Chivalry and Utopian Domesticity in Mary Shelley’s The Fortunes of Perkin Warbeck

Abstract

In The Fortunes of Perkin Warbeck, Mary Shelley examines chivalry as a corrupting social structure based on a hierarchical, power‐oriented, and strictly gendered code of honor. By contrast, Shelley valorizes a system that places greater value on bonds of friendship and relationships based on equality. Domestic peace is shown to be more precious than political ambition. These values are elements of a reform model that I have called “utopian domesticity,” and represent Mary Shelley’s model for gradual, grassroots political reform, influenced by the radical philosophies of Godwin and Wollstonecraft. Elements that relate the novel to Shelley’s earlier political novels, Valperga and The Last Man, are brought forward. Key scenes, situations, and character types Shelley often employed are examined in terms of her attitudes toward chivalry and her utopian ideas for realizing gradual social reform.