SOURCE: “Beatrice Cenci and the Tragic Myth of History,” in History & Myth: Essays on English Romantic Literature, edited by Stephen C. Behrendt, Wayne State University Press, 1990, pp. 214-34.

In the following essay, Behrendt explores the political theme and moral crisis depicted in Shelley's verse drama The Cenci.

History and myth converge in Shelley's deeply political tragedy The Cenci, whose compelling protagonist, Beatrice Cenci, dramatically embodies that crisis which occurs in human affairs when an intolerable situation of perceived injustice and oppression appears to offer no viable legitimized options for action. Voicing the instinctive desire for relief, the individual trapped in such a dilemma naturally responds, as Beatrice does, that “something must be done” (III, i, 86), and The Cenci records the nature and consequences of Beatrice's decision about just what is to be done. The Cenci is a play about revolution, and about the insidious combination of circumstances that...