Percy Bysshe Shelley Facts

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Percy Bysshe Shelley

  • ·      Percy Bysshe Shelley was born on 4th August 1792 in Horsham.
  • ·      His mother was Elizabeth Pilford, a Sussex landowner.
  • ·      His father was Sir Timothy Shelley a Whig MP.
  • ·      Percy Shelley was the eldest legitimate son of Sir Timothy.
  • ·      He had four younger sisters and a much younger brother.
  • ·      In 1804, Shelley attended Eton.
  • ·      He was frequently bullied and had his books and clothes torn by the older boys.
  • ·      He was interested in science and decided to blow a tree up with gunpowder.
  • ·      Shelley earnt the nickname: ‘Mad Shelley’.
  • ·      In 1810, Shelley began attending Oxford University.
  • ·      Legend has it that he only attended one lecture but spent 16 hours each day reading.
  • ·      He was expelled from university.
  • ·      His parents disapproved of their son being a vegetarian, his political radicalism and his sexual freedom…
  • ·      Aged 19, Shelley eloped with 16-year-old Harriet Westbrook.
  • ·      The couple’s relationship was troubled but they wedded.
  • ·      They had two children- Elizabeth and Charles.
  • ·      Before his son was born, Shelley eloped again with 16 year-old Mary Godwin.
  • ·      They went to France and took Mary’s stepsister with them.
  • ·      Mary became pregnant with Shelley but the baby died in infancy.
  • ·      Mary’s stepsister, Clair Clairmont, invited them on her trip to Switzerland.
  • ·      When they returned they discovered that Mary’s half sister had committed suicide.
  • ·      Later in 1816, they discovered that Harriet had also committed suicide.
  • ·      Mary and Shelley married.
  • ·      Whilst in Italy, both their son and baby daughter died.
  • ·      Just before his 30th birthday, Shelley took his boat out during a storm, more than likely whilst high and drunk, he drowned on 8th July 1822.
  • ·      His friends cremated his decomposing body on the beach, not before stealing his heart though…
  • ·      Byron later wrote that the scene was so revolting, he had to leave!
  • ·      Mary Shelley did not attend her husband’s funeral, as it was not the fashion.
  • ·      Percy Bysshe Shelley’s remains are interred in the Protestant cemetery in Rome and there is a memorial in his honor in Poets’ Corner in Westminster.

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