In the chapter “The Transparent Mind” in William Dean Brewer’s The Mental Anatomies of William Godwin and Mary Shelley, Brewer compares Shelley’s works to Rousseau’s ideas about transparency and the mind. He states that Shelley often employs “victim-narrators” who have a desire for sympathy, similar to Winzy in her story “The Mortal Immortal.” But, rather than being overly concerned about the reader’s eventual judgment that she herself requested, Fanny “has little interest in the world or posterity’s opinion of her. A need for emotional ventilation rather than a desire to set the record straight motivates and inspires [her] narrative.” Brewer argues that Shelley’s victim-narrators are not motivated by guilt, because their concerns lies “in helping their families and saving humankind or des
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| - In the chapter “The Transparent Mind” in William Dean Brewer’s The Mental Anatomies of William Godwin and Mary Shelley, Brewer compares Shelley’s works to Rousseau’s ideas about transparency and the mind. He states that Shelley often employs “victim-narrators” who have a desire for sympathy, similar to Winzy in her story “The Mortal Immortal.” But, rather than being overly concerned about the reader’s eventual judgment that she herself requested, Fanny “has little interest in the world or posterity’s opinion of her. A need for emotional ventilation rather than a desire to set the record straight motivates and inspires [her] narrative.” Brewer argues that Shelley’s victim-narrators are not motivated by guilt, because their concerns lies “in helping their families and saving humankind or des
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| - In the chapter “The Transparent Mind” in William Dean Brewer’s The Mental Anatomies of William Godwin and Mary Shelley, Brewer compares Shelley’s works to Rousseau’s ideas about transparency and the mind. He states that Shelley often employs “victim-narrators” who have a desire for sympathy, similar to Winzy in her story “The Mortal Immortal.” But, rather than being overly concerned about the reader’s eventual judgment that she herself requested, Fanny “has little interest in the world or posterity’s opinion of her. A need for emotional ventilation rather than a desire to set the record straight motivates and inspires [her] narrative.” Brewer argues that Shelley’s victim-narrators are not motivated by guilt, because their concerns lies “in helping their families and saving humankind or destroying their enemies,” and “unlike Rousseau, they do not feel the need to vindicate themselves to posterity, and they have no crimes or errors that they feel require public confession” (77). Brewer also compares Fanny to Lionel Verney in The Last Man (1826), for they are both steadfast in their devotion to their relatives: “These narrators sacrifice at least some of their independence in order to perform their duty to their ‘fellow-creatures.’ These narrators suffer a great deal but at least they avoid what Shelley regards as ‘one of the greatest errors that the human heart can nourish’: the pursuit of personal autonomy at the expense of family obligations” (78).
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