Percy Bysshe Shelley Research Paper

Percy Bysshe Shelley was born in England in 1792, and he became to be a well-known, respected yet controversial Romantic poet during his brief lifespan. At the time of his death he was barely 30-years-old but he had already managed to write pieces that would attract readers century after century. Shelley was a revolutionary by heart and finding out why and how is going to be the topic of this essay. Shelley wrote poems as well as prose that were aimed to provoke and wake the people into seeing the world around them. Attributes that made Shelley to be considered a revolutionary writer were his views on religion, as he was an atheist, as well as his opposing of monarchy and tyranny, his pacifist views and political justice endeavours. Shelley

Or write it there, So that this blot upon the page of fame Were as serpent’s path, which the light air Erases, and the flat sand close behind! (Ode to Liberty, lines 210-215)

In this excerpt Shelley seems to suggest that kings no longer have a place in a modern society, and that they are an obstacle for true freedom and creativity. Names of the kings need to be “erased”, removed from the current order. It is also worthwhile to mention, that during the release of this poem Spain was going through a revolution and Shelley could have written Ode to Liberty with them in mind – maybe he wanted to show his support. Another poem, Ozymandias (1819), handles the subject of power and tyranny in a similar way. The poem features a description of the decayed statue of an old pharaoh, who has written down his boastful achievements on the pedestal. Shelley’s expert use of words describes the sad truth, where the triumphs of the pharaoh are long gone as the statue decays in solitude in a vast desert. And on the pedestal these words appear: “My name is Ozymandias, King of

According to Walter Stephens, Ozymandias has inspired multiple generations of people, and the word itself has come to mean “self-deluding hubris, the ambition to be remembered favourably by posterity, and the refusal to acknowledge time’s destruction of human achievement” (2009: 155). Shelley believed in achieving revolution through non-violent means. The topic of enlightenment through revolution would be, according to him, the key to a more equal and just society (White, 1982: 614). However, Shelley was adamant in not using violence – as violence was usually linked to vengeance, something he condemned. To Shelley justice was something that could be reached through love, pity and mercy but not revenge (1982: 616). “What call ye justice?... [J]ustice is the light/ Of love, and not revenge” (The Revolt of Islam, conto 5, stanza 34). This quote from the poem The Revolt of Islam (1818) encapsulates Shelley’s views on justice, and it was to be linked with mercy. However, later in his life Shelley’s views on the possibility of a violent revolution changed as he came to realise that equality was not to be achieved through moral enlightenment alone. The final lines of his poem The Masque of Anarchy