Mad, Bad, & Dangerous: Lord Byron & Percy Shelley

(3 Credit Hours) · Undergraduate

"Mad, bad, and dangerous to know" is how the nineteenth-century English poet Lord Byron was described by one of his contemporaries, but the phrase could apply just as well to fellow poet Percy Shelley, known in his school days as "Mad Shelley." Originally inspired by the poets' unconventional lifestyles and opinions, the labels serve in this course as points of entry into their remarkable bodies of work. "Mad," for instance, by some estimates denotes Byron's and Shelley's social and political views and activities, but also reflects their interest in representing insane or at least deeply unreasonable characters. "Bad" evokes contemporaneous opinions of their morals—and some readers' assessments of their verse. "Dangerous" captures the sense that each poet posed a threat to established ways of thinking, imagining, writing, and being in the world. Our readings will include short lyrics, long epics and mock epics, and verse dramas, as well as letters, essays, and reviews. The overall objective is to acquaint you with two of the most exceptional and exceptionable poets of the Romantic period, and indeed any period, while giving you experience in reading multiple works by particular writers, comparatively and critically.