''A Vindication of Natural Diet'' is an 1813 book by

Percy Bysshe Shelley Percy Bysshe Shelley ( ; 4 August 17928 July 1822) was one of the major English Romantic poets. A radical in his poetry as well as in his political and social views, Shelley did not achieve fame during his lifetime, but recognition of his achie ...

vegetarianism Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the consumption of meat (red meat, poultry, seafood, insects, and the flesh of any other animal). It may also include abstaining from eating all by-products of animal slaughter. Vegetarianism may ...

and

animal rights Animal rights is the philosophy according to which many or all sentient animals have moral worth that is independent of their utility for humans, and that their most basic interests—such as avoiding suffering—should be afforded the sa ...

. It was first written as part of the notes to ''

Queen Mab Queen Mab is a fairy referred to in William Shakespeare's play ''Romeo and Juliet'', where "she is the fairies' midwife". Later, she appears in other poetry and literature, and in various guises in drama and cinema. In the play, her activity i ...

'', which was privately printed in 1813. Later in the same year the essay was separately published as a pamphlet.

Background

Shelley wrote four essays on the subject of vegetarianism, "A Vindication of Natural Diet" (1813), the note in ''

'', in a section of "A Refutation of Deism" (1814), and "On the Vegetable System of Diet", which was published posthumously in 1929. Shelley first experimented with a vegetarian diet while at the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

according to

Thomas Jefferson Hogg Thomas Jefferson Hogg (24 May 1792 – 27 August 1862) was a British barrister and writer best known for his friendship with the Romantic poetry, Romantic poet Percy Bysshe Shelley. Hogg was raised in County Durham, but spent most of hi ...

. Shelley began a vegetarian diet on 1 March 1812 along with his first wife Harriet Westbrook. Shelley began composing the essay in October–November 1812. Shelley met John Frank Newton during 1812-1813 and influenced his views on vegetarianism. Historian Keith Thomas has noted that Newton's ''Return to Nature'' "provided much of the basis" for Shelley's ''A Vindication of Natural Diet''. The work has been republished since 1813, beginning with an abridged version which was published in Boston by March, Capen, and Lyon in an American collection ''Vegetable Diet: As Sanctioned by Medical Men, and by Experience in All Ages'', edited by William A. Alcott. The essay was reprinted in 1884 in a new edition in London by F. Pitman and by John Heywood and the Vegetarian Society in Manchester. The original title page was reproduced: ''A Vindication of Natural Diet. Being One in a Series of Notes to Queen Mab (A Philosophical Poem).'' London: Printed for J. Callow by Smith & Davy, 1813. The new edition featured a preface by

Henry Stephens Salt Henry Shakespear Stephens Salt (; 20 September 1851 – 19 April 1939) was an English writer and campaigner for social reform in the fields of prisons, schools, economic institutions, and the treatment of animals. He was a noted ethical vegeta ...

and

William Axon William Edward Armytage Axon (13 January 1846 – 27 December 1913) was an English librarian, antiquary and journalist for the ''Manchester Guardian''. He contributed to the ''Dictionary of National Biography'' under his initials W. E. A. A. H ...

. A second edition appeared in 1886. In 1904, the work was republished in London by C. W. Daniel as ''A Vindication of Natural Diet and Extracts from the Works of Dr. Lambe'', edited and annotated by F. E. Worland.

Vegetarianism

Shelley wrote in ''A Vindication of Natural Diet'': "It is only by softening and disguising dead flesh by culinary preparation that it is rendered susceptible of mastication or digestion, and that the sight of its bloody juices and raw horror does not excite intolerable loathing and disgust."Shelley, Percy Bysshe, "A Vindication of Natural Diet;" London: Smith & Davy. 1813, pp. 1–36. Shelley used the imagery of slaughtering a lamb. In '' Queen Mab: A Philosophical Poem'' (1813) he wrote about the change to a vegetarian diet using the lamb imagery: "And man ... no longer now/ He slays the lamb that looks him in the face,/ And horribly devours his mangled flesh." In the novel ''

Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus ''Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus'' is an 1818 novel written by English author Mary Shelley. ''Frankenstein'' tells the story of Victor Frankenstein, a young scientist who creates a sapient creature in an unorthodox scientific exp ...

'' (1818), written by Shelley's wife Mary,

Frankenstein's monster Frankenstein's monster or Frankenstein's creature, often referred to as simply "Frankenstein", is a fictional character who first appeared in Mary Shelley's 1818 novel ''Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus''. Shelley's title thus compares ...

is portrayed as a vegetarian. The lamb imagery is retained. The Monster explained his vegetarian diet to

Victor Frankenstein Victor Frankenstein is a fictional character and the main protagonist and title character in Mary Shelley's 1818 novel, ''Frankenstein, Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus''.. He is an Italians, Italian-Swiss scientist (born in Naples, Italy ...

