Evaluating Shelley

This text discusses the work of Percy Bysshe Shelley from a late-twentieth century perspective. Unlike Shakespeare or Wordsworth, Shelley’s value as a poet and a thinker, even in his own day, was debated. Divided into three distinct sections, this volume argues that Shelley was both ahead of and in tune with his time and ours. The first section evaluates Shelley within the wider contexts of politics, education, authorship and literary theory; the second through close reading of individual works; while the third assesses editing and editorial practice.