ABSTRACT
Percy Shelley’s image of the poet is approached through the perspective of interdisciplinary works on narrative and identity construction. More specifically, Shelley’s Alastor is investigated through the lens of eudaimonic identity theory in connection with narrative as an attempt to answer an ontological dilemma. Shelley’s Adonais, An Elegy on the Death of John Keats is examined through the concept of narrative turning points operating at the intersection between the artistic work and real life. Shelley’s view of artistic identity is demonstrated to have strong parallels to Kant’s aesthetic theory, reconciling artistic self-autonomy with Shelley’s belief in the political role of poetry. In the last section, this chapter demonstrates how Shelley shapes his self-definition as a poet against Wordsworth and Byron through two dedicatory sonnets.
