Abstract EN:

Percy Bysshe Shelley has long been ranked amongst the greatest English poets but he has never been given full credit as a political thinker. Even Mohandas K. Gandhi, who is undoubtedly greatly indebted to the poet, both directly and indirectly, never acknowledged this debt. Nevertheless, Shelley is the source of Gandhi’s doctrine of non-violence. A doctrine which has left its mark on recent history, from the Indian struggle for independence right up to the nineties, including such brilliant examples as the abolition of apartheid in South Africa. The aim of the present study is firstly to study the theory of non-violence as conceived by Shelley, and secondly, to trace the link between the mahatma and the poet. Although the present work focuses on Gandhi, he is far from being the only personality to have followed shelleyan theories. Keeping this in mind, we have mentioned, albeit briefly, other eminent shelleyans who have influenced contemporary politics. We have also tried to assess Shelley’s impact on non-violent strategy, as it has been used during various social conflicts in the XXth century, in an attempt to give the poet credit long overdue, particularly in the annals of non-violence.