Why Famed Frankenstein Novelist Mary Shelley Carried A Human Heart With Her Everywhere
The iconic writer had a macabre practice of keeping a human organ in her possession
English novelist Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin Shelley cemented her status as an iconic writer with her epic novel Frankenstein (Frankenstein; or. The Modern Prometheus). The gothic tale was an early example of the science fiction genre and has sent ripples of terror through generations of readers over the years. Besides her writing material, she was no stranger to the dark and macabre, as an object she carried with her everywhere for years was an actual human heart.
Born in 1797, she was raised by her father (political philospher William Godwin) when her mother (Feminist philospher Mary Wollstonecraft) died just days after giving birth to her. Although she lacked much in the way of formal school education, the girl had the luxury of regular tutors, a governess and the ability to travel and experience things extensively.
At the age of 16 Mary began a relationship with the married 21-year-old Percy Bysshe Shelley, a poet and philosopher, in addition to being an acquaintance of her father. The couple fell in love and married in 1816 just before the birth of their second child William (the first child, a girl, died…
