A Polar Moral Compass Transition- Percy Bysshe Shelley was a poet of the Romantic age, Thesis- Percy Bysshe Shelley lived in contrast to societal normalities. His seemingly radical beliefs in his personal life overshadowed his literary work, by means of: his academic rebellions, relationships with young women, passionate activism, and how his political involvement influenced these themes. Percy Bysshe Shelley was born on July 8, 1792 in Broadbridge Heath, England. Shelley was educated at Eton College, Syon House Academy, and Oxford University (“Percy Bysshe Shelly Biography”). Shelley got expelled from Oxford University because he challenged God’s existence, with his pamphlet called The Necessity of Atheism. He gave the pamphlet to conservative …show more content…
“Shelley began writing political pamphlets, which he distributed by way of hot air balloons, glass bottles and paper boats” ( “Percy Bysshe Shelley Biography,” Biography.com). In 1812, he met the radical William Godwin, his political idol, and his father in-law and author of Political Justice ( “Percy Bysshe Shelley Biography,” Biography.com). Shelly became the center of a group of marginalized writers, known as "Satanic School" due to their rejection of English social and religious normalities and encourages radical ideas in their writings (“Percy Bysshe Shelly,” LitFinder). Shelley was also a huge advocate for vegetarianism, and supported the abolition of slavery; however, he was addicted to tea, this served a problem for his activism because sugar cane was a highly demanded substance from slaves to harvest. When Shelley entered more liberal spaces, eating sugar was as shunned as eating dog meat is today. Percy and Mary restricted themselves from sugar, substituting it with green tea. This issue was so pertinent to them that Mary modeled her iconic story Frankenstein off of how she saw African slaves being treated . William Godwin was also a big part of the of the antislavery movement as well. Shelley led the boycott. Another one of Shelley’s heroes,Robert Southey, “ described tea as a "blood-sweeten'd beverage" produced under the "mangling scourge" of the trader's whip” (“How Percy Shelley Stirred His Politics Into His Teacup”). Shelley used Southey’s exact words in his literary work , Queen Mab, to arouse slaves working hard "to the sound of the flesh-mangling scourge" to create "all-polluting luxury and wealth (“How Percy Shelley Stirred His Politics Into His