The Mental Anatomies of William Godwin and Mary Shelley

by William D. Brewer

This book explores the influence of Enlightenment and Romantic-era theories of the mind on the writings of Godwin and Shelley and examines the ways in which these writers use their fiction to explore such psychological phenomena as ruling passions, madness, the therapeutic value of confessions (both spoken and written), and the significance of dreams. Unlike most studies of Godwin and Shelley, it does not privilege their masterworks -- for the most part, it focuses on their lesser-known writings. Brewer also considers the works of other Romantic-era writers, as well as the seventeenth- and eighteenth-century philosophical and medical theories that informed Godwin's and Shelley's presentations of mental states and types of behavior.

246 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2001

About the author

William D. Brewer was born 1943 in the USA. Educated in Chemistry and Mathematics at Univ. Oregon (Eugene) and Univ. California (Berkeley). Postdoctoral work in physics at the Freie Universität Berlin and in Orsay, France. Habilitation in experimental physics at the FU Berlin, later University Professor there. Research in nuclear and solid-state physics, magnetism on surfaces and in thin films. Visiting scientist at Paris-Sud, IBM Yorktown Heights, Stanford, CRTBT Grenoble, KU Leuven, Univ. São Paulo, CBPF - Rio de Janeiro. Translations of over 20 scientific works (German to English), work for the Einstein Papers Project. Co-author of the book “Jayme Tiomno – A Life for Science, a Life for Brazil” in the Springer Biographies series (2020).