H. P. Lovecraft Critical Essay | Critical Essay by Darrell Schweitzer

Critical Essay by Darrell Schweitzer

SOURCE: Schweitzer, Darrell. “Lovecraft and Lord Dunsany.” In Discovering H. P. Lovecraft, Revised & Expanded, edited by Darrell Schweitzer, pp. 72–87. Holicong, PA: Wildside Press, 2001.

In the following essay, Schweitzer investigates the nature and extent of Lord Dunsany's influence on Lovecraft.

No knowledgeable critic has ever tried to deny the fact that the writings of Lord Dunsany were a major influence on those of H. P. Lovecraft. The reason for this is that Lovecraft's letters are so thickly laden with statements to this effect that one simply has to believe him. Also, the Dunsanian elements in some of Lovecraft's stories are unmistakable to anyone who knows their Dunsany. So no one doubts the influence, but few have tried to actually determine the nature and extent of it, where it appears in the Lovecraft canon and from what works by Dunsany it derives.

Lovecraft first encountered Dunsany's work in “the...
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