Mary Shelley wrote the novel Frankenstein in 1818. The Kingdom of Great Britain and the Kingdom of Ireland had merged to form the United Kingdom. The United States was expanding rapidly with the Louisiana Purchase, fulfilling the idea of Manifest Destiny. Literature in the time of the early 19th century was undergoing a revolution with the introduction of Romanticism, Symbolism, and Realism. Romanticism was kind of a break away from the norms of society, especially with the industrial revolution going on. Romanticism idolized heroes and human emotions, nobility and spontaneity, and imagination. At the time of the urban industry boom, these romanticism authors wanted readers to be able to break away from reality sometimes.

     This era of art encouraged artists to express themselves and think outside the box because the world at the time was not very creative, or developed when it came to the arts. In paintings, there were examples of natural disasters such as fires, hurricanes, floods, and so on. Artists got inspiration from current events and the paintings often times told a story. It was all about being bold, rather than the previous way of having restraint and order. Romanticism defied the simplicity of categorization for objects and exaggerated meanings. Romanticism was influenced by Neoclassicism, except it was less confining and added much more drama. It led to a Gothic revival with architecture, paintings, and books.