Shelley: A Critical Reading - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0801820170 ISBN 13: 9780801820175

Publisher: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1971

Synopsis

In Shelley: Poet and Legislator of the World Betty T. Bennett and Stuart Curran bring together an internationally recognized group of scholars to focus on Percy Bysshe Shelley's conception of the poet's social role and how that conception has changed over time. The authors consider the cultural and political forces within Shelley's society and his attempts to establish a new role for the poet in its renovation. They examine the ways in which Shelley's thought engages contemporary debates on feminism, class structure, political representation, and human rights, and how it in turn affects radical politics in England. They describe his impact on other cultures, particularly in national liberation movements of both the 19th and 20th centuries. And they discuss the continuing presence and relevance of his ideas within the contemporary social and intellectual arena. Contributors: Donald H. Reiman, Greg Kucich, Terence Hoagwood, William Keach, Mark Kipperman, Michael Erkelenz, Gary Kelly, Annnette Wheeler Cafarelli, Neil Fraistat, Michael Scrivener, Bouthaina Shaaban, E. Douka Kabitoglou, Lilla Maria Crisafulli Jones, Marilyn Butler, Meena Alexander, Alan Weinberg, Steven E. Jones, Horst Hshne, Andrew J. Bennett, Karen A. Weisman, P.M.S. Dawson, Tilottama Rajan, Linda Brigham, Arkady Plotnitsky.

About this title

Product Description:

Concentrating on the major poems, Earl R. Wasserman provides a comprehensive critical reading that is organized in terms of conceptual structure of Shelley's work. This achronological structure originates in the poet's contradictory impulses toward wordly perfection and an ideal postmortal existence. Through analyses of discrete poems-- the proper object of criticism-- the author maps Shelley's conceptual universe and traces his efforts to resolve the fundamental contradictions of his philosophy.

Review:

"An outstandingly fine collection of essays. One is impressed not just by the excellence of the individual contributions but by the uniformly high level of writing and thinking. The traditional, 'aesthetic' approach to Shelley is eschewed, with the emphasis very much on Shelley the political and social thinker."

(Stuart M. Sperry, Indiana University)

About this edition

• Publisher: Johns Hopkins University Press
• Publication date: 1971
• ISBN 10: 0801820170
• ISBN 13: 9780801820175
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 528
• Editor: Wasserman Earl R.