Summary notes on Romanticism

"spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings"

spontaneity and freedom

Nature

commonplace

supernatural / strangeness in beauty

new role of the poet: emotion—common man/woman speaking to common man/woman

rejection of Neo-classic restrictions:

formal language

proper subject matter

generic restrictions

The Gothic Novel and the Development of Melodrama

Horace Walpole. The Castle of Otranto (1764)

August von Kotzebue (1761-1819). 200 plays—Victor, or the Child of the Forest; The Stranger

Sir Walter Scott (1810-1849). 149 plays

Rene de Pixerecourt (1773-1844). 120 plays; 2 treatises including Le Melodrama

"I write for those who cannot read."

Spectacle is more important than plot. [Manner over substance]

Hallmarks of Melodrama

Absolutes are clear: moral universe is clear.

Virtue and goodness are rewarded.

Because of virtue: families and wealth are restored.

Acts of Providence: melodrama is a "silent pulpit."

Two-dimensional / flat characters.

Episodic structure.

Emotional dominance: gesture, music, song, but not poetry.

Hero moves to danger.

Otherworldly / supernatural: a world outside the rational world.

Visual tableaux.

Music.

Well-machined theatre.

Catharsis: fear and hatred.

Local color.

Obligatory "happy ending."

Advancements in theater: Melodrama meets the Industrial Revolution

Daguerre - panorama: 1788 Paris; 1822 London.

Panoramic (spooled) scenery.

Use of historical scenery (as Scott’s novels/plays did also).

Gas lighting: adds placement, control, color. Outside: 1815; inside [The Chestnut Street Theatre, Philadelphia]: 1816.

Drummond (calcium) spot lighting [limelight].

Electric lighting: London, Savoy Theatre, 1881; in general use by 1900.