Please enable JavaScript.
Coggle requires JavaScript to display documents.
PERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY 1792 - 1822 (MAIN THEMES (Poetry makes people and…
PERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY
1792 - 1822
He was born into a rich family
Intolerant of authority He was
a rebellious spirit
He was expelled from Oxford for circulating a pamphlet
“The Necessity of Atheism”
He met Godwin’s daughter, Mary
He abandoned his wife and children.
Shelley’s wife committed suicide
In 1816 Shelley married Mary Godwin
Shelley left England for Italy
While sailing he was drowned
MAIN THEMES
Poetry
makes people and society better
The imagination
is the source of sympathy, compassion, and love
(“A Defence of Poetry”)
Freedom
and
rebellion
against any oppression
Love
as principle of all actions
Pantheistic religion
: belief in a universal spiritual force
Nature
as source of joy
Ecstasy
was the product of direct perception in contrast with Wordsworth’s idea of recollection
Ode to the West Wind
The wind of change, a
prophecy of political and social revolution
The wind gives him the force of
poetic inspiration
Poet as a prophet
, his mission is to awaken the world, to invite mankind to rebel against
tyranny and hypocrisy
The poem is divided into five stanzas
Each stanza is a combination of
terza rima and sonnet form
: it consists of four tercets followed by a rhyming couplet
Rhyme aba bcb cdc de dee
Prometheus Unbound
Verse drama
In Aeschylus' version
Zeus and Prometheus reconcile after 3,000 years.
In Shelley’s version
the reconciliation with the oppressor of mankind, Jupiter, is impossible.
Prometheus has given humanity the gifts of
fire and hope
for a better future.
Prometheus' release from captivity
Struggle against the oppressive powers
Striving towards
justice, freedom and happiness