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Swinburne’sAtalanta in Calydon:prosody as sublimation in Victorian ‘Greek’ tragedy:

Year: 2016
Type: article
Abstract: Algernon Charles Swinburne’s Atalanta in Calydon (1865) is the finest example of Victorian ‘Greek’ tragedy, a genre of English poetry inspired by the forms, contents, and styles of Attic tragedy. For George Saintsbury, Swinburne’s play represented a ‘renouveau of English prosody’: drawing on the metres and rhythms of Ancient Greek, Atalanta opened new phenomenological possibilities for the English language. Swinburne’s fall from critical favour in the early twentieth century has meant the play’s neglect, despite its crucial importance to the history of classical reception in English verse. This article reads Atalanta in Calydon through Greek prosody. Drawing on contemporary reviews, letters, and manuscript material, the article argues that Atalanta’s prosody works through sublimation: that is, transforming desire for unattainable objects (principally ‘the classical’) into the desire for artistic creation. Aesthetic accomplishment serves to relieve the pain of living in Swinburne’s tragic universe.
DOI: 10.1093/crj/clw012
Author: Orla Polten
Language: English
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $3,301
Funders: Yale University, Wayne State University, Princeton University, Harvard University, University of Cambridge, University of Oxford, Swinburne University of Technology, Arts and Humanities Research Council
OpenAlex ID: W2482388657
FWCI:
Cites: 47
Cited by: 1
Related to: 10