Mathilda - Facts

 

This novella written between 1919 abd 1920 is about three main characters who critics have identified as the author herself, her father and her husband.

Mathilda seems to be the voice of the author, Mary Shelley. Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley (née Godwin; 30 August 1797 – 1 February 1851) was an English novelist who wrote the Gothic novel Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus (1818), which is considered an early example of science fiction. She also edited and promoted the works of her husband, the Romantic poet and philosopher Percy Bysshe Shelley. Her father was the political philosopher William Godwin and her mother was the philosopher and women's rights advocate Mary Wollstonecraft.

When Mary was writing Mathilda, she was plagued by depression as her daughter Clara Everina had died in Venice in 1818 and his son in 1819. These losses left her in a deep depression that isolated her from Percy Shelley.

Mathilda's father is seen as Mary Shelley's father. William Godwin (3 March 1756 – 7 April 1836) was an English journalist, political philosopher and novelist. He is considered one of the first exponents of utilitarianism and the first modern proponent of anarchism.

The third characters, Woodville, is Percy Shelley. Percy Bysshe Shelley (4 August 1792 – 8 July 1822) was an English writer who is considered one of the major English Romantic poets.[3][4] A radical in his poetry as well as in his political and social views, Shelley did not achieve fame during his lifetime, but recognition of his achievements in poetry grew steadily following his death.