Seven Gothic Dramas ed. by J.N. Cox |
| Decrizione ISBD:
*Seven gothic dramas / edited with an introduction by Jeffrey N. Cox. - Athens : Ohio University Press, 1992. - 425 p. ; 25 cm. ((contiene: The Kentish barons / Francis North ; Julia of Louvain, or, Monkish cruelty / J. C. Cross ; The castle spectre / Matthew G. Lewis ; The captive / Matthew G. Lewis ; De Monfort / Joanna Baillie ; Bertram, or, The castle of St. Aldobrand / C. R. Maturin ; Presumption, or, The fate of Frankenstein / R. B. Peake. |
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An
indispensable collection for anyone who is interested in Romanticism and
its origins, or in the roots of horror literature. Jeffrey Cox brings together
an admirable selection of the most exciting and influential examples of
the "Gothic Horror Dramas" that took the English stage by storm at the
end of the 18th Century. Readers whose acquaintance with the Gothic Horror
genre extends no further than the sublime but restrained novels of Horace
Walpole and Ann Radcliffe will find this collection a shocking revelation.
These plays, which are otherwise unavailable except in expensive and out-of-print
editions, are thrilling and genuinely horrific in ways that far surpass
contemporary novels, and can still be read for pure, guilty pleasure, as
well as for scholarly/historical interest. Most importantly, anyone who
has ever wondered how the sublime but still unmistakably evil villain of
the Gothic Horror Novels becomes transformed into that towering icon of
English Romanticism, the Byronic Hero, will find the answer in the three
indisputable masterpieces in this collection: "The Castle Spectre" by M.G.
Lewis, "De Monfort" by Joanna Baillie, and "Bertram" by C.R. Maturin. In
these works, the Gothic Villain gradually acquires sympathetic attributes
(such as an oppressive sense of guilt for his outrages) without sacrificing
his titanic stature, until ultimately (as in the case of "Bertram," the
finest work in the collection), he achieves the status of a dark hero,
with Nietzschean overtones.
Cox also provides a useful introduction to these unjustifiably neglected works. (Synopsis by Amazon)tract |
| Visualizza l'indice del libro in formato .pdf |
| L'autore: Jeffrey N. Cox entry from 'Contemporary authors' |