The tragic circumstances of Mary Shelley's birth may have influenced the novel Frankenstein. Her mother, Mary Wollstonecraft, died just days after giving birth. Her stepmother, Mary Jane Clairmont and her father raised Mary Shelley. Shelley's father, William Godwin was an anarchist sometimes referred to as the father of modern philosophy.

At fifteen, Mary met Percy Bysshe Shelley. She became his mistress and they eventually married. Percy Shelley was as enamored of Mary's father's reputation as he was of the young woman. His interest in William Godwin led Shelley to loan money to Godwin placing the Shelley's near financial ruin. The publication of Frankenstein provided some necessary funds to the couple.

Both Godwin and Wollstonescraft were radical thinkers and successful writers. This, added to Percy's reputation and the pressure he applied for Mary to live up to her literary pedigree, led Mary Shelley to feel that her work was substandard. Her journals reveal that she was certain that anything written for the party game that produced Frankenstein would be far better than her own work. Perhaps for this reason, the published version of Frankenstein was heavily edited by Percy Shelley.

Mary Shelley bore four children with Percy Shelley. Only one survived to adulthood. Critics feel that this fact, along with the tragic death of her mother and feelings of inferiority in relation to her family led to the vision, which inspired Frankenstein

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