Suzanne Burdon – Mary Shelley, Scientist and Her Creation

Mary Shelley, arguably one of the literary world’s greatest enigmas. A teenage rebel, a grieving mother, a determined author, and a long-suffering lover of a poet well ahead of his time, she was a also woman driven by her interest in science and the moral dilemmas it presents.

As a feisty 18 year old, Shelley, who had read every important scientific treatise of the time, created Frankenstein and his monster in a moral tale that still highlights the exact scientific ethical dilemmas we face today (for example, the cloning of real human babies).

Author Suzanne Burdon joins us to discuss Shelley’s inspiration for Frankenstein and the genesis of her Gothic tale, influenced by both the Romantics and the dramatic advances in science during the early 19th century.