The Dramatic Works Of Wordsworth, Coleridge And Southey

About the Book

The poetic plays of Wordsworth, Coleridge and Southey convey both assurance and anxiety - balancing and counterpointing each other - and the object of the present study is to show how this balancing and counter-pointing enrich the texture of their plays. Truly, their creative energy was considerably cramped by the conditions prevailing in the contemporary theatre, and it is also true that they show an inadequate grasp of dramatic art and dramatic dialogue; but what is remarkable in their dramatic works is their capacity to seize and analyse the spiritual dilemma of the age; their persistent moral ardour exposes the ailments and iniquities afflicting the social order and also questions and scrutinizes the possible modes of freedom. In fact, this is mainly a study of the moral concerns in the plays of the three elder English Romantic poets - their anxiety about the mystery and potency of evil and how to combat it, the issues of ends and means that have disturbed the sensitive rebels throughout ages.

The embivalent poetical characters, their gravitation towards drama, struggle for stage success, the contemporary theatrical condition, the un-realized projects, the dramatic and stylistic qualities, literary issues, etc. have also been discussed incidentally.