Hypertragedy
Hypertragedy
When English theatres reopened in 1660 following the restoration of the monarchy, Seneca remained a resource for tragedians. In particular, playwright Nathaniel ‘Mad Nat’ Lee made extensive use of senecan tropes and modes of expression. His early work Nero draws on the pseudo-Senecan Octavia, and later in his career he collaborated with John Dryden on a version of Oedipus. The use of densely figured language to express passion, resulting in a feeling of excess, may be termed ‘hypertragedy’. But this important aspect of the senecan aesthetic was entering a period of decline as developments in scenographic technology began to prioritize spectacle over speech.
Keywords: Nathaniel Lee, John Dryden, Restoration, Oedipus, Nero, regicide, gender, spectacle
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