A Double Self of Mary Shelley: Autobiographical Parallels between Mary Shelley and Her Mathilda

Saral P. N., Yıldız Çiçekçi N.

10th International KTUDELL Conference: Language, Literature, and Translation , Trabzon, Türkiye, 29 - 30 Mayıs 2025, ss.381-386, (Tam Metin Bildiri)

  • Yayın Türü: Bildiri / Tam Metin Bildiri
  • Basıldığı Şehir: Trabzon
  • Basıldığı Ülke: Türkiye
  • Sayfa Sayıları: ss.381-386
  • Karadeniz Teknik Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet

Özet

The Romantic Period, accentuating individuality, emotion, and the sublime, paved the way for Gothic literature, which, among others, italicised dark scenery, mystery, horror, and the supernatural. Mary Shelley, a central figure of Romantic and Gothic literature, dazzlingly integrated these elements in her semi-autobiographical novella Mathilda. Mathilda achieves this by delineating forbidden love, guilt, loneliness, solitude, mourning, and sorrow, which are the characteristics of Shelley’s period and personal traits. Thus, Mathilda embodies one of Shelley’s profound crossings of autobiography and fiction, allowing readers to see into her inner world as well as the cultural and literary currents of the Romantic and Gothic periods. Therefore, this paper aims to explore the autobiographical parallels between Mary Shelley and Mathilda, the protagonist of the novella, a character moulded within the Romantic and Gothic spheres.