Shelley's mother died days after Shelley was born. Only one of Shelley's children grew to adulthood. In what way might these events from Shelley's life have influenced Frankenstein?

Certainly the theme of mortality would always be on the forefront of Shelly's mind. With such untimely deaths of immediate family members it is easy to understand how the creation and meaning of life would figure into her work. We must not forget that Frankenstein is a gothic story which she purportedly conceived in 1816, when she and her husband spent a summer with Lord Byron, John William Polidori, and Claire Clairmont near Geneva, Switzerland. She mixed the Gothic elements with themes that obviously held meaning for her.