Have you ever wanted to know more about your favorite classic authors? Each month, we share various facts about the lives and works of our Author of the Month.
During October, we honored Mary Shelley as our Author of the Month. The author of the most famous and disturbing literary work of the Romantic period, Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin was born on August 30, 1797. Some of the most interesting things we learned about her this month were…
On June 16, 1816 Mary Shelley, Percy Bysshe Shelley, Lord Byron, Clair Clairmont, and John Polidori decide to have a contest in which each would compete to write the most frightening story
The relationship between Mary and Percy Bysshe Shelley, begun at the graveside of Mary Wollstonecraft, spanned only eight years of Mary Shelley's life, yet from the moment of their elopement in 1814 its intensity informed the central events of her experience
Frankenstein is also a political argument. Mary was convinced that a political goal did not justify the use of violent means. Frankenstein's creature embodies the French Revolution: originally “good” in his intentions, the creature becomes increasingly violent
After Percy Bysshe Shelley's death by drowning in 1822, Mary Shelley returned to England and continued to write fiction and nonfiction while devoting herself to the editing and publication of her husband's works. Her editions are still used by modern scholars
For the month of November, we are exploring the life and work of Edgar Allan Poe. Be sure to follow the #ClassicsInContext hashtag on Twitter to learn more!
Image provided by Wikipedia
