Other editions of book Proserpine and Midas

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Reproduction print of the classic novel:PROSERPINE & MIDAS by Mary Wollstonecraft ShelleyLARGE PRINT EditionFonts used in this series have been selected in order to ensure optional reading for those with visual impairments. Font size is greater than or equal to 16pt, Sans SerifThis print is part of the KoF Classic Reprint Series. In the KoF Classic Reprint Series, careful attention is taken to digitally remaster these great works of literature using the latest digital techniques and special processing. We hope you enjoy the result.

Proserpine is a verse drama written for children by the English Romantic writers Mary Shelley and Percy Bysshe Shelley. Mary wrote the blank verse drama and Percy contributed two lyric poems. Composed in 1820 while the Shelleys were living in Italy, it is often considered a partner to the Shelleys’ play Midas. Whether the drama was ever intended to be staged is a point of debate among scholars. The drama is based on Ovid’s tale of the abduction of Proserpine by Pluto, which itself was based on the Greek myth of Demeter and Persephone. Mary Shelley’s version focuses on the female characters. In a largely feminist retelling from Ceres’s point of view, Shelley emphasises the separation of mother and daughter and the strength offered by a community of women. Ceres represents life and love, and Pluto represents death and violence. The genres of the text also reflect gender debates of the time. Percy contributed in the lyric verse form traditionally dominated by men; Mary created a drama with elements common to early nineteenth-century women’s writing: details of everyday life and empathetic dialogue. Proserpine is part of a female literary tradition which, as feminist literary critic Susan Gubar describes it, has used the story of Ceres and Proserpine to ”re-define, to re-affirm and to celebrate female consciousness itself”. However, the play has been both neglected and marginalised by critics.

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Pros. Dear Mother, leave me not! I love to rest Under the shadow of that hanging cave And listen to your tales. Your Proserpine Entreats you stay; sit on this shady bank, And as I twine a wreathe tell once again The combat of the Titans and the Gods; Or how the Python fell beneath the dart Of dread Apollo; or of Daphne’s change,– That coyest Grecian maid, whose pointed leaves Now shade her lover’s brow. And I the while Gathering the starry flowers of this fair plain Will weave a chaplet, Mother, for thy hair. But without thee, the plain I think is vacant, Its [Note: There is an apostrophe on the s.] blossoms fade,–its tall fresh grasses droop, Nodding their heads like dull things half asleep;– Go not, dear Mother, from your Proserpine.

An auspicious verse drama is presented here that Shelley based on the ancient myths. Wrought upon the Roman myth of the abduction of Proserpine from Ceres by Pluto and the Greek myth of greedy emperor Midas, who was granted the quality of an alchemist, these are engrossing literary works. Her creative genius for verse adorned this classical literary. Marvellous!

An auspicious verse drama is presented here that Shelley based on the ancient myths. Wrought upon the Roman myth of the abduction of Proserpine from Ceres by Pluto and the Greek myth of greedy emperor Midas, who was granted the quality of an alchemist, these are engrossing literary works. Her creative genius for verse adorned this classical literary. Marvellous!