Peterloo at 200: The Radical Press, Simultaneous Meetings and The Mask of Anarchy

Abstract

ABSTRACTThis essay assesses the connections between Shelley’s poetry and contemporary political events in the aftermath of the Peterloo Massacre in August 1819. It argues for the connection between Shelley’s vision of a ‘great’ and ‘vast’ assembly in his Mask of Anarchy and contemporary protest at the outrages of Peterloo and agitation for parliamentary reform. In particular, Shelley’s calls for a nation united in protest echoes reformers’ calls for a series of simultaneous meetings, at which crowds gather at the same time to form a vast virtual collective protest. Such connections between the Mask of Anarchy and radical activity at meetings and in the press offer an alternative to recent critical accounts of the poem as attuned only to future audiences.