Shelley and Peterloo : radical, nationalist and balladeer

Morgan, AJ

Abstract

In May 1820 Shelley wrote to Leigh Hunt concerning the publication of "a little
volume of popular songs, wholly political". This request met with failure and
the "little volume" was never published. It is the contention of this thesis that
eleven of Shelley's poems written between September 1819 and July 1820
would have formed part, if not the entirety, of this intended volume. Inspired
directly by Peterloo, these poems are unique within Shelley's oeuvre through
their evocation of a populist radical discourse. Although much has been
written in the past thirty years on his radicalism, through an examination of the
"popular songs", some of which have been critically ignored, this thesis
extends critical understanding of Shelley by presenting him as a nationalist
and a balladeer. Shelley's awareness of how genre locates texts within a
particular discourse together with his innovative use of genre in these poems
informs the methodology and structure of this thesis.
The first chapter considers Shelley's elegies on Ireland written between
1810 and 1813. They display his increasing awareness of how poetry and a
radical nationalist sentiment can be enhanced through the use of a specific
genre and are therefore instrumental to the approach adopted by Shelley in
the poems of 1819. The second chapter traces the emergent interest in
antiquarianism in the eighteenth century and the appropriation of the ballad
and the indigenous English culture from which it came by both radicals and
conservatives. The subsequent chapters focus on the "popular songs"
demonstrating how, through a myriad of textual dialogues, these ballads,
songs, sonnets and odes unashamedly appropriate style and language from
other media, including graphic satire, whilst simultaneously pushing generic and ideological boundaries. By placing these poems within a wider radical
discourse, this thesis aims to broaden awareness of Shelley's poetical
achievements, resulting in a readjustment of critical focus.

Citation

Morgan, A. Shelley and Peterloo : radical, nationalist and balladeer. (Thesis). University of Salford

• Thesis Type: Thesis
• Deposit Date: Jul 27, 2021
• Award Date: Jan 1, 2012