自考《英美文学选读》笔记3（简单版）

　　Percy Bysshe Shelley （1792-1822）

　　1792 Shelley was born in an aristocratic family. He was educated at Eton.

　　1810 18y， he went to Oxford Uni. He attacked war and glorified heroes and heroines of the French revolution.

　　1811 While in Oxford， he published The Necessity of Atheism in which he doubted the existence of God. As a result， he was expulsed by the university and his conservative father deprived him the heir of Barony and fortune. He went to London where he met Harriet Westbrook who was much younger than him and also came from an aristocratic family. They eloped to Scotland. Poverty finally separated the couple.

　　1814 He fell in love with Mary Wollstonecraft （daughter of Godwin） and eloped with her to Italy. In Italy， he met Byron with whom he kept a solid friendship.

　　1816 Harriet committed suicide. Shelley's political enemy attacked him an immoral man.

　　1818 He exiled himself to Italy and spent the rest of his life there.

　　1819 Peterloo Massacre happened in Manchester. The event marked a turning point in Shelley's view. Before that， he thought that workers should take up weapons and fights. After the event， he thought they should. Working class's resistance and anti-oppression became a constant theme of him.

　　1822 At the age of 30， he drowned in a small boat along the coast of Italy.

　　Shelley's Major Works

　　1813 Queen Mob shows Shelley's social philosophy.

　　1. He criticizes the rising capitalism and the feudal society.

　　2. He defends the rights of the labor against their exploiters and oppressors.

　　3. The story is a fairy tale dream. It's an optimistic poem. Through Queen Mob's words， Shelley shows his philosophy. It's a revolutionary poem in which Shelley declares war on the injustice and violence of the world. （Shelley is a revolutionary poet.）

　　1819 Prometheus Unbound

　　Promet

[1]