Born in 1797 Mary Shelley spent most of her life in social exile. Her parents, Mary Wollstonecraft, feminist writer, and William Godwin, political philosopher and writer, both disapproved of the institution of marriage. However, upon discovering that she was pregnant, Mary Wollstonecraft urged William to marry her, so that the family would not be completely shunned from society. Only twelve days after giving birth to Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin, Mary Wollstonecraft died of fever. William Godwin remarried four years later to a Mary Jane Clairmont, who had two children of her own. Mary Shelley had a difficult relationship with her stepmother and their disagreements were a constant source of tension within the family. As a teenager, Mary spent a considerable amount of time in Scotland staying with friends of the family, presumably to ease some of the tension within the Godwin household. Mary accused her mother of denying her an education, however this was untrue. Mary learned Latin, French, and Italian and read and wrote extensively. 

Upon returning from her second stay in Scotland, Mary befriended Percy Shelley who was an acquaintance of her father's and an admirer of his socialist views. Within the year, at the age of sixteen Mary and Percy became lovers, even though Percy was already married. Mary's father forbad their relationship and in July 1814, Mary, Percy, and Mary's stepsister, Claire, left for France. They traveled through France, Switzerland, and Germany with little money and eventually had to return to England. In 1816, Mary gave birth to her first son and again Mary, Percy, and Claire traveled to the continent. They traveled to Switzerland where Lord Byron was living; both Mary and Percy were admirers of his work, and while living in London Claire had been his lover. It was in Switzerland, at Villa Diodati, that Mary Shelley first envisioned the outlines for Frankenstein. The group that had been staying at the villa was reading a book of German ghost stories, and they had decided that each member of the group should invent their own story. At first, Mary could not think of a story, but Byron, Percy, and Mary had had a conversation about the nature of life and whether it would ever be possible to reanimate a corpse. Thus, Frankenstein, Mary's best known work, was conceived.  In the same year Mary and Percy returned to England, Percy's first wife committed suicide, and in December Mary and Percy were married. Mary also published History of a Six Weeks Tour, which was based upon her first trip to Europe with Percy and Claire. 

In 1818 Mary, Percy and Claire returned to Italy and visited Turin, Milan, Naples, and Pompeii. They eventually settled in Rome. Living in Italy was more economical than England.  Additionally, Percy was in poor health, and as the English courts did not grant Percy custody of his children from his first marriage, they were afraid that William and Clara, Mary and Percy's children, would be taken from them. However, their trip to Italy was marked by sadness as Clara died near Venice, and William died a year later.  Mary was deeply afflicted by both her children's deaths, feeling that the country to which they had fled to heal Percy had killed her children. She used her writing as a sort of therapy and wrote The Fields of Fancy, (revised as Matilda), Proserpine, and Midas. The Shelleys moved to Pisa where their friends, including Byron, were living. It was while sailing with a friend that Percy died in a boating accident off the Italian coast. This was a blow to Mary, though her relationship with Percy had been disintegrating.   

After the death of Percy, Mary returned to England in hopes that Percy's father would help to support Percy Florence, Mary and Percy Shelley's only surviving child. Mary helped her meager income by continuing to write, as well as publish her late husband's works. In 1824, Posthumous Poems, a selection of Percy's less controversial poems was published. In this volume Mary presented her husband not as a radical thinker, but as a lyrical poet. Mary continued with her own writing which included a revised Frankenstein, The Last Man, Lodore, and Falkner. Mary Shelley's writings upon her return to England were less radical in nature as she tried to comply with her father-in-law's wishes and conform to society. Mary did continue to travel when money allowed, and she traveled with her son, a journey that inspired Rambles in Italy and Germany.  In 1851, Mary Shelley died at age 53 of a brain tumor. 

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