This anthology brings together contemporary responses to P. B. Shelley whose critical fortunes have been on the upswing in recent times and whose birth bicentenary was celebrated in 1992. It consists of essays, commissioned or published mostly in the 1980s and after, which exemplify a variety of critical approaches including feminism, phenomenology, hermeneutics and stylistics, as well as comparative, futuristic and inter-textual analyses. They offer fresh evaluations of the major aspects of Shelley -- the visionary, the sceptic, the lyricist, the futurist, the ardent supporter of androgyny and free love, and of course the craftsman.

The book carries, in equal measure, close studies of the individual texts representing Shelley’s major poetry, prose, and drama. Among the works that receive detailed attention are Alastor, The Revolt of Islam, Prometheus Unbound, Adonais, Ode to the West Wind and Shelley’s only tragedy The Cenci. The editor’s essay provides a valuable update of Shelley criticism, and charts out the direction in which this criticism has been moving. The wide range of material made available in this volume, it is hoped, shall stimulate and benefit both the Shelley scholar and the students of colleges and universities.

N. P. Singh, Reader in English at Rajdhani College of the University of Delhi holds a Ph.D degree for his research on Shelley’s prose. He has taught English, American and Commonwealth literatures at several universities in India and abroad for over three decades.

Author of a number of research articles, Dr. Singh has extensively published both as poet and a translator. His anthology of poems Three Years in Addis Ababa appeared in the year 1990. He has recently been honoured with the ‘Editor’s Choice Award’ (1993) for ‘outstanding achievement in poetry’ presented by the National Library of Poetry, Maryland, USA. Dr. Singh’s current interests include the fiction of Joyce Carol Oates and feminism.