Shelley’s Doubles
The contradictions of Shelley’s radical politics and his aristocratic birth and upbringing place him as a potential victim of the revolutionary change he envisages and wishes for. He embodies some of the qualities which his own social critique deplores. This imports a quasi-suicidal logic into his work, where his influence is felt to be most effective once emancipated from his living person and social identity. This contradiction is explored in analysis of passages from Prometheus Unbound, and then in a sustained reading of Julian and Maddalo, where the central figure of the ‘madman’ throws into relief the civilized, gentlemanly manners of the Shelley/Byron characters. The contrast between ‘civilized’ and ‘mad’ is represented not simply in thematic terms but as a contrast in poetic styles.