The Persistence of Sorrow: Melancholy in the Poetry of Keats and Shelley

The purpose of this thesis is to explore how melancholy and solitude are represented in English Romantic poetry, with a particular emphasis on the representations of these concepts in the works of John Keats and Percy Bysshe Shelley. The research explore how each of the two poets portray these concepts by highlighting similarities and differences in their representations, while still being associated in the same literary movement and time. The thesis is divided into three chapters. The first provides background information about English Romanticism, with particular emphasis on the importance of interiority, emotionality, and individuality in poetry. The second and third chapters are complementary: in the second, in fact, I delve into the topics of melancholy and analyse its aesthetic, philosophical and spiritual value in Keats’s works. The third chapter is more focused on solitude, with some touches of melancholy, with special emphasis placed on moments of self-reflection in relation to nature and ideals in Shelley’s works. The comparative analysis highlights how, while Keats describes melancholy and solitude as internal, contemplative experiences, he portrays them as enormous, universal forces driving towards universal ideals. The conclusion emphasizes the relevance of the themes of melancholy and solitude to the present world.