Background
By 1816, the Shelleys were living in Italy and in 1818 and 1819, two of their young children died, Clara and William. Mary entered into a deep depression and became alienated from Percy, who was not as deeply affected by the loss of their children. Mary Shelley revived a bit with the birth of Percy Florence later in 1819.
Despite the overwhelming grief caused by the death of her two children, Mary Shelley continued to study and read as she had throughout her life. Between 1818 and 1820, she exposed herself to quite a bit of drama. She read many of William Shakespeare's plays, some with Percy Shelley. Percy believed that Mary had a talent for drama and convinced her to study the great English, French, Latin, and Italian plays as well as drama theory. He even sought her advice regarding his play The Cenci. Less glamorously, Mary transcribed the manuscript of Percy's drama Prometheus Unbound. The Shelleys also attended operas, ballets, and plays.
Mary Shelley's studies were broad during these years. She began to study Greek in 1820 and read widely on education. For example, she read Jean-Jacques Rousseau's philosophical work on education, Emile, and his sentimental novel, La Nouvelle HéloÏse as well as Thomas Day's children's book The History of Sandford and Merton.
Read more about this topic: Midas (Shelley)
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