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Baillie’s eminently readable dramas stand at the crossroads of the Scottish Enlightenment and early Romanticism, and compellingly engage with questions of women’s rights. Her exploration of the passions, first published in 1798, is here reissued with a wealth of contextual materials including "The Introductory Discourse," Baillie’s own brand of feminist literary criticism. The three plays included here are "Count Basil: A Tragedy," and "The Tryal: A Comedy," which show love from opposing perspectives; and "De Monfort: A Tragedy," which explores the drama of hate.

Baillie’s work is enjoying a revival of interest. She lived a long life, (1762-1851), and had a wide circle of literary friends including Maria Edgeworth and Sir Walter Scott (who termed her a "female Shakespeare"). Scottish born, she moved to England in her twenties where she then resided. Her Plays on the Passions, alternatively known as A Series of Plays in which it is Attempted to Delineate the Stronger Passions of the Mind – Each Passion being the Subject of a Tragedy and Comedy was produced in three volumes between 1798 and 1812. The first volume created quite a stir amongst the literary circles of London and Edinburgh when introduced anonymously. The speculation into the authorship concluded two years later when Baillie came forward as the writer of the collection, thereby causing a subsequent sensation since no one had considered the shy spinster a candidate in the mystery.

Among other appendices, the Broadview edition includes materials on the contemporary philosophical understanding of the passions, and contemporary reviews. ... Read more

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A melancholy nobleman, consumed with hatred, commits a brutal murder. A beautiful woman is imprisoned by her abusive guardian in a haunted castle, driving her mad. A prophetic dream leads a group of monks to a buried corpse and leads to justice for the murderer. A family feud drives a clan to strand a rival on a rock to be drowned by the rising tide. A joyful wedding turns sinister when a ghost appears to reveal the tragic secret of her death. A group of women, condemned as witches, are doomed to be burnt at the stake.

These are the plots of the six plays in this collection by Scottish dramatist Joanna Baillie. Baillie (1762-1851) was regarded by many in her day as the greatest female English-language poet, and second as a dramatist only to Shakespeare. Recently rediscovered by scholars after nearly a century and a half of neglect, Baillie is now recognised as one of the finest of Romantic-era playwrights. This new edition features the complete text of six of her best plays, four of them reprinted here for the first time since 1851. Also included is a new introduction by Christine Colon, discussing Baillie's life and works, and arguing that Baillie used the Gothic in innovative ways in her drama in order to explore controversial issues such as changing definitions of masculinity and femininity, shifting political alliances, and evolving ideas of Christianity. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Do not overlook this writer!
It is a crying shame that Joanna Baillie's Early-Nineteenth-Century audience paid her (an unmarried woman playwright and poet) far more acknowledgement than posterity has done.Apparently, Baillie has become the hot ticket in Women's Studies courses and panel discussions.It's not sufficient, though, that academia contentedly praises her genius amongst its own and does precious little to advance her status to those of us out here in the thicker middle.To yokels like me who had to stumble upon Baillie by accident, a tip: if you want to read Romantic drama with more iconoclasty than Percy Shelley, more balls than Byron, and more psychosis perhaps than even Hamlet has to offer, READ BAILLIE.This work is not simply "Women's Studies" fare or "Early English Drama" to collect dust--it is timeless literature with possibly more relevance today than when it was written.Thanks to Dr. Colon for helping to make this gem of literature accessible to us! ... Read more

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Joanna Baillie and the Art of Moral Influence explores the project of moral reform that Baillie sets out for herself in the Introductory Discourse to her first volume of Plays on the Passions (1798). It begins by revealing the foundation that Baillie creates for her project as she combines her own unique theology with eighteenth-century moral philosophy and seventeenth- and eighteenth-century discourses on the theatres potential to reform audiences. This book argues that Baillie uses this eclectic mix to craft a potentially radical social critique in the midst of a seemingly conservative moral project. Using examples from fifteen of her plays as well as from her prefaces and her religious tract, the book traces Baillies moral project from its direct representations in De Monfort and Henriquez through its dangerous complexities in plays such as Orra and The Trial to its conflict with domestic ideology as an alternative means of reform in plays such as The Dream, Ethwald, The Phantom, and Witchcraft. This analysis of Baillies project reveals how she ultimately overcomes the difficulties inherent in her project by asking her audiences to take responsibility for their moral reform rather than relying upon the domestic woman to change society and by asking her audiences to ground their interpretations in the basic truths of Christianity. Understanding Baillies moral project and the discourses that influenced it and then seeing how it is enacted throughout her plays will allow teachers and scholars to appreciate even more fully the complexities of this British Romantic playwright. ... Read more

