Title: Bloody Poetry
Author: Howard Brenton
Date of First Publication: October 1984
Place of Publication: Haymarket Theatre, Leicester
Type: Play
Characters: Mary Shelley; Lord Byron; Percy Shelley; Claire Clairmont; John Polidori
Themes: WOMEN WRITING MONSTERS; BYRONIC HERO
Critical Summary: Bloody Poetry by Howard Brenton is a play that focuses on the characters Percy Shelley, Lord Byron, Mary Shelley, and Claire Clairmont. They have gone into exile since their lives were not what English society accepted.
This play takes place on the shores of Lake Geneva where Mary Shelley and her compansions revels in the beauty of nature and develop art in an astonishing utopian style. The young group discovers new ways of living outside societal norms, such as conventional marriage, which is shown to dissolve in the relationship between Byron and Claire. The idea of extreme art is shown by Mary Shelley’s development of her novel Frankenstein. The creation of a monster drawn up from the imagination of a woman during this time period was thought to be unorthodox. But Mary Shelley, with her traumatic past, develops a character that signifies horror even in the act creation. The theme relates to Victor Frankenstein’s rejection of his own creation, the Creature.
Claire desires Byron, but Byron grows tired of her and soon barely acknowledges her affection.
On the stormy nights off Lake Geneva, in Byron’s Villa Diodati, the writes discuss art. Byron addresses the fact that the unspeakable is what is exciting to write about but that no one was ever brave enough to do so, and with this prompting statement we begin to see Mary Shelley’s imagination turn to the creation of Frankenstein. Along with the loss of her mother, Mary Shelley also discusses the conflict between her father and herself. She refers to him as a monster multiple times and instead of calling him fathers she refers to him as “the man who impregnated my mother”. Showing her distrust in men and how they have a monstrous side to them.
Administrative Notes: Juzana Mares, CSUF; Dr. David Sandner, CSUF (editing)