What do you think?
Rate this book
Mary and Maria, Matilda: AND Matilda (Penguin Classics) by Mary Shelley (3-Dec-1992) Paperback
Excellent Book
Paperback
14 people want to read
About the author
Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley
2,348 books8,599 followersMary Shelley (née Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin, often known as Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley) was an English novelist, short story writer, dramatist, essayist, biographer, travel writer, and editor of the works of her husband, Romantic poet and philosopher Percy Bysshe Shelley. She was the daughter of the political philosopher William Godwin and the writer, philosopher, and feminist Mary Wollstonecraft.
Mary Shelley was taken seriously as a writer in her own lifetime, though reviewers often missed the political edge to her novels. After her death, however, she was chiefly remembered only as the wife of Percy Bysshe Shelley and as the author of Frankenstein. It was not until 1989, when Emily Sunstein published her prizewinning biography Mary Shelley: Romance and Reality, that a full-length scholarly biography analyzing all of Shelley's letters, journals, and works within their historical context was published.
The well-meaning attempts of Mary Shelley's son and daughter-in-law to "Victorianise" her memory through the censoring of letters and biographical material contributed to a perception of Mary Shelley as a more conventional, less reformist figure than her works suggest. Her own timid omissions from Percy Shelley's works and her quiet avoidance of public controversy in the later years of her life added to this impression.
The eclipse of Mary Shelley's reputation as a novelist and biographer meant that, until the last thirty years, most of her works remained out of print, obstructing a larger view of her achievement. She was seen as a one-novel author, if that. In recent decades, however, the republication of almost all her writings has stimulated a new recognition of its value. Her voracious reading habits and intensive study, revealed in her journals and letters and reflected in her works, is now better appreciated. Shelley's recognition of herself as an author has also been recognized; after Percy's death, she wrote about her authorial ambitions: "I think that I can maintain myself, and there is something inspiriting in the idea". Scholars now consider Mary Shelley to be a major Romantic figure, significant for her literary achievement and her political voice as a woman and a liberal.
Mary Shelley was taken seriously as a writer in her own lifetime, though reviewers often missed the political edge to her novels. After her death, however, she was chiefly remembered only as the wife of Percy Bysshe Shelley and as the author of Frankenstein. It was not until 1989, when Emily Sunstein published her prizewinning biography Mary Shelley: Romance and Reality, that a full-length scholarly biography analyzing all of Shelley's letters, journals, and works within their historical context was published.
The well-meaning attempts of Mary Shelley's son and daughter-in-law to "Victorianise" her memory through the censoring of letters and biographical material contributed to a perception of Mary Shelley as a more conventional, less reformist figure than her works suggest. Her own timid omissions from Percy Shelley's works and her quiet avoidance of public controversy in the later years of her life added to this impression.
The eclipse of Mary Shelley's reputation as a novelist and biographer meant that, until the last thirty years, most of her works remained out of print, obstructing a larger view of her achievement. She was seen as a one-novel author, if that. In recent decades, however, the republication of almost all her writings has stimulated a new recognition of its value. Her voracious reading habits and intensive study, revealed in her journals and letters and reflected in her works, is now better appreciated. Shelley's recognition of herself as an author has also been recognized; after Percy's death, she wrote about her authorial ambitions: "I think that I can maintain myself, and there is something inspiriting in the idea". Scholars now consider Mary Shelley to be a major Romantic figure, significant for her literary achievement and her political voice as a woman and a liberal.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
February 2, 2024
This was given to me by an ex-student who thought I might appreciate it; and I find it incredibly sweet that she saw it and thought of me.
That said, I want to say firstly that Mary Wollstonecraft is NOT a fiction writer.
Both her stories read like Vindication in a kind of 'here is what I mean' kind of way. They are didactic and repetitive - a technique she used to make her point was to circle an idea and, using different language or examples, to hammer away at it.
It is not that the writing is bad - although it suffers from the expansive, floweriness of its time - but that there is very little story in it. She doesn't so much describe scenes as expostulate on the situation her characters find themselves in. It makes for some tedious reading; unless you were doing some research on conditions for women inC18th England.
Shelley can, and does, write fiction but the angst suffered by Matilda at the revelations of her father's passion come across to me as overly dramatic until quite late in the story when Matilda reveals her concern that she is somehow responsible for his feelings, and that is what makes her unfit for society.
To a modern audience, this just sounds like nonsense, but Shelley's ability to capture the conflict of her character and her ongoing doubts remains worthy of reading.
This was quite a struggle for me - no lie, but I am glad to have read them all.
That said, I want to say firstly that Mary Wollstonecraft is NOT a fiction writer.
Both her stories read like Vindication in a kind of 'here is what I mean' kind of way. They are didactic and repetitive - a technique she used to make her point was to circle an idea and, using different language or examples, to hammer away at it.
It is not that the writing is bad - although it suffers from the expansive, floweriness of its time - but that there is very little story in it. She doesn't so much describe scenes as expostulate on the situation her characters find themselves in. It makes for some tedious reading; unless you were doing some research on conditions for women inC18th England.
Shelley can, and does, write fiction but the angst suffered by Matilda at the revelations of her father's passion come across to me as overly dramatic until quite late in the story when Matilda reveals her concern that she is somehow responsible for his feelings, and that is what makes her unfit for society.
To a modern audience, this just sounds like nonsense, but Shelley's ability to capture the conflict of her character and her ongoing doubts remains worthy of reading.
This was quite a struggle for me - no lie, but I am glad to have read them all.
Read
October 7, 2024It was interesting to see some of the similarities between Mary Wollstonecraft's work and her daughter Mary Shelley's novels. Mary Shelley often seems to write about more traditional (for the time) male geniuses, in 'Mary' her mother Mary Wollstonecraft creates a very different female genius who educates herself.
I found Maria by Mary Wollstonecraft to be very bleak and written in a modern style of realism with very heavy narration. It is a harrowing account of a woman's life lived in figurative and literal imprisonment in the social and legal confinements of the time.
Matilda by Mary Shelley shows her more romantic style of gothic writing which I really enjoy, but the subject matter takes a turn into the dark and transgressive as Matilda's father's grief at his wife's loss turns into a incestuous desire for his daughter. It's difficult to deny the beauty in the storytelling even if the plot appears at face value to be a little abhorrent!
I also learnt a little more about both women from the essay included in the audiobook and was reminded of how the medical tragedies of their lives informed the dark subject matter of many of their books.
I found Maria by Mary Wollstonecraft to be very bleak and written in a modern style of realism with very heavy narration. It is a harrowing account of a woman's life lived in figurative and literal imprisonment in the social and legal confinements of the time.
Matilda by Mary Shelley shows her more romantic style of gothic writing which I really enjoy, but the subject matter takes a turn into the dark and transgressive as Matilda's father's grief at his wife's loss turns into a incestuous desire for his daughter. It's difficult to deny the beauty in the storytelling even if the plot appears at face value to be a little abhorrent!
I also learnt a little more about both women from the essay included in the audiobook and was reminded of how the medical tragedies of their lives informed the dark subject matter of many of their books.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews