Study Questions
How does Shelley's treatment of nature differ from that of the earlier Romantic
poets? What connections does he make between nature and art, and how does he
illustrate those connections?
How and why does Shelley believe poetry to be an instrument of moral good? What
impact does this belief have on his poems, if any?
Many of Shelley's poems include a climactic moment, an instant when the poet's
feelings overwhelm him and overwhelm his poem. What are some of these moments?
How do they relate to the poems as wholes? How are they typical of the poetic
personality Shelley brings to his writing?
Think about Shelley's use of the sonnet form in "England in 1819" and
"Ozymandias." How does he shape the form to his own purposes? How does his use
of the sonnet form break from the established traditions of the early 1800s?
Shelley was a political radical who never shied away from expressing his
opinions about oppression and injustice--he was expelled from Oxford in 1811 for
applying his radicalism to religion and arguing for the necessity of atheism.
What do we learn about Shelley's ideal vision of the human condition, as based
on his political poems? With particular attention to "Ode to the West Wind,"
how might a sense of his social hopes emerge from even a non-political poem?
In some ways Shelley is a creature of contradictions: he was an atheist who
wrote hymns, a scandalous and controversial figure who argued for ethical
behavior, an educated aristocrat who argued for the liberation of humankind, and
a sensuous Romantic poet whose fondest hope was that his poems would exert a
moral influence over the human imagination. How can one resolve these
contradictions? (Are they even resolvable?) How do they manifest themselves in
his poetry?
Shelley lived a fascinating and turbulent life among fascinating and turbulent
people, from Lord Byron, the most famous, controversial, and popular poet of the
era, to his wife Mary, the author of Frankenstein. How does a knowledge
of Shelley's biography (and early death) affect your appreciation of his poetry?
Or does it affect it at all? Is it necessary to know about Shelley's life and
times in order to fully understand the poetry?
