What can a novel written 200 years ago tell us about pandemics, environmental catastrophe and the future of humanity?
In 1826, Mary Shelley published The Last Man, her second major work of political science fiction after Frankenstein. Set in the late twenty-first century, the novel imagines a world devastated by war and a deadly pandemic, leaving behind one apparent survivor: Lionel Verney.
Written in the aftermath of profound personal loss, the novel draws on Shelley’s own experiences, with characters inspired by Lord Byron and Percy Bysshe Shelley. Both a personal elegy and a political warning, The Last Man explores the fragility of human civilisation in the face of catastrophe.
Marking the 200th anniversary of the novel’s publication, Professor Eileen Hunt will examine how Shelley anticipated three interconnected crises of the modern world: extreme weather, pandemics and species extinction.