In Prometheus Unbound, Romantic poet exemplar Percy Bysshe Shelley expresses his enthusiasm for revolutionary
change through the plot device and resulting thematic element of generational upheaval taking place through the poem's specific action of Jupiter's own progeny being the force which brings about his downfall. Demogorgon may stand for the nebulous
spirit of the
children of
tyranny who lay in wait for judgment day against their autocratic fathers. Panthea describes Demogorgon as being limbless, formless, without even an outline, yet being of such spirit that his presence is easily felt.
The spirit of all those who forced to live in shackles under the shadow of tyranny is a palpaple thing which cannot be denied regardless of the form tyranny takes and Shelley may be making reference to that here. Demogorgon then, becomes the personification of this move toward
revolution and he encapsulates as Jupiter's son the allegorical extension of children (the populace) rising up to revolt against their fathers (governmental or religious authority) and chart a new course in history. In this
case the revolution is accomplished and Shelley is once again showing his idealistic side, which in this case lies in his belief that the failure of the French Revolution specifically does not have to mean a failure of revolution in general. If the children of the French Revolution failed in their attempts to unbalance tyrannical rule, there is always the hope that their grandchildren will rise to the occasion. Shelley is relying on the understanding that revolution and change is a generational
occasion caused by children's natural inclination to rebel against the oppressive rule of their parents, and in Prometheus Unbound he uses the figures of Demogorgon rebelling against Jupiter to allegorize this constant state of affairs, thereby revealing his own undying enthusiasm for that revolution and change.
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