In a novel so concerned with education this emphasis on Justine's advancement testifies
to Mary Shelley's belief in its universal value. This is of a piece with the arguments
of her father William Godwin in Political Justice (1793) and reflects as well the
strong democratic sentiments that Mary Shelley shared with her husband. It is important
to remember that, under her father's tutelege, Mary Godwin enjoyed an education that
in her day was equalled by only a handful of young women in England.