Hideous Love
Page 12
THE HUNTS’ ARRIVAL
June–July 1822
The Hunts and their six children
finally land in Italy at Genoa
on the twentieth of June.
Shelley rejoices
that they are finally here,
and he and Edward
make plans to sail
to meet them in Genoa.
Marianne Hunt is very ill,
but so too am I,
and I entreat Shelley
please not to go.
But my pleas
are as cries to the deaf,
seen but not heard.
The Hunts change their plans
and decide they will go to Livorno,
so Shelley, Edward, Captain Roberts,
and Charles Vivian, their
one-boy crew,
will sail to meet them there.
I again beg Shelley not to go,
but he refuses me
as though I am but a nagging fly
in this oppressive summer heat.
Before he leaves,
Shelley promises me he will
look for new lodging for us
at Pugnano for the rest of the summer.
This calms me a little
like a handkerchief
offered to the mourning.
Still I have a mind to pack up
Percy and head to Pisa myself.
NO GOOD NEWS FOR MARY
July 1822
On July fourth a most upsetting
letter arrives from Shelley
that he will not in fact
look for a new house at Pugnano
and he cannot say when he will return.
He wishes that I stay in Lerici
where I am in such agony
under the scorching sun
and without him.
He tells me he and Hunt
had a joyous reunion
in Livorno after not seeing
each other for four years.
They then traveled to Pisa,
where the Hunts were installed
in the apartments set aside
for them in Byron’s palazzo.
Marianne is said to be in grave
health and all are concerned
for her; the travel has made
her so very weak.
I understand how she feels.
Also the Hunts
are destitute and fully dependent
on the idea of living off the profits
from this new journal Hunt
is to edit with Byron.
Byron tires of the idea
of the journal
before it is even begun.
Byron contemplates leaving
Tuscany altogether, because
Teresa and her family
face trouble here
after the whole Masi affair.
Shelley mends the broken
bond over the journal,
like a tailor stitching up
a tattered suit,
and Byron agrees to stay in Pisa.
But my Shelley maneuvers
much negotiation on Hunt’s behalf.
Edward wishes to return to Jane
here in Lerici, as would be
expected of a husband.
I send the saddest of letters
to my Shelley in his absence.
Shelley writes letters to Jane
worried about how she handles
her solitary and melancholy,
but he directs
no sympathy to me.
THEN
July 1822
I lie back against
my mother’s gravestone,
and Shelley runs
his fingers through
my fine red hair.
The limbs of the willow
embrace us
with their verdant arms.
His wild eyes
blaze with a passion
I have never known
like a thousand
acres aflame.
I want to say something,
but Shelley
seals my lips.
“All words fail
this moment,”
he says.
I fervently nod my head.
I hear a small whimper
like the wind’s whistling cry.
“Mama.”
I push the covers
from my bed.
I was reveling
in a lovely dream.
THE STORM
July 8, 1822
The Ariel sets sail from Livorno
to come back to Lerici.
The only people aboard
are Shelley, Williams,
and the crew boy, Charles Vivian.
Captain Roberts sees
the boat take leave
and watches some ominous clouds
form on the horizon.
After an hour,
through his telescope Roberts
views a storm come up
and swears he saw the boat
take down its topsails.
But I’m not sure,
for without a deck
and with sails hard to bring down,
even a small but sudden
gust of wind could upset the Ariel.
And my Shelley cannot swim.
THE MEN HAVE NOT RETURNED
July 11, 1822
Claire, Jane, and I
grow more anxious
than mothers of ailing infants.
A letter arrives
from Hunt confirming
that the Ariel left Livorno in a storm.
Leigh Hunt wants news
of the travelers’ safe arrival.
The suspense is as dreadful
as a nest of vicious cobras.
Jane fears the worst.
Even though I have not left
the villa for nearly a month,
and look more like
a ghost than a woman,
Jane and I depart for Pisa
immediately
and head to Byron’s.
Byron provides no news
except that Edward, Shelley,
and Charles Vivian had sailed
the previous Monday in a storm.
We cannot stop to rest,
but take a carriage to Livorno
in search of Trelawny and Captain Roberts.
Roberts tries to assure us
that he saw the topsails
being taken down, though
it must have been hard
to view anything for certain
in the haze of the storm.
Trelawny escorts us back to Lerici.
I feel as though
I shall go into convulsions.
As we cross the river
I fear I plod through
my lover’s grave.
Trelawny goes searching
for the men
and when we hear nothing
I gain a bit of hope.
No hope
only death,
as the sad news
finally reaches us
that three bodies
have been discovered.
Trelawny identified Shelley
by the volume
of Keats’s poems
found on his person.
SHELLEY’S CALL
August 1822
I can faintly hear
my lover’s long-ago call
to join him
so that we shall never
be separated,
but united in death.
