After reading Shelley’s The Mask of Anarchy and digesting its beautifully rich language and vivid prophecy of a liberated England, I was struck by what is perhaps an obvious question: why was Shelley not killed, or at the very least exiled for his heretical and rebellious views. While it’s true that The Mask of Anarchy itself was not published until ten years after Shelley’s death, surely he was publishing countless other works that objected to the politics and religious movements of his time.
Perhaps Shelley actually wanted to be exiled (we speculated on this subject in our discussion of Shelley’s wealthy upbringing and incongruent self-portrayal), but comparing the Foreign Secretary, Lord Chancellor, and Home Secretary, to “murder” (5), “fraud” (14), and “hypocrisy” (24) hardly seems like a subtle criticism of the reigning figures of his time. Indeed, the entire poem remains unusually literal in its attacks and disapproval of the Massacre (though of course it is also riddled with a multitude of poignant naturalistic metaphors). Shelley paints a gruesome scene of the massacre as the “Anarchy the Skeleton” (74), rides over the fields to London with his intoxicated troop behind, both “trampling to a mire of blood” (40). His language is dark and austere in his descriptions of these forces. Conversely he paints Hope, “that maiden most serene” in the most and graceful and gorgeous light. His use of natural metaphors is exemplified extremely well in these descriptions, and as we discussed in class, Shelley names Hope’s powers as a way of summoning her: “And those plumes its light rained through, Like a shower of crimson dew.” (116,117). “As Flowers beneath May’s footstep waken/ As stars from Night’s loose hair are shaken/ As waves arise when loud winds call/ Thoughts sprung where’er that step did fall” (122-125). Her placidity is breathtaking and Shelley’s use of language becomes even more pronounced when these lines are recited aloud.
Again, Shelley’s language flips back to a stark and frightful tone as he explores the abuses of the state. Comparing the working class to exploited animals and the rich as tyrants; Shelley’s language itself becomes slowed and dreary as the poem builds towards the end: “Slash and stab and maim and hew,-/ What they like, that let them do.”(346,347) The repetition is almost painful. Yet still, he insists that we endure, and we stand with our arms crossed and our eyes steady.
The message here is beautiful: despite the endless abuses that the people have endured, Shelley maintains that non-violence is the only path to success, and when success is finally achieved, the oppressors will feel nothing but shame at what they have done. While Shelley’s imagery was inescapably beautiful in this piece, it was his message of peace that I found most compelling and made me the most excited to read more of his work.
Despite the inevitable persecution that Shelley would surely have received if this piece had been published; he chose to write it anyway. Perhaps he was only a lofty romantic, unaware of how dangerous such a move could be, but to me, The Mask of Anarchy is a piece of incredible courage, that exemplifies Shelley’s strength of character as well as his incredible gift for romantic poetry. I’m looking forward to seeing if he is as outspoken in his other works that engage the politics of his time.
Image taken from: http://es.paperblog.com/paul-delaroche-pinturas-325252/ This picture was used to represent an "authoritarian Church figure". While Shelley was less explicit in his criticism of the Chruch in The Mask of Anarchy, he groups God into the "Skeleton of Anarchy" along with "King and Law" on line 37, which surely would have been an incredibly dangerous move at the time.
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