A Literary Analysis of Love and Liberty in the Poetry ofPercy Bysshe Shelley

Abstract

This research is a comprehensive literary analysis of the themes of love and liberty portrayed in
the poetry of Percy Bysshe Shelley. Although, beauty, nature, creativity, sanctified imagination,
love, liberty and loss are the common celebrated themes of Romantic period, but here we will have
a meticulous inquiry into the Shelley's poetic works and will uncover multifaceted nature of love
and liberty as illustrated by this Romantic poet. Furthermore, this research analyzes those ideas
and elements which develop the theme of love and liberty. The study is based on qualitative method
of research which incorporates Textual Analysis Method of research. The study conforms to
theoretical framework of Romanticism and provide a comprehensive solution to the research
problem. The framework is developed after reviewing previous literature related to this research.
Two types of data are employed in this study; primary data and secondary data. Primary data is
taken from five poems of Shelley, while secondary data is collected from online journals, research
articles and web pages. The selected poems are analyzed through the theoretical framework of
Romanticism. The findings of this research reveal that the themes of love and liberty pervade the
poetry of Shelley. The study aims to provide new vistas to the current scholarly discourse on
Romantic poetry. It elucidates Shelley's poetical work that revolves around the undying themes of
love and liberty that enthralls readers across generations. This research is important for its
meticulous inquiry into the poetry of Shelley to discover the veiled philosophy of love and liberty.
It is significant, because it familiarizes the readers about Shelley’s stylistic use of language,
imagery and symbolism for better portrayal of meanings.