Mary Shelley - Couverture rigide

Garrett, Martin

Couverture rigide

ISBN 10 : 0195217896 ISBN 13 : 9780195217896

Editeur : Oxford Univ Pr, 2002

Synopsis

Book by Garrett Martin

A propos du livre

Revue de presse

This short biography from the excellent British Library series sheds interesting light on Mary Shelley's tempestuous and unconventional life and helps to show what influenced her as a writer. Born in 1797, a child of radical parents (Mary's mother was Mary Wollstonecraft, author of A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, her father Thomas Godwin, a writer with reformist views), Mary was only 16 when she eloped to Italy with the Romantic poet Percy Bysshe Shelley, and they did not marry until Shelley's first wife committed suicide. The life they led continued to shock not just respectable 19th-century opinion but even Byron, who considered their household unsuitable for his illegitimate daughter, Allegra (he thought she might 'perish of starvation and green food'). Society's verdict at the time was that this was no way for a woman to live, and much of the subject matter of Mary's writing was condemned as unsuitable for a woman. After the success of her Gothic novel Frankenstein and Shelley's death when she was only 26, Mary continued to write, but her work, with its interest in parliamentary reform, for example, or Italy's politics, was not always well received and is now little remembered. Quotations from her contemporaries and a wide range of relevant and attractive illustrations, many from the British Library's own collection, make this an enjoyable and accessible biography for the general reader; it also includes a chronology of Mary's life, an index and suggestions for further reading. --Kirkus UK

Présentation de l'éditeur

Mary Shelley's authorship of the novel 'Frankenstein' guaranteed her widespread renown, but her turbulent life and other literary works are equally fascinating. Born in 1797 to the writers Mary Wollstonecraft and William Godwin, she inherited her parents' passion for literature, social justice and women's rights. At the age of just 16 she ran away with Romantic poet Percy Bysshe Shelley, and was widowed by 24. During their eight years together (living mainly in Italy), she was estranged from her family and sometimes from her husband, suffered periods of depression, and saw three of their four children die in infancy. Despite her troubles, Mary Shelley maintained a busy social life, including a complicated friendship with the poet Lord Byron. She also wrote journals, short stories, mythical dramas, and several novels, including 'Frankenstein'. After her husband's death in 1822 she returned to England with her surviving son. She continued to write, both in order to earn a living and to satisfy her literary ambitions. She also produced major editions of her husband's poetry and prose. Martin Garrett's biography - extensively illustrated with original letters and manuscripts - captures the extraordinary life of Mary Shelley and the social circle in which she moved. The author also discusses some of Mary Shelley's lesser-known writings, long neglected but now the subject of continuing critical attention.

Détails de l'édition

• Éditeur: Oxford Univ Pr
• Date d'édition: 2002
• Langue: anglais
• ISBN 10: 0195217896
• ISBN 13: 9780195217896
• Reliure: Relié
• Nombre de pages: 128
• Coordonnées du fabricant: non disponible
• Personne responsable: Messaggerie Libri; ufficio.anagrafiche@meli.it; ; Via Verdi, 8; Assago Milano; Italie