Roger Dodsworth: the Reanimated Englishman

by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley

Roger Dodsworth: O Inglês Ressuscitado é um conto de Mary Shelley sobre um jovem inglês que acorda depois de mais de 150 anos em animação suspensa. Esta é a primeira tradução do conto para o português e vem acompanhada de notas explicativas.

Genres: Short Stories

Unknown Binding

First published January 1, 1863

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

[Janne Wass · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the Frankenstein author's lesser known works, this short story was written the same year as her daunting apocalyptic epic The Last Man was published. Again, as in so much of her work, Shelley examines themes of life, death, mortality and immortality. The story is written like a magazine article, and was submitted to Cyrus Redding, the editor of the English New Monthly Magazine in September 1826, three months after the first publication, in a French paper, of the astounding story of Roger Dodsworth, a British antiquarian who was supposedly resurrected after having been frozen in ice in the Swiss Alps for 170 years. The satirical hoax spread like wildfire in European papers during the summer of 1826, predating the famous "Moon Hoax", instigated by Edgar Allan Poe, by nine years. By the time Shelley chimed in, the story was blown up to such ridiculous proportions that it was clear to all that it was indeed a hoax. .

Shelley submitted at least two versions of her story to the magazine, but for one reason or the other, Redding chose not to publish any of them, and instead published it in 1863, after Shelley's death.

Shelley writes her story as if it was an anonymously written (as newspaper stories tended to be) news item, but she shrewdly uses a speculative tone, noting that the public has not heard from Mr. Dodsworth since his return to England, "but one would love to hear about his discussions with his rescuer, that might go like this and this ..." In this way, Shelley uses the resurrected Dodsworth as a mouthpiece to satirize life in Britain under King George IV. The story ends with the revelation that Dodsworth is unable to cope with the hypocrisies of 19th century Britain, and has returned to Switzerland to die again. Not as poignant or eloquent as Shelley's novels, but nevertheless a light, fun read.

[Andy Hickman · Rating 3 out of 5]

“Roger Dodsworth” ***
Reminds me of Poe in the peculiar response to a prevalent hoax of the time.
“… nor could the influence of dewy night or genial morn penetrate his more than adamantine panoply.”
• adamantine = rigidly firm
• panoply = impressive and extensive collection.

[Pepa · Rating 2 out of 5]

Este relato, otro para Halloween, no me ha gustado nada, no le veo ni pies ni cabeza, no sé, trata de Roger Dodsworth y de su resurrección pero sin profundizar en el tema ni dar muchas explicaciones, se puede saltar perfectamente la lectura.

[Forked Radish · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good point is made i.e. if something is preserved it won't make any difference if it's only a few seconds or thousands of years for if it succumbs to decomposition it wasn't preserved viz. a paradox.

[Lucía ⭐️ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mary Shelley tiene el don de hacerte reír en los momentos más inesperados. Muchos de sus cuentos cortos tienen esos toques de humor que no te ves venir pero que se mezclan perfectamente con lo que se está contando.

[Tom · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5⭐

[Bianca Drewnowski · Rating 3 out of 5]

Não se compara a obra prima da Mary, não é um dos meus preferidos dela, vale a pena ler para conhecer a obra completa dela.

[EEE · Rating 3 out of 5]

A escrita da Mary Shelley continua impressionante, como sempre, mas o conto não chega a ser tão interessante para muito além de entender mais da própria autora e conhecer os outros projetos além dos mais famosos.

[Mila · Rating 3 out of 5]

No sé si me gustó el relato en sí pero me pareció ingenioso.

[Tony Ciak · Rating 4 out of 5]

Science romance, short story, by a master

[Diya Dutta Roy · Rating 3 out of 5]

My girl had a type

[Kow · Rating 2 out of 5]

"Mr. Dodsworth did not sleep; his breast never heaved, his pulses were stopped; death had his finger pressed on his lips which no breath might pass."

"After a little wonder; a little shuddering to find himself the dead alive — finding no affinity between himself and the present state of things — he has bidden once more an eternal farewell to the sun."

[Richard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley is just simply excellent!
It's probably time for me to reread Frankenstein but I am going to seek out her other work first.