Overcoming tyranny: love, truth and meaning in Shelley's "Prometheus Unbound"

Abstract

Shelley's Prometheus Unbound is a rewriting of Aeschylus's Bound Prometheus. As such, it is a work of Romantic Hellenism which, as so many Romantic texts, focuses on the ideas of Revolution and change, as well as the possibility of a better society. Prometheus, in his unenlightened state of primordial energy, provided mankind with the fire of enlightenment but, at the same time, angered Jupiter by his disobedience and the theft of the divine gift. Prometheus's defiant energy is described in terms that are analogous to Jupiter's destructive rage. It is made clear that Promethean society can only prosper if its founder - joined by the love of Asia - overcomes his hatred of Jupiter. Romantic love is seen as the force that can annihilate the despotism of Jupiter and is, therefore, used as a medium of fate and truth which cannot be controlled by anybody. This article, in reading Prometheus Unbound, focuses on the revolutionary and revolutionising quality of love to effect truth.