Sympatia i groza w dramatach gotyckich Joanny Baillie
Sympathy and Terror in Joanna Baillie’s Gothic Dramas

Author(s): Jacek Mydla
Subject(s): Applied Linguistics, Studies of Literature, 19th Century, Philology, British Literature
Published by: Wydawnictwa Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego
Keywords: sympathy; terror; fear; gothic; romantic drama; feminine and male characters in literature
Summary/Abstract: In his article, Jacek Mydla examines chosen plays by romantic playwright Joanna Baillie (1762-1851), so-called Gothic plays by romantic playwright: "De Monfort", "The Dream", "Orra", "The Family Legend". The perspective from which Mydla approaches this literary material is defined by the philosophy of the Scottish Enlightenment as represented by David Hume and Adam Smith and their theory of “sentiments” and of sympathy in particular. For Baillie, the idea of sympathy (or “fellow-feeling”) was the cornerstone of her vision of both drama and the reception of theatrical performance. As such, it helped her define the basic elements of that vision: romantic plays represent “strong passions” and the spectators become involved due to the working of “sympathetic curiosity”. Mydla’s goal is to relate the idea of sympathy to the Gothic and by doing so to look closely at the dynamics of male-female relationships in Baillie’s plays.

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