Romantic Opinions in the Work of Percy Bysshe Shelley
To think of something romantically is to think of it naively, in a positive
light, away from the view of the majority. Percy Bysshe Shelley has many
romantic themes in his plays. Educated at Eton College, he went on to the
University of Oxford only to be expelled after one year after publishing an
inappropriate collection of poems. He then worked on writing full-time, and
moved to Italy shortly before his death in a boating accident off the shore
of Leghorn. He wrote many pieces, and his writing contains numerous themes.
Shelley experienced first-hand the French Revolution. This allowed him to
ponder many different situations, and determine deep philosophical views -
views that were so radically different they were considered naive at best,
downright wrong at worst. He contemplated socialism, having for a
father-in-law William Godwin, who was the prominent socialist in the United
Kingdom in Shelley 's time. Shelley liked Napolean, and was suspicious of both
the Bourbon monarchy and the Directory. Most of all, Shelley felt that all
people had the right to work for themselves; he did not support the notion
that once one had been born into a class, one must stay in that class for the
rest of one 's life. Shelley felt that all bodies of the universe were
governed by the same principle, completely contradicting the given theories,
those of Aristotle. Thus, Shelley gained a romantic and rather naive view of
the universe. In fact, Carlos Baker describes his poems as "The Fabric of a
Vision". (Baker 1) In Percy Bysshe Shelley 's poems, the author uses those
naive, romantic opinions on the themes of romance, politics, and science.
Romance is well defined as a theme choice for Shelley. Shelley uses this
theme rather romantically; one could say that Shelley 's theme in his amorous
poetry is unrestricted passion; love, Shelley feels, can overcome all
obstacles, distance, fear, even death. One example of this is in Shelley 's
poem which is
light, away from the view of the majority. Percy Bysshe Shelley has many
romantic themes in his plays. Educated at Eton College, he went on to the
University of Oxford only to be expelled after one year after publishing an
inappropriate collection of poems. He then worked on writing full-time, and
moved to Italy shortly before his death in a boating accident off the shore
of Leghorn. He wrote many pieces, and his writing contains numerous themes.
Shelley experienced first-hand the French Revolution. This allowed him to
ponder many different situations, and determine deep philosophical views -
views that were so radically different they were considered naive at best,
downright wrong at worst. He contemplated socialism, having for a
father-in-law William Godwin, who was the prominent socialist in the United
Kingdom in Shelley 's time. Shelley liked Napolean, and was suspicious of both
the Bourbon monarchy and the Directory. Most of all, Shelley felt that all
people had the right to work for themselves; he did not support the notion
that once one had been born into a class, one must stay in that class for the
rest of one 's life. Shelley felt that all bodies of the universe were
governed by the same principle, completely contradicting the given theories,
those of Aristotle. Thus, Shelley gained a romantic and rather naive view of
the universe. In fact, Carlos Baker describes his poems as "The Fabric of a
Vision". (Baker 1) In Percy Bysshe Shelley 's poems, the author uses those
naive, romantic opinions on the themes of romance, politics, and science.
Romance is well defined as a theme choice for Shelley. Shelley uses this
theme rather romantically; one could say that Shelley 's theme in his amorous
poetry is unrestricted passion; love, Shelley feels, can overcome all
obstacles, distance, fear, even death. One example of this is in Shelley 's
poem which is
Bibliography: Baker, Carlos. Shelley 's Major Poetry. New York: Princeton Unversity Press, 1961. Blank, G. Kim. Wordsworth 's Influence on Shelley. New York: St. Martin 's Press, 1988 Chicago Press, 1971. Cambell, Pyre, and Weaver, eds Movement. New York: F.S. Crofts and Comapny, 1932. Hazlitt, William Ingpen, Peck, eds. The Complete Works of Percy Bysshe Shelley. Volume I. New York: Gordian Press, 1965 King-Hele, Desmond. Shelley: His Thought and Work. Teaneck: Farleigh Dickinson University Press, 1960 Knopf, Alfred, ed. Shelley: Poems. Toronto: David Campbell Publishers Ltd., 1993. "Percy Bysshe Shelley." Adventures in English Literature. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1973 Shelley, Mary. "Mrs. Shelley 's Preface to the Collected Poems, 1839." The Complete Works of Percy Bysshe Shelley: Poems, Vol Shelley. Ingpen and Peck, eds. Toronto: Gordian Press, 1965.