 Shelley uses the historical novel to comment on gender relations ; for example , Valperga is a feminist version of Scott 's masculinist genre . Introducing women into the story who are not part of the historical record , Shelley uses their narratives to question established theological and political institutions . Shelley sets the male protagonist 's compulsive greed for conquest in opposition to a female alternative : reason and sensibility . In Perkin Warbeck , Shelley 's other historical novel , Lady Gordon stands for the values of friendship , domesticity , and equality . Through her , Shelley offers a feminine alternative to the masculine power politics that destroy the male characters . The novel provides a more inclusive historical narrative to challenge the one which usually relates only masculine events . 
