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Theproblem,or:theShakespeareandebt
29
(published2000),conceivedasaKSourcebook»toGothicstudiesforthe
period170011820,includedShakespeareinthefirstsection,entitledKSu-
pernaturalism:religion,folklore,Shakespeare.»Thisrecognitionhasbeen
accompaniedbyseveralchapter-orhalf-chapter-lengthanalyseswhere
theShakespeareanappropriationshavebeentreatedmoreextensivelythan
thecommonone-sentenceticking-off.Cleryhimselfwentastepbeyond
scratchinginasectionofhisWomen)sGothic(2000),KLadyMacbethin
theEighteenthCentury.»Earlier,inTheRiseofSupernaturalFiction
(1995),Cleryalsowrotecopiouslyontheinspiringtheatricalrepresenta-
tionsofthesupernatural.InMichaelGamer9sRomanticismandtheGoth-
ic(2000),anextensionofthisresearchintoromanticism,wefindachap-
ter,KNationalsupernaturalism:JoannaBaillie,Germany,andthegothic
drama,»containingaseminalanalysisoftheculturalandpoliticalinvolve-
mentsofthetheatricalsupernatural.AnnHowells9sanalysisinherwell-
receivedbookLove,MysteryandMisery(1995)certainlyalsogoesbeneath
thesurface.Intheintroductorychaptertoherbook,Howellsallotssev-
eralpages,ratherthantheusualoddsentence,totheShakespeareanin-
fluence.17
Sofar,onlyonescholarhasdevotedabook-lengthmonographtothe
problem1HelgaSeifertinShakespeareunddieGothicNovel.Zurkrea-
tivenRezeptionseinerDramenimenglischenRomandesspäten18.Jahr-
hunderts(1983).Whilerecognisingthevalueofthispioneeringstudy,we
needtoassessbrieflythescope,themethod,andtheresultsachieved.Sei-
fertisselectiveinherchoiceoftheliterarymaterial.Shestudiesclosely
onlythreenovels,Walpole9sTheCastleofOtrantoandRadcliffe9sTheRo-
manceoftheForestandTheItalian.Shegivespracticallynojustification
whyMeasureforMeasureshouldbegivenprecedenceoverotherplays,
especiallyasthisparticularplayisdevoidoftheelementofthesupernat-
ural.AndsinceMeasureforMeasurehasbeenchosen,whydoesshenot
analyseitsconspicuousappropriationbyLewisinTheMonk?Moreover,
likesomanyscholarsintheirstudiesoftheGothic,18Seiferthasleftout
dramaandtheatre,andthusboththepresenceofShakespeareintheeight-
eenthcenturytheatre(i.e.,priortoandcontemporarywiththebirthand
effulgenceoftheGothic)andtheGothicdrama9sKcompetition»against
Shakespeareinthe1790sandearly1800s.TheseomissionscauseSeifert
17CoralAnnHowells,Love,Mystery,andMisery.FeelinginGothicFiction(London
andAtlanticHighlands,NJ:Athlone,1995).
18FormanyKtheGothic»seemstobesynonymouswithKGothicfiction»;Summers9s
groundbreakingGothicQuestissubtitledKAHistoryoftheGothicNovel»and,tocite
acontemporaryexample,MaggieKilgour9sbooktreats,asthetitleproclaims,ofKThe
RiseoftheGothicNovel»wherethefocusisonthegenre9sKFrankensteinian»narra-
tives.
