Lord Byron & Percy Shelley

(3 Credit Hours) · Undergraduate

“Mad, bad, and dangerous to know” is how one contemporary famously described the nineteenth-century poet Lord Byron, but the phrase also captures the public perception of his friend and fellow poet Percy Shelley: while at school, his nickname was “Mad Shelley.” This course will use the label as a point of entry into the works of these two remarkable writers and their personal and poetic relationship. “Mad” will encapsulate contemporaneous attitudes toward Byron’s and Shelley’s social and political views—including on the topics of revolution, empire, commerce, religion, gender, and sexuality—while also reflecting their shared interest in giving a voice to the seemingly unreasonable or insane. “Bad” will evoke contemporaneous opinions of the poets’ morals—daring, dubious, or depraved, depending on who was judging—as well as some readers’ assessments of their verse. “Dangerous” will capture the sense that each poet posed a threat to established ways of thinking, feeling, and acting. We will gauge the accuracy of these three key terms through the careful reading of various works, including short lyrics, verse dramas, and longer epics or mock epics. Selections from the poets’ essays and letters, contemporaneous reviews, and selected criticism will contextualize and sharpen our understandings of the range, ambition, and enduring relevance of two of the most exceptional (and exceptionable) poets of the era.