Mary Shelley [author]

Calvin

“Welcome to Headstones and Microphones where we use AI to step into the past through a researched, first-person simulation of history's most interesting people. I am your host, Calvin. While we’ve added some creative storytelling, our goal is to inspire your own study of these fascinating lives. Now, let’s meet our guest.”

Calvin

We have a literary legend in the studio today! For those who may somehow not know who you are... who are you?

White Female Guest

Hello, Calvin. I am Mary Shelley, though many know me simply as the mother of a certain misunderstood creature and his creator, Victor Frankenstein. I am a writer, a dreamer, and someone who always sought to find the extraordinary in the ordinary.

Calvin

It’s an honor, Mary. Let’s go back to the beginning. When and where were you born?

White Female Guest

I was born on August 30, 1797, in Somers Town, London. It was a time of great intellectual energy, though my own arrival was marked by both hope and a very heavy sadness.

Calvin

And what was your given name at birth?

White Female Guest

I was named Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin.

Calvin

Is there a story behind your birth name?

White Female Guest

Indeed. I was named after my mother, Mary Wollstonecraft. She was a courageous writer and philosopher who fought for the rights of women. Tragically, she passed away only days after I was born. Carrying her name was both a great pride and a weight; I felt I had to live up to the brilliance of the mother I never truly knew, except through her books.

Calvin

That’s a powerful legacy. What was your hometown like growing up?

White Female Guest

London was bustling, foggy, and filled with the scent of coal smoke and old paper. My father’s house was a revolving door for the greatest thinkers of the age—poets, chemists, and radicals. It was a place where the air felt thick with ideas.

Calvin

What was your family life like with all those intellectuals around? It was intellectually rich but emotionally complex. My father, William Godwin, was a philosopher who raised me to be a "singular" woman. However, when he remarried, things became quite strained with my stepmother. I often found my true comfort outdoors or tucked away in my father’s library. What kind of kid were you? I was a dreamer! I was quite bookish and had a very active imagination. I used to spend hours by my mother’s grave in St. Pancras Churchyard, reading and writing stories. I suppose I was a bit of a solitary soul, but my mind was always racing with adventures. What were your biggest fears growing up? I feared being ordinary. I feared that I would never find a way to express the vast worlds inside of me. And, perhaps most deeply, I feared the silence of being forgotten. What did you dream of becoming as a child? I always knew I would be a writer. To me, ink was more precious than gold. I wanted to weave stories that would make people think, feel, and perhaps even look at the world a bit differently.

Calvin

What were some of your favorite activities in school?

White Female Guest

My education was quite informal, but I loved history and mythology. I traveled to Scotland for a time as a young girl, and the wild, rugged landscapes there absolutely captivated me. Exploring the highlands was far more educational to me than any classroom.

Calvin

What was your first job?

White Female Guest

I never had a traditional "job" in the sense of a trade. My "work" began the moment I could hold a pen. I suppose you could say my first real professional endeavor was publishing my travel journals and, eventually, my first novel.

Calvin

Was there a moment where you realized you were different from everyone else?

White Female Guest

It was likely during those long conversations at my father's dinner table. While other girls my age were learning to embroider, I was listening to Samuel Taylor Coleridge recite "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner." I realized then that my heart belonged to the strange and the sublime.

Calvin

What’s a decision that changed everything for you, but felt small at the time?

White Female Guest

Deciding to go on a summer holiday to Lake Geneva in 1816. It seemed like a simple escape from the pressures of London, but it led me to a rainy villa, a ghost story contest, and the birth of my "hideous progeny," Frankenstein.

Calvin

What was your biggest break?

White Female Guest

That very contest! Lord Byron challenged us all to write a ghost story. For days, I had nothing. Then, after a "waking dream" about a pale student of unhallowed arts kneeling beside the thing he had put together, I had my story. That spark changed my life forever.

Calvin

What were your biggest struggles before success?

White Female Guest

My early years with my husband, Percy, were filled with financial hardship and the disapproval of society. We were often traveling, living on very little, and dealing with the immense grief of losing our young children. It was a period of great love, but also great sorrow.

Calvin

Did you ever consider quitting?

White Female Guest

Never. Writing was my lifeline. When the world felt too heavy to bear, the page was the only place where I could make sense of the chaos.

Calvin

Were there any specific daily habits or routines that you feel are essential to your success?

White Female Guest

I found that walking in nature was essential. Whether it was the mountains of Switzerland or the woods of England, moving my body helped clear the "cobwebs" of my mind and allowed stories to take shape.

Calvin

What job would you have had if fame never happened?

White Female Guest

I think I might have been an editor or a compiler of histories. I loved the process of research and preserving the thoughts of others.

Calvin

What was your life like before fame?

White Female Guest

It was a whirlwind of movement! We were constantly traveling through Europe, often ahead of creditors, living in temporary lodgings and fueled by poetry and passion.

Calvin

How did relationships change after success?

