Moderate

What does Percy Shelley mean when he refers to poets as being the "unacknowledged legislators of the world" ?

Correct answer: A. He is suggesting that artists serve to develop culture.

  • A. He is suggesting that artists serve to develop culture.
  • B. He is suggesting that all artists are from high social classes.
  • C. He is suggesting that artists are repressed throughout society.
  • D. He is suggesting that the making of laws is itself an art.

Explanation

Shelley's phrase means that poets shape society's moral imagination and cultural values even when they do not make formal laws. Their influence is therefore indirect and often unacknowledged, not a claim about their class or literal lawmaking.

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