This book argues for the importance of blasphemy in shaping the literature and readership of Percy Bysshe Shelley and of the Romantic period more broadly. Not only are perceptions of blasphemy taken to be inextricable from politics, this book also argues for blasphemous irreverence as both inspiring and necessitating new poetic creativity. The book reveals the intersection of blasphemy, censorship and literary property throughout the Long Eighteenth Century, attesting to the effect of this connection on Shelleys poetry more specifically. Paul Whickman notes how Shelleys perceived blasphemy determined the nature and readership of his published works through censorship and literary piracy. Simultaneously, Whickman crucially shows that aesthetics, content and the printed form of the physical text are interconnected and that Shelleys political and philosophical views manifest themselves in his writing both formally and thematically.
1. Introduction.-
2.
Chapter 2: Blasphemy and Copyright in the Long
Eighteenth Century, 1695-1823.-
3.
Chapter 3: Blasphemy and the Shelley
Canon: Queen Mab and Laon and Cythna.-
4.
Chapter 4: Vulgar
Anthropomorphisms: Blasphemy, Power and the Philosophy of Language.-
5.
Chapter 5: The Promethean Conqueror, the Galilean Serpent and the Jacobin
Jesus: Shelley's Interpretation(s) of Jesus Christ.-
6. Conclusion.
Paul Whickman is Senior Lecturer in English at the University of Derby, UK. Pauls research interests lie in the Romantic period, particularly the work of Byron, Shelley and Keats. He has published in journals such as the Keats-Shelley Review and was previously a contributor to the Years Work in English Studies (2015-2018).
