Mary Shelley reappraises the significance ofFrankenstein alongside other works by Shelley which could be considered to revise the significance and fluctuating meanings of Gothic during the Romantic period. It offers scholarly, fresh readings of the 1818 and 1831 editions ofFrankenstein, as well as chapters upon the fiction that Shelley composed in between both editions, and during the same decade as its second edition.
In its broader examination of Mary Shelleys work, this study is the first of its kind within the field of Gothic studies. Alongside sustained explorations ofFrankenstein,Matilda,Valperga andThe Last Man, the volumeMary Shelley reappraises some of the shorter essays and tales that the author composed for contemporary magazines. Angela Wright argues that the time is now right for a re-examination of the extent to which Shelley participated in and redirected the Gothic tradition.