Book excerpt: "Proserpine and Midas" by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley Proserpine is based on Ovid's tale of the abduction of Proserpine by Pluto, which itself was based on the Greek myth of Demeter and Persephone. Mary Shelley's version focuses on the female characters. In a largely feminist retelling from Ceres's point of view, Shelley emphasises the separation of mother and daughter and the strength offered by a community of women. Midas combines the stories of the musical contest between Apollo and Pan and that of King Midas and his ability to turn everything he touches to gold and comments on the definitions of femininity and masculinity in the early nineteenth century.