Original Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley (1797-1851) was an English novelist, dramatist, and short story writer, universally known for her Gothic novel "Frankenstein: or, The Modern Prometheus." "Mathilda" is a fictional novel that tells the story of a woman alienated from society by the actions of her father, who confesses his incestuous love for her. The main hero, Mathilda, a young woman in her twenties on the verge of death, tells this story trying to explain her actions to her friend.