Percy Bysshe

Shelley
Prepared by :
Balen Shwan
Omar Sadiq
Hawmand Dlshad
Bashar Muoyad
Percy Shelley, a prominent voice in
British Romanticism, was born in Sussex,
England, in 1792, and was the eldest child
of a wealthy country squire.

Educated in London and later at Oxford

University, Shelley developed a strong
intellectual companionship with Thomas
Jefferson Hogg. Percy Bysshe Shelley

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Shelley, along with Hogg, wrote a pamphlet titled "The Necessity of
Atheism," leading to their expulsion from Oxford. Shelley, despite the title,
was not an atheist but aimed to establish the right to debate Christian beliefs.

Throughout his life, Shelley faced disputes with the Church and state, an
unhappy marriage to Harriet Westbrook, an elopement with Mary
Wollstonecraft Godwin, and other events considered disgraceful by society.

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Despite the controversies, Shelley produced well-known Romantic poems
such as "Ozymandias," "Ode to the West Wind," and "Adonais," along with a
significant work of literary criticism, "A Defence of Poetry" (1821).

Shelley was a devoted follower of Plato, embracing Neoplatonism. In "A

Defence of Poetry," he adopted Plato's concept of Ideal Forms, asserting that
poetry is the best means to access these Forms and ultimate Truth.

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Shelley rejected Neoclassicism's emphasis on order and reason, highlighting
the importance of individualism and imagination in poetry.

In Shelley's view, poetry is the expression of the imagination and serves as a

teacher and guide to Truth, embodied in nature and the individual. He believed
philosophy and history stem from poetry, not science or reason.

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Shelley places poetry in a superior position compared to other disciplines, viewing
poets as individuals from various professions such as architects, painters, musicians,
teachers, and lawmakers.

According to Shelley, poets, when true to their craft, guide people towards Truth,
emphasizing the spiritual nature of ultimate reality and the concept of Plato's "The
One." This involves opening readers' minds to the unseen beauty present in the world.

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Shelley holds poetry as sacred and perfect, considering poets as the greatest among all
artists. He believes that poets, uniquely, can perceive the future in the present and
participate in the eternal, infinite, and the one.

The poet, in Shelley's creative theory, transcends ordinary individuals, becoming more
than just an average person. Shelley's passion for both the poet and poetry underscores
their role as teachers and prophets leading society towards ultimate Truth.

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Shelley's perspective represents a significant shift from the Age of Reason or
Neoclassicism to British Romanticism. This shift has profound implications for literary
theory and criticism, influencing thought up to the present age.

In conclusion, the relationship between Plato and Percy Shelley is marked by

intellectual kinship and influence. Despite the temporal and historical gap between
them, Shelley emerges as a dedicated disciple of Plato's philosophical concepts,
particularly in his embrace of Neoplatonism and the incorporation of Plato's ideas into
his own literary and critical works

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The admiration for Plato's notions, such as Ideal Forms and the pursuit of Truth, is
evident in Shelley's writings, notably in "A Defence of Poetry." This relationship
signifies a continuity of philosophical thought, as Shelley reinterprets and adapts
Plato's ideas to contribute to the paradigm shift from the Age of Reason to British
Romanticism. In this way, Shelley positions himself as a torchbearer of Platonic
philosophy within the context of British Romantic literature.