Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley (1797–1851) is the author of one of the most famous novels in English literature: Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus, published in 1818. Her story of Victor Frankenstein, a scientist who creates human life artificially for the first time, has continued to capture the popular imagination over two centuries. The story was first conceived in the summer of 1816 when Shelley was 18. Clearly, she was considering some of the big issues of the time, such as what it means when a scientist plays God.
Her story about Frankenstein’s creature — his monster — who is shunned by society and thenceforth leads a largely solitary life, is undoubtedly gripping. But while Frankenstein has become so well known, other works by Shelley are hardly read at all, which is odd. One of the great pleasures of literature is that reading something we enjoy might lead us to read something else, by the same author or on a similar theme.
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