Zastrozzi, A Romance
Written by Percy Bysshe Shelley
Narrated by LibriVox Community
()
About this audiobook
“Would Julia of Strobazzo’s heart was reeking on my dagger!”
From the asthmatic urgency of its opening abduction scene to the Satanic defiance of the villain’s departure “with a wild convulsive laugh of exulting revenge”, this first of Shelley’s Gothic novelettes recycles much sensational boyhood reading and also points to some of his more mature concerns.
It is the ego-driven pursuit of passionate extremes, revenge included, which consigns figures like Zastrozzi and the murderous Matilda to an isolation which is socially destructive as well as self-annihilating. The story of their downfall is related in a relentlessly hysterical style – possibly more easily enjoyed when read aloud! (Summary by Martin Geeson)
Percy Bysshe Shelley
Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792-1822) was an English Romantic poet. Born into a prominent political family, Shelley enjoyed a quiet and happy childhood in West Sussex, developing a passion for nature and literature at a young age. He struggled in school, however, and was known by his colleagues at Eton College and University College, Oxford as an outsider and eccentric who spent more time acquainting himself with radical politics and the occult than with the requirements of academia. During his time at Oxford, he began his literary career in earnest, publishing Original Poetry by Victor and Cazire (1810) and St. Irvine; or, The Rosicrucian: A Romance (1811) In 1811, he married Harriet Westbrook, with whom he lived an itinerant lifestyle while pursuing affairs with other women. Through the poet Robert Southey, he fell under the influence of political philosopher William Godwin, whose daughter Mary soon fell in love with the precocious young poet. In the summer of 1814, Shelley eloped to France with Mary and her stepsister Claire Claremont, travelling to Holland, Germany, and Switzerland before returning to England in the fall. Desperately broke, Shelley struggled to provide for Mary through several pregnancies while balancing his financial obligations to Godwin, Harriet, and his own father. In 1816, Percy and Mary accepted an invitation to join Claremont and Lord Byron in Europe, spending a summer in Switzerland at a house on Lake Geneva. In 1818, following several years of unhappy life in England, the Shelleys—now married—moved to Italy, where Percy worked on The Masque of Anarchy (1819), Prometheus Unbound (1820), and Adonais (1821), now considered some of his most important works. In July of 1822, Shelley set sail on the Don Juan and was lost in a storm only hours later. His death at the age of 29 was met with despair and contempt throughout England and Europe, and he is now considered a leading poet and radical thinker of the Romantic era.
More audiobooks from Percy Bysshe Shelley
The Poetry of Birds Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Poetry of Wind and Rain: Poets wax lyrical on the elements of showers to storms Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Percy Bysshe Shelley Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Poetry of Percy Bysshe Shelley Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Fifty Shades of January: 50 of the best poems about the month of January Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Ultimate Poetry Collection: Poetry of War, Romantic Poetry, Victorian Poetry Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5
Related to Zastrozzi, A Romance
Related audiobooks
Farewell Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Sentimental Journey Through France and Italy Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWiddershins Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsNightmare Abbey: Unabridged Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Iphigenia in Tauris (Murray Translation) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHaunted Voices: An Anthology of Gothic Storytelling from Scotland Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Birthplace Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBeauties of Tennyson Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMetzengerstein Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Lines Written From Home Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSappho: One Hundred Lyrics Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMoving the Mountain Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPast Days Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLet Me Explain You Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Goblin Market and Other Poems Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Classic Short Stories - Volume 4: Hear Literature Come Alive In An Hour With These Classic Short Story Collections Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPorcelain and Pink Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsNarrative of a Ghost of a Hand Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Room in the Dragon Volant Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Premature Burial Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Fairy Tales Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsInto Captivity They Will Go Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Balloon Hoax Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Wylder's Hand Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Arthur Mervyn Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsGone to Earth Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHansel & Gretel and Other Stories Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHop-Frog Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Star-Treader and Other Poems Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTiger Tales Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5
Horror Fiction For You
It Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Reformatory: A Novel Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Mr. Mercedes: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Later Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dark Tower I: The Gunslinger Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Holly Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Institute: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Dead Zone Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Pet Sematary Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Outsider: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Hidden Pictures: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Silence of the Lambs: 25th Anniversary Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Doctor Sleep: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Misery Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Troop Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Frankenstein Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Different Seasons Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Cabin at the End of the World: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5FantasticLand: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Legend of Sleepy Hollow: Classic Tales Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5If It Bleeds Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Lamb Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Last House on Needless Street Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Ghost Story Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Green Mile Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Watchers Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Bird Box: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5House 23: A Thriller Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Our Hideous Progeny: A Novel Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Coraline Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Related categories
Reviews for Zastrozzi, A Romance
0 ratings0 reviews