I came across a reel on Instagram recently that described Dr Victor Frankenstein as the “OG f***boi”. As funny as this Gen Z take on the titular protagonist of Mary Shelley’s classic of Gothic horror may sound, it may not be that far off — especially when taking into account the life of one of the likely inspirations behind Dr Frankenstein: Mary’s husband and pre-eminent English Romantic poet, Percy Bysshe Shelley.
In an era we otherwise remember for extreme prudishness, Percy — and Mary herself, to an extent — championed radical ideas on politics, social reform and religion. Mary, like her mother Mary Wollstonecraft, was deeply engaged in feminist thought and the liberal intellectual ferment of her time. Percy, among his other extreme stances by that period’s standards, advocated for “free love” more than a century before the term became synonymous with LSD, counterculture communes, flower crowns and hazy summer festivals.
While Percy’s version was far less tie-dye utopia and far more philosophical provocation — he argued quite earnestly that love could not
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