More Shopping OptionsShelley 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 major canonical works are reconsidered to address Shelley's politicized understanding of contemporary scientific discourse.
Sharon Ruston is Lecturer in English Literature to the University of Wales, Bangor.
Acknowledgements * List of Abbreviations * Introduction: A New Dawn * The Vitality Debate, 1814-1819 * Shelley's Knowledge of the 'Science of Life' * The Political Body: Prometheus Unbound * 'The painted veil': Defining Life * 'The Poetry of Life' * Conclusion * Notes * Works Cited * Index
