shelley

English - English

Definition of shelley in English English dictionary

A male given name, transferred use of the surname, mostly before 1930

A habitational surname

A female given name used since the 1930s, also explained as a variant of Shirley or Michelle

Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792-1822), a Romantic poet

British romantic poet whose works include "To a Skylark" (1820), the lyric drama Prometheus Unbound (1820), and "Adonais" (1821), an elegy to John Keats

used since the 1930s, also explained as a variant of Shirley or Michelle

{i} family name; Mary Shelley (1797-1851), English writer, author of the classic gothic tale "Frankenstein"; Percy Shelley (1792-1822), English poet, husband of novelist Mary Shelley

transferred use of the surname, mostly before 1930

Englishman and Romantic poet (1792-1822) English writer who created Frankenstein's monster and married Percy Bysshe Shelley (1797-1851)

cowardly

Related Terms

Mary Shelley

{i} Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley (1797-1851), English writer, author of the classic gothic tale "Frankenstein" and wife of Percy Bysshe Shelley

Mary W. Shelley

{i} (1797-1851) English writer, author of the classic gothic tale "Frankenstein" and wife of Percy Bysshe Shelley

Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley

{i} (1797-1851) English writer, author of the classic gothic tale "Frankenstein" and wife of Percy Bysshe Shelley

Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley

a British writer, whose best-known novel is Frankenstein. She was married to Percy Bysshe Shelley, and was the daughter of the feminist writer Mary Wollstonecraft (1797-1851). orig. Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin born Aug. 30, 1797, London, Eng. died Feb. 1, 1851, London English Romantic novelist. The only daughter of William Godwin and Mary Wollstonecraft, she met and eloped with Percy B. Shelley in 1814. They married in 1816 after his first wife committed suicide. Mary Shelley's best-known work is Frankenstein (1818), a narrative of the dreadful consequences of a scientist's artificially creating a human being. After her husband's death in 1822, she devoted herself to publicizing his writings and educating their son. Of her several other novels, the best, The Last Man (1826), is an account of the future destruction of the human race by a plague

Percy Bysshe Shelley

{i} Percy Shelley (1792-1822), English poet and husband of novelist Mary Shelley

Percy Bysshe Shelley

a British poet of the Romantic Movement, who disliked religion and believed strongly in political freedom. His most famous works were written after 1818 when he went to live in Italy with his wife Mary Shelley, and they include Adonais, written in memory of the poet John Keats, Prometheus Unbound, and To a Skylark (1792-1822). born Aug. 4, 1792, Field Place, near Horsham, Sussex, Eng. died July 8, 1822, at sea off Livorno, Tuscany English Romantic poet. The heir to rich estates, Shelley was a rebellious youth who was expelled from Oxford in 1811 for refusing to admit authorship of The Necessity of Atheism. Later that year he eloped with Harriet Westbrook, the daughter of a tavern owner. He gradually channeled his passionate pursuit of personal love and social justice into poetry. His first major poem, Queen Mab (1813), is a utopian political epic revealing his progressive social ideals. In 1814 he eloped to France with Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin (see Mary Shelley); in 1816, after Harriet drowned herself, they were married. In 1818 the Shelleys moved to Italy. Away from British politics, he became less intent on social reform and more devoted to expressing his ideals in poetry. He composed the verse tragedy The Cenci (1819) and his masterpiece, the lyric drama Prometheus Unbound (1820), which was published with some of his finest shorter poems, including "Ode to the West Wind" and "To a Skylark." Epipsychidion (1821) is a Dantean fable about the relationship of sexual desire to spiritual love and artistic creation. Adonais (1821) commemorates the death of John Keats. Shelley drowned at age 29 while sailing in a storm off the Italian coast, leaving unfinished his last and possibly greatest visionary poem, The Triumph of Life

Percy Shelley

{i} Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792-1822), English poet and husband of novelist Mary Shelley

Hyphenation

Shel·ley

Turkish pronunciation

şeli

Pronunciation

/ˈsʜelē/ /ˈʃɛliː/

Etymology

() From Old English, meaning "clearing on a bank".