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Percy Bysshe ShelleyA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Romantic poetry is typically contemptuous of civilization, idealizes nature, and advocates for experiences of the sublime, or being psychologically or emotionally overwhelmed by the external world. Shelley’s work is very much in line with these values; moreover, he was deeply influenced by the philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau, a mid-18th century predecessor of Romanticism, and his father-in-law William Godwin, whose ideas he references in his poetry.
The idea of natural law that permeates “Queen Mab” comes directly from Rousseau’s concept of the natural state of man and his rejection of political power as the foundation of society. Shelley adds to Rousseau’s conclusions his ideal of freedom, arguing that what we call civilization is really a kind of enslavement. Like Rousseau, Shelley has an extremely favorable view of nature, strongly embracing the idea of harmony between humans, animals, and other living things—a view that is in direct conflict with the Christian dogma that God gave male humans power over the natural world.
By Percy Bysshe Shelley
A Defence of Poetry
A Defence of Poetry
Percy Bysshe Shelley
Adonais
Adonais
Percy Bysshe Shelley
Alastor; or, The Spirit of Solitude
Alastor; or, The Spirit of Solitude
Percy Bysshe Shelley
Mont Blanc
Mont Blanc: Lines Written in the Vale of Chamouni
Percy Bysshe Shelley
Mutability
Mutability
Percy Bysshe Shelley
Ode to the West Wind
Ode to the West Wind
Percy Bysshe Shelley
Ozymandias
Ozymandias
Percy Bysshe Shelley
Prometheus Unbound
Prometheus Unbound
Percy Bysshe Shelley
The Masque of Anarchy
The Masque of Anarchy
Percy Bysshe Shelley
The Triumph of Life
The Triumph of Life
Percy Bysshe Shelley
To a Skylark
To a Skylark
Percy Bysshe Shelley
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