Blasphemy and the Shelley Canon: Queen Mab and Laon and Cythna

Abstract

This chapter attests to the role played by blasphemy in shaping the readership and nature of the ‘Shelley canon’. That the blasphemy of Queen Mab cost the poem its copyright protection meant that it was frequently pirated, becoming Shelley’s most widely read work. This chapter argues that this impacted Shelley’s late and posthumous reputation, with Queen Mab’s illegitimate dissemination influencing the publication of more ‘official’ editions of his works. Attention is paid to the redactions of pirated editions of Queen Mab, revealing the perceived religious sensibilities of nineteenth-century readers. The chapter ends with a similar discussion of the revisions made to Laon and Cythna as it became The Revolt of Islam. These are deemed, though, to not only be simple acts of self-censorship but as signalling a change in Shelley’s poetic approach.