Preview

Shelley’s Impossible Revolution: Representations of Revolution in “the Mask of Anarchy” and the Cenci

Powerful Essays
Open Document
Open Document
2265 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Shelley’s Impossible Revolution: Representations of Revolution in “the Mask of Anarchy” and the Cenci
Shelley’s Impossible Revolution:
Representations of Revolution in “The Mask of Anarchy” and The Cenci

Percy Bysshe Shelley was one of the major British poets during a time of civil and political unrest. In his 1819 poem, “The Mask of Anarchy,” Shelley advocates for a peaceful revolution, based on principles of science, poetry and justice. But his play, The Cenci, seems to subvert this idea, illustrating that chances of any revolution are bleak in the face of tyranny. The hyperbolic and mythological language and imagery used in “The Mask of Anarchy,” along with the tragic and unfair ending of The Cenci, suggest that Shelley’s ideals of true revolution only exist in theory, since they fail miserably when put into practice in The Cenci.
In “The Mask of Anarchy,” Shelley portrays the English ruling powers negatively, drawing attention to how members of government create and support a political system he labels anarchical. Shelley wrote “The Mask of Anarchy” in 1819 in response to the Battle of Peterloo, during which English military authorities charged into a large crowd of protesters, killing and wounding many civilians. “The Mask of Anarchy,” which Shelley presents as a dream, is an allegory for the dangers of using violence to fight violence. He begins by personifying Murder, Fraud, and Hypocrisy, who are all lead by the personification of Anarchy. Seven dogs accompany Murder: “All were fat; and well they might / Be in admirable plight, / For one by one, and two by two, / He tossed the human hearts to chew” (l. 9-12). He labels Murder as the Viscount Castlereagh, British Foreign Secretary. Murder’s seven dogs represent the seven nations who had recently signed an alliance that preserved slavery (p. 316). A tearful Fraud follows Murder and his dogs: “His big tears, for he wept well, / Turned to mill-stones as they fell. / And the little children, who / Round his feet played to and fro, / Thinking every tear a gem, / Had their brains knocked out



Cited: Shelley, Percy Bysshe, Donald H. Reiman, and Neil Fraistat. "The Cenci." Shelley 's Poetry and Prose: Authoritative Texts, Criticism. New York: Norton, 2002. 316-25. Print. Shelley, Percy Bysshe, Donald H. Reiman, and Neil Fraistat. "The Mask of Anarchy." Shelley 's Poetry and Prose: Authoritative Texts, Criticism. New York: Norton, 2002. 316-25. Print.

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein was created in an era of rapid technological change. By 1818, the Industrial Revolution had deeply influenced the fundamental nature of society, while Enlightenment inspired ideals of logic and autonomy of reason were prominent in society. Her text accordingly reflects this, as seen in the protagonist Victor Frankenstein; “I am imbued with a fervent longing to penetrate the secrets of nature.” This metaphor alludes to his passionate and desperate urge to uncover the secrets to the creation of life. Shelley however critiques his intrusive scientific pursuit and horrid creation by juxtaposing it with the beauty of nature. This is seen in the bucolic descriptions of nature’s sublime; “Mighty alps, whose white and shining pyramids and domes towered above all.” Nature calms and dehumanises Victor throughout the text, but Victor pursues science to the extent that nature loses its consoling ability, and thereafter the Arctic becomes a pathetic fallacy to mock Victor’s psychological and mental isolation. This criticism is further emphasised through the epistolary narrative framework, which allows the text to begin in medias res. The first introduction to Victor is him in a state of complete ruin, and so the text is a forewarning of the…

    • 1217 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Shelley’s novel, influenced by romantic writers such as Coleridge and Percy Shelley, sees her examine and hyperbolize the obsessive passion of the scientists of her day. Thus, her archetypal scientist, Victor, is characterized as overly passionate and ambitious. Shelley achieves this romantic characterized passion, through the use of repetition and emotive language in regard to his science; such as “ardent,” “eager” and “passionate enthusiasm. Victor’s story is an adaption of the Promethean myth of fire stolen from the gods. The usurption of the roles of God is used by Shelley as a parody of mankind’s attempt to become the ‘over reacher’ through the Romantic paradigm of “perfectibility.” Thus the responder is able to comprehend Shelley’s philosophical questioning of the purpose in experimenting with the natural world and…

    • 1237 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Unfulfilled desire and rebellion are predominant themes that arise throughout Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, and John Milton’s Paradise Lost.…

    • 623 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Written during the industrial revolution and the emerging era of existentialism and exploration – Shelley’s Frankenstein can be interpreted as a warning to the technologically curious. This curious nature is personified throughout the protagonist Victor Frankenstein, who tragically falls victim to experimentation without boundaries. This was an attempt to forshadow the potential dangers of unmonitored technological advancements. To reiterate this sentiment, Shelley also aimed to to stress the divinity of nature in the face of technological dominance through elements of Romanticism. “The weight upon my shoulders was sensibly lightened as I plunged yet deeper into the ravine” emotive imagery highlights the cleansing effect of the environment, juxtaposed against the oppressive nature of the technologically advanced city.…

