Percy Bysshe Shelley, Zastrossi

Mark Sandy (University of Durham)
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Often critically neglected as a piece of Shelley's juvenilia,

Zastrossi

was composed between the March and late August of 1809. Arguably one of Shelley's earliest surviving works of prose fiction (aside from

St. Irvyne, or The Rosicrucian

1811 [See Separate Entry] and his abandoned

The Assassins

1814),

Zastrossi

marks his first major creative venture into the domain of Gothic-romance. The London publishers J. Wilkie and G. Robinson issued Shelley's tale of Gothic horror in the following spring of 1810. The plot, subject, and style of

Zastrossi

are indebted to Shelley's avid reading, during in his time at Eton, of popular and sensationalist fiction. In composing

Zastrossi

, Shelley relied heavily on Gothic conventions of narration and characterisation prevalent in such popular works as Anneā€¦

713 words

Citation: Sandy, Mark. "Zastrossi". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 20 September 2002 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=8926, accessed 19 March 2024.]

8926 Zastrossi 3 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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