Queen Mab (poem)
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Queen Mab is the title of the first large poetic work written by Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792-1822), the famous English Romantic poet. It was written early in his career and serves as a foundation to his theory of revolution. In this work, he depicts a two-pronged revolt involving the necessary changes brought on by both nature and the virtuousness of humans.
Shelley took William Godwin's idea of 'necessity' and combined it with his own idea of ever-changing nature, to establish the theory that contemporary evils in society would dissolve naturally in time. This was to be coupled with the creation of a virtuous mentality in people who could envision the ideal goal of a perfect society. The ideal was to be reached incrementally, because Shelley (as a result of Napoleon's actions in French Revolution), believed that the perfect society could not be obtained immediately through violent revolution. Instead it was to be achieved through nature's evolution and the ever-greater numbers of people becoming virtuous and imagining a better society.
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