White Female Guest

Success is a strange thing. While Frankenstein was a sensation, many people didn't believe a nineteen-year-old girl could have written it! My relationships became more about protecting my work and my husband’s legacy after he passed.

Calvin

Did fame bring happiness?

White Female Guest

It brought a sense of accomplishment, certainly. But true happiness for me always came from quiet moments of connection and the satisfaction of a well-turned phrase, rather than public acclaim.

Calvin

What was the downside of becoming famous?

White Female Guest

The scrutiny. People were very quick to judge my unconventional life. I often felt like a character in one of my own tragedies, being watched and analyzed by a public that didn't truly know my heart.

Calvin

What misconceptions did people have about you?

White Female Guest

Many thought I was as dark and morose as my writing. In reality, I loved beauty, laughter, and the company of dear friends. Just because I explored the shadows doesn't mean I didn't love the light!

Calvin

What’s something people misunderstood about your life?

White Female Guest

People often viewed me solely through the lens of the men in my life—my father or my husband. I worked very hard to be recognized as an author in my own right, with my own philosophy and voice.

Calvin

Tell me about a time when everything went wrong and how did you handle it?

White Female Guest

The year 1816 was famously the "Year Without a Summer." The weather was dreadful, our spirits were low, and I felt a crushing pressure to produce something meaningful. I handled it by leaning into the gloom—I used the atmosphere to fuel the cold, lonely world of my monster.

Calvin

Who had the biggest influence on your life?

White Female Guest

My mother, through her writing, and my husband, Percy Bysshe Shelley. He encouraged my intellect and never once doubted that I had a masterpiece inside of me.

Calvin

What was life like in your final years?

White Female Guest

They were much quieter. I lived in London with my surviving son, Percy Florence. I spent much of my time editing my husband's poems and writing biographies. It was a time of reflection and peace.

Calvin

What were you working on in your career before you passed away?

White Female Guest

I was working on several biographical essays for Lardner’s Cabinet Cyclopaedia. I took great joy in highlighting the lives of Italian and Spanish thinkers.

Calvin

When and where and how did you pass away and how old were you?

White Female Guest

I passed away in London on February 1, 1851. I was fifty-three years old. It was a peaceful end after a long struggle with what doctors then called a "brain affection."

Calvin

What’s a random fact about you most people have never heard?

White Female Guest

I was a very keen linguist! I taught myself Latin, Greek, French, and Italian. I loved the way different languages could express feelings that English sometimes couldn't quite catch.

Calvin

What’s the craziest rumor ever told about you?

White Female Guest

That I kept my late husband’s heart in my desk drawer! People loved to sensationalize our lives. While I certainly cherished his memory, some of the stories were a bit more Gothic than the reality.

Calvin

What was your most unique habit?

White Female Guest

I had a habit of writing while sitting on the floor or leaning against a tombstone. I found the conventional desk to be much too stifling for my imagination.

Calvin

What was your favorite food?

White Female Guest

I quite enjoyed simple things—fresh bread, fruit, and a good pot of tea. When we lived in Italy, I grew very fond of the local grapes and wines.

Calvin

What was your favorite book?

White Female Guest

My mother’s A Vindication of the Rights of Woman. I read it over and over again; it was my moral compass.

Calvin

Did you have any known rivalries?

White Female Guest

Not a rivalry of malice, but perhaps a creative one with the poets of our circle. We all pushed each other to be more daring, more visceral, and more honest in our work.

Calvin

Tell us a story nobody talks about.

White Female Guest

Once, while traveling through Germany, we saw a castle named Frankenstein. Most people think I named the book after the castle, but at the time, I barely noted it. It’s funny how a name you barely remember can become the name the whole world knows you by.

Calvin

What was the most outlandish purchase you made?

White Female Guest

I was never one for jewels or fine silks, but I did spend a small fortune on books and travel. To me, a ticket to a new city was far more valuable than any diamond.

Calvin

What advice would you give people chasing success?

White Female Guest

Do not fear your own darkness. The things that scare you or make you feel "other" are often the very things that will make your work resonate. Write the story that keeps you awake at night.

Calvin

Mary, this has been absolutely fascinating. Do you have any closing remarks about the interview or the stories you shared that you would like to share with the listeners before we sign off?

White Female Guest

Only that I am so grateful to see that stories still have the power to bridge the gap between centuries. To everyone listening: keep dreaming, keep questioning, and never be afraid to create something "hideous" if it is true to your soul. Thank you for having me, Calvin! It was a joy!

Calvin

What an incredible journey through the mind of a true visionary. From the foggy streets of London to the shores of Lake Geneva, Mary Shelley’s life was as dramatic as her novels. Thank you, Mary, for joining us today. And that wraps up another conversation from beyond the grave. Thanks for joining us on The Headstones and Microphones Podcast. Remember—legends may die, but their stories never do. Please help spread the word by sharing and following the pod.