Mary Shelley’s Early Novels : ‘This Child of Imagination and Misery’

Mary Shelley's Early Novels seeks to redress the commonly held view that Mary Shelley was simply another mouthpiece for her husband, Percy Bysshe Shelley. Her most challenging and ambitious novels; Frankenstein, Valperga, and The Last Man, are examined in the light of her intellectual relationship with Percy Shelley. We see the way in which these novels reflect her gradual rejection of his radical tenets in an assertion of her own intellectual and ideological independence. Front Matter....Pages i-xi Introduction....Pages 1-9 Early Influences: “A History of the Jews”....Pages 10-29 Frankenstein and the “Good Cause”....Pages 30-56 “Connected in a Thousand Ways”: Mary Shelley and Lord Byron....Pages 57-75 “That Masterpiece of His Malice”: Valperga....Pages 76-113 “The earth is not, nor ever can be heaven”: The Last Man....Pages 114-155 Creating a Literary Reputation....Pages 156-185 Conclusion....Pages 186-189 Back Matter....Pages 190-257