Percy Bysshe Shelley, Prometheus Unbound

Mark Sandy (University of Durham)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.06: English Writing and Culture of the Romantic Period, 1789-1837.
Vol. editors: Daniel Cook (University of Dundee), Daniel Robinson (Widener University), Emily Rohrbach (University of Durham)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1820

Places

England (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Poetry (any)

Resources

Save to Bookshelf

Traditionally thought to have been the poetic composition that, apart from

Queen Mab

[See Separate Entry], took Shelley the longest time and caused him the greatest artistic difficulties,

Prometheus Unbound

was first conceived of in only three acts. It was not until April 1819 that Shelley decided to significantly expand and revise his lyrical drama into the completed four act version published in August 1820. Shelley begun writing the first act of his lyrical drama at Este in September 1818 and, then, worked sporadically on Acts II and III (substantially altered in March and April 1819) in the late autumn and winter 1818, and completed Act IV over the summer of 1819. These new dates for the composition of

Prometheus Unbound

(suggested by Neil Fraistat) show that Shelley's lyrical drama…

Please log in to consult the article in its entirety. If you are a member (student of staff) of a subscribing institution (see List), you should be able to access the LE on campus directly (without the need to log in), and off-campus either via the institutional log in we offer, or via your institution's remote access facilities, or by creating a personal user account with your institutional email address. If you are not a member of a subscribing institution, you will need to purchase a personal subscription. For more information on how to subscribe as an individual user, please see under Individual Subcriptions.

1667 words

Citation: Sandy, Mark. "Prometheus Unbound". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 25 August 2004 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=2545, accessed 26 November 2024.]

Percy Bysshe Shelley, Prometheus Unbound

Dates

Places

Genres and Modes

Resources

Save this article

Leave Feedback