Long time supporter of the Shelley Memorial Project, John Ivatts has recently turned his attention to the most eminent person to whom Horsham can lay claim, and written this excellent article.
Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792 to 1822) was one of the foremost English Romantic poets and a passionate advocate of radical social and political reform. Living during the turbulent aftermath of the American and French Revolutions, he challenged many of the beliefs and institutions of his age, including monarchy, organised religion, social inequality, and restrictions on political participation. His expulsion from Oxford for publishing The Necessity of Atheism reflected both his intellectual independence and willingness to confront established authority.
Shelley’s poetry was deeply influenced by the reform movements of his time. Works such as The Masque of Anarchy and England in 1819 condemned political repression, particularly following the Peterloo Massacre, and called for justice and democratic change. He also supported causes that later became widely accepted, including wider voting rights, women’s equality, vegetarianism, and freedom of thought.
The essay argues that Shelley was much more than a 'mad' rebel but very much a product of an age marked by war, poverty, social unrest and demands for reform. His personal life was unconventional, yet his ideas reflected broader currents of radical thought. Although his early death deprived Britain of a powerful voice, his poetry and political vision remain an enduring contribution to democratic and humanitarian ideals worldwide.
So, in Percy Bysshe Shelley. A man of his times?, the question mark is all important. Some continue to dismiss him as a dangerous radical who produced what many now find difficult to comprehend poetry. The SMP does not hold this view!
By adding the question mark John invites us all to think again and to consider that Shelley was in fact a product of his time, a period of great turmoil of repression and revolution and argues that it would have been strange for someone so brimming with energy and intellect, not to have challenged the status quo when delivering their extraordinary and inspiring body of work.
John's own journey is also an inspiration to many, having spent a considerable chunk of his childhood growing up in relatively comfortable circumstances in war torn Britain, he then joined the RAF, before going on to study social policy and sociology, ahead of a life time spent in education.
He has written extensively on education and social policy and continues to write to this day. In 2024 he completed, Memories of a wartime childhood - And Some Social Policy Implications with all proceeds going to local foodbanks. He remains an active member of the Sussex branch of the University of the Third Age where he has produced many essays including on the European Union, the vagaries of the poor law and something that continues to exercise him greatly, universal free school meals!
We are delighted that John has taken the time to produce such an interesting and well researched article and we hope you enjoy reading.