Mary Shelley

by Johanna M. Smith

Series Kinley E. Roby, Northeastern University; Herbert Sussman, Northeastern University; Joseph Bartolomeo, University of Massachusetts; George Economou, University of Oklahoma; Arthur F. Kinney, University of Massachusetts. TWAYNES UNITED STATES AUTHORS, ENGLISH AUTHORS, and WORLD AUTHORS Series present concise critical introductions to great writers and their works. Devoted to critical interpretation and discussion of an authors work, each study takes account of major literary trends and important scholarly contributions and provides new critical insights with an original point of view. An Authors Series volume addresses readers ranging from advanced high school students to university professors. The book suggests to the informed reader new ways of considering a writers work. A reader new to the work under examination will, after reading the Authors Series, be compelled to turn to the originals, bringing to the reading a basic knowledge and fresh critical perspectives. Each volume a critical, interpretive study and explication of the authors works; a brief biography of the author; an accessible chronology outlining the life, work, and relevant historical background of the author; aids for further study -- complete notes and references, a selected annotated bibliography, and an index; and a readable style presented in a manageable length.

224 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1996

Reviews

[Nelson]

Solid, as these usually are. The thicket of complicated romances and the various blended families that characterized the life of Shelley and her closest early associates are quickly and reasonably teased out in the biographical material. The following chapters move through the works seriatim, naturally focusing on the novels but not neglecting more fugitive pieces such as reviews, short poems, plays and other juvenalia. And the bibliography offers a number of good places to turn to next. Crisply and clearly written.