Description: Murray contends that cycles of catastrophe and catharsis are everywhere in the works of Samuel Taylor Coleridge, who viewed the hardships of his lifetime, like the catastrophes of Greek tragedy, as stages in a process of humanity's purification. Offering new readings of canonical poems, as well as neglected plays and critical works, Murray elaborates Coleridge's tragic vision in relation to Romantic contemporaries and tragic theorists from Aristotle to Steiner.
Review Quotes: '...a significant contribution to the study of Coleridge and to the concept of Romantic Tragedy more widely.' Sally West, University of Chester, UK, author of Coleridge and Shelley: Textual Engagement 'Murray's work posits several challenges to existing criticism... and indicates the way towards enticing paths for future study.' The Byron Journal 'Vigorous and engaging... [Murray's] claims ... are strong, and readers will likely find their understanding of both Coleridge and tragedy enriched by this book.' International Journal of the Classical Tradition '...a close textual analysis that shows how tragedy functions in Coleridge's works, ... a book that, through the examination of a specific and quite neglected aspect of Coleridge's work, sheds light on different fields of the poet's production.' BARS Review 'A concise and minutely researched account, written in a lively and trenchant style, and including many nuances of argument... What makes Tragic Coleridge so stimulating is that it often chooses to live dangerously in following where the sensibility of Coleridgean tragedy might lead.' The Wordsworth Circle 'Refreshing and original ... Coleridge the man is not divorced from Coleridge the poet, the dramatist, or even the 'sage' and this results in a critical study which is finely balanced.' Romanticism