Their daughter, later known as Mary Shelley, would go on to write Frankenstein and marry the poet Percy Bysshe Shelley. In the conservative reaction to British radicalism, Godwin was attacked, in part because of his marriage to the pioneering feminist writer Mary Wollstonecraft in 1797 and his candid biography of her after her death from childbirth. He wrote prolifically in the genres of novels, history and demography throughout his lifetime. Based on the success of both, Godwin featured prominently in the radical circles of London in the 1790s. Godwin is most famous for two books that he published within the space of a year: An Enquiry Concerning Political Justice, an attack on political institutions, and Things as They Are or, The Adventures of Caleb Williams, an early mystery novel which attacks aristocratic privilege. He is considered one of the first exponents of utilitarianism and the first modern proponent of anarchism. For further information see the item’s home museum, gallery or archive, listed above.William Godwin (3 March 1756 – 7 April 1836) was an English journalist, political philosopher and novelist. This object description and its related educational resources were researched and written by our team of historians and education specialists. William Godwin wrote some of the books for the Juvenile Library himself, but used a pseudonym (false name) in case this tainted his radical reputation. She encouraged him to establish the ‘Juvenile Library’, a bookshop and publishing company for children. Godwin subsequently married a neighbour, Mary Jane Clairmont. Mary died of complications following the birth. In 1797, he married Mary Wollstonecraft who was pregnant with their daughter Mary (the future Mary Shelley). Godwin was also a member of the radical London Corresponding Society but, unlike its most extremist members, he was against violence and believed the power of words could persuade people to accept his views about the need to dismantle existing political, social and religious institutions in the quest for equality and justice. I n this work he argued that, if human reason could be ‘perfected’, then unjust, authoritarian laws and institutions could be overturned and ordinary people would no longer be oppressed. This was reflected in his defining work, An Enquiry Concerning Political Justice, written against the back drop of the French Revolution and published in 1793.

H e moved to London and began to develop his own political philosophy, based on anarchism and utilitarianism. William Godwin (1756-1836) was born in Wisbech in Cambridgeshire, the son of a nonconformist minister in a strict Calvinist family.

William godwin frankenstein