Percy Bysshe Shelley (Picture: National Portrait Gallery London)
Percy Bysshe Shelley is a revered Romantic poet. But he was once considered a dangerous subversive.
Critics have celebrated Shelley’s literary brilliance while scorning the radical politics which shaped his poetic vision. A new play by Richard Bradbury reverses this approach.
Richard foregrounds Shelley the political dissident. His play invites us to compare the state’s surveillance of Shelley with the surveillance of radicals today.
Regarding Shelley is based on historical events. Shelley and Harriet Westbrook fled to Ireland in 1812. The young couple had supported a failed attempt at insurrection and a campaign for Irish emancipation—they had become enemies of the British state.
The Shelleys planned to campaign for Irish independence. They were armed with pamphlets, ideals and a pretty rudimentary grasp of Irish politics.
The Shelley’s six-week stay in Dublin is overlooked by most of his biographers. But Shelley’s experiences in Ireland, and his support for Irish independence, shaped his life. He believed Ireland could be “an arena for the operations of reason and virtue”.
Shelley wrote and distributed a pamphlet, An Address to the Irish People. It advocated Catholic emancipation, non-violent resistance, and unity between Protestants and Catholics. He failed to make much impact on Irish politics, but Irish politics certainly impacted on him.
In Dublin Shelley explored the themes of liberty and justice, and resistance to tyranny animated his poetry for the rest of his life.
The Shelleys were persecuted by the home secretary, Viscount Sidmouth, and his network of spies. After their trip to Ireland, they attempted to build a new life in Devon. But, as the play shows, they could not escape from state surveillance.
Shelley exacted his revenge on Sidmouth a few years later in his blistering satirical poem, The Mask of Anarchy:
“Clothed with the Bible, as with light,
And the shadows of the night,
Like Sidmouth, next, Hypocrisy
On a crocodile rode by.”
Regarding Shelley blends historical drama with contemporary political concerns. The show explores the impact of political surveillance on relationships.
It centres a young couple trying to deal with the stress of life under state scrutiny, a couple feeling constantly hunted, constantly vulnerable to persecution. But they find the strength to persist with their radical activism.
Regarding Shelley, written by Richard Bradbury and directed by Jack Herlihy. It runs at Upstairs at the Gatehouse, Highgate, London N6 4BD from May 20–25. Get your ticket
