A Study Of The Scientific Elements In Shelley's Queen Mab

Percy Bysshe Shelley is the distinguished representative of the British Romantic poets. The studies on his poems mainly focus on the wild imagination, the rebellion against the realistic society and his idealism in depicting a perfect future. Apart from his achievement in the Romantic poetry, he is also a chemist who takes interest in science. He is greatly influenced by several of the famous scientists at his time. An overwhelming majority of the traditional literary reviews on Romantic poetry hold that Romantic poetry advocates returning to nature and turns against science. Even there are some literary criticisms which propose that Romantic poetry is not in complete opposition to science, the discussions on the value of science in the British Romantic poetry is few and scanty. What is more, the discussions on the scientific elements in Shelley's poetry are superficial and inadequate. This present thesis, taking Shelley's first long poem Queen Mab for example, is devoted to analyzing the scientific theories supporting these scientific elements in the poem which are supported by the scientific theories of the time. On the basis of the analysis, the author elaborates on the close connection between the scientific elements and three important aspects in the poem, namely the wild imagination, the revolution against religion and tyranny, and the conception of an ideal society.The first chapter is the introduction. It briefly introduces Shelley and his major works, and the literary review on Shelley's poems which concentrates on the wild imagination, the revolution against tyranny and his realism in depicting an ideal society. The study on the scientific elements in Shelley's poetry is few and superficial. Thus, the significance and the structure of the thesis are discussed.The second chapter is devoted to discussing Romantic poetry and science. It is widely held that the British Romanticism emphasizes emotion while science stresses reason and the British Romantic poetry is against science. But the British Romanticism witnesses the rapid development of science and apart from Shelley, there are other poets who show interest in science. Science and British Romanticism even share common grounds. Hence, the chapter is to demonstrate that the British Romantic poetry is not in complete opposition to science.The third chapter is to introduce the interest Shelley takes in science and the considerable influence of several scientists on him at that time.The fourth Chapter is the major part of the thesis. Three important aspects in the poem, namely the wild imagination, the revolution against religion and tyranny, and the ideal society Shelley depicted in the future, are closely related to scientific elements in the poem. Through the analysis of the scientific elements and the theories concerned, the value of the scientific elements in the poem is apparent.Chapter Five is the conclusion. Apart from summing up the key points in the thesis, the author discusses the reciprocal relationship between science and Romantic poetry.