4. Mary may have considered a relationship with Shelley’s friend Jefferson Hogg- with Shelley’s full support.
By the end of 1814, Shelley, Mary, and Jane Clairmont, who was now calling herself Claire, were all living together in London. Mary was pregnant and often in bed, ill- leading Shelley to nickname her ‘dormouse’ He was also compensating for his lover’s absence by spending a great deal of time out and about with Claire- something Mary did not like one bit. However, Shelley’s old Cambridge friend Thomas Jefferson Hogg was in town- and Shelley began to encourage him to call and keep Mary company.
Mary initially did not take to Hogg. However, they began to attend lectures together and spend time alone when Claire and Shelley were out. Eventually, Mary started to warm to him- so much so that between January and May 1815, Mary and Hogg wrote eleven love notes to each other. The letters indicate, however, that Mary wasn’t quite sure about going the ‘whole hog” with Hogg. “You love me you say,” Mary wrote in January 1815 when she was five months pregnant. “I think I could return it with the passion you deserve.” While she made up her mind, however, she put Hogg off, citing “physical causes,” i.e., her pregnancy as a reason to delay full commitment.
This potential new sexual relationship had Shelley’s full support. He was in favor of a communal lifestyle where people had various sexual partners. He had even invited his wife Harriet to join him and Mary when they were traveling through Switzerland after their elopement. So, now in London, he hoped that he and Mary could entertain secondary partners when not occupied with each other: he with Claire and Mary with Hogg. Shelley actively encouraged Hogg to visit Mary when he and Claire were out together- and at one point his friend even moved in.
However, the affair if it ever took off came to nothing. By May 1815, Claire Clairmont had temporarily departed finally leaving Mary and Shelley alone. There was no longer any need to find someone to keep Mary amused. It seems the couple regretted the Hogg incident – so much so that they tore nine sections out of their shared journal-dates which corresponded precisely with the period that Mary and Hogg wrote their letters to each other.