Mary Shelley: A Very Short Introduction

Very Short Introductions #700

by Charlotte Gordon

Very Short Introductions : Brilliant, Sharp, Inspiring

In 1816, when eighteen-year old Mary Godwin began writing Frankenstein , the idea that a woman could dream up such a tale was as far-fetched as raising a being from the dead. But Mary wasn't just any woman. The daughter of two notorious radicals, Mary had become an outcast from English society when she was only sixteen. A lifelong advocate for the rights of women, she refused to be governed by social conventions, running away with a married man, having children out of wedlock, and authoring books, stories, and essays that broke literary conventions.

This Very Short Introduction explores the context, background, and important themes contained in Shelley's most famous novel, Frankenstein , as well as demonstrating the importance of her work after Frankenstein . Over the course of her long career, Shelley developed a distinctive voice, and a political and philosophical stance. Exploring key themes throughout Shelley's work, Charlotte Gordon shows how she devoted herself to the propositions her mother, Mary Wollstonecraft, outlined in A Vindication of the Rights of Woman : that women are equal to men; that all people deserve the same rights; that human reason and the capacity for love can reform the world; and that every person is entitled to justice and freedom.

The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Biography, Audiobook, Literature, Feminism

160 pages, Paperback

First published March 14, 2022

Reviews

[Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don’t generally rate non fiction but this was fantastic!

Now on a quest to get my hands on as many of Mary Shelley’s other books that I can.

[Ed Courtney · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an excellent book on the life and works of Mary Shelley. The only drawback is that even though it was a “very short” introduction, it still contained more details about her than I was really interested in, so it was hard to keep my interest especially in the last half of the book.

[Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

getting her portrait tattooed asap !

[presiyana ઇଓ · Rating 5 out of 5]

освен любим автор, мери шели е и моя любима историческа личност, революционер, пример.
въпреки че основната информация в книгата не беше нова за мен, детайлите от различните аспекти от живота и творчеството на шели са наистина любипитни, понякога вдъхновяващи, в други случаи - съкрушителни.
изключително приятна книга, смятам, че е подходяща за всеки.

[֍ elle ֍ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Desperately needed another pass from an editor focused on eliminating repetition and shoring up organization. It was more unfocused and sloppy than I would expect from either this author or this imprint, but otherwise, I enjoyed it and thought it was good. I especially liked charting how Mary Shelley developed certain themes over the length of her career, that was an interesting arc.

[Ruby Steele · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this! I never realised that Shelley was as feminist, radical and actually as badass as she was. Typical Victorians depicting her as a pious wife and scribe 🙄. I think this has changed my perspective about Frankenstein and I see it so much more as a feminist novel which i’d totally missed before. Now on a quest to read some of her other novels and some Wollstonecraft!

[Jassmine · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was brilliant. It's as simple as that.
Books about Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley are a niche interest of mine and so far this is the best introduction I came upon (excluding the children's books... but those are more of the appetizers) and it really made me excited for Romantic Outlaws: The Extraordinary Lives of Mary Wollstonecraft and Her Daughter Mary Shelley by the same author.
This book is a very short introduction to Mary Shelley's complete work, not just Frankenstein(!), it places Mary's life and work side by side showing the major influences and themes (f.e. problematic father figures, the importance of motherhood, importance of her seemingly unimportant female characters, her political and philosophical views). The only problem I see with this book is that it spoils most of her stories, so if you don't want to know the endings you have to skip around. (Which wasn't really possible for me, since I was listening to the audiobook).
It especially focuses on Wollstonecraft's influence on Shelley and how feminism subtly shows in her works and much less subtly in her life, I also didn't know that she was an ally to what we would today call lgbtq+ community (I would love to read short stories about some of the anecdotes). I deeply appreciated the consolidatory tone of this work, it doesn't go into the details of all the problematic relationships and doesn't put an exalted blame on either part. Both Percy and Mary are just people and are shown as such here, I especially liked that Gordon shares my view on the importance of intellectual and creative partnership of Shelleys and gives us a comparison of promethean myth from Prometheus Unbound and Frankenstein, which is something I have been long interested in and I would love to hear more on that.
In conclusion, if you are interested in Mary Shelley's work, I highly recommend this - it's very readable and short (I listened to a very pleasant audio) and just a great place to start, I'm really sorry I didn't came across this sooner (I could spare myself the pain I had with Ariel or the Life of Shelley...).

[Janna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great Introduction to the life and works of Mary Shelley

This is a great primer for Mary Shelley's life and literary works. Strongly recommend this to those with an avid interest in both.

[Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fascinating reappraisal of Mary Shelley, with a feministic reclaiming of her legacy. Perhaps, Gordon hammers here points a bit too hard; it felt like she was making an argument rather than introducing the topic. Still, well written and engaging.

[Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

This easy-to-read and interesting book weaves together Mary Shelly's life and work. It's a good overview of Shelley, and is accessible for all readers.

[McCarley Golden · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love these. Goodness, her life was much sadder than I initially realized.

[Alina GWEN Rodriguez · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and found the insights to Mary Shelley's books delightful.

I've only read Frankenstein, but now I want read more of her works.

[Sonja · Rating 4 out of 5]

Basically Frankenstine is for the girls.

[Keith · Rating 4 out of 5]

“In her novels, essays, and stories, and in her quiet behind-the-scenes actions, Mary Shelley had made the plight of women the driving force of her life. And yet, this truth was almost lost to history. It is only now, with access to her journals, letters, and diaries, as well as the important critical studies of the last few decades, that she is recognized for her courage and her creativity, her authorial innovations and her struggles.” (p. 120).

In this short biography of the author, Charlotte Gordon has greatly increased my interest in the writings of Mary Shelley. She was far more than Frankenstein . Mary Shelley was only 19 when she published that wonderful debut novel, and she continued writing for another 33 years. Not only did she create many more novels, short stories, poems, essays, and travel narratives—often with radical political or cultural themes—Mary Shelley also had a fascinating and unorthodox personal life, especially for the era she lived in.

Since reading Mary Shelley: A Very Short Introduction, I have purchased Delphi Classics’s Complete Works of Mary Shelley. Here is the contents:

The Novels:
Frankenstein (1818 original version)
Frankenstein (1831 revised version)
Mathilda (written between August 1819 and February 1820 and first published posthumously in 1959)
Valperga (1823)
The Last Man (1826)
The Fortunes of Perkin Warbeck (1830)
Lodore (1835)
Falkner (1837)

The Short Stories (chronological order):
On Ghosts (1824, nonfiction article)
A Tale of the Passions (1822)
Recollections of Italy (1824, nonfiction article)
The Bride of Modern Italy (1824)
Roger Dodsworth (1826, written; published posthumously in 1863)
The Sisters of Albano
Ferdinando Eboli (1828)
The Mourner
The Evil Eye
The False Rhyme
Transformation
The Dream
The Swiss Peasant
The Brother and Sister
The Invisible Girl
The Smuggler and His Family
The Mortal Immortal
The Trial of Love
The Elder Son
The Parvenue
The Pilgrims
Euphrasia
The Heir of Mondolfo
Valerius
An Eighteenth-Century Tale
The Pole

The Children’s Fiction:
Proserpine
Midas

The Poems:
Absence,
A Dirge,
A Night Scene,
When I'm no more, this harp that rings,
To love in solitude and mystery,
I must forget they dark eyes' love-fraught gaze
Ode to Ignorance.
Fame
Stanzas: How like a star you rose upon my life
Oh listen while I sing to thee
Stanzas: Oh, come to me in dreams, my love!
The Choice
On Reading Wordsworth's Lines on Peele Castle
Tribute for thee dear solace of my life
Sadly borne across the waves
La Vida es sueno
Fair Italy! Still shines thy sun as bright


The Travel Writing:
History of a Six Weeks' Tour through a Part of France, Switzerland, Germany, and Holland by Mary Shelley and Percy Bysshe Shelley (originally published in 1817)
Rambles in Germany and Italy, in 1840, 1842, and 1843 (1844)


The Non-Fiction:
Notes to the Complete Poetical Works of Percy Bysshe Shelley

An Adaptation (by a different author):
Presumption; Or, the Fate of Frankenstein by Richard Brinsley Peake (1823)

The Biographies:
The Life and Letters of Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley by Florence A. Thomas Marshall
Mrs. Shelley by Lucy M. Rossetti

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[Image: Book Cover]

Citation:
Gordon, C. (2022). Mary Shelley: A very short introduction (Kindle Edition). OUP Oxford. https://www.amazon.com/Mary-Shelley-S...

Title: Mary Shelley: A Very Short Introduction
Author(s): Charlotte Gordon
Series: Oxford Very Short Introductions #700
Year: 2022
Genre: Nonfiction - Biography, Literary Criticism
Page count: 160 pages
Date(s) read: 8/23/25 - 8/24/25
Book 172 in 2025
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[Sandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice, short introduction on Shelley’s life. Just enough.