From Gothic Novel to Gothic Drama
Both indication of and effect of the
popularity of gothic novels, dramatic productions in the gothic style
proliferated during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century in Britain.
Critics disagree on the extent to which these productions constitute a dramatic
tradition; a critic might refer to a "gothic" play as a tragedy, a melodrama, or
a Romantic drama without in any way contradicting another critic for whom the
same play is clearly and only gothic. Those critics who do recognize a singular
tradition of gothic drama, however, certainly agree that its conventions were
first established by gothic literature, but opinion again differs on the extent
to which gothic novels were successfully translated to the stage. Such gothic
horrors as ghosts, dark-robed figures in shadow, and grandiosely threatening
settings could be effectively rendered with ingenious stagecraft, yet the danger
always remained that the physical representation of these horrors would lessen
the terrible (wonderful) effect that textual description could have upon the
imagination of a palpitating reader.
The following plays represent a fair sampling of the most important plays in
the gothic style, but they also represent an interesting study, for those
familiar with the gothic tradition in literature, of the differences between the
gothic novel and the gothic drama. Two of the plays excerpted here are
adaptations of popular Gothic novels: The Count of Narbonne is based on
Horace Walpole's The Castle of Otranto, and The Italian Monk is
based on Ann Radcliffe's The Italian. Two others are plays written by
well-known authors of classic gothic novels: The Castle Spectre was
written by Matthew G. Lewis, author of The Monk, and Bertram was
written by Charles Robert Maturin, author of Melmoth the Wanderer. The
remaining play, De Monfort, differs interestingly from the other works of
its author, Joanna Baillie: While many of her works were "closet plays," meant
to be read rather than performed, De Monfort was produced and performed
with marked success. Following each excerpt are passages from some of the major
criticism of these works and authors. The excerpts from the plays have been
chosen so as to provide examples that relate to the critical discussion.
The
Count of Narbonne (1781), by Robert Jephson
The
Italian Monk (1796), by Robert Boaden
The
Castle Spectre (1796), by Matthew G. Lewis
De
Monfort (1800), by Joanna Baillie