Hannah More's Percy: a Tragedy in the Spanish and French Theatrical Contexts

Abstract

[Abstract] In the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, Spain was experiencing a thriving moment in the theatre, and theatre managers had to offer constant novelties to their audience. The historical tragedy, in particular, much in vogue in this period, was repeatedly translated into Spanish as it was considered by political and social reformers a highly profitable genre for the instruction of the public and for the advancement of the nation. Accordingly, the Spanish writer José María Carnerero published a play of this genre in 1803 under the title Elvina y Perci, ó los efectos de la violencia. Tragedia en tres actos, which was based on a French translation of Hannah More’s Percy, A Tragedy (1778). Carnerero’s play, however, was not an actual translation, but an adaptation that he composed with the summary and some excerpts included in a review of the French translation of the play in the Journal Encyclopédique. Therefore, the Spanish audience saw a substantially different drama. As for More’s play, the English writer had also been inspired by a previous play, Pierre-Laurent de Belloy’s Gabrielle de Vergy (1770), but she introduced important and controversial differences. This chapter analyses the complete transmission process which led from medieval motifs, including courtly love poetry and border ballads, to More’s Percy and eventually culminated in the Spanish play.