AbstractsLanguage, Literature & Linguistics

An appraisal of the contemporary view of Shelley's poetry.

by Axel Kruse




Institution: University of Tasmania
Department:
Year: 1964
Keywords: Shelley; Percy Bysshe; 1792-1822; Shelley; Percy Bysshe; 1792-1822
Record ID: 1032543
Full text PDF: http://eprints.utas.edu.au/20137/1/whole_KruseAxel1965_thesis.pdf


Abstract

The contemporary attitude to Shelley may be considered as a combination of two sharply opposed points of view: a tradition of disapproval and a tradition of extravagant admiration. Disapproval of Shelley has been greatly influenced by the early criticism of T.S. Eliot, The claim is that Shelley is a heretic whose work suffers from emotionalism and incoherence. F.R.Leavis adds to this tradition the argument that faults in Shelley's style reflect faults in character and morality. He argues that Shelley is an unimportant Romantic poet. Shelley is intensely emotional, his theories are not profound, and his style suffers from obscurity and unstable rhetorical devices.