眾所皆知，在英國浪漫文學中，詩有不凡的成就。然而也在此時開始有人對詩的功能以及詩人在社會中所扮演的角色提出質疑。在某種程度上，大部份的英國浪漫詩人都在為詩的實用性與其必要性辯護。但是卻鮮少有詩人能像雪萊一樣，幾乎終其一生都為了能在社會中實踐他於詩中所提出的理想而努力。 基於這樣的背景條件，本文旨在探討雪萊對理想社會的想像以及他所提出改善社會的方法。因此，雪萊的理想與他的實際行動間的關係將會是本文的主要討論重點。 在雪萊的韻文以及散文作品中，我們能看出他努力地試著在理想與社會現實間取得一個平衡點。為了能清楚地理解雪萊如何達到此一目的，本文將從幾個不同角度切入。首先，我們將討論雪萊在他作品中所呈現的詩的真理。透過這樣一個概念，他傳達出一個理想社會的典範以及人如何透過對自然的崇敬進而昇華到人與自然和諧共存的一個大同世界。接著，為了實踐這樣一個大同世界，本文將探討雪萊如何以雪萊式的愛為基礎影響並改良社會種種惡行進而建立他心目中的理想世界。在這一部份我們將特別提出柏拉圖以及耶穌基督如何對雪萊式的愛產生重大影響。最後，我們將更進一步檢視雪萊是否真的能如其所言，將他在文學作品中所提出的理想實踐於社會之中。 透過這樣的討論，我們希望能對雪萊詩中的理想性與社會現實間的關係有更清楚的理解，更重要的是我們希望能從新的觀點來再次閱讀雪萊的作品。 This thesis aims to investigate Shelley’s vision of an ideal society and the methods he proposes to establish it in his poetry and prose. Two aspects will be discussed: one is Shelley’s ideals and the other is his action. It is known that English Romanticism is a period when poets made outstanding literary achievements; nevertheless, at the same time, people also questioned the function of poetry and the role of a poet in society. To a great extent, most Romantic poets tried to prove this criticism wrong; however, rarely has a Romantic poet elucidated his envisioned society and proposed methods to achieve this ideal in poetry and prose as Shelley has. Hence, this thesis will examine not only the ideals shown in his poetry but also practical methods proposed in his prose. Shelley tries to strike a balance between ideals and realities with a fundamental concept in his works, Shelleyan Love, an idea which is influenced by both Platonism and Christianity. To Shelley, this love should be applied in reality, so he proposes practical methods for improving the society. Besides, the combination of Platonism and Christianity enables Shelley to defend poetry as not merely an expression of ideals but also a medium for helping to improve society. In the end of this thesis Shelley’s ideals and proposed methods will be evaluated from the viewpoint of feasibility. Through the study of Shelley’s ideals and social realities, I hope to study Shelley’s works as a whole from a new perspective.