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The contents of this selection, compiled in consultation with eighteen leading specialists in the field, includes Baillie's plays - De Montfort, Basil, A Family Legend and The Martyr, together with selected poetry and criticisms. The Scottish dramatist and poet Joanna Baillie (1762-1851) is one of the most important figures to have emerged from the recent redefinition of the Romantic canon. Highly regarded by her literary contemporaries, her Plays on the Passions were widely appreciated and extremely influential during the mid-nineteenth century, and her 'Introductory Discourse' has been seen as an anticipation of Wordsworth's 1800 preface to Lyrical Ballads. ... Read more

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Poems, &c. (1790) - Wherein It Is Attempted To Describe Certain Views Of Nature And Of Rustic Manners; And Also, To Point Out, In Some Instances, The Different Influence Which The Same Circumstances Produce On Different Characters is presented here in a high quality paperback edition. This popular classic work by Joanna Baillie is in the English language. If you enjoy the works of Joanna Baillie then we highly recommend this publication for your book collection. ... Read more

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Scottish playwright and poet Joanna Baillie (1762-1851) is a key figure in British Romantic-era literature. In recent years her writings her writings have returned to print, her plays have been performed in North America and the United Kingdom, and she has been the subject of several monographs and a biography. This new edition of Further Letters follows the 1999 publication of Baillie's Collected Letters and brings together some two hundred and seventy new or uncollected letters. The new edition includes significant letters written to Walter Scott, Robert Southey, and Felicia Hemans. It also provides new information regarding Baillie's relationships with her contemporaries, her publishers, and the London theater world. Baillie's correspondence offers a remarkable five-decade portrait of an artist engaged with the most significant literary, religious, and political issues of her day. Anyone interested in Scottish literature, British theater, or nineteenth-century women writers will find these wide-ranging letters informative and fascinating. ... Read more

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"The selected poems of Joanna Baillie offers a comprehensive selection of the major lyric poetry ranging from her songs and lyrical ballads to the dramatic monologues and realistic blank verse poems relating to her youth in the Scottish countryside as well as her life in London. This book puts Baillie's best poetry where it belongs - in the Romantic canon, demonstrably the equal of and the formative link between Robert Burns' Scottish poetry and William Wordsworth's meditations on nature. Students and general readers as well as scholars are given the opportunity of reading her many significant poems in an annotated form that makes her work more accessible."--BOOK JACKET. ... Read more

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This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process.We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide.We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

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This superb collection of new essays offers a unique insight into the work of a leading women dramatist of the Romantic era. Included essays provide contextual material for those new to Baillie's work, examinations of the relationships between her plays and the philosophical and scientific writing of her era, discussion of Baillie's theatrical methods, and extended interpretations of individual plays. This volume is essential reading for those working on Romanticism, women's writing, or drama of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. ... Read more

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This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

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Publisher: New Haven Yale University PressPublication date: 1923Subjects: Baillie, Joanna, 1762-1851Notes: This is an OCR reprint. There may be numerous typos or missing text. There are no illustrations or indexes.When you buy the General Books edition of this book you get free trial access to Million-Books.com where you can select from more than a million books for free. You can also preview the book there. ... Read more

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In Three Volumes. ... Read more

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This is the first full-length biography of the Scottish plawright (1762-1851) based on new archival research, biographical evidence, and critical commentary. ... Read more

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This is an OCR edition without illustrations or index. It may have numerous typos or missing text. However, purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original rare book from the publisher's website (GeneralBooksClub.com). You can also preview excerpts of the book there. Purchasers are also entitled to a free trial membership in the General Books Club where they can select from more than a million books without charge. Original Published by: Peterborough, Ont. ; Orchard Park, N.Y. : Broadview Press in 1802 in 491 pages; Subjects: History / General; Drama / General; Drama / English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh; History / General; Literary Criticism / Drama; Social Science / Women's Studies; ... Read more

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The birds now quit their holes and lurking sheds, Most mute and melancholy, where through night, All nestling close to keep each other warm, In downy sleep they had forgot their hardships; But not to chant and carol in the air, Or lightly swing upon some waving bough. ... Read more