Transformation in Percy Bysshe Shelley’s Adonais

Ruston, Sharon (2026) Transformation in Percy Bysshe Shelley’s Adonais. Essays in Romanticism, 33 (1). pp. 3-22. ISSN 2049-6699

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Abstract

This essay examines how Percy Bysshe Shelley’s Adonais reflects the concept of transformation in contemporary scientific, philosophical, and political ideas. It argues that Shelley’s elegy explores notions of change and continuity, drawing on Romantic chemistry and material science (particularly the work of Humphry Davy) to depict the mutability of matter and the cycles of life, death, and rebirth. The poem’s structure and metaphors of consumption and assimilation mirror processes of material transformation, emphasising how artistic and political legacy continues beyond physical decay. Placing Adonais within a broader philosophical discourse on identity and the self, the essay also explores how Shelley anticipates modern new materialist theories that emphasize matter’s vibrant, dynamic nature. Ultimately, Shelley’s vision of transformation becomes both chemical and political, suggesting that dissolution gives way to renewal, and that poetry itself embodies an enduring vitality through its constant reconfiguration of form, meaning, and influence.