Laon and Cythna and The Revolt of Islam: revisions as transition.

Journal article


Whickman, Paul 2018. Laon and Cythna and The Revolt of Islam: revisions as transition. Keats-Shelley Review. https://doi.org/10.1080/09524142.2018.1520461
AuthorsWhickman, Paul
Abstract

The enforced amendments made to Laon and Cythna following its withdrawal from publication in December 1817 are generally regarded as workmanlike and prudent, sacrificing aesthetic merit in the name of compromise and self-censorship. There remain, however, few detailed readings of these modifications that go beyond subjective responses. To this end, this article offers a reading of these revisions arguing that although some are indeed functional alterations, other amendments serve thematic and aesthetic ends. One of Shelley’s most common changes, that of changing the word ‘God’ to ‘Power’, is a case in point. Since a key theme of the poem is of the collusion between political and religious tyranny, Shelley’s alteration of ‘God’ to ‘Power’ makes this connection more explicit. From this, this article concludes that these revisions signal, analogously at the very least, a transitioning point in Shelley’s thought and career. Whereas Queen Mab (1813) refers explicitly to ‘God’, later works such as Prometheus Unbound (1820) settle upon the term ‘Power’. The fact that we see Shelley move from one to the other between Laon and Cythna and The Revolt of Islam is therefore significant.

KeywordsShelley; Censorship; Revision; Blasphemy; Power; God
Year2018
JournalKeats-Shelley Review
PublisherTaylor & Francis
ISSN0952-4142
2042-1362
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)https://doi.org/10.1080/09524142.2018.1520461
Web address (URL)hdl:10545/623054
Output statusPublished
Publication dates16 Oct 2018
Publication process dates
Deposited18 Oct 2018, 13:07
Accepted27 Jun 2018
ContributorsUniversity of Derby
File
License
File Access Level
Open
File
File Access Level
Restricted
Permalink -

https://repository.derby.ac.uk/item/93x6w/laon-and-cythna-and-the-revolt-of-islam-revisions-as-transition

Download files

  • 56
    total views
  • 96
    total downloads
  • 2
    views this month
  • 2
    downloads this month

Export as

Related outputs

Literary influence and legal precedent Censorship in the Court of Chancery, 1710–1823
Whickman, P. 2023. Literary influence and legal precedent Censorship in the Court of Chancery, 1710–1823. in: Steel, J. and Petley, J. (ed.) The Routledge Companion to Freedom of Expression and Censorship London Routledge - Taylor and Francis. pp. 1-10
Blasphemy and politics in romantic literature: Creativity in the writing of Percy Bysshe Shelley
Whickman, Paul 2020. Blasphemy and politics in romantic literature: Creativity in the writing of Percy Bysshe Shelley. Springer International Publishing.
Teaching ‘freedom of speech’ freely
Whickman, Paul 2020. Teaching ‘freedom of speech’ freely. in: The free speech wars Manchester University Press.
Literature 1780–1830: the Romantic Period.
Branagh-Miscampbell, Maxine, Leonardi, Barbara, Whickman, Paul, Ward, Matthew and Halsey, Katie 2018. Literature 1780–1830: the Romantic Period. The Year's Work in English Studies. https://doi.org/10.1093/ywes/may008
Literature 1780–1830: The Romantic Period.
Branagh-miscampbell, Maxine, Leonardi, Barbara, Whickman, Paul, Ward, M. and Miranda, Omar F. 2017. Literature 1780–1830: The Romantic Period. The Year's Work in English Studies. 96 (1), pp. 615-702. https://doi.org/10.1093/ywes/max014
The poet as sage, sage as poet in 1816: Aesthetics and epistemology in Percy Bysshe Shelley’s ‘Hymn to Intellectual Beauty’
Whickman, Paul 2016. The poet as sage, sage as poet in 1816: Aesthetics and epistemology in Percy Bysshe Shelley’s ‘Hymn to Intellectual Beauty’. The Keats-Shelley Review. https://doi.org/10.1080/09524142.2016.1205880