The Invisible Girl, Mary Shelley

   "The Invisible Girl" is a romance tale by Mary Shelley.
   She, the invisible girl, Rosina, is an orphaned girl who falls in love with the son of the widower father that adopts her. Peter, the son, waits to declare his love for Rosina until she approaches an appropriate age.
   This brings to question: what was his age, what was her age? What does "lovers in after days" mean exactly? The ages between the two is not clear. However, it cannot be so different, since they were 'companions in childhood...' But, there must be some difference since, if they were of the same age she would mature faster than he would, and he would not be waiting for her to come of age. At that time it was not uncommon for men to marry very young girls, even fewer years than 12. So I cannot help but wonder about that.
   In any case, unlucky for them all, the father's sister's husband dies, and she joins the family. She does much mischief and has Peter sent away and Rosina banned from the house and made homeless. She was a bitter woman, perhaps. Perhaps she had Peter's best interests in heart: what is an orphan doing with the son when the son should be married to a wealthier family. Whatever her intentions were is not made clear. She is merely described as a nasty woman.
   When Peter comes back, he finds that Rosina is gone. He thinks that she is dead. One evening, during a storm, a light shines and shows him the way to shore. The light saves his life. When he looks to solve the mystery of this fairy light, he discovers Rosina half starved. They reacquaint and marry.
   It's not a bad story. However, many of her qualities are those of the docile and submissive girl. This is not the type of character I expect from a writer famed for her early feminist politics. Having recently read The Last Man, I can say it is not the only book which lauded such aspects of submissive nature to a girl. On the other hand, this story may simply be her reporting on a story she discovered from a painting, as she mentions earlier in the story. However, this sort of thing, a fake back story, is not so uncommon. So, real back story or not, I cannot tell.