A well-known 19th century poet, Percy Shelley is best remembered for having had a long and difficult love affair with the writer Mary Shelley, the author of “Frankenstein”.
Who was Percy Shelley
Percy Bysshe Shelley (Horsham, 4 August 1792 – Viareggio, 8 July 1822) was a British poet.
It grows in West Sussex together with the numerous family of noble descent inheriting the title of second baronet of Castle Goring. He is educated first in the family to then enter the Syon House Academy and then Eton College. After completing these studies he attended the Oxford University where difficult years and moved by inner torment begin for him.
From this arise his first writings in which he approaches anarchist and atheist positions leading to his expulsion from Oxford.
The event was not immediate, he could in fact have denied what was stated in his writings and be readmitted thanks to the intervention of his father but since this does not happen he loses his place at the university and interrupts family relations.
Percy Shelley and the career
Subsequently he writes the work “Queen Mab: a philosophical poem” under the influence of William Godwin. His projects, however, are interrupted by a series of unmanageable nerve attacks which lead him to the use of laudanum, a substance that creates hallucinations.
In these years he meets the daughter of the philosopher and friend Godwin, Mary, with whom he falls madly in love.
The two decide to secretly flee to France with the aim of moving to Switzerland. They both wrote about this journey in a shared diary that collects their experiences and thoughts and which today takes the name of “Story of a six-week journey”. Due to economic difficulties they are forced to return to England where their relationship sees continuous and new evolutions.
Percy Shelley and the love story with Mary
Shelley’s relationship with his family is made up of ups and downs and he decides to leave with his wife, sister-in-law, children and granddaughter in Italy where he stays for several years. Here begins an even more difficult period as both his children die and his wife Mary falls into a severe depression which leads them to move away.
They manage to find a balance again and in 1822 they leave together for San Terenzo, more specifically in what is called the “Gulf of poets” which has hosted well-known names in literature such as Virginia Woolf and Charles Dickens. Here, in Lerici, where they are together with a couple of friends, Mary returns to experience a moment of depression followed by a miscarriage that brings her closer to death.