    • 799 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    In ‘Ozymandias’ we get a strong example that villainy produces interesting content because of the way that Shelley uses his diction and imagery in his crisp sonnet of delicious irony.…

    • 1541 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Melissa Louise

    • 646 Words
    • 3 Pages

    However, In the poem ‘Ozymandias’ the tone created by Percy Bysshe Shelley connotes the idea of past occurrences. It can create the image that power is only…

    • 646 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Direct evidence of Mary Shelley’s reading of Paradise Lost is all through her novel including the Monster’s last speech where he states, “I shall ascend my funeral pile triumphantly and exult in the agony of the torturing flames” (Shelley 161). Her references to the poem may be contradictory in a few places, but she found a pattern in the poem which could give form to her fears and her understanding of what technology threatened for the…

    • 724 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    During Shelley’s time the Industrial Revolution was a colossal movement, which displayed the rise of urbanization. Imagine this: you are walking down an aisle sandwiched between two escalating torn factories with black smoke roaring, clawing towards the murky sky. These were the conditions which led the Romantics to value the powers of nature. In respect to these notions gothic imagery is displayed in nature “the moon gazed my midnight labors” Shelley imposes supernatural elements of nature which emphasize a sense of thrill and excitement which existed during Shelley’s context of scientific capabilities. Furthermore, nature itself has the ability to console the individual. We identify this in “the sky was serene […]…

    • 1067 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Shelley’s use of eloquent and elaborate language by the main characters could be construed as ironic, in that such well-spoken characters have sunken into committing the most terrible of sins, namely those of murder and hubris. It is this irony that makes the isolation and resentment that Victor and the Monster feel stand out in the reader’s mind; two characters that are so articulate in their speech are reviled…

    • 1927 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    The passage begins with the sentence “The hour of my weakness is past and the period of your power has arrived.” This is an example of the gothic genre and also an example of how Mary Shelley manages to steer away from the classical form of gothic writing, instead placing fear in the human mind via the human psyche.…

    • 1878 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    In concurrence with the latter, Frankenstein also suggests, again using nature as the advocate, that there is a fine line between discovering a union with nature and all its grandeur and exploiting nature. Concerning this, it may be conceived that Shelley is critical of the Romantic Era and its ideals due to the potential, and perhaps even inevitable, danger it brings when taken to the extreme in conjunction with the upsurge of modern technology and science.…

    • 1620 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Composed in a time of major scientific developments, including Galvani’s concept of electricity as a reanimating force, Shelley’s Frankenstein utilises the creative arrogance of the Romantic imagination to fashion a Gothic world in which the protagonist’s usurpation of the divine privilege of creation has derailed the conventional lines of authority and responsibility. Her warning of the dangers of such actions is encapsulated within Victor’s retrospective words of “how dangerous is the acquirement of knowledge”, whilst Shelley’s use of a fragmented epistolatory narrative adds a disturbing sense of truth, foreshadowing the dark consequences of Frankenstein’s actions. Moreover, her allusions to John Milton’s Paradise Lost evoke the poetic retelling of Satan’s fall from grace, wherein the daemon’s association with “the fallen angel” exacerbates the effects of Victor’s rejection, ultimately transforming its “benevolent nature” into a thirst for retribution. Together with its questioning of how Victor could “sport with life”, Shelley’s warning reverberates past the page, directly questioning the scientists of her era, including evolutionary theorist Erasmus Darwin, to reinforce the dangers of our humanity’s inherent yearning to play the role of the…

    • 961 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Frankenstein Essay

    • 2201 Words
    • 9 Pages

    Mary Shelley’s novel was published in a prominent period of the 1800’s known as the Gothic Era. A very dark and bleak time, where polluted British cities were filled to the brim with the diseased, overworked and dying factory workers, (Charles Booth claims about 30% of Londoners lived in poverty between 1887 and 1892) it was an opportunity for authors to express the widespread despairing and fearful emotions of the public through literature. As people started to oppose and question religious authorities that once dominated government decisions, schools and towns, a God-less society was formed. It was a time where people lived in the darkness of their homes with only candlelight to brighten the night. The flickering shadows the candles produced made the nights quite frightening; reflected in many haunting tales produced in the era. Mary Shelley’s novel is an explicit example of an author who incorporates these emotions into…

    • 2201 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In this essay, I will explore the ways in which Villainy is presented in “Frankenstein” and “Othello”. I will also highlight and evidently explain who the greater villain is in both texts, and show clear comparisons to them both. Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein inspired and whole generation of books on horror that still continues today, and William Shakespeare’s Othello was just one of his many tragedies interlaced with the theme of Villainy.…

    • 848 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    The cruelty of society, within Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, is examined in various ways. The monster within the novel experiences the world when he is created and becomes lost. Since the dawn of man, adapting to society and possessing a feeling of belonging has been an instinct. Many different societies possess different cultures that individuals always try to accustom themselves to, from the way people dress to how a family is raised. Those who do not accustom themselves to the accepted culture are looked down upon, perceived as an outcast, and sometimes feared by. Something as minor as dressing with different attire than those in one’s society can cause an atmosphere of strange feelings towards that someone. The monster’s dominating…

    • 1211 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays

Related Topics