The Dynasts
Encyclopedia
The Dynasts is an English-language drama in verse by Thomas Hardy
. Hardy himself described this work as "an epic-drama of the war with Napoleon
, in three parts, nineteen acts and one hundred and thirty scenes". Not counting the Forescene and the Afterscene, the exact total number of scenes is 131. The three parts were published in 1904, 1906 and 1908.
Because of the ambition and scale of the work, Hardy acknowledged that The Dynasts was not a work that could be conventionally staged in the theatre, and described the work as "the longest English drama in existence". Scholars have noted that Hardy remembered war stories of the veterans of the Napoleonic wars in his youth, and used them as partial inspiration for writing The Dynasts many years later in his own old age. In addition, Hardy was a distant relative of Captain Thomas Hardy, who had served with Admiral Horatio Nelson
at Trafalgar. Hardy consulted a number of histories and also visited Waterloo, Belgium
as part of his research.
of metaphysical figures ("Spirits" and "Ancient Spirits") who observe and discuss the events.
Part First contains a Forescene and six Acts with 35 Scenes. The time period of the events in Part First covers 10-months, from March 1805, the time when Napoleon repeated his coronation ceremony at Milan and took up the crown of Lombardy, through January 1806, the time of the death of William Pitt the Younger
. The principal historical events entail Napoleon's invasion plans for England, which are abandoned when French Admiral Pierre-Charles Villeneuve
sails for the south, the Battle of Trafalgar
, and subsequently the Battle of Ulm
and the Battle of Austerlitz
. The division of the Acts and its Scenes is as follows:
Fore Scene. The Overworld
Act First:
Act Second:
Act Third:
Act Fourth:—
Act Fifth:
Act Sixth:
Part Second contains six Acts with 43 Scenes. The time period of the events of Part Second ranges over 7 years, from 1806 to just before the French invasion of Russia
in 1812. The listing of the Acts and Scenes is as follows:
Act First:
Act Second:
Act Third:
Act Fourth:
Act Fifth:
Act Sixth:
Part Third contains seven Acts with 53 Scenes, and an After Scene. The historical time period of Part Third covers Napoleon's invasion of Russia in 1812 through his defeat at the Battle of Waterloo
in 1815. The division of the Acts and Scenes is as follows:
Act First:
Act Second:
Act Third:
Act Fourth:
Act Fifth:
Act Sixth:
Act Seventh:
After Scene. The Overworld
and devoted much of his later life to its completion, but the work was not well-received and later critics have seen little reason to reverse that judgement. There is a case to be made, however, for the drama's having pioneered techniques that would later be regarded as characterising literary Modernism
. Moreover, The Dynasts remains of interest to those studying Hardy's novels, both for the insight into his world-view and for its examination of a character mentioned famously but briefly at the end of Tess of the d'Urbervilles
: the "President of the Immortals".
The design of The Dynasts is extremely ambitious, and because of its coverage of historical events of the same era, has received comparison to Tolstoy's War and Peace
. Emma Clifford has written that Hardy used Tolstoy's novel as one of many sources of inspiration for the work, and in fact owned an early translation. However, it was not necessarily as a primary source, as Hardy also drew on the History of Europe by Archibald Alison
, among others.
Hardy juxtaposes scenes of ordinary life with scenes involving the principal historical figures of the age, and concentrating on their desire to found dynasties in order to preserve their power. There are extensive descriptions of landscape and battle scenes that are characterised by shifts of visual perspective that, in the opinion of John Wain, anticipate cinematic techniques. George Witter Sherman has postulated on Hardy's observations of life in London as influences on elements of The Dynasts. Elna Sherman has discussed Hardy's references to music and songs in the work. Anna Henchman has written about Hardy's use of imagery in the manner of astronomical observation at great distances from the earth in this work. Lawrence Jones has analysed Hardy's idiosyncrasies in his manner of narrative in The Dynasts. J.O. Bailey has postulated an analogy of the Spirits in The Dynasts with other Mephistopheles-like figures in literature, and in relation to the Book of Job.
Thomas Hardy
Thomas Hardy, OM was an English novelist and poet. While his works typically belong to the Naturalism movement, several poems display elements of the previous Romantic and Enlightenment periods of literature, such as his fascination with the supernatural.While he regarded himself primarily as a...
. Hardy himself described this work as "an epic-drama of the war with Napoleon
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...
, in three parts, nineteen acts and one hundred and thirty scenes". Not counting the Forescene and the Afterscene, the exact total number of scenes is 131. The three parts were published in 1904, 1906 and 1908.
