Chastelard, a Tragedy

Algernon Charles SwinburneProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.6

Word count: 138K words
Chapters: 14

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Chastelard, a Tragedy by Algernon Charles SwinburneAuthor: Swinburne, Algernon Charles, 1837-1909,Language: English, Class: PR: Language and Literatures: English literature, Release Date: Nov 1, 2000

Editor's review

Chastelard, a Tragedy is a verse drama by Swinburne, offered as a free eBook by Project Gutenberg. Swinburne is known for his lush sound and intense emotion; this tragedy draws on historical figures and courtly emotional entanglements and will appeal to readers interested in Victorian poetry and verse drama. The text is in the original English, interweaving dramatic dialogue with lyrical passages, so readers can appreciate Swinburne's management of rhythm, tone, and emotional tension. As a public-domain electronic text, it usually lacks modern editorial notes, and readers must look up historical background and allusions themselves. It is better suited as supplementary material for English literature courses or poetry research than as a popular read for fast-moving plot. If you are willing to slow down and read the dialogue aloud, it becomes easier to enter its musical language world.

Who it's for

A good fit for

English majors studying Victorian poetry and verse drama
Researchers interested in Swinburne's work and British literary history
Poetry readers who enjoy reading verse aloud and savoring sound and rhetoric
Teachers who need public-domain English dramatic texts for course materials

Not a good fit for

General readers hoping for a modern plain-language translation or an easy story
Beginners unfamiliar with verse drama and its historical background
Readers seeking fast-paced plots and strong action scenes

Reading tips

First learn the relationships among the historical figures involved, then begin reading the dialogue.
Try reading act by act, reviewing after each act how the characters' emotions and conflicts develop.
Read key passages aloud to feel Swinburne's rhythm and rhetorical effects.
Pair the reading with chapters on verse drama in British literary history to understand the genre's tradition.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Is this a novel or a play? Is it hard to read?

Judging by the title and the Gutenberg entry, this is a verse drama by Swinburne, composed of dramatic dialogue and verse. It is harder to read than an ordinary novel, requiring adjustment to the verse-drama form and nineteenth-century English; some grounding in English literature is recommended.

Can I understand it without knowing the historical background?

You can follow the literal meaning, but understanding the characters' motives and the courtly emotional entanglements will suffer. It is advisable to look up brief historical background and character relationships first, then read the text, for smoother comprehension.

Is the Gutenberg edition suitable for academic citation?

The Gutenberg text can be used for general reading and preliminary verification, but it usually lacks modern scholarly annotation and textual notes. For formal citation in papers, consult a critical or scholarly edition from an authoritative publisher.

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About the author

Algernon Charles Swinburne Author · United Kingdom · 1837–1909

Algernon Charles Swinburne (1837–1909) was an English poet, playwright and literary critic of the Victorian era. Born in London, he attended Eton and Oxford and was influenced by the Pre-Raphaelites. He is known for lyric poetry of sumptuous sound and rich diction, combining sensuous colour with the gravity of classical subjects. His representative works include the verse drama Atalanta in Calydon, the collections Poems and Ballads, Songs Before Sunrise, A Midsummer Holiday and Other Poems and Astrophel and Other Poems, as well as The Triumph of Time and the critical study A Study of Shakespeare. Twenty-five of his works are held in the collection. Public information is limited, yet his style has had a lasting influence on British aestheticism and the lyric tradition.