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?

Shelley's life was definitely an influence in her writing, but without going into the tragedt that was her life, there are several passages (quotes) in the novel that note her educational experiences and love of literary research. These quotes are told through Walden, the arctic explorer. They are as follows;

“My education was neglected, yet I was passionately fond of reading. These volumes were my study day and night” (Shelley, 2).

“These visions faded when I perused, for the first time, these poets whose effusions entranced my soul and lifted it to heaven. I also became a poet and for one year lived in a paradise of my own creation; I imagined that I also might obtain a niche in the temple where the names of Homer and Shakespeare are consecrated”(Shelley,2).

Shelley, through Frankenstein speaks of her desire for higher knowledge;

“One man’s life or death were but a small price to pay for the acquirement of the knowledge which I sought, for the dominion I should acquire and transmit over the elemental foes of our race”(Shelley,13).

“You seek for knowledge and wisdom as I once did; and I ardently hope the gratification of your wishes may not be a serpent to sting you, as mine has been”(Shelley, 15)

Shelley couldn't have helped but be influenced by her childhood, her parents, and the people who surrounded her. She never knew her mother, but her mother left a legacy as the most radical feminist of her time. Her father William Godwin was a famous political philosopher, and her eventual husband Percy Bysshe, a poet. In Mary's writing we can see the influences of all of these people; Frankenstein contains references to numerous fields including literature, poetry, science, education, politics, history, and mythology.

The following excerpt describes the book Mary's father published about her mother. I doubt you can use any of it, but it will give you a bit of insight as to the woman she learned to know through an autobiography. It's a tragic story. I have also included the brief description of Mary's marriage to Busshe;

Godwins'Memoirs of the Author of the Rights of Women. In this work, William Godwin described many aspects of Mary Wollstonecraft’s existence in great detail such as; her relationship with an American and subsequent birth of an illegitimate daughter, her suicide attempts, and the fact that she was already pregnant with Mary when William Godwin married her.

To our late 20th Century sensibilities we may not approve of these behaviors but we certainly don’t consider then shocking or extraordinary. The above mentioned events, however, occurred in the late 1700′s and were not morally acceptable, were abhorrent to the conventions of society, and were certainly not to be discussed or published in a memoir. William Godwin’s publication of this memoir, more than any other event, created an air of societal stigma around Mary Shelley almost from the moment of her birth.

Mary Shelley increased her already infamous existence by running off with Percy Bysshe Shelley when she was 17 in 1814. Percy Shelley was already married and abandoned his pregnant wife and his daughter to live with Mary Shelley. They lived together and had two illegitimate children prior to getting married in December 1816. They married a couple of weeks after Percy’s wife, Harriet, committed suicide by drowning herself in the Serpentine. Mary Shelley became a societal outcast for these actions and had few friends. “Within days she discovered that all of her old circle shunned her, intimates who had cherished her and friends who professed the most liberal principles”

"Mary Shelley increased her already infamous existence by running off with Percy Bysshe Shelley when she was 17 in 1814. Percy Shelley was already married and abandoned his pregnant wife and his daughter to live with Mary Shelley. They lived together and had two illegitimate children prior to getting married in December 1816. They married a couple of weeks after Percy’s wife, Harriet, committed suicide by drowning herself in the Serpentine. Mary Shelley became a societal outcast for these actions and had few friends. “Within days she discovered that all of her old circle shunned her, intimates who had cherished her and friends who professed the most liberal principles” (1)