In the following essay, Cameron and Frenz summarize the critical response to various performances of The Cenci across Europe and the United States, highlighting the complications involved in staging the play and reappraising Shelley's talents as a dramatist.
In the following essay, Harrison contrasts Shelley's opinions on romantic drama espoused in his Preface to The Cenci with those implicit in the play itself.
In the following essay, Harrington-Lueker compares The Cenci and Macbeth and contends that Shelley borrowed Shakespearean themes to heighten audience understanding of his play.
In the following essay, White explains that Shelley's changes to his source material downplay themes of tyrannical power and rebellion in favor of notions of retribution and atonement.
In the following essay, Hall analyzes the relationship between The Cenci and Prometheus Unbound, specifically focusing on themes of imagination and social reality in the works.
In the following essay, Adams defends Shelley against charges that The Cenci is structurally defective and argues that understanding Orsino's role in the first two acts is vital to an appreciation of the play.
In the following essay, Turner examines the veracity of Shelley's source material for The Cenci and contends that Shelley would have found little interest in Beatrice as a tragic heroine had he known the truth behind the Cenci legend.
In the following excerpt, originally published in 1820, Hunt lauds Shelley's use of imagination, details his characterization, and compares the author to classical dramatists.
In the following essay, originally published in 1886, Forman and Forman delineate elements of horror and poetry in The Cenci, labeling Shelley the “chief tragic poet since Shakespeare.”
In the following excerpt, originally published in 1820, the critic condemns The Cenci, describing the play as “the production of a fiend, and calculated for the entertainment of devils in hell.”
