Shelley and Vitality

Shelley and Vitality reassesses Percy Shelley’s engagement with early nineteenth-century science and medicine, specifically his knowledge and use of theories on the nature of life presented in the debate between surgeons John Abernethy and William Lawrence. Sharon Ruston offers new biographical information to link Shelley to a medical circle and explores the ways in which Shelley exploits the language and ideas of vitality. Major canonical works are reconsidered to address Shelley’s politicised understanding of contemporary scientific discourse.

SHARON RUSTON was appointed as Lecturer in English Literature to the University of Wales, Bangor in 2000. She has previously published articles in the journal Romanticism, and has edited a collection of essays, The Anxiety and Influence of the British Romantics.