Because of the ambition and scale of the work, Hardy acknowledged that The Dynasts was not a work that could be conventionally staged in the theatre, and described the work as "the longest English drama in existence". Scholars have noted that Hardy remembered war stories of the veterans of the Napoleonic wars in his youth, and used them as partial inspiration for writing The Dynasts many years later in his own old age. In addition, Hardy was a distant relative of Captain Thomas Hardy, who had served with Admiral Horatio Nelson
Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson
Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson, 1st Duke of Bronté, KB was a flag officer famous for his service in the Royal Navy, particularly during the Napoleonic Wars. He was noted for his inspirational leadership and superb grasp of strategy and unconventional tactics, which resulted in a number of...
at Trafalgar. Hardy consulted a number of histories and also visited Waterloo, Belgium
Waterloo, Belgium
Waterloo is a Walloon municipality located in the province of Walloon Brabant, Belgium. On December 31, 2009, Waterloo had a total population of 29,573. The total area is 21.03 km² which gives a population density of 1,407 inhabitants per km²...
as part of his research.
Synopsis
In addition to the various historical figures, The Dynasts also contains an extensive tragic chorusGreek chorus
A Greek chorus is a homogenous, non-individualised group of performers in the plays of classical Greece, who comment with a collective voice on the dramatic action....
of metaphysical figures ("Spirits" and "Ancient Spirits") who observe and discuss the events.
Part First contains a Forescene and six Acts with 35 Scenes. The time period of the events in Part First covers 10-months, from March 1805, the time when Napoleon repeated his coronation ceremony at Milan and took up the crown of Lombardy, through January 1806, the time of the death of William Pitt the Younger
William Pitt the Younger
William Pitt the Younger was a British politician of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. He became the youngest Prime Minister in 1783 at the age of 24 . He left office in 1801, but was Prime Minister again from 1804 until his death in 1806...
. The principal historical events entail Napoleon's invasion plans for England, which are abandoned when French Admiral Pierre-Charles Villeneuve
Pierre-Charles Villeneuve
Pierre-Charles-Jean-Baptiste-Silvestre de Villeneuve was a French naval officer during the Napoleonic Wars. He was in command of the French and Spanish fleets defeated by Nelson at the Battle of Trafalgar....
sails for the south, the Battle of Trafalgar
Battle of Trafalgar
The Battle of Trafalgar was a sea battle fought between the British Royal Navy and the combined fleets of the French Navy and Spanish Navy, during the War of the Third Coalition of the Napoleonic Wars ....
, and subsequently the Battle of Ulm
Battle of Ulm
The Battle of Ulm was a series of minor skirmishes at the end of Napoleon Bonaparte's Ulm Campaign, culminating in the surrender of an entire Austrian army near Ulm in Württemberg....
and the Battle of Austerlitz
Battle of Austerlitz
The Battle of Austerlitz, also known as the Battle of the Three Emperors, was one of Napoleon's greatest victories, where the French Empire effectively crushed the Third Coalition...
. The division of the Acts and its Scenes is as follows:
Fore Scene. The Overworld
Act First:
- Scene I. England - A Ridge in Wessex
- Scene II. Paris - Office of the Minister of Marine
- Scene III. London - The Old House of Commons
- Scene IV. The Harbour of Boulogne
- Scene V. London - The House of a Lady of Quality
- Scene VI. Milan. The Cathedral
Act Second:
- Scene I. The Dockyard, Gibraltar
- Scene II. Off Ferrol
- Scene III. The Camp and Harbour of Boulogne
- Scene IV. South Wessex - A Ridge-like Down near the Coast
- Scene V. The Same - Rainbarrows' Beacon, Egdon Heath
Act Third:
- Scene I. The Chateau at Pont-de-Briques
- Scene II. The Frontiers of Upper Austria and Bavaria
- Scene III. Boulogne - The St Omer Road
Act Fourth:—
- Scene I. King George's Watering-place, South Wessex
- Scene II. Before the City of Ulm
- Scene III. Ulm - Within the City
- Scene IV. Before Ulm - The Same Day
- Scene V. The Same - The Michaelsberg
- Scene VI. London - Spring Gardens
Act Fifth:
- Scene I. Off Cape Trafalgar
- Scene II. The Same - The Quarter-deck of the "Victory"
- Scene III. The Same - On Board the "Bucentaure"
- Scene IV. The Same - The Cockpit of the "Victory"
- Scene V. London - The Guildhall
- Scene VI. An Inn at Rennes
- Scene VII. King George's Watering-place, South Wessex
Act Sixth:
- Scene I. The Field of Austerlitz - The French Position
- Scene II. The Same - The Russian Position
- Scene III. The Same - The French Position
- Scene IV. The Same - The Russian Position
- Scene V. The Same - Near the Windmill of Paleny
- Scene VI. Shockerwick House, near Bath
- Scene VII. Paris - A Street leading to the Tuileries
- Scene VIII. Putney - Bowling Green House
Part Second contains six Acts with 43 Scenes. The time period of the events of Part Second ranges over 7 years, from 1806 to just before the French invasion of Russia
French invasion of Russia
The French invasion of Russia of 1812 was a turning point in the Napoleonic Wars. It reduced the French and allied invasion forces to a tiny fraction of their initial strength and triggered a major shift in European politics as it dramatically weakened French hegemony in Europe...
