English Authors Series - Mary Shelley

Mary Shelley - renowned author of Frankenstein and the wife of Percy Bysshe Shelley - has often been considered solely in light of these two facts. While scholarly interest in Mary Shelley's life and work has intensified in recent years, the critical understanding of this seminal author has been marked by its constricted focus. Shelley was by no means the author of a single work produced under the influence of her husband. She had an active literary career that spanned many genres, including poetry, drama, travel writing, and essays as well as the novels and stories of science fiction for which she is best known. Johanna M. Smith, in Mary Shelley Revisited, examines the complete works of Mary Shelley. Her comprehensive study focuses on the various genres that constitute Shelley's oeuvre. This approach not only reveals the diversity and depth of Shelley's literary career but also provides an insightful inquiry into the construction of genres themselves. And rather than focusing on the autobiographical elements of Shelley's work that have been covered by earlier scholars, Smith draws out the political and feminist issues that deeply engaged Shelley during her lifetime and are interwoven throughout her texts.