A Critical Edition of Hannah More's Percy

This critical edition of Percy: A Tragedy provides a carefully collated text of the best-known drama written by Hannah More. Despite her large literary output and the fame accorded her during her lifetime, More has not received the attention she deserves from literary historians and critics for her dramatic works.Today, her plays are not easily accessible to students of eighteenth-century drama because they have not been printed since the early part of the nineteenth-century. Percy, first produced in 1777, constitutes an important text in the history of women's contribution to eighteenth century English drama. More's tragedies, particularly Percy, draw on the tradition established by the 'she-tragedies' of the late seventeenth century and the historical dramas of the eighteenth century. Elwina's celebrated monologue in Act II against the horrors of war connects More to the growing evangelical tradition, which grew exponentially during the nineteenth century. The critical introduction also considers the sources of Percy. Here I examine the play in relation to thirteenth century French medieval romances, such as Le Roman du Castelain de Couci.