Percy Shelley

Background of the author
Read about "A Defence of Poetry"

Class Discussion Questions:
  1. Why does Shelley make a distinction between reason and imagination? Is this a productive distinction?
  2. According to Shelley, language is the most direct medium of representation. What does he mean by this claim?
  3. Is this true: "poetry is a mirror which makes beautiful that which is distorted"? Are we the ones who create order? Why is the natural state of a thing distorted?
  4. How, according to Shelley, can poetry make us better people? How can it save us from utter ruin?
  5. What are the ethical and artistic implications of the final sentence: "Poets are the unacknowledged legislators of the world"?