Short Fiction · Chapter
Endnotes explained
This chapter provides editorial notes and textual variants for Mary Shelley's Mathilda, comparing drafts in The Fields of Fancy (F.
What happens
This chapter provides editorial notes and textual variants for Mary Shelley's Mathilda, comparing drafts in The Fields of Fancy (F. of F.) and other manuscripts, highlighting revisions, omissions, and thematic emphases such as loneliness, nature, and the author's personal grief.
Themes in this chapter
Solitude and Melancholy
Revisions emphasize Mathilda's loneliness and the theme of solitude in Mary Shelley's work.
Nature as Reflection
Mathilda's love of nature and animals is elaborated to reflect her emotional state.
Love and Loss
The effect of Diana's death and Mathilda's adoration for her father highlight themes of love and loss.
Characters to notice
- Mathilda
Central figure; her loneliness and love of nature are emphasized through revisions.
- Woodville
Appears in later drafts; name changed from Herbert in revisions.
- Diana
Her death's effect on her husband is elaborated in Mathilda.
- Mary Shelley
Author; notes reflect her personal grief over children's deaths and her revision process.
- The Fiend
Referenced in note about Frankenstein's monster creation.
Key passages
“The description of the effect of Diana’s death on her husband is largely new in Mathilda.”
The account of how Diana's death impacted her husband was mostly added in Mathilda.
Indicates a significant addition to the narrative.
“The description of Mathilda’s love of nature and of animals is elaborated from both rough drafts. The effect, like that of the preceding addition (see note 19 ), is to emphasize Mathilda’s loneliness.”
Mathilda's affection for nature and animals was expanded from earlier drafts to highlight her isolation.
Shows thematic emphasis on solitude.
“Mary had read the story of Cupid and Psyche in Apuleius in 1817 and she had made an Italian translation, the MS. of which is now in the Library of Congress.”
Mary Shelley read Apuleius's Cupid and Psyche in 1817 and translated it into Italian; the manuscript is in the Library of Congress.
Provides biographical context for literary influences.
“At the end of the story ( p. 79) Mathilda says, “Death is too terrible an object for the living.” Mary was thinking of the deaths of her two children.”
Mathilda's statement about death reflects Mary Shelley's grief over the loss of her two children.
Connects character dialogue to author's personal experience.
“A good description of Mary’s own behavior in England after Shelley’s death, of the surface placidity which concealed stormy emotion.”
This passage accurately depicts Mary Shelley's outward calm hiding inner turmoil after Percy Shelley's death.
Highlights autobiographical elements in the text.