Shelley's The Cenci: "studiously written in the style very different from any other composition"

The essay deals with Shelley's 'Italian' tragedy "The Cenci" and with its relationship with ancient Greek, Italian and British dramatic traditions. 'Sophocles' "Antigones", Alfieri's 'Mirra' and the Elizabethan and Shakespearian sources are here discussed and compared to Shelley's play and dramaturgy. Shelley's effort to establish an authentic dramatic line within his own poetic writing is carefully demonstrated. The essay also deals with the various difficulties that 'The Cenci had to face due to its subject matter at the time and to the climate of severe cesureship that dominated Georgean England. The heroine of the play, Beatrice Cenci, is viewed as one of the first example of modern and emancipated female character, a character similar to those which will dominate European theatre and drama to start with Shaw and Ibsen.