: "My food is not that of man. I do not destroy the lamb and the kid to glut my appetite; acorns and berries afford me sufficient nourishment." In "The Sensitive Plant" he argued that all life forms, including "all killing insects and gnawing worms,/ And things of obscene and unlovely forms", have a natural role to play in the ecosystem which requires understanding rather than destruction, because what they do "although they did ill, was innocent". In ''Laon and Cythna'', republished as ''

The Revolt of Islam ''The Revolt of Islam'' (1818) is a poem in twelve cantos composed by Percy Bysshe Shelley in 1817. The poem was originally published under the title ''Laon and Cythna; or, The Revolution of the Golden City: A Vision of the Nineteenth Century'' ...

'' (1817), Fifth Canto, the Festival of nations held after the Revolution is a banquet where no meat is served. The feast is vegetarian: "Never again may blood of bird or beast/ Stain with its venomous stream a human feast". This is "The banquet of the free" where the guests are described as "reclining as they ate, of Liberty,/ And Hope, and Justice". The festival was not polluted by gore, "But piled on high, an overflowing store/ Of pomegranates, and citrons, fairest fruit,/ Melons, and dates, and figs, and many a root". Shelley argued that eating meat was unnatural. He maintained that diseases and immorality arose from mankind's "unnatural habits of life". A meatless diet was the best regimen for maintaining a healthy and disease-free lifestyle. He wrote that human diseases could be decreased by a return to a natural vegetable diet.Spencer, Colin, ''The Heretic's Feast: A History of Vegetarianism;'' Great Britain: Hartnolls Ltd, Bodmin. 1993, pp. 244–45. Shelley argued that eating meat was a practice that polluted the body with syphilis and resulted in other ailments. In ''A Vindication of Natural Diet'' he wrote, "Should ever a physician be born with the genius of Locke, I am persuaded that he might trace all bodily and mental derangements to our unnatural habits,"Shelley, Percy Bysshe, "A Vindication of Natural Diet"; London: Smith & Davy. 1813, p. 16. these unnatural habits being the consumption of meat. He cited the

allegory As a literary device or artistic form, an allegory is a narrative or visual representation in which a character, place, or event can be interpreted to represent a hidden meaning with moral or political significance. Authors have used allegory th ...

Prometheus In Greek mythology, Prometheus (; , , possibly meaning "forethought")Smith"Prometheus". is a Titan god of fire. Prometheus is best known for defying the gods by stealing fire from them and giving it to humanity in the form of technology, know ...

who stole fire from the gods which enabled mankind to cook meat, thereby screening the disgust and horror of dead flesh. Shelley also compared a meat diet to alcoholism, inquiring, "How many thousands have become murderers and robbers, bigots and domestic tyrants, dissolute and abandoned adventurers, from the use of fermented liquors?" Shelley used comparative anatomy to show that the human digestive system resembles that of

frugivorous A frugivore is an animal that thrives mostly on raw fruits or succulent fruit-like produce of plants such as roots, shoots, nuts and seeds. Approximately 20% of mammalian herbivores eat fruit. Frugivores are highly dependent on the abundance and ...

or plant-eating animals. He concluded that a person with compassion and empathy for animals, "rising from a meal of roots", would be able to maintain a healthy and balanced diet and lifestyle. Shelley presented examples of how a vegetarian diet resulted in longevity and an increased lifespan. The only threat of death will be that of natural, old age. The two rules he prescribes for a natural diet are to never eat anything that was alive and to drink only distilled water.

References

Sources

* Spencer, Colin. ''The Heretic's Feast: A History of Vegetarianism''. Great Britain: Hartnolls Ltd, Bodmin. 1993, pp 244–45. * Morton, Timothy, "Joseph Ritson, Percy Shelley and the Making of Romantic Vegetarianism." ''Romanticism'', Vol. 12, Issue 1, 2006. pp. 52–61. * Morton, Timothy. ''Shelley and the Revolution in Taste: The Body and the Natural World''. Cambridge University Press, 1994. * Shelley, Percy Bysshe, "A Vindication of Natural Diet;" London: Smith & Davy. 1813, pp. 1–36. * Preece, Rod. ''Sins of the Flesh: A History of Ethical Vegetarian Thought''. Vancouver, BC, Canada: University of British Columbia Press, 2008. *Chapin, Lisbeth. "Science and Spirit: Shelley's Vegetarian Essays and the Body as Utopian State." ''A Brighter Morn: The Shelley Circle's Utopian Project.'' Edited by Darby Lewes. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 2003.

External links

Online version.Audio recording by Amy Gramour on LibriVox.1884 reprint edition. archive.org.''Shelley's Vegetarianism'' by William E. A. Axon, 1891.Original 1813 title page. ''A Shelley Library''.Re-Imagining the Body: Shelley and the Languages of Diet by Tim Morton.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vindication of Natural Diet, A 1813 non-fiction books 1813 essays Books about animal rights Books about vegetarianism English non-fiction books Ethical theories Philosophy books Vegetarian-related mass media Works by Percy Bysshe Shelley Pamphlets