Percy Bysshe Shelley
The Life of Percy Bysshe Shelley
Percy Bysshe Shelley was born August 4, 1792 in Sussex, England. He was the oldest of seven children; he had five sisters and a brother. He was from a well-to-do family, and stood as first in line of his siblings to inherit a large sum from his grandfather as well as a seat in Parliament. He attended Oxford University for many years and wrote many stories and had them published. It was one certain pamphlet that he wrote that got him expelled from the school, and it was called “The Necessity of Atheism.” This pamphlet not only lost him enrollment at Oxford, but lost him the favor of his father as well. He disowned Shelley at the age of 16 years old and left him to fend for himself.
He married Harriet Westbrook in 1811, and left her after three years because their marriage “did not keep him happy.” He left home often to study Italian, and on one of these outings he fell in love with Mary Wollstonecraft. The two eloped in 1814, Shelley left his wife at home, to live on the Scottish countryside. They lived there until they ran out of money, and returned home in 1815. It was in 1816 when Harriet drowned herself, and Shelley married Mary less than three weeks after.
Percy Bysshe Shelley died on July 8, 1822 while travelling to Italy on his schooner, The Don Juan.
He married Harriet Westbrook in 1811, and left her after three years because their marriage “did not keep him happy.” He left home often to study Italian, and on one of these outings he fell in love with Mary Wollstonecraft. The two eloped in 1814, Shelley left his wife at home, to live on the Scottish countryside. They lived there until they ran out of money, and returned home in 1815. It was in 1816 when Harriet drowned herself, and Shelley married Mary less than three weeks after.
Percy Bysshe Shelley died on July 8, 1822 while travelling to Italy on his schooner, The Don Juan.
