The Shelleyan vortex: A study of the evolutionary development of the spiral within Percy Bysshe Shelley's 'Alastor,' 'Mont Blanc' and 'Prometheus Unbound'

Within Percy Bysshe Shelley's poetry there exists a plethora of spiral imagery, symbols and structure, so much in fact, that it is surprising that little research has been written on this aspect of his works. Although spirals exist in most of his works, three works strongly embodying them are "Alastor," "Mont Blanc" and Prometheus Unbound. The spiral is an archetypal symbol and structure of evolution, anywhere from personal growth to the structure and expansion of the heavens. Therefore, it is expected that spiral structure and symbolism in Shelley's poetry is just as evolutionary.;Supporting this research are prose and letters by Shelley, as well as many works he had read that discuss the scientific and metaphysic aspect of spiral evolution. These works include the classics from as early as ancient Greece up to works written during the Romantic age. Primary works used in this study are Plato's Timaeus, Phaedo, and Symposium, Holbach's System of Nature, Dante's Divine Comedy, Lucretius' On the Nature of the Universe and Darwin's Botanic Garden. Since little direct-criticism exists in this area of Shelley's work, this study relies upon indirect-criticism of Romantic aspects of evolutionary spiralism. Further support is through Jungian concepts and Eastern philosophies.;In applying this method of research to "Alastor," "Mont Blanc" and Prometheus Unbound we can see that Shelley's work was expanding spirally toward a higher evolutionary state. In "Alastor," the spiral symbolism and structure consists of a Poet's vortical descent into the womb of the earth. In "Mont Blanc," the structure is a meditation upon the elusive center atop the symbolic apex of the mountain. And in Prometheus Unbound, the spiral path leads to the Titan's union with the elusive center and godhead.;With a sampling of three poems from a five-year period (1815-1820) of Shelley's brief life, we can follow the development of the spiral structure and symbolism. The spiral journey usually consists of a vortical decent into the dark unconscious mind and culminates upon a spiral path leading to enlightenment. The main types of spirals covered in this study consist of the whirling outer arms of the vortex, the reconciliation of opposites or the Eastern concept of yin and yang energies, the awakening of spiral energy found in the Hindu concept of Kundalini, and the calm and elusive center found at the center of the spiral or vortex.