Helen Slaney
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- January 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780198736769
- eISBN:
- 9780191800412
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198736769.003.0008
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Literary Studies: Classical, Early, and Medieval
Shelley’s 1819 tragedy The Cenci displays a number of Senecan affiliations on the verbal, dramaturgical, and thematic levels. Most obviously, Shelley uses the senecan technique of applying densely ...
More
Shelley’s 1819 tragedy The Cenci displays a number of Senecan affiliations on the verbal, dramaturgical, and thematic levels. Most obviously, Shelley uses the senecan technique of applying densely figured language to an act too traumatic to be expressed in ordinary discourse. Although written for performance, The Cenci could not be staged at the time because of its ‘abhorrent’ subject matter. It was taken up, however, in 1935 by director–theorist Antonin Artaud, who was already interested in Seneca as a proto-exemplar of the theatrical form he termed ‘Theatre of Cruelty’. Artaud attempted a staging of The Cenci that would be a practical demonstration of Cruelty, but the production was a failure.Less
Shelley’s 1819 tragedy The Cenci displays a number of Senecan affiliations on the verbal, dramaturgical, and thematic levels. Most obviously, Shelley uses the senecan technique of applying densely figured language to an act too traumatic to be expressed in ordinary discourse. Although written for performance, The Cenci could not be staged at the time because of its ‘abhorrent’ subject matter. It was taken up, however, in 1935 by director–theorist Antonin Artaud, who was already interested in Seneca as a proto-exemplar of the theatrical form he termed ‘Theatre of Cruelty’. Artaud attempted a staging of The Cenci that would be a practical demonstration of Cruelty, but the production was a failure.
