SHELLEY'S IDEA OF TRAGEDY AND THE STRUCTURE OF "THE CENCI."

SALLY-ANN H JACOBSEN, Purdue University

Abstract

Shelley's statements about tragedy in A Defence of Poetry, "Notes on Sculpture," the prefaces to his poems, and his letters constitute a remarkably consistent theory, to which he adheres in structuring The Cenci. Although The Cenci is usually viewed as a character tragedy in the tradition of the Romantics' admiration for Shakespeare, Shelley has more to say about tragic action than about character. His ideal of tragic structure, inspired by Greek tragedy, is a magnificently complex synthesis, not of images, as in his poems, but of multiple strands of action. He believes that the organic form of tragedy already inheres in its legendary source and that it inspires the playwright to enhance its power in his play. This power is apparently the same as that Carl Jung describes as the operation of unconscious archetypes in the aesthetic experience. Shelley prefers that Fate rather than a character flaw in the protagonist cause the catastrophe. The idea that fate may take the form of accident allows Shelley to see in tragic action the same profound synthesis of choice and inexorable destiny the Greeks recognized in their concept of Moira. Shelley's belief in Godwinian Necessity gives him a special affinity for the operation of Moira in Greek tragedy. Shelley describes two versions of tragic catharsis. One, produced by tragedy's rigorous exercise of the emotions, like traditionally understood "purgation," is an "exalted calm" which applies healthfully to "the tumult" of daily life and is like Wordsworth's idea of the function of poetry. The other is a "restless casuistry" of the intellect in arriving, jury-like, at "passionate exculpation" of the tragic deed. Tragedy, because more complex than other genres, best performs the moral function of literature.The Cenci structure embraces the actions of all the Cenci family members in a double plot, subplot, and choral role. A number of devices unify this diversity. A Shakespearean five act structure delays the action until Act Three, the first two acts building the illusion that Beatrice's plot unifies the play. Beatrice appeals throughout Act One to society, then to God and his priests, for relief from oppressions which are not made explicit until after her rape. Beatrice has already tried the policy Shelley recommends for "injury"; thus, her decision to murder Cenci is not a mistake. Act Three features the first climax, the pity of Beatrice's distraction after the rape. The Cenci has two climaxes, in which the usual order of fear followed by pity is reversed. Removing the audience to an ironic distance throughout the fifth act permits an optimistic ending, even though Beatrice's defeat does not restore order to her world.Shelley's use of Shakespearean and Sophoclean techniques in the Cenci structure illustrates his uniquely Romantic practice of "imitation," described in the Preface to Prometheus Unbound. The Cenci legend inspires Shelley to select from Greek and Renaissance tragedy techniques for treating events in which he perceives an analogy to well-known tragedies. Although The Cenci is more like a Shakespearean than a Sophoclean play, it exhibits as much Sophoclean influence. Shelley overlaps the actions of Count Cenci and Beatrice in the same manner as Sophocles overlaps those of Antigone and Creon. Beatrice's lie causes doubt in her innocence, just as the Chorus sees Antigone's rash speech as a character flaw. The development of Giacomo's guilt as a foil for Beatrice's innocence and his farcical manipulation by Orsino are Shakespearean techniques, resulting in a heavily encrusted structure of incident, as in Shakespearean drama.

Degree

Ph.D.

Subject Area

Modern literature|Literature

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