Proserpine and Midas - Shelley, Mary

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Résumé :
Proserpine and Midas (1820) is a collection of plays by Mary Shelley and Percy Bysshe Shelley. Combining Mary's blank verse and Percy's lyric poems, the Shelleys offer two groundbreaking retellings of classical myth. Together, the plays illuminate the working relationship of a husband and wife who helped define Romanticism, highlighting their individual talents in the process. While Proserpine was published in 1832 in The Winter's Wreath, a London periodical, Mary Shelley was unable to find a publisher for Midas, which remained unprinted until the twentieth century. Ceres, the goddess of agriculture, leaves her daughter Proserpine in the care of two trusted nymphs. While the women are out picking flowers, Proserpine is kidnapped by Pluto, the dreaded lord of the underworld. Distraught, Ceres laments the loss of her beloved girl and appeals to Jove for assistance. Proserpine is a retelling of an ancient myth which remains mostly faithful to its source while emphasizing the feminist qualities of its tragic content. In Midas, the wild god Pan is defeated in a musical competition by Apollo, god of the sun. Determined to claim victory, he arranges a new contest with King Midas as judge. Although his power on earth is unmatched by any human, Midas soon learns that to play at divinity one risks reaping the greatest of sorrows. Proserpine and Midas is a masterful take on two of ancient Greece's central myths. Using their talents for narrative and song, the Shelleys adapt these well-known stories for the nineteenth century and beyond, showcasing their sociopolitical significance in a world defined by the democratic ideals of the Greeks. With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Mary Shelley and Percy Bysshe Shelley's Proserpine and Midas is a classic of English literature reimagined for modern readers. Since our inception in 2020, Mint Editions has kept sustainability and innovation at the forefront of our mission. Each and every Mint Edition title gets a fresh, professionally typeset manuscript and a dazzling new cover, all while maintaining the integrity of the original book. With thousands of titles in our collection, we aim to spotlight diverse public domain works to help them find modern audiences. Mint Editions celebrates a breadth of literary works, curated from both canonical and overlooked classics from writers around the globe.

Biographie:
Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley (1797-1851) was an English novelist, editor, biographer, and one of the most important figures in Gothic and Romantic literature. Born in London, she was the daughter of two major radical thinkers: philosopher William Godwin and feminist writer Mary Wollstonecraft, author of A Vindication of the Rights of Woman. Her mother died shortly after her birth, and Mary grew up surrounded by books, political argument, literary ambition, and the intellectual legacy of both parents.Shelley began writing Frankenstein as a teenager during the famous 1816 gathering near Lake Geneva with Percy Bysshe Shelley, Lord Byron, John Polidori, and Claire Clairmont. The novel grew from a ghost-story challenge into one of the defining works of modern fiction. Published anonymously in 1818 and later revised in 1831, Frankenstein combined Gothic terror, Romantic philosophy, scientific speculation, and deep moral feeling in a way that helped shape both horror and science fiction.Beyond Frankenstein, Shelley wrote novels, stories, travel writing, essays, biographies, and editorial work, including The Last Man, Valperga, Lodore, and Falkner. After Percy Shelley's death, she worked to preserve and edit his literary reputation while continuing her own career under difficult financial and social circumstances. Today she is recognized not merely as the wife of a famous poet, but as a major author in her own right whose work explores creation, responsibility, gender, ambition, grief, political idealism, and the dangerous loneliness of being made human without being welcomed by humanity....

Sommaire:
Mary Shelley, born Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin (1797-1851), was the daughter of philosopher and political writer William Godwin and feminist Mary Wollstonecraft (The Vindication of the Rights of Woman). Mary Shelley had a painful and turbulent life. Her mother died shortly after giving birth. Mary ran away with poet Percy Bysshe Shelley, a married student of her father's, which resulted in alienation from her family and scandal. The couple traveled throughout Europe and lost their first child in 1815. Then, Mary's half-sister committed suicide, followed shortly thereafter by Percy's wife Harriett. This unfortunate circumstance allowed Percy and Mary to be wed in 1816. Percy Shelley drowned while sailing in 1822, leaving Mary as a young widow and mother. Mary Shelley is renowned for Frankenstein, but she also wrote additional novels, working to support her son and keeping her husband's legacy alive. She died of brain cancer in 1851....