Essay About Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley And Mary Wollstonecraft

Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley
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Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley was born on August 30, 1797, in London,
England. She was destined to live an extraordinary life. Her parents were
two of the most noted freethinkers of the Enlightenment era. Her father,
William Godwin, was a celebrated philosopher and historian. He was known
for overeating and borrowing money who would give him a loan. He didnt
have much time for anything but his philosophical ideas. He met his match
in Mary Wollstonecraft, Marys mother. She was every bit as much a radical
thinker as Godwin. She declared herself independent at the age of 21. She
and her sisters ran a school in France, where she had an affair with an army
captain and had her first child, Fanny, out of wedlock. After being
abandoned, she and Fanny moved back to England and attempted suicide.
She began writing. She was well-known for her revolutionary feminist
writings. Wollstonecraft and Godwin met a dinner party at Godwins home
and the two began an affair. Wollstonecraft was five months pregnant when
she married Godwin. Although Godwin and Wollstonecraft didnt agree with
the whole marriage thing, they wanted Marys children to be legitimate
children. Marys mother died of complications just ten days after Mary was
born. Her father was a self-absorbed intellectual and was left to take care of
his daughters all alone. Although he loved his daughters, the responsibility of
raising them on his own was too much for him and soon began looking for a
wife.
Godwin married four years later to Mary Jane Clairmont. She turned
out to be a mean and shallow woman who favored her own two children over
Mary and Fanny. Mary was a lively child and was often treated unfairly by
her stepmother. She received frequent whippings which led to her rebellion
of a girls traditional role. As a result of this, Mary kept to herself and was
unhappy and alone. Although she didnt have a formal education, she picked
up on the intellectual environment created by her father and his visitors.
Mary was quite bright and began reading the writings of her mother around
the age of eight. She had memorized every word by the age of ten. Mary
spent many hours at her favorite reading spot, her mothers grave.
Percy Shelley, a poet, was an admirer and friend of William Godwin
and spent a great deal of time at the Godwin house. Shelley also admired the
writings of Marys mother. Mary was impressed by him and their friendship
rapidly grew. They were inseparable. Percy was married with his second
child on the way but they believed that they should follow their hearts rather
than be bound by laws. Percy and Mary eloped and were married a month
before Marys seventeenth birthday. Percy was twenty-two. They spent the next few years traveling in Switzerland, Italy, and Germany.
During these years, there was a lot of financial difficulty and personal
tragedy. After they got married, Percys father cut off his allowance which
left them broke. Then Marys half sister committed suicide and