we ended up writing stories, boating on the lake, and talking until late at night. It is a “wet, ungenial summer”, and during that time I reached the zenith in my writing career. One day on a rainy afternoon, Lord Bryon comes up of the idea of a competition to see who can write the best ghost stories. At that time, I encountered an inspiration that led me to start writing my novel, Frankenstein. Also, my husband encouraged me in my writings.
My Novel, Frankenstein
It is now a year after this incident, and I have finally accomplished this supernatural tale. Some of my ideas for this story came from “Luigi Calvani’s experiments with electric shocks to make dead frogs' muscles twitch”. This concept leads me into creating my monster from my novel. Lord Byron’s teacher, James Lind, actually demonstrates the technique to me so I truly know how the conception works. My book, Frankenstein, revolves around the central Romantic theme. My novel shows the critique of science in that it is dangerous when science tries to dominate nature because the monster created in my novel is done by science, and he ends up initiating chaos throughout the entire story. Also, my novel represents a factor in the poor treatment of women in which my mother, Mary Wollstoncraft, tried to fight against because it shows how the monster is isolated in society just like how some middle and lower class women were treated in my time of the 1800s. Most importantly,I hope my novel, Frankenstein, will soon become well-known, so people can see how it relates to the factors of everyday lives.
Sources: http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/mshelley.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Shelley
http://www.shmoop.com/mary-shelley/timeline.html
http://kabunky18.blogspot.com/2009/11/frankenstein-and-depiction-of-women.html
Western Civilization- Spielvogel Sixth Edition
Sources: http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/mshelley.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Shelley
http://www.shmoop.com/mary-shelley/timeline.html
http://kabunky18.blogspot.com/2009/11/frankenstein-and-depiction-of-women.html
Western Civilization- Spielvogel Sixth Edition
Expedition in Italy
Lord Byron
During the time from March in 1818-1822, I was living an unstable life; even now I have to go through troubles. Back then, Percy and I traveled to Italy to convince Lord Byron to give his estranged wife, Claire Clairmont a chance to access their child. Bryon would raise the child as long as Claire had nothing more to do with the child. Then, we never stayed at a place for too long and when we moved around, some people came along, too. We allot our time to “writing, reading, learning, sightseeing, and socialising” rather than just idling around doing nothing. Later on, in my adventures in Italy I encounter multiple sorrowful events. On September 14, 1818, my daughter, Clara Everina, contracts dysentery and eventually passes away. Then, on June 7, 1819, my first son, William, dies of malaria.
Claire Clairmont
Italy provided political freedom, something that couldn’t be reached before, and it was similar to "a country which memory painted as paradise". However, not all was well because it was a difficult time for me. I had to continue writing in order to help my father with his financial struggles, while Percy goes out to mingle with other women of his choice. This is just so disappointing for me to face. Also, many mind-blowing events occurred such as the sudden appearance of a child named Elena Shelley. Elena was said by the Foggis to be Claire’s daughter however this is all just false information. Nonetheless, Percy decides to just adopt her even though she ends up dying in Naples on June 9, 1820. In November 12, 1819, I finally gave birth to a surviving son named Percy Florence. The last event that was the most tragic was the death of Percy. He died on July 8, 1822 when sailing to a friend in the Gulf of Spezia. It is said that he accidentally drowned himself...how tragic! Now, depressed than ever before, my son and I return to England permanently.
Blackmail Issues
In this year 1845, I already encountered three blackmail plans. The first and most crucial was the one done by Gatteschi, my Italian lover. Even though I tried to help him financially, he announces “indiscreet letters” that I have written. Gatteschi used those letters against me in threatening me and saying that I guaranteed him financial success even though none of that sort was true. However, thankfully these letters were eventually destroyed with the help of my dear son. He called upon the Paris police to hunt Gatteschi down. Alexander Knox also helped in getting the British government to finally seize Gatteschi. When Knox retrieved the letters, he burned them all while finding out Vatteschi was a suspect of revolutionary. I had to use my own money to accomplish this case and I am really embarrassed by all this.
The harsh G. Byron
Anyhow, this is not the end to all my problems. More blackmails appeared soon after. A man claiming to be George Byron, Lord Byron’s son, said he had a box of letters between me and Percy during our time when we eloped. If these letters were actually shown, my relationship with Percy would have been looked down upon because of the existence of Percy’s first wife, Harriet. George Byron backed down when I “threatened and injunction to halt publication”. Moreover, another case that irritated me was when Thomas Medwin, my husband’s cousin, claimed that I had written a damaging publication of Percy. He would only suppress it if I paid him money but of course I did not grant him his demand. All in all, these situations regarding to my blackmails did make my life extremely strenuous, taking in the fact that my husband died and could not support me.
The bitter Thoms Medwin
Sources: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rambles_in_Germany_and_Italy
http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A28234893
http://www.shmoop.com/mary-shelley/timeline.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Shelley
Sources: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rambles_in_Germany_and_Italy
http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A28234893
http://www.shmoop.com/mary-shelley/timeline.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Shelley
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