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Introduction: ‘A Head Full of Plays and Novels’

David O'Shaughnessy
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Summary

It is well observed by the Author of a late Dissertation on the Theatres, that dramatic compositions have ever been esteemed amongst the greatest productions of human genius; and the exhibition of them on the public Stage, has by some of the wisest and best men in all ages, been countenanced, as highly serviceable to the cause of Virtue.

The publication of William Godwin's two-volume treatise An Enquiry Concerning Political Justice, and its Influence on General Virtue and Happiness (1793) made the author one of the most famous men of letters in London. Godwin went on to achieve a wider public recognition from literary endeavours in which he sought to make his political ideas more digestible for the general public. Things As They Are; or The Adventures of Caleb Williams (1794) is the most famous of his efforts. But St Leon, A Tale of the Sixteenth Century (1799), acclaimed by Byron, and Fleetwood: or the New Man of Feeling (1805) also contributed to making him one of the most celebrated novelists of his time. Added to these fictional efforts, he wrote a number of well received essays, pamphlets, biographies and children's books that bolstered his place in the literary sphere. Godwin's productivity and his generic range are truly impressive as his list of publications can testify.

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William Godwin and the Theatre , pp. 1 - 16
Publisher: Pickering & Chatto
First published in: 2014

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