Percy Bysshe Shelly, radical in every aspect of his life and thought, was raised by a classical conservative family. The Shelly family were Sussex aristocrats since the early sixteenth century. His grandfather was the richest man in Horsham, Sussex, and his father, Timothy Shelly, was an astute Member of Parliament. Percy Shelly was sent to be educated at Eton and Oxford and, as befitted his station, was in line for baronetcy. As an adolescent he was small for his age, whimsical in manner, poor at sports and an unskilled fighter and, as a consequence, was bullied by older and more physically-able boys. He later said that he saw the petty tyranny of schoolmasters and schoolmates as representative of man’s general inhumanity to man, and dedicated …show more content…
The relationship between the political and poetical in shelly is one that symbiotic; it is difficult to separate one from the other. Most of Shelly’s revolutionary political and poetical ideas stemmed from an eccentric life, which I feel, for the purpose of this essay needs to be discussed. Shelley’s expulsion from Oxford was just the first step in this revolutionary lifestyle. He and his friend Thomas Jefferson Hogg had co-authored a pamphlet titled “The Necessity of Atheism”. Its premise shocked and appalled the faculty “…The mind cannot believe in the existence of a God.”, and the university demanded that both boys either acknowledge or deny authorship. Shelley did neither and was expelled. Shelley’s parents were so exasperated by their son’s actions that they demanded he forsake his beliefs, including vegetarianism, political radicalism and sexual freedom. In August of 1811, Shelley eloped with Harriet Westbrook, a 16-year-old woman his parents had explicitly forbidden him to see. His love for her was centred on a hope that he could save her from committing