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Theproblem,or:theShakespeareandebt
31
andadmireShakespeare,ourgreatnationalpoet,»saysalsothefollowing:
KAGothicromancesuchastheoneyouarenowreadingisarespectable
pieceofliteraturesincesomuchherehasbeeninspiredbyandresembles
Shakespeare.»EspeciallyinthecaseofRadcliffe,whomhercontempor-
arieschristenedKtheShakespeareofRomancewriters,»22therearereasons
toassumethatliteraryambitionsinvestedintheGothicgenremayhave
gonebeyondthepurveyingofcheapthrills.Radcliffe9spoeticsofterror
(orKaestheticsofterror»23)roundsoffherromanticappropriationofShake-
speare.
IntheIntroductiontoacollectionofessaysexaminingTheAppropria-
tionofShakespeare(1991),JeanMarsdenvoicedtheneedtoresearchmore
extensivelyShakespeareinquotationmarks,forK;Shakespeare9istoadis-
turbingdegreeculturallydetermined.»24Likethetypeofresearchen-
dorsedbyMarsden,thisstudyoftheappropriationofShakespeareinthe
earlyEnglishGothicisalsoconcerned,notwithShakespeare9stext,but
withyetanotherKattempttomakeoverShakespeareinourownimage.»25
TheworkingassumptionthenisthatearlyGothicistsattemptedtoKmake
over»ShakespeareintheirownimagewiththeresultofKGothicising»the
Bard.Variousspeciesofverbalborrowingareheretreatedasevidence
ofatransmutationofShakespeareintoKShakespeare,»orShakespeare
intheinvertedcommassuppliedbyhisGothicappropriators.Allsuch
evidenceneedstobetakenintoaccountandexamined.26
Asystematicexaminationofverbaltextureasproofofliteraryandcul-
turalappropriationhastousespecialmethodstohandlethepeculiartype
ofevidence,e.g.theepigraph,theverbalborrowing,andvarioustypesof
moreorlessconspicuousallusions.Muchofthismaterialiscertainlyin-
conspicuous,attheoutsetatleast,incontrasttosuchblatantinstances
ofaccommodationofShakespeareasthenotoriousalterationsoftheplays
22NathanDrake9spraiseofRadcliffe,fromhisLiteraryHours(1798,1800),came
inthecontextofhisanalysisofTheItalian.Ithasbecomeoneofthescholars9favourite
quotations,apparentlyduetotheennoblingandlegitimisingringtoit.SeeMcIntyre,
AnnRadcliffe,46.DrakewascertainlyaRadcliffeenthusiast,Kandenthusiastswere
notafraidtociteHamlet,LearandMacbeth»intheirpraisesofthenovelist;Tompkins,
PopularNovelinEngland,252.
23AsinNorton,whousesthisphraseasthetitleofoneofthechaptersofhisbio-
graphy,MistressofUdolpho.
24JeanMarsden,KIntroduction,»in:JeanMarsden,ed.,TheAppropriationof
Shakespeare:Post-RenaissanceReconstructionsoftheWorksandtheMyth(NewYork...
Singapore:HarvesterWheatsheaf,1991),8.
25Marsden,KIntroduction,»in:Marsden,ed.,AppropriationofShakespeare,1.
26Estimateshaveyieldedanapproximatenumberofoverahundredandfiftyquo-
tationsfromShakespeareinnineteenGothicnovels;seeNorton,MistressofUdolpho,
note39(topage49).
