Course:	LIT 337 Radical Romanticism: Percy Bysshe Shelley and his Circle
Professor:	Cole Heinowitz
CRN:	90278	Schedule:	Thurs 2:00 PM - 4:20 PM Olin 305
Distributional Area:	LA MBV Literary Analysis in English Meaning, Being, Value	Class cap:	18
Credits:	4

Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792-1822) was a radical nonconformist in every aspect of his life. At the age of 18, he was expelled from Oxford for distributing his pamphlet, The Necessity of Atheism. Soon after, he published Queen Mab, a long poem that indicted organized religion as the root of all evil and prophesied the emergence of a post-moral utopia. The following year, Shelley eloped to Italy with Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin, the future author of Frankenstein. Living in self-imposed exile for the remainder of his life, Shelley produced some of the most poetically, ethically, and ideologically challenging literature written in English. In addition to a close study of Shelley's work, this seminar will examine writings by his intimate contemporary interlocutors—Mary Wollstonecraft, William Godwin, Leigh Hunt, Thomas Love Peacock, and Mary Shelley—as well as his influence on later writers and activists such as George Bernard Shaw, Mohandas Gandhi, and Martin Luther King Jr. As a Junior Seminar, this course emphasizes research methods, writing, and revision. All are welcome, but priority will be given to students who have moderated into the Literature Program or another program in the Division of Languages & Literature.