The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Grecian Daughter, by Arthur Murphy

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Title: The Grecian Daughter

Author: Arthur Murphy

Commentator: Elizabeth Inchbald

Release Date: October 16, 2009 [EBook #30271]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

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[Illustration: GRECIAN DAUGHTER

EUPHRASIA.--BEHOLD ALL SICILY BEHOLD!
THE POINT GLOWS WITH THE TYRANTS BLOOD

PAINTED BY B. COOK. PUBLISH'D BY LONGMAN AND CO. ENGRAV'D BY A. SMITH. A.
1806]

THE GRECIAN DAUGHTER;

A TRAGEDY,
IN FIVE ACTS;

BY ARTHUR MURPHY, ESQ.

AS PERFORMED AT THE
THEATRE ROYAL, COVENT GARDEN.

PRINTED UNDER THE AUTHORITY OF THE MANAGERS
FROM THE PROMPT BOOK.

WITH REMARKS
BY MRS. INCHBALD.

LONDON:

PRINTED FOR LONGMAN, HURST, REES, AND ORME,
