Romantic Influences

Mary Shelley was surrounded by three strong Romantic Poet influences such as Percy Bysshe Shelley, whom she married, had encouraged her to write Frankenstein. Shelley referred to himself as Victor when he was a young boy, just like in the novel. Mary Shelley critiqued his beliefs and used them (Shelleyan Idea) as a muse to create the Frankenstein and his creature. Lord Byron, close friend, was able to set the mood for her inspiration of Frankenstein. Samuel Taylor Coleridge, whose poem “Rime of the Ancient Mariner” greatly influenced Mary’s Frankenstein story. The loneliness of the Mariner was similar to the Frankenstein monster’s loneliness.

- Ann Marie