Percy and Mary Shelley

Mary's to-do list:

- Be born into the world by a feminist and a philosopher.

- Have your first poem published by the age of 10.

- Fall in love with a married poet at the age of 17.

- Elope with the married poet, and become pregnant at the age of 17.

- Make sure your husband goes into hiding because of oncoming creditors (and your dad is going to hate him for knocking you up).

- When on holiday in Switzerland at the age of 18, conceive of a novel that re-imagines Gothicism (basically, help create a genre tropes that will continue to influence the world throughout the next century).

-Also, while you are at it, get married, endure the pain of two suicides within a family, and reconcile with your father. Oh, and do this when you are 18 and writing your novel as well.

- After your second child is born , write a book about your elopement (time to monetise some human experiences).

- Witness many family deaths (mainly due to dysentery), help reconcile old friends with their lovers, and become a prolific author.

To say that Mary Shelley had an extreme lifestyle is an understatement, but my god - she was an adventurer, a daredevil, a genius and (as the records show) a caring mother. She, in herself, is an iconic duo: a writer and a mother, a friend and a daughter, a counsellor and a steadfast fighter. However, she did of course elope with the man who essentially shaped romanticism. Their tumultuous courtship resulted in many hardships, but nothing that the two did not endure. A courtship and relationship which many argue formulated her thesis and exploration of the conflict between different philosophical ideals evident throughout the Enlightenment Period.

Percy's to do list:

- Go to England's most prestigious school (Eton) and get bullied.

- Attend Oxford University and instead of studying, publish raunchy poetry.

- Get expelled because you write a religiously contentious essay.

- Run off with a young woman, Harriet, (not Mary) and write a political, allegorical poem.

- Have a child with Harriet, then leave her for Mary (the other young woman).

- Return to London and hide from creditors (and all the people who want to harm you because, you know, you have made some serious mistakes).

- Write poetry which will shape the Romantic period. And also be read for hundreds of years.

- After your ex-wife dies of suicide, get married to Mary in the same year.

- Watch Mary become a complete success with her novel, Frankenstein. You will publish poetry but they won't be as famous for a few decades.

- Have a few scandals titled, "Is this your child?" in Italy and other assorted European regions.

- Be friends with the two other romantic poets who, along with you, shaped this entire period of literary history (Keats and Byron).

- Write an elegy for one of the romantic poets living in your time who died of TB (Keats).

- Convince your other friend to get back with his Ex- (Byron).

- Die young at sea, knowing that your life will become iconic.

Together, The Shelley's led a highly contentious, alienated yet successful lives. They witnessed much sorrow, but then again, also established and contributed to the history of literature like no other couple. They may not be Kanye and Kim, or Beyonce and Jay-Z. They may have lived a few centuries ago. But their scandals and their achievements are something that can hardly be left to the history books. With Percy ardently romanticising the world, and Mary critiquing the idealisation of humanity, what else could we want from a more iconic duo?