Mary Shelley

About the lecture

In this module we think about the life of Mary Shelley, focusing in particular on her illustrious parents, her relationship with the poet Percy Shelley, and her visit to Switzerland in the summer of 1816, where she first conceived of Frankenstein. We also consider some of the key differences between the first edition of the novel, published in 1818 and the (much more widely-read) second edition, published thirteen years later in 1831.

About the lecturer

Nick Groom is Professor of English Literature at the University of Exeter, a critically acclaimed author on subjects ranging from the history of the Union Jack to Thomas Chatterton, has edited several books and regularly appears on television, radio and at literary festivals as an authority on English Literature, the ‘Gothic’ and ‘British’ identity.