Influenced by Walter Scott’s historical novels, The Fortunes of Perkin Warbeck: A Romance (eventually released in 1830) has long been overlooked by most critics and scholars. Indeed, up until recently, little attention has been paid to Mary Shelley’s attempt to delve into British history, widely perceived as both an escapist retreat into the past, and an open disavowal of her commitment to social and political reform which, on the other hand, was evident in her previous literary endeavours. Nonetheless, as this essay sets out to elucidate, The Fortunes of Perkin Warbeck, a narrative focused on the pretender to the English throne who claimed to be Richard of Shrewsbury (one of the two “Princes in the Tower”), may be perceived as Mary Shelley’s attempt to actively employ history as an effective instrument to reflect and ponder on current-day problems. After all, in his essay entitled Of History and Romance (1797), William Godwin had already emphasized that the attentive study of history could offer valuable insights into the future. Hence, it could be argued that, far from signaling Mary Shelley’s lack of engagement, her fourth novel actually aimed at delving into highly debated issues, such as tyranny, power and, as will be shown, even the role of women in society.

Even before P.B. Shelley’s drowning, Mary Shelley’s first stay in Italy was marred by the death of her two children (Clara Everina died in September 1818, while William passed away in June 1819), and by her subsequent estrangement from her husband, held partially responsible for her inconsolable loss. In the Summer of 1819, while she was sojourning in Villa Valsovano (near Leghorn), Mary Shelley occupied herself with the composition of a novella entitled Mathilda, which she completed in a very short time. The only copy of her manuscript (a story dealing with the theme of a father-daughter incest) was immediately sent to Godwin, who was supposed to superintend its publication. Nonetheless, Mathilda was not published until well after the writer’s death, in 1959, nor was the manuscript ever returned, despite Mary’s requests. Up until recent years, the novella has received little critical attention; moreover, most of the scholars engaged in the analysis of the text have chosen a strictly biographical approach, focusing on the complex and troublesome relationship between Mary Shelley and her family members. Conversely, this paper aims at offering an intertexual investigation of the text, connecting it with her debut novel Frankenstein, and with Proserpine (a verse drama published immediately after Mathilda), thus demonstrating that, far from merely mirroring her life events, Mathilda can be regarded as a landmark of Mary Shelley’s career as a writer.

The creative output of prominent Italian American writers such as Maria Mazziotti Gillan and Maria Famà has long been characterized by the persistent presence of parents, forebears, and relatives, as well as by the seemingly unsolvable tensions between past and present, between the cherished memories of one’s land of origin and the American way of life. Contrary to what has been illustrated so far and is conventionally assumed by most scholars, this paper sets out to demonstrate that the notion of family in the most recent works of Maria Mazziotti Gillan and Maria Famà has undergone a subtle but noteworthy transformation, shifting from being a cluster of blood ties, a tightly knit network of mutually protective relations, to a much broader concept, that stretches to embrace humankind