Skip to main content

Percy Bysshe Shelley by Izzah Nazirah (193297)






Percy Bysshe Shelley. We can say that Shelley might be one of the most controversial poets in history of English Literature. Shelley was born as the eldest son in his family and was sure to inherit his grandfather’s estate. Besides, being the apparent heir to his family’s wealth, he also might have a seat in the parliament. The reason why I chose him to write about was to know more about the reason why he was controversial and what made him write about controversial things. I guess being bullied in school, coming from a rich family and was spoiled by all contributed a lot. Shelley went to Eton College at the age of 12. When he was in Eton College, he wrote poetry but his first publication was a Gothic novel, Zastrozzi (1810).





Then, he went to Oxford University but could not graduate as he was expelled as it made people think he was an atheist when he wrote a pamphlet with Thomas Jefferson Hogg called “The Necessity of Atheism”.  His father could have saved him and Hogg from expelled but they refused to disavow the pamphlet and declare themselves as Christian. At the age of 19, Shelley eloped to Scotland with Harriet Westbrook. They got married and bore children but I guess they were not happy as Shelley did adultery with Mary Godwin. Mary Godwin was William Godwin and Mary Wollstonecraft’s daughter.


Shelley referred his relationship with Mary as free love. Percy Shelley believed that he was following Godwin’s principle. However, Godwin opposed the relationship and this forced Shelley to elope with Mary, accompanied by Jane Clairmont to Calais, Paris and then to Switzerland. After six weeks, they returned to England because of money problems. During the years after he eloped he had several publications, which are “A Refutation of Deism: in a Dialogue” and “Alastor: The Spirit of Solitude: and Other Poems”.

 


In 1816, Mary bore a son, named William. Then, they went on a trip to Italy by the initiative of Claire for Lord Byron. Sailing on Lake Geneva, Lord Byron suggested that they present a ghost story each. Mary’s controbution made her write the  novel Frankenstein and it was published on 1818. The preface was also written by Shelley and made it one of the most popular works during the Romantic period. For Shelley, he wrote two of his finest poems during this trip: “Hymn to Intellectual Beauty” and “Mont Blanc”. Then, he wrote the “The Revolt of Islam”. He really went through a lot of ups and downs. Fighting for his beliefs. Percy Bysshe Shelley did not live long. He died when he was drowned in a sudden storm at the age of 29.




Comments

Popular posts from this blog

The Cavalier Poets by Khalil Norsham (194807)

The Cavalier Poets During the Post-Renaissance period, there were three separate eras, which were the Caroline Era, the Restoration Period and also the Augustan Age. I found the Caroline Era really interesting, especially when it comes to a group of poets who called themselves the Cavalier Poets. So how did they got their name? What about the characteristics of these poets? And who are the Cavalier Poets? The Cavalier Poets are actually a group of poets who supported King Charles I who was an expert and really love fine arts. They are members of aristrocracy and often linked to Royalist as their main purpose in their poetry was to glorify the king. The Cavalier Poets were totally different from the traditional poet who loves to talk about philosophy and religion. They love to express more on celebratory things or expressing their joy. To them, enjoying life was far more important rather than following moral codes. Most of their poems hold an attitude of "carpe diem" which ...

Sonnet 18 by Nor Syahira Asyiqin (193449)

SHAKESPEARE’S SONNET Sonnet 18: Shall I Compare Thee To A Summer’s Day? Last semester, my friend and I analayzed Shall I Compare Thee To A Summer’s Day? by William Shakespeare for our class, A Survey of Prose Forms and Poetry in English. I was intimidated at first when our lecturer chose us to do this sonnet, and it was the only sonnet out of the list of poems for that course. William Shakespeare was one of the most eminent writers in the history of classic literature, so undoubtedly I would be apprehensive because the last thing that I want to do is giving my classmates the wrong information regarding this sonnet. Thus, I embarked on my journey through the world of Internet. I read this sonnet for the first time and I didn’t understand what Shakespeare was trying to say at all. I never liked poems anyway, so to me it was incomprehensible. I was basically clueless to put it lightly. I mean I knew it has some romantic elements to it (it’s Shakespeare we’re talking abou...

Victorian Society by Muhammad Amzar (182839)

Victorian Society Introduction The Victorian era of British history was the period of Queen Victoria’s reign from 20th June 1837 until her death on 22nd January 1901.It was a long period of peace, prosperity and refined sensibility. Major Events of the Victorian Era Some of the major events that took place during the Victorian era and influenced the literature of that time include: 1. A huge growth in population. 2. The Victorian era slightly overlaps with British Industrial Revolution. It witnessed big changes to the way people lived, worked and travelled. 3. In addition to the major developments in technology, there were emerging scientific beliefs like Charles Darwin’s Theory of Evolution. 4. And finally, there were poor conditions for working class. The Industrial Revolution led to the distance between the halves and halvenots. Hence, the writers felt obligated to speak out against the societal injustice. Defining Victorian Literature in any satisfactory and...