Self-exile in Italy
Shelley's atheism, political views, and defiance of social conventions provoked a backlash. After a life also marked by family crises and ill health, he went into permanent self-exile in Italy in 1818.
Literature
Percy Bysshe Shelley
A major English Romantic poet known for works such as "Ozymandias," "Ode to the West Wind," and "Prometheus Unbound," as well as his radical political and social views.
Percy Bysshe Shelley was an English writer and a major figure in Romantic poetry. He received little recognition during his lifetime, but later influenced poets including Robert Browning, Thomas Hardy, and W. B. Yeats. Shelley went into permanent self-exile in Italy in 1818 and died in a boating accident four years later, aged 29. He was among the Romantic-era literary visitors who stayed at Villa Pliniana in Como.
Worth knowing
Poetry and verse drama
Shelley's best-known poems include "Ozymandias," "Ode to the West Wind," and "To a Skylark." His longer works include "The Mask of Anarchy" and "Adonais," while his verse dramas include "Prometheus Unbound."
Writing restricted in his lifetime
Much of Shelley's poetry and prose was unpublished during his lifetime or appeared only in expurgated form because of the risk of prosecution for political and religious libel. From the 1820s, his political and ethical writings became popular in Owenist, Chartist, and other radical circles.
A Romantic visitor to Villa Pliniana
Shelley was among the Romantic-era literary visitors who stayed at Villa Pliniana in Como during his years in Italy.
Addresses you can still visit
Every place in this city with a documented tie to this person.
Lived here
Villa Pliniana
Shelley was among the Romantic-era literary visitors who stayed at the villa.
Follow the story on foot
These addresses are scattered across the city. Our routes and quests put them in an order that works.