Profile of the Day: Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley

Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley

Are you familiar with the story of Frankenstein? On this day in 1818, author Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley first published her best known Gothic novel Frankenstein: or, The Modern Prometheus.

Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin was born in London, England in 1797 to Mary Wollstonecraft, a feminist philosopher and writer, and journalist William Godwin. 

In 1814, she met poet Percy Shelley. The couple traveled around Europe for some time and struggled with financial difficulties and the death of their first child. It was while they were in Geneva, Switzerland when Mary first conceived the idea for her novel Frankenstein. She initially published the novel anonymously and it wasn’t until the second edition was printed in 1923 that Shelley’s name appeared on the book. Considered to be one of the earliest examples of science fiction literature, Shelley’s Frankenstein had a lasting influence in literature and popular culture.

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