This book studies Seneca's poetic drama from a novel point of view.
Whereas most criticism of Seneca's dramas has tended to focus on
their relationship to Stoicism, I approach them from the
perspective of Seneca's own theory of literary decadence, which he
sets forth in the 114th of his letters to Lucilius. His theory can
be summed up as follows: the various forms of stylistic corruption
are the result of a straining for effect, which itself reflects a
taste for the extreme. A writer or speaker's stylistic vices thus
mirror the vices of his character; they also reflect the vices of
the time and place in which he lives, since every user of language
is conditioned by his environment. What is especially striking
about Seneca's discussion is that a number of the vices he lists -
hyperbole, disruption of natural word order, excessive metaphor -
are notable features of the poetic style of his own dramas. I argue
for a rehabilitation of the 'decadent' style of Seneca's tragedies:
in Seneca's hands, this style is a precise diagnostic tool for
revealing the self-destructive irrationality that governs not only
the individual, but also his society and the entire universe.
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