John Gay, Dione: A Pastoral Tragedy

Ian Gordon (Anglia Ruskin University)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.05: English Writing and Culture from the Glorious Revolution to the French Revolution, 1689-1789.
Vol. editors: Paul Baines (University of Liverpool), Daniel Cook (University of Dundee), Pat Rogers (University of South Florida), Nicholas Seager (University of Keele)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1720

Places

England (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Pastoral
Play
Poem collection
Tragedy

Resources

Gay wrote Dione: A Pastoral Tragedy in the latter part of 1719. The play is a pastoral, verse tragedy in heroic couplets, written in a serious, romantic vein, altogether different from Gay’s usual ironic, burlesque style. It is highly stylised and it is difficult for the reader to imagine it being performed with any success on the stage. It reads more like a closet drama, exploring the competing claims of natural feeling and courtly convention, with about half the lines devoted to pastoral scene-setting in the plains and woods of Arcadia and a good number of the rest to mournful soliloquising by any one of the three main characters. Dione reads better as pastoral poetry than one can imagine it being acted as compelling …

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1887 words

Citation: Gordon, Ian. "Dione: A Pastoral Tragedy". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 09 February 2005 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=16711, accessed 24 November 2024.]

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