Mathilda (novella)

Not to be confused with Matilda (novel).

Mathilda
EditorElizabeth Nitchie
AuthorMary Shelley
LanguageEnglish
GenreNovella
PublisherUniversity of North Carolina Press
Publication date
1959
Publication placeUnited States
Media typePrint
Pages104 pages
OCLC2494341

Mathilda, or Matilda,[1] is the second long work of fiction of Mary Shelley, written between August 1819 and February 1820 and first published posthumously in 1959. It deals with common Romanticism themes of incest and suicide.[2]

The narrative deals with a father's incestuous love for his daughter. It has been perceived as an autobiographical novel and as a roman à clef, where the fictitious names in the novel represent real people.[3] In this reading, Mathilda represents Mary Shelley herself, Mathilda's father represents William Godwin (Mary's father), and the poet Woodville represents Percy Shelley (Mary's husband).[4] However, the storyline itself may not be based on facts. It has been argued that it is using the techniques of confessional and unreliable narrations, which Godwin had used in his own works.[5]

  1. ^ Clemit, "Legacies of Godwin and Wollstonecraft", 37. Mary Shelley spelled the novella's title "Matilda" and the heroine's name "Mathilda". The book has been published under each title.
  2. ^ Todd, Introduction to Matilda, xxii; Bennett, An Introduction, 47. During this period, Percy Shelley dramatised an incestuous tale of his own, The Cenci.
  3. ^ Nitchie, Elizabeth (July 1943). "Mary Shelley's "Mathilda": An Unpublished Story and Its Biographical Significance". Studies in Philology. 40 (3). University of North Carolina Press: 447–462. JSTOR 4172624 – via JSTOR.
  4. ^ Hurlock, Kathleen (2019). "Marking 200 years of Mary Shelley's Mathilda". Keats-Shelley Association of America. Retrieved 1 March 2024.
  5. ^ Hoeveler, Diane L. (12 January 2005). "Screen Memories and Fictionalized Autobiography: Mary Shelley's Mathilda and The Mourne". Nineteenth-Century Contexts. 27 (4). Taylor & Francis (Routledge): 365–381. doi:10.1080/08905490500444023. ISSN 1477-2663.