Englische Studien Author:Unknown Author Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: räche und der wünsch, sich genugtuung für die seiner gemahlin angetane beleidigung zu verschaffen." And he is right, for in Sanuto we read: "When this Duke had h... more »eld the dukedom during nine months and six days, he, being wicked and ambitious , sought to make himself Lord of Venice." (M. f., Doge of Venice. Appendix.) According to Sanutc, the offence is but the last drop to make the cup of anger overflow. Involuntarily the question arises: What induced Byron to give up historical truth, which, after all, was one of his chief aims when writing M. F.; for in a letter to Murray, we read: "Here is another historical note for you. I want to be as near truth as the drama can be." (Moore p. 453.) What reason was weighty enough for the poet to give up historical truth ? I ask again. The answer is obvious: None other but the wish of the disciple to copy his master as closely as possible. And indeed, in comparing the two plays, we are struck with similarities, not only in single scenes, but in the entire plan of the tragedies, and we arrive at the conclusion that Byron modelled his first regular drama on that of his much admired predecessor. This fact will hardly surprise us, if we remember what Moore tells us about Byron's habit before beginning to write. According to him, Byron, when engaged in the composition of any work, would "excite his vein by the perusal of others on the same subject or plan." (Moore p. 421.) No wonder then that, in his first attempt at a regular play, the disciple takes hold of the leading hand of his master. Byron himself explains this deviation from historical truth in a way that supports our statement. He thus accounts for it in the Preface to M. F.: "In speaking of the drama of M. F., I forgot to mention that the desire of preserving, though still too remot...« less