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JOANNA BAILLIE (ESSAY DATE 1798)

SOURCE: Baillie, Joanna. "Introductory Discourse." In 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 a Comedy. Vol. 1, 1798. Second edition, pp. 1-11. London, 1799.

In the following excerpt from her "Introductory Discourse" to Volume 1 of her Plays on the Passions, first published in 1798, Baillie comments upon the universal human preoccupation with emotion, the spiritual, and the unknown.

It is natural for a writer, who is about to submit his works to the Publick, to feel a strong inclination, by some Preliminary Address, to conciliate the favour of his reader, and dispose him, if possible, to peruse them with a favourable eye. I am well aware, however, that his endeavours are generally fruitless: in his situation our hearts revolt from all appearance of confidence, and we...

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1. Introduction
2. Principal Works
3. Primary Sources
   1. Joanna Baillie (Essay Date 1798)
4. General Commentary
   1. E. J. Clery (Essay Date 2000)
5. Title Commentary
   1. Plays on the Passions
   2. Witchcraft
6. Further Reading