No laudanum
can bring back
my Shelley
and I cannot abandon
my child.
I close off
like a coffin lid has slid
over my senses.
Everyone sings praises of Shelley.
I find a bit of comfort in this.
<
br /> I write to my father that
I feel my Shelley is ever with me.
I must live to be good and wise,
then I will deserve to join
Shelley someday.
A FUNERAL
August 16, 1822
As I paralyze in grief,
Trelawny arranges the funeral.
Williams and Shelley
will be exhumed from
the graves on the beach
where they were found,
and they will be burned to ash.
As my father could not bear
to attend my mother’s funeral,
I cannot be present at my love’s burial.
I stay at home and write
a letter to Maria Gisborne.
I lament the fact that
Shelley and I were fighting
on the day he left
and that I begged him to stay.
I feel guilt and sorrow.
I miss my love
more than I can express.
Thank goodness for my little
Percy.
Shelley’s friends built a portable
structure on which to burn the bodies
and brought frankincense,
salt, wine, and oil to sprinkle
on the men.
Trelawny said that
the scenery on the shore
was as lonely and grand
as Shelley’s poetry.
He and Byron and Hunt
imagined that Shelley’s spirit
soared above them.
Byron swam out to his boat,
the Bolivar, while Leigh Hunt
remained in the carriage
and Trelawny watched
Shelley’s body burn for four hours.
The flames were incandescent
as was Shelley, and they consumed
all of him, except his heart.
I keep Shelley’s heart
close to me always,
preserved in wine and stored
in my portable writing desk.
Whenever I need
inspiration or stimulus
my dear love’s remains
will remind me
that I now have not only
my parents’ legacy to consider
but also my Shelley’s.
I must keep alight his flame.
ELEGY FOR MY SHELLEY
1822
We built a world of words
and yet none satisfy now.
If you are ash
where do I store my heart?
If you are buried
who will teach our child
to say “yes”
in a foreign tongue?
If you are spirit
who will craft poems
that awaken the soul?
If you are memory
what lighthouse
calls your ship to shore?
I vow to lay down my life
to make your name known.
AUTHOR’S NOTE
“Beware; for I am fearless and therefore powerful.”
—Mary Shelley, from Frankenstein
I love Frankenstein because of its gothic origins, its human values, its indelible characters, and its enduring heart. Many things compel an author to write a book, but in the case of Hideous Love, what most drew me to the subject matter was Mary’s youth and indomitable spirit. A woman of intellect, highly respected now as one of the important writers of her time, Mary broke the mold. She wrote a masterpiece of the English language in her teens. Her life challenged her with its tragedies and strife, and yet, fearlessly, she never gave up. When she left home and traveled with Shelley, a chest of her early writings was lost. This book was inspired in part by the idea that other tales of Mary’s adventures were lost along her tangled path.
After the tragic loss of Shelley, Mary spent much of her life compiling his work. In 1839, when his father finally lifted his prohibition against publishing Shelley’s writings, Mary brought out an annotated collection of her husband’s poetry. Her work helped to establish Percy Bysshe Shelley as one of the greatest poets of his period and of English literature in general. Mary never again married but devoted her life to writing, to raising her son, Percy, and to the promotion of Shelley’s work. She also continued to support her father financially. Mary died from a brain tumor in 1851 at the age of fifty-three.
Without question Mary’s most iconic and popular work, both during her lifetime and after her death, has been Frankenstein. The most universally read version is the 1831 edition of the novel, which Mary revised and to which she added her own introduction, though among scholars there has been some resurgence in reading the original 1818 text. Despite mixed and, sometimes, less than laudatory reviews, Frankenstein was a bestseller of its day. The book was even turned into a stage play during Mary’s life—the equivalent of becoming a movie today. Frankenstein throughout its history has been published in hundreds of editions and is often required reading in high schools and colleges.
I believe this book endures not only because of its multiple themes, its lyrical writing, its feminist principles, and its science fiction origins, but also because it creates universal and intricate characters and situations. The book causes the reader to think with gravity about the nature of life. It also bridges an important place in literary history—the transition from gothic eighteenth-century literature into the realism championed by novels of the nineteenth century. Now nearly two hundred years old, Frankenstein still pervades our culture, from movies to postage stamps to cereal boxes to Halloween costumes. Say “Frankenstein” to a young child and the vision of a monster comes to mind, just as it did for Mary that dark and rainy summer night in 1816. Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley and her monster of a book fearlessly pioneered a new type of novel, one that powerfully withstands the test of time.
CAST OF CHARACTERS
(in order of appearance)
MARY WOLLSTONECRAFT GODWIN SHELLEY is best known as the author of Frankenstein and as the wife of Percy Bysshe Shelley.
MARY WOLLSTONECRAFT GODWIN is the mother of Mary Shelley and Fanny Imlay. She was a political philosopher of the late 1700s. Often considered the first feminist, she authored the book A Vindication of the Rights of Woman. She died eleven days after she gave birth to Mary.
WILLIAM GODWIN is Mary’s father and the father of William Godwin Jr. He made his name with his philosophical work Enquiry Concerning Political Justice, but wrote and published in many other formats as well, including fiction.
MARY JANE CLAIRMONT becomes Mary’s stepmother when Mary is four. She is the mother of Charles Clairmont, Clara Jane Clairmont, and William Godwin Jr.
FANNY IMLAY GODWIN is Mary’s older half-sister. They have the same mother, and after their mother’s death William Godwin raises Fanny as though she is his daughter and gives Fanny his last name.
CHARLES CLAIRMONT is Mary’s older stepbrother. Mary Jane Clairmont is Charles’s mother.
CLARA JANE CLAIRMONT (FIRST KNOWN AS JANE, BUT LATER KNOWN AS CLAIRE CLAIRMONT) is Mary’s stepsister. Only a few months younger than Mary, Claire plays a crucial role in Mary’s love life.
WILLIAM GODWIN JR. is Mary’s younger half-brother. William Godwin is his father and Mary Jane Clairmont is his mother.
ISABELLA BAXTER is one of Mary’s dearest childhood friends. Mary lives with her family when she is sent to Dundee, Scotland, at fourteen. Mary also becomes close with Isabella’s sister, Christina. Isabella Baxter marries David Booth.
PERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY (SHELLEY) eventually becomes Mary’s husband. He comes from an aristocratic background, but shuns his heritage. Shelley is renowned as one of the great Romantic poets of the early nineteenth century, though his name was made primarily after his death and largely thanks to the efforts of Mary. He is considered to this day to be one of the best lyric poets in the English language.
HARRIET WESTBROOK SHELLEY is Shelley’s first wife and the mother of his t
wo children Ianthe and Charles. Shelley leaves Harriet for Mary, although the marriage is in disrepair even before Shelley meets Mary.
LORD BYRON (GEORGE GORDON BYRON), the first international celebrity, was well known in his day for his poetry, beauty, and rakishness. Byron is still regarded as one of the most influential poets of the Romantic period and one of the greatest British writers.
THOMAS LOVE PEACOCK is a close friend of Percy Shelley’s and a writer of poems and satirical novels. Thomas knows Shelley before he begins his relationship with Mary. Peacock becomes Shelley’s agent and business adviser.
ELIZABETH AND HELEN SHELLEY are two of Percy’s sisters whom he wishes to liberate from boarding school. Beginning with his sisters, Shelley always surrounded himself with a commune of women.
THOMAS JEFFERSON HOGG, a lifelong friend of Shelley’s since they met at Oxford, trains to become a barrister. He re-enters Shelley’s life in the autumn of 1814 to join Mary, Shelley, and Claire in forming an association of philosophical people. Thomas develops feelings for Mary that she does not return in measure. Hogg writes a biography of Shelley after his death.
SIR TIMOTHY SHELLEY is Percy Bysshe Shelley’s father. He lives the life of a country squire and serves in Parliament. He and his son are somewhat estranged. He does not approve of his son’s literary aspirations or his lifestyle.
WILLIAM SHELLEY, born January 24, 1816, is Mary and Shelley’s first son. His nickname is Willmouse.
JOHN POLIDORI is Lord Byron’s traveling doctor on his trip to Geneva, as well as his biographer. Polidori takes a liking to Mary and participates in the ghost-story-writing contest that spawns Frankenstein. John eventually writes a story about a vampire that establishes the modern conception of what constitutes a vampire. He commits suicide at age twenty-five.
AUGUSTA BYRON is Lord Byron’s half-sister, with whom he is rumored to be in love. This relationship destroys his first marriage. The affair causes such scandal that Byron leaves England.
LEIGH HUNT is an English critic, essayist, poet, and writer. He edits The Examiner, a periodical whose politics landed him and his brother John in prison for libel against the reigning prince regent. He gathers a circle of literary, philosophical, musical, and political people around him, including Shelley, Mary, and Lord Byron.
ELIZA WESTBROOK is the sister of Shelley’s first wife, Harriet. She fights for custody of Shelley’s first two children but is denied custody, as is Shelley.
IANTHE AND CHARLES SHELLEY are the two children that Harriet and Shelley have together. When Shelley loses custody of Ianthe and Charles, he never again visits them.
CLARE ALLEGRA BYRON (ALLEGRA) is the offspring of Lord Byron and Claire. Allegra is Claire’s only child.
MARIANNE HUNT is Leigh Hunt’s wife. She bears him six children.
POLLY ROSE is a Marlow village girl whom Shelley tutors when he lives at Albion House. She is a prime example of Shelley’s practice of philanthropy throughout his life.