ABSTRACT
Mary Shelley and Clara Mary Jane (Claire) Clairmont (1798–1879) became step-sisters in 1801, the year their respective parents met and married. William Godwin brought to the household his daughter and Fanny Imlay Godwin, Mary Wollstonecraft’s illegitimate child; Mary Jane Vial Clairmont brought her daughter and her son, Charles Gaulis Clairmont, both illegitimate. In 1803, the couple had William Godwin, Jr., bringing a total of five children in this composite family. Sorting out the various relationships was an ongoing challenge for both parents and children, made all more intense by the strong-willed, but often conflicting, personalities of the parents and two of the children: Mary Shelley and Claire Clairmont. Less than a year younger than Mary Shelley, Claire Clairmont as a girl embraced the radical teachings of Godwin and Wollstonecraft. Crossing family lines, the two siblings often found themselves sympathetically aligned; at the same time, however, they were fundamentally different.
