Shelley was a young poet who was part of the Romantic School. He wrote lyric poetry and became an iconic hero to three generations of poets to come after him. The poets of this time, Shelley was no exception, did not believe in marriage per se and believe in experiencing “love” with other partners. Free Love. Shelley was unfaithful to his pregnant wife with Mary Shelley, author of Frankenstein. Shelley’s first wife drowned herself in the Serpentine. The lipstick on the collar in the portrait is nodding to this event. Shelley died at the age of 29…by drowning.