''Red Shelley'' is a 1981 work of literary criticism by Paul Foot. In it, the author draws attention to the radical political stance of the Romantic poet Percy Bysshe Shelley, as revealed in poems such as "

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 ...

" and "

The Masque of Anarchy ''The Masque of Anarchy'' (or ''The Mask of Anarchy'') is a British political poem written in 1819 (see 1819 in poetry) by Percy Bysshe Shelley following the Peterloo Massacre of that year. In his call for freedom, it is perhaps the first mod ...

". Foot describes how Shelley, while living in Italy, heard the news of the

Peterloo Massacre The Peterloo Massacre took place at St Peter's Field, Manchester, Lancashire, England, on Monday 16 August 1819. Fifteen people died when cavalry charged into a crowd of around 60,000 people who had gathered to demand the reform of parliament ...

of 1819. Like Shelley, Foot was an alumnus of

University College, Oxford University College (in full The College of the Great Hall of the University of Oxford, colloquially referred to as "Univ") is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. It has a claim to being the oldest college of the unive ...

(from which Shelley was expelled for expressing atheist views), and held the poet to be his inspiration in embracing socialism. "The Masque of Anarchy", Foot's favourite poem, was given to his sons to learn off by heart, and a live performance by

Maxine Peake Maxine Peake (born 14 July 1974) is an English actress and narrator. She is known for her roles as Twinkle in the BBC One sitcom '' dinnerladies'' (1998–2000), Veronica Ball in the hit Channel 4 comedy drama '' Shameless'' (2004–2007), Mart ...

at the 2013 Manchester International Festival, to commemorate the anniversary of Peterloo was the basis of a BBC ''

Culture Show Culture () is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, and habits of the individuals in these groups.Tylo ...

'' documentary which referenced Foot's work. Communist thinkers such as

Karl Marx Karl Heinrich Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, economist, historian, sociologist, political theorist, journalist, critic of political economy, and socialist revolutionary. His best-known titles are the 1848 ...

are known to have found inspiration in Shelley's work. However, critics such as

Christopher Hitchens Christopher Eric Hitchens (13 April 1949 – 15 December 2011) was a British-American author and journalist who wrote or edited over 30 books (including five essay collections) on culture, politics, and literature. Born and educated in England, ...

have shed doubt on Foot's interpretation of Shelley's poetry, which "if ne doesn'tchance to know its context may be as readily pressed into service by any movement".Christopher Hitchens, "An Introduction to the Poetry of Percy Bysshe Shelley", ''The Guardian'', 28 January 2010
Accessed 31 July 2013

References

{{reflist 1981 non-fiction books Books about Percy Bysshe Shelley British non-fiction books