Bloody Poetry
by Howard Brenton
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At a glance:
- Author: Howard Brenton
- First Published: 1985
- Type of Plot: History
- Time of Work: 1816-1822
- Setting: Switzerland, England, and Italy
- Characters: Percy Bysshe Shelley, Mary Godwin Shelley, Claire Clairemont, George Gordon, Lord Byron, Dr. William Polidori, Harriet Westbrook
- Genres: Drama, History play
- Subjects: Values, Love or romance, Sex or sexuality, Nineteenth century, Marriage, Poetry or poets, Jealousy, envy, or resentment, England or English people, Adultery, Italy or Italians, Romanticism, Switzerland or Swiss people
- Locales: Europe, England, Italy, Switzerland, United Kingdom
The Play
Bloody Poetry opens with Percy Bysshe Shelley poetically narrating his coach ride into the Swiss Alps, having fled England with his lover, Mary Godwin; their son, William; and Mary’s stepsister, Claire Clairemont. They have been forced into exile because at home they were considered “atheistical perverts” and “free-lovers.” Indeed, Claire has been Lord Byron’s lover, and she has arranged for that poet to meet Shelley for the first time, on the shore of Lake Geneva.
The next day, Bysshe, Mary, and Claire walk on the beach, waiting for Byron to...
(The entire page is 3044 words.)
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