Biographia Literaria

Coleridge provides context for his letters from Germany. Mr. Whitbread’s failed proposal to revitalize Drury Lane Theatre attracted public interest, and Coleridge turns to a discussion of Charles Maturin’s play Bertram, which debuted there in 1816. First, however, Coleridge reviews German drama. Lessing showed that Shakespeare reflected the precepts of Aristotle to a greater degree than any other poet. The elements of German drama are of the “literary brood of the Castle of Otranto” (206). Coleridge claims that German drama is English in origin and “by re-adoption” (206).

Atheista Fulminatio is a popular Spanish play “so grotesque and extravagant” that it “claims and merits philosophical attention and investigation” (206). Coleridge compares Don Juan with Milton’s Satan: “the super-human entireness of Don Juan’s agency, prevents the wickedness from shocking us” (207). Power is integral to virtue yet also the first temptation. Intellectual power is the attraction of Shakespeare’s male characters and enables us to suspend our disbelief during “the wildest tales,” for instance the appearance of the ghost in Don Juan (207). Don Juan offers a moral: the demonstration of “utter indifference to vice and virtue” (211). Coleridge considers Bertram’s shipwreck “miraculous” (212) and applauds the character of Clotilda and the scene depicting Bertram’s “trance” (215).