#mary shelley’s matilda

[hypo-critic-art]

Mary Shelley’s Mathilda

summer semester art project, acrylic on canvas

more pictures and text under the cut

Short novelette Mathilda written by Mary Shelley, the mother of Frankenstein herself, touched me in a certain way since the very moment I read it. Is it the authors writing style? The autobiographical elements snuck into it? The book not being shy portraying taboo elements and feminist ideas, unlike great majority of other books written in the early 19th century? Perhaps all of it.

I really wanted to pay homage to this piece of literature, moments in the plot that struck with me, and to Mary Shelley herself. Correct me if i’m mistaken, but to this day I don’t think there’s any collection of illustrations nor paintings inspired by this written piece, and I’m very proud and honoured to be the first one!

Here! Despite disagreements on my vision between me and my art professors, initial frustration with the poses (incredible thanks to my friend @the-gay-sailor for helping and mental support), months of work when i felt like what I’m doing is pointless, I am ready and satisfied with the result.

I hope you enjoy it as equally as I do :]

[derangedrhythms]

I was at peace before you came; why have you disturbed me? You have given me new wants and now you trifle with me as if my heart were as whole as yours [...]

Mary Shelley, from 'Matilda'

[juliakristeva]

words from matilda by mary shelley that have been ringing in my mind like the bells of ghosts or barks or oceans

[frankensteincest]

DEBRA E. BEST, ‘The Monster in the Family: a reconsideration of Frankenstein’s domestic relationships’

[cashthecomposer]

The thing that gets me about Poor Things is that it isn't a deconstruction of Frankenstein, it's a reconstruction. In other words, instead of pointing out flaws, it offers solutions to those problems; instead of letting it fall apart because of the tropes, it shows how to make them work.

The creation developing independence, the creation searching for connection and individual identity both, the creator struggling to reconcile the creation with their idea of humanity, the creator facing the choice to chase or to hide, the creator facing death, the creation looking at humanity and wanting to fit in but realizing they won't... There's so much that's there, but it's taken in a new light, which lets everything end nicely; looking at humanity with a realistic lens without letting realism overtake the symbolism of the story.

Honestly, fucking loved it, and if Mary Shelley were here, she'd have fucking loved it too. You know why? She struggled with her identity as a creator, in both senses of the word: both as a writer, and as a mother.

Mary's mother died about 10 days after Mary was born. Mary's first child, a daughter, died about 10 days after she was born. Mary grew up in the shadow of her mother, wanting to live up to her image. And, after her daughter's death, she grappled with the concept of motherhood- after losing her child, was she still a mother?

Frankenstein and Matilda were both born of her struggles with men. Wanting to prove herself amongst her peers at the Villa Diodati (I wrote a musical about this, y'all should check it out!), and wanting to reconcile with, apologize to, and stand up against her father, from whom she was estranged, and after whom she named her first son. But both carry themes of love, and of death. And incest, but I won't dwell on that- though it is relevant.

Anyhow, seeing the story of Frankenstein warped into a story of a man manipulating a woman's body such that her identity comes into question, but ultimately results in her securing her place in the world, individuality, and finding relationships which do not define her but instead support her in her journey- she wouldn't just appreciate it, she would find it incredibly powerful, and relatable.

[galaxy-flowergirl]

Rip to Mary Shelley you would have loved Ethel Cain

[lightsinthemist]

I am, I thought, a tragedy; a character that he comes to see act: now and then he gives me my cue that I may make a speech more to his purpose: perhaps he si already planning a poem in which I am to figure. I am a farce and play to him, but to me this is all dreary reality: he takes all the profit and I bear all the burthen.

Matilda by Mary Shelley (Chapter X)

[slut4pauldano]

No babe ur good it’s just the fact that when you touch my hand I am surprised to find you warm because all fire seams extinct within you

[sofiewilde]

In all this there was a strangeness that attracted and enchanted me. Mary Shelley, from 'Matilda'

[dutifultilltheend]

Matilda ~ Mary Shelley

[derangedrhythms]

In all this there was a strangeness that attracted and enchanted me.

Mary Shelley, from 'Matilda'

[juliakristeva]

hmmmmmmmm

[frankensteincest]

MARY SHELLEY, Matilda | ANAÏS NIN, Winter of Artifice

[marzipanandminutiae]

I remember when I first saw the movie (in theatres) and thought "ahhh, in the past the Transgressive Romance would have been gay, but that's not considered bad anymore so they made it incest instead! so clever!"

turns out I was underestimating both the gay subtext levels of Crimson Peak and the incest levels of classic gothic fiction

I spend so much time thinking about various combinations of how Edith and Lucille can do Gay Things

And I think I am not only correct but also sexy for this

[odesofmeddea]

how could i know

media: house of the dragon; true blood; a series of unfortunate events; succession; flowers in the attic: the origin; outer banks; a nightmare on elm street, part iii

quotes: a thousand acres, jane smiley; the kiss, kathryn harrison; the hard facts of the grimms' fairy tales & thousandfurs tr. by maria tatar; matilda, mary shelley; the incest diary; cassandra, christa woolf; martha rhodes, from “for once”, at the gates; louise glück, from “persephone the wanderer”, averno