in 1812. The listing of the Acts and Scenes is as follows:
Act First:
- Scene I. London - Fox's Lodgings, Arlington Street
- Scene II. The Route between London and Paris
- Scene III. The Streets of Berlin
- Scene IV. The Field of Jena
- Scene V. Berlin - A Room overlooking a Public Place
- Scene VI. The Same
- Scene VII. Tilsit and the River Niemen
- Scene VIII. The Same
Act Second:
- Scene I. The Pyrenees and Valleys adjoining
- Scene II. Aranjuez, near Madrid - A Room in the Palace of Godoy, the "Prince of Peace"
- Scene III. London - The Marchioness of Salisbury's
- Scene IV. Madrid and its Environs
- Scene V. The Open Sea between the English Coasts and the Spanish Peninsula
- Scene VI. St Cloud - The Boudoir of Josephine
- Scene VII. Vimiero
Act Third:
- Scene I. Spain - A Road near Astorga
- Scene II. The Same
- Scene III. Before Coruna
- Scene IV. Coruna - Near the Ramparts
- Scene V. Vienna - A Cafe in the Stephans-Platz
Act Fourth:
- Scene I. A Road out of Vienna
- Scene II. The Island of Lobau, with Wagram beyond
- Scene III. The Field of Wagram
- Scene IV. The Field of Talavera
- Scene V. The Same
- Scene VI. Brighton - The Royal Pavilion
- Scene VII. The Same
- Scene VIII. Walcheren
Act Fifth:
- Scene I. Paris - A Ballroom in the House of Cambaceres
- Scene II. Paris - The Tuileries
- Scene III. Vienna - A Private Apartment in the Imperial Palace
- Scene IV. London - A Club in St. James's Street
- Scene V. The old West Highway out of Vienna
- Scene VI. Courcelles
- Scene VII. Petersburg - The Palace of the Empress-Mother
- Scene VIII. Paris - The Grand Gallery of the Louvre and the Salon-Carre adjoining
Act Sixth:
- Scene I. The Lines of Torres Vedras
- Scene II. The Same - Outside the Lines
- Scene III. Paris - The Tuileries
- Scene IV. Spain - Albuera
- Scene V. Windsor Castle - A Room in the King's Apartments
- Scene VI. London - Carlton House and the Streets adjoining
- Scene VII. The Same - The Interior of Carlton House
Part Third contains seven Acts with 53 Scenes, and an After Scene. The historical time period of Part Third covers Napoleon's invasion of Russia in 1812 through his defeat at the Battle of Waterloo
Battle of Waterloo
The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815 near Waterloo in present-day Belgium, then part of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands...
in 1815. The division of the Acts and Scenes is as follows:
Act First:
- Scene I. The Banks of the Niemen, near Kowno
- Scene II. The Ford of Santa Marta, Salamanca
- Scene III. The Field of Salamanca
- Scene IV. The Field of Borodino
- Scene V. The Same
- Scene VI. Moscow
- Scene VII. The Same - Outside the City
- Scene VIII. The Same - The Interior of the Kremlin
- Scene IX. The Road from Smolensko into Lithuania
- Scene X. The Bridge of the Beresina
- Scene XI. The Open Country between Smorgoni and Wilna
- Scene XII. Paris - The Tuileries
Act Second:
- Scene I. The Plain of Vitoria
- Scene II. The Same, from the Puebla Heights
- Scene III. The Same - The Road from the Town
- Scene IV. A Fete at Vauxhall Gardens
Act Third:
- Scene I. Leipzig - Napoleon's Quarters in the Reudnitz Suburb
- Scene II. The Same - The City and the Battlefield
- Scene III. The Same - from the Tower of the Pleissenburg
- Scene IV. The Same - At the Thonberg Windmill
- Scene V. The Same - A Street near the Ranstadt Gate
- Scene VI. The Pyrenees - Near the River Nivelle
Act Fourth:
- Scene I. The Upper Rhine
- Scene II. Paris - The Tuileries
- Scene III. The Same - The Apartments of the Empress
- Scene IV. Fontainebleau - A Room in the Palace
- Scene V. Bayonne - The British Camp
- Scene VI. A Highway in the Outskirts of Avignon
- Scene VII. Malmaison - The Empress Josephine's Bedchamber
- Scene VIII. London - The Opera-House
Act Fifth:
- Scene I. Elba - The Quay, Porto Ferrajo
- Scene II. Vienna - The Imperial Palace
- Scene III. La Mure, near Grenoble
- Scene IV. Schonbrunn
- Scene V. London - The Old House of Commons
- Scene VI. Wessex - Durnover Green, Casterbridge
Act Sixth:
- Scene I. The Belgian Frontier
- Scene II. A Ballroom in Brussels
- Scene III. Charleroi - Napoleon's Quarters
- Scene IV. A Chamber overlooking a Main Street in Brussels
- Scene V. The Field of Ligny
- Scene VI. The Field of Quatre-Bras
- Scene VII. Brussels - The Place Royale
- Scene VIII. The Road to Waterloo
Act Seventh:
- Scene I. The Field of Waterloo
- Scene II. The Same - The French Position
- Scene III. Saint Lambert's Chapel Hill
- Scene IV. The Field of Waterloo - The English Position
- Scene V. The Same - The Women's Camp near Mont Saint-Jean
- Scene VI. The Same - The French Position
- Scene VII. The Same - The English Position
- Scene VIII. The Same - Later
- Scene IX. The Wood of Bossu
After Scene. The Overworld
Analysis
Hardy regarded The Dynasts as his magnum opusMasterpiece
Masterpiece in modern usage refers to a creation that has been given much critical praise, especially one that is considered the greatest work of a person's career or to a work of outstanding creativity, skill or workmanship....
and devoted much of his later life to its completion, but the work was not well-received and later critics have seen little reason to reverse that judgement. There is a case to be made, however, for the drama's having pioneered techniques that would later be regarded as characterising literary Modernism
Modernism
Modernism, in its broadest definition, is modern thought, character, or practice. More specifically, the term describes the modernist movement, its set of cultural tendencies and array of associated cultural movements, originally arising from wide-scale and far-reaching changes to Western society...
. Moreover, The Dynasts remains of interest to those studying Hardy's novels, both for the insight into his world-view and for its examination of a character mentioned famously but briefly at the end of Tess of the d'Urbervilles
Tess of the d'Urbervilles
Tess of the d'Urbervilles: A Pure Woman Faithfully Presented, also known as Tess of the d'Urbervilles: A Pure Woman, Tess of the d'Urbervilles or just Tess, is a novel by Thomas Hardy, first published in 1891. It initially appeared in a censored and serialised version, published by the British...
: the "President of the Immortals".
The design of The Dynasts is extremely ambitious, and because of its coverage of historical events of the same era, has received comparison to Tolstoy's War and Peace
War and Peace
War and Peace is a novel by the Russian author Leo Tolstoy, first published in 1869. The work is epic in scale and is regarded as one of the most important works of world literature...
. Emma Clifford has written that Hardy used Tolstoy's novel as one of many sources of inspiration for the work, and in fact owned an early translation. However, it was not necessarily as a primary source, as Hardy also drew on the History of Europe by Archibald Alison
Sir Archibald Alison, 1st Baronet
Sir Archibald Alison, 1st Baronet FRSE was a Scottish advocate and historian. He held several prominent legal appointments. He was the younger son of the Episcopalian cleric and author Archibald Alison...
, among others.
Hardy juxtaposes scenes of ordinary life with scenes involving the principal historical figures of the age, and concentrating on their desire to found dynasties in order to preserve their power. There are extensive descriptions of landscape and battle scenes that are characterised by shifts of visual perspective that, in the opinion of John Wain, anticipate cinematic techniques. George Witter Sherman has postulated on Hardy's observations of life in London as influences on elements of The Dynasts. Elna Sherman has discussed Hardy's references to music and songs in the work. Anna Henchman has written about Hardy's use of imagery in the manner of astronomical observation at great distances from the earth in this work. Lawrence Jones has analysed Hardy's idiosyncrasies in his manner of narrative in The Dynasts. J.O. Bailey has postulated an analogy of the Spirits in The Dynasts with other Mephistopheles-like figures in literature, and in relation to the Book of Job.