Mary Shelley, Mary Prince, and Intersectional Activism in 1831

Abstract

In 1831, women were still struggling to be recognized by publishers and make their way into the literary world. Nonetheless, two of the most popular books printed in Great Britain that year were a revision of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus and the first female slave narrative, The History of Mary Prince, A West Indian Slave. This book was ghostwritten by the eponymous Black woman, who emigrated from the West Indies, and recollects the horrors of her experience. Their success coincided with and aided contemporary social movements, specifically the feminist and abolitionist movements that were simultaneously growing and demanding attention. By comparing the two cases through the lens of intersectionality and considering opportunity structures, this essay argues that activism of the time represented Shelley and not Prince.