DWC 100 Women: Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, Frakenstein

In a world that wasn’t ready for her voice, Mary Shelley whispered, then roared. She didn’t just write a novel that would shape the future of literature—she poured her very soul into it, challenged societal norms, and carved a path for women to explore the boundaries of intellect and creativity. 

At a time when women were expected to remain silent, Mary Shelley, the brilliant mind behind Frankenstein, demanded to be heard.

Born in 1797, Mary was destined for greatness. Her mother, Mary Wollstonecraft, was a trailblazing advocate for women’s rights, whose work A Vindication of the Rights of Woman laid the foundation for feminist thought. Yet tragedy struck early in Mary’s life, as her mother passed away just days after her birth, leaving her with a void that would haunt her.

Raised by her father, the radical philosopher William Godwin, Mary was immersed in an intellectual world from a young age. But this wasn’t the nurturing, encouraging environment one might imagine. As much as she learned from the luminaries who visited their home, she also grew up under the weight of expectations and scrutiny. 

Society often reminded her of her mother’s death, placing an emotional burden on her that was difficult to escape.

When she was just 16, Mary met the poet Percy Bysshe Shelley. Their relationship was scandalous—not only because Percy was already married, but because they both embraced a lifestyle and philosophy that rejected the conservative morals of their time.

Together, they pursued a life filled with art, intellect, and revolutionary ideas. But this was no fairy-tale romance. 

The couple was shunned, judged, and often impoverished. Mary endured the devastating losses of multiple children, a heartbreak that would echo in her writing and life.

It was during one stormy summer in 1816 when she and Percy were staying with Lord Byron in Geneva, that the story of Frankenstein was born. 

A contest to write the best ghost story led to a vision that would not only define Mary’s literary legacy but also change the world. Frankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus, tells the story of a scientist who dares to play God by creating life—a being who is shunned by society, misunderstood, and abandoned.

In Frankenstein, we see reflections of Mary’s own life. Her creation—the misunderstood monster—was not so different from how society viewed her: an outsider, challenging the rules, existing in spaces where she was not welcome. 

The themes of isolation, loss, and rejection in the novel mirror the deep personal wounds she carried, but they also expose the hypocrisy of a society that so easily dismisses those who don’t fit its mould.

Beyond her literary genius, Mary Shelley’s life was a form of activism. Simply by existing as a woman who dared to write and speak her truth, she defied the expectations of her era.

She confronted the struggles of grief, societal rejection, and loneliness with strength, transforming them into art that still speaks to us today. 

Mary didn't just create a novel, she opened the door for other women to assert their place in the literary world, to express their own complex emotions and intellectual ideas.

After Percy’s death in 1822, Mary found herself a widow at 24, raising their only surviving child. She became the sole protector of Percy’s literary legacy while continuing to write her own works, navigating the precarious position of being a single mother and an intellectual woman in a society that often dismissed both.

Mary Shelley faced social ostracism, profound grief, and the weight of public judgment—but she never allowed these to define her. Instead, she poured her emotions into her writing, creating works that were not only ahead of their time but transcended it. 

Her activism was quiet, yet powerful, embedded in her narratives, challenging the status quo through the power of her pen.

Today, we remember Mary Shelley not just as the mother of science fiction, but as a woman who, against all odds, continued to create, to question, and to live boldly. 

Her story is a reminder that even in the face of personal tragedy and societal condemnation, the human spirit has the power to imagine, to dream, and to create something extraordinary.