The Mental Anatomies of William Godwin and Mary Shelley

This book explores the influence of Enlightenment and Romantic-era theories of the mind on the writings of Godwin and Shelley and examines the ways in which these writers use their fiction to explore such psychological phenomena as ruling passions, madness, the therapeutic value of confessions (both spoken and written), and the significance of dreams. Unlike most studies of Godwin and Shelley, it does not privilege their masterworks—for the most part, it focuses on their lesser-known writings. Brewer also considers the works of other Romantic-era writers, as well as the seventeenth- and eighteenth-century philosophical and medical theories that informed Godwin’s and Shelley’s presentations of mental states and types of behavior.