Mary Shelley

Mary Shelley (working title A Storm in the Stars) is a 2017 romantic period-drama film directed by Haifaa al-Mansour and written by Emma Jensen. The plot follows Mary Shelley's first love and her romantic relationship with the poet Percy Bysshe Shelley, which inspired her to write her 1818 novel Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus. An international co-production, the film stars Elle Fanning as Shelley, with Maisie Williams, Douglas Booth, Bel Powley, and Ben Hardy in supporting roles. The film had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 9, 2017. It was released in the United States on May 25, 2018, by IFC Films, and in the United Kingdom on July 6 by Curzon Artificial Eye. Plot Mary Godwin was the daughter of the pioneering feminist writer Mary Wollstonecraft and her husband, the publisher and political philosopher William Godwin. Mary Wollstonecraft had died shortly after giving birth, and when the film opens 16 years later Mary Godwin is living with her father, her stepmother (with whom she has a strained relationship), and her stepsister and close confidante Claire Clairmont. On an extended visit to Scotland, Mary meets and falls in love with the radical and unconventional poet Percy Bysshe Shelley, who is already married. The couple elope, taking Claire with them. Shelley has little money of his own, but borrows against his wealthy father's estate to set themselves up in lavish style in Bloomsbury. At a dinner party, Shelley flirts with Claire, and Mary meets one of Shelley's friends who later makes advances towards her . When she complains, Shelley tells her that in his view lovers should be free. He wants her to take other partners, and demands the same freedom for himself. He calls her a hypocrite, and she expresses her disappointment in him. Later, Mary, Claire and Shelley attend a public display of galvanism in which a dead frog is made to twitch by the application of electricity. Also in the audience is the handsome and famous poet Lord Byron. Claire introduces herself, and is smitten.