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Chapter 4 - Switzerland

from Part I - Life and Death

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 April 2025

Ross Wilson
Affiliation:
University of Cambridge
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Summary

Even though Shelley’s time in Switzerland in 1814 and 1816 adds up to just four months, during which he wrote surprisingly little, the alpine nation played an outsized role in his cultural canonisation. This article bases itself on a variety of published and manuscript texts by members of the Shelley circle and their contemporaries in order to review both tours, arguing that the poet was eager to find in Switzerland the living signs of a republican paradise and to view that country as romance rather than reality. The Alps provided the poet with powerful images of the natural sublime, which he associated with intellectual beauty and revolutionary necessity. On the other hand, despite his deepened appreciation of Swiss philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau, the poet remained far more sceptical of Switzerland’s mythic liberty and virtue.

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Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2025

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  • Switzerland
  • Edited by Ross Wilson, University of Cambridge
  • Book: Percy Shelley in Context
  • Online publication: 17 April 2025
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009223690.006
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  • Switzerland
  • Edited by Ross Wilson, University of Cambridge
  • Book: Percy Shelley in Context
  • Online publication: 17 April 2025
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009223690.006
Available formats
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Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Switzerland
  • Edited by Ross Wilson, University of Cambridge
  • Book: Percy Shelley in Context
  • Online publication: 17 April 2025
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009223690.006
Available formats
×