William Godwin and the Theatre

William Godwin is one of the most important figures of the Romantic period. He wrote four plays at the end of the 18th/beginning of the 19th centuries. This book has two main objectives: to provide the first comprehensive discussion of these four plays, and to consider the notion of theatricality in relation to Godwin’s political project. Introduction: ‘A Head Full of Plays and Novels’; Chapter 1 Godwin and London’s Theatrical World; Chapter 2 ‘The Link Between the Literary Class of Mankind and the Uninstructed’: St Dunstan and Caleb Williams; Chapter 3 ‘Applause Hitherto Would Be Impertinent’: Spectacle and Anti-spectacle in Antonio and St Leon; Chapter 4 Conversation and Spectacle in Abbas, Faulkener and Fleetwood; conclusion Conclusion;