ABSTRACT
Percy Bysshe Shelley’s most thorough discussion of his views on drama occur in A Defence of Poetry where he describes the drama as the highest form of literature, “being that form under which a greater number of modes of expression of poetry are susceptible of being combined than any other.” Given Shelley’s “abhorrence” of overtly “didactic poetry,” there is no doubt that he would have objected to being accused of “panacea-mongering didacticism.” Nevertheless, George Bernard Shaw’s identification of thematic similarities between Wagner’s tetrology of operas and Prometheus Unbound calls attention to parallels in the overall humanistic impulse of both projects as well as the highly operatic nature of Shelley’s “lyrical drama.” The elements of dance in act IV of Prometheus Unbound, though evidence for Shelley’s exposure to the ballet, are implied from the text, and are dependent on music for their context and definition.
