Frankenstein, recognized as one of the most famous works of literary horror ever written, was the direct result of three brilliant authors setting out to challenge of creating a story that would arouse fear and horror in the reader. Mary Shelley and her husband Percy, along with their friend and fellow writer Lord Byron, decided that they would each write horror stories, read them, and declare a winner once everything had been read. After a vivid dream, Mary Shelley began writing the gripping tale of Victor Frankenstein. Although the challenge posed by her fellow writers, as well as an obscure dream, were the driving force behind her writing, many specific and often tragic events throughout Mary's life greatly affected the way she shaped her novel ("Mary Shelley" 2). Frankenstein, often seen only as the horrific story of a scientist gone mad, can be analyzed as an expression of the fears of one woman, Mary Shelley, regarding pregnancy, childbirth, and as a direct result of the influences of other writers and even her. own parents. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay In order to fully understand the influences that affected Shelley's writing, particularly Frankenstein, one must have adequate knowledge of a few key events in Mary's life. Born on August 30, 1797, Mary Shelley was a prominent, if often overlooked, literary figure of the Romantic era of English literature. She was the only daughter of Mary Wollstonecraft, the famous feminist, and William Godwin, a philosopher and novelist (Classic Writers 199). Mary's parents shaped the romantic sensibilities and revolutionary ideas of the left. Shortly after giving birth to Shelley, Mary Wollenstonecraft, her mother, quickly contracted puerperal fever and died. This had a profound effect on Shelley's thinking as she grew up, taking the tragic event as inspiration to become a good writer (Coulter 2). She was also the wife of the poet Percy Bysshe Shelley. Mary, Percy, Byron and Keats were major figures in the second generation of Romanticism, important as it was short-lived. While the major poets of the second generation died young in the 1820s, Mary lived from the Romantic era into the Victorian era. Among her completed works are History of Six Weeks' Tour, written collectively with her husband, Valperga, a romance set in the 14th century, and The Last Man, which depicts the end of human civilization, set in the 21st century (Houston and Percy 152).From a young age, Mary was surrounded by many powerful and influential writers, shaping her ideas as she grew up and ultimately leading to the writing of Frankenstein. The Romantics of his era were fascinated by dreams (and Gothic nightmares). Dreams were seen as predictors of what might happen or as horrible memories of what actually happened. Coleridge’s “Kubla Khan,” “Rime of the Ancient Mariner,” and “The Pains of Sleep” all reflect a horrible nightmarish world of what happens when the subconscious violates the light of day (Houston and Percy 152). The Romantic obsession with imagination and the creative process undoubtedly had profound influences on Frankenstein. After all, Shelley got the idea for her novel in a nightmare (Coulter 3)! As a direct result of these romantic influences, Victor himself experiences a complex dream: “I thought I saw Elizabeth, in perfect health, walking through the streets of Ingolstadt. Delighted and surprised, Ikissed him, but as I was the first to kiss his lips, they became livid with the tint of death; her features seemed to change, and I thought I was holding the corpse of my dead mother in my arms; a shroud enveloped his form, and I saw the crawling worms. in the folds of the flannel, I awoke from my sleep with horror; a cold dew covered my forehead, my teeth chattered, and all my limbs convulsed; yellow light of the moon... I saw the wretch - the wretched monster that I had created (Shelley 58). "Thus, Shelley effectively induces that feeling of dreamlike, gruesome gothic fantasy that writers of the Romantic period inspired in him (Woodbridge 2). This gothic, misty world based on the idea of ​​what dreams were interpreted was a central theme of Shelley's writing and came from the writings of many prominent Romantic writers of the time. Central to Shelley's Frankenstein is the complex and illuminating process of childbirth and motherhood. and unrealistic inspired by other romantic writers, Shelley wishes to express her views, experiences and fears of becoming a mother The first tragic event involving childbirth was the death of Shelley's mother shortly after. gave birth to Shelley Although desperate for her father, later in life, Mary took the event as inspiration to become a better writer. Childbirth would come back to haunt Mary later in life. Her first child, Clara, was born prematurely on February 22, 1815 and died on March 6. Mary, like anyone, was devastated and took a long time to recover. Mary's second child, William, was born on January 24, 1816. (William died of malaria on June 7, 1819.) So by the time Mary conceived the story, her first child had died and her second had not only 6 months. (Woodbridge 1-3). There is no doubt that she expected to be pregnant again and she was about six months later. Pregnancy and child-rearing were at the forefront of Mary's concerns at this point in her life. These childbirth experiences undoubtedly raised, if not fear, then at least questions about childbirth and why her first child had died. As a result of her bad motherhood experiences, Mary creates this horrible asymmetrical monster that comes to ravage the countryside (Coulter 4). What's important about the monster is that not only is he hideous, but he starts life as a good being, only to be rejected by society and given a bad upbringing by Victor who transformed into a thoughtless and callous murderer (Afterword 195). As Victor encounters his creation for the first time after the death of his loved ones, the monster proclaims, “Remember that I am your creature; I should be your Adam, but I am rather the fallen angel, whom you chase away with joy for nothing. Everywhere I see happiness, from which I alone am irrevocably excluded. I was benevolent and good; misery has made me a demon, and I will be virtuous (Shelley 81-82). » This testament of Victor's monster explains. how Victor failed. Leaving his “child” alone to wander the world without moral support, Victor failed miserably at being a good parent (Woodbridge 2-3). Thus, Shelley is able to express her fears of seeing another child die and not knowing if she will be a good parent by incorporating these themes into Frankenstein's monster's miscarriage. Finally, Mary was greatly influenced by her parents Mary Wollenstonecraft and William Godwin, both influential writers during their lives. Mary Wollenstonecraft is often called the "mother of feminism." A Vindication of the Rights of Women is probably his most important work..