The Last Man

The Last Man


The Last Man is an apocalyptic science fiction novel by Mary Shelley. This book tells of  a future world that has been ravaged by a plague.

Mary Shelley claims that she discovered, in the Sibyl's cave near Naples, a collection of prophetic writings painted on leaves by the Cumaean Sibyl. She has edited these writings into the current narrative, the first-person narrative of a man living at the end of the 21st century.

The Last Man not only laments the loss of Shelley's friends, but also questions the Romantic political ideals they stood for. In a sense, the plague is a metaphorical, since the revolutionary idyll of the elite group is corroded from within by flaws of human nature.

Look for the ongoing theme of tragic isolation in this masterpiece by Mary Shelley.

The Last Man constitutes a profound and prophetic challenge to Western humanism.