Mathilda - Mary. W. Shelley (Escritoras del Mundo)

by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley

Mathilda   es una novela breve e intensa escrita por Mary Shelley   entre 1819 y 1820, aunque permaneció inédita hasta 1959. En ella, la autora se adentra en un territorio oscuro y profundamente psicológico, explorando temas como la soledad, la culpa y el amor prohibido. La historia sigue a Mathilda, una joven que, tras perder a su madre al nacer, crece aislada hasta que su padre regresa a su vida. Sin embargo, el reencuentro se torna trágico cuando él confiesa un amor incestuoso por su hija, sumiéndola en una espiral de angustia y aislamiento.

Más allá de su trama provocadora, la novela destaca por su tono melancólico y su exploración de la psique de su protagonista, reflejando los propios conflictos personales de Shelley tras la pérdida de su esposo y sus hijos. Mathilda se aleja del gótico tradicional para profundizar en el sufrimiento humano con una sensibilidad moderna, convirtiéndose en una obra fascinante dentro de la literatura romántica y un testimonio del talento de su autora más allá de Frankenstein.

114 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 17, 2025

About the author

Mary 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.

Reviews

[Lucía Díaz · Rating 2 out of 5]

El planteamiento teórico es muy interesante, pero se nota que es un primer borrador. Se hace largo pese a tener menos de 200 páginas, y no se profundiza lo suficiente en lo verdaderamente jugoso del relato

[Francisco Comelibros Juarez · Rating 4 out of 5]

solo diré que este libro me hizo sentir la desolación y la desesperanza de la protagonista, muy bueno, pero difícil de leer

[Ximena Trigo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesante relato corto, con invicto prometedor, fue decayendo hacia el final, quizás por la sugerencia del inicio.

[Sam García · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful and sad, I wonder if Im gonna that kind of aunt in the future.