Gothic Drama from Walpole to Shelley

Gothic Drama from Walpole to Shelley examines the often-overlooked realm of Gothic drama in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, arguing that it deserves equal attention to its more famous counterpart, the Gothic novel. While the Gothic novel, with its castles, tyrants, and eerie atmospheres, has been extensively studied and linked to the Romantic movement, Gothic drama has remained in relative obscurity. Yet, the plays of this period offer unique insights into the cultural and aesthetic shifts of the era, including the transition from the Age of Johnson to the Age of Byron. The study asserts that Gothic drama not only reflects the same fascination with mystery, terror, and the supernatural as Gothic novels but also provides a crucial bridge in understanding the evolution of literary tropes, such as the transformation of the Gothic villain into the Byronic hero. The work highlights the importance of Gothic drama in shaping Romantic literature, particularly through the dramatic medium's continuity from Walpole to Shelley. Unlike novels, the plays reveal a direct lineage that influenced Romantic poets, many of whom wrote works in the Gothic tradition. The study explores how the machinery of Gothic literature—its castles, villains, and themes of terror—expanded to include non-medieval elements like forests and banditti, all while retaining its core rooted in the ruin and the associated mood of gloom. This accumulation of elements, driven by the 18th-century fascination with medievalism, demonstrates the Gothic's adaptability and influence. By tracing the gradual evolution of the Gothic villain into the Romantic hero within the dramatic form, this study sheds light on a literary transformation that profoundly impacted the Romantic movement and beyond. This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1947.