Mary Shelley

Mary was born on August 30, 1797 in London.

Mary's mother, Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin, was a noted feminist of her era.

Mary would always claim that a dream inspired her to write Frankenstein.

Mary's father disowned her when she eloped to Europe with Percy Shelley in 1814 but the two eventually reconciled with Mary and Percy married in 1816.

Husband Percy Bysshe Shelley, a believer in free love, tried to get Mary to participate in a threesome with his friend Thomas Hogg but she refused.

Mary was played by Alice Krige in the 1988 film Haunted Summer.

Mary was portrayed by Elsa Lanchester in the 1935 film Bride of Frankenstein.

Mary was portrayed by Natasha Richardson in the 1986 film Gothic.

Mary married her lover, Percy Bysshe Shelley, in 1816 after his first wife committed suicide.

Mary published her first poem at the age of 10.

Mary is buried at St. Peter's Churchyard in Bournemouth, Great Britain.

Mary's last novel, Mathilda, was not published until 1959, over 100 years after her death, due to its controversial subject matter of incest.

Although it didn't stand the test of time, Mary's sci-fi novel The Last Man was considered the equal of Frankenstein by critics in its day. The Last Man is set in the 21st century and concerns a plague infesting mankind.

After her husband's death, Mary edited, annotated, and had published much of his unpublished material.

Mary's husband, Percy Bysshe Shelley, drowned at sea on July 8, 1822.

Mary had only one child who survived to adulthood--son Percy Florence Shelley.

Mary had two children who died in infancy and she miscarried a third child.

Mary and husband Percy were both vegetarians.

Frankenstein came about when Mary and a group of her friends decided to hold a ghost story writing contest.

Mary wrote Frankenstein in 1816 while staying at Lake Geneva, Switzerland.

Mary ran off to Europe with poet Percy Bysshe Shelley in 1814 when she was only 16.

Mary's father tutored her himself and she had more education than most girls of that time period.

Mary's mother died ten days after giving birth to her.

Mary's father was a philosopher, journalist, and a bookstore owner.

Mary was the daughter of William Godwin and Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin.