preview

The Life of Percy Bysshe Shelley Essay

Decent Essays
Open Document

Percy Bysshe Shelley began life in Horsham, Sussex, England as the oldest child out of seven children. Shelley faced much hardship throughout his life for his controversial views and philosophies. Percy's life however got better after he married Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin, his second wife, as they were intellectually equal and both wrote. Percy was born August 4th, 1792 in a small village of Broadbridge Heath, there he learned to fish and hunt in the meadows with his good friend and Cousin Thomas Medwin. He was the oldest of seven children of which belonged to Thomas Shelley and Elizabeth Pilfold. At the age of just ten Percy left Broadbridge Heath to go to Syon House Academy then two years later he attended Eton College. He eventually …show more content…

Her name was Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin; she was an intelligent feminist author. Sadly her father did not approve of the two dating and he showed his disapproval greatly by not speaking to Mary for a long time, but that didn’t stop them from dating. Three years later, Percy and Mary traveled to Paris and invited Jane, who was Mary’s sister. All of them toured France, Switzerland, Germany, and Holland. After returning home, Mary was pregnant and so was his wife Harriet. When Harriet found out Mary was pregnant it pushed her over the edge, she filed for divorce and sued him for alimony and custody of their two children. Soon after the birth of Harriet’s second child, Mary gave birth to a girl. A few weeks later, the infant died. In addition, Mary gave birth to another child in 1816. Seeing as Percy was a devoted vegetarian, he wrote several books on diet and spiritual practice in 1813. In 1815, he wrote a 720 lined poem which later became one of his greatest works. In 1816, Mary’s stepsister invited her and Percy to join her on a trip to Switzerland. At that time she was dating the Romantic poet Lord Byron. After staying in Switzerland all summer, Percy and Byron became fast friends. During the visit, Percy wrote nonstop. Most of the writings at that time were inspired by the time he spent with Lord Byron. During the fall of 1816, Mary and Percy returned home to

Get Access