Shelley and Vitality

by Ruston, Sharon

• ISBN13: 9781137011121
• ISBN10: 1137011122
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2012-08-21
• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan

Summary

Shelley and Vitalityreassesses 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.

Author Biography

Sharon Ruston is Professor in Nineteenth-century Literature and Culture at the University of Salford, UK. She was the Vice-President of BARS between 2007-2009 and is an editorial board member of the Journal of Literature and Science. Her publication include Shelley and Vitality (Palgrave, 2005), Romanticism (2007), 'Literature and Science' for Essays and Studies (edited 2008), and Teaching Romanticism (co-edited with David Higgins, Palgrave, 2010).

Table of Contents

"A fascinating and accomplished study, throwing new light on Shelley and the Vitality debate of which he was part. Deeply scholarly, and making persuasive use of manuscript sources, it proves links and influences that were not fully appreciated hitherto - and it does so in a consistently readable narrative, whose style is engaging, to-the-point and clear. Shelley's intellectual interests and scientific knowledge come into new focus as a result of Ruston's study, as do the medical discourses and philosophical debates of early nineteenth-century London." - Professor Tim Fulford, Department of English and Media Studies, Nottingham Trent University, UK "[A]n interesting and suggestive study which should continue to galvanize our sense of the range, relevance, and maturity of Shelly's work." - Modern Language Review"Ruston's literary analyses are engaging and interesting and offer new insights into Shelley's politics, his writing, and the inextricable relationship between the two." - Sharrona Pearl, Isis "Sharon Ruston's book is excellent. . . Ruston's summary of the Lawrence/Abernethy rift is detailed, scholarly and impressively clear: this section of the book can stand alone as a good introduction to that chapter in the history of medical science and culture." - Clark Lawlor, The Keats-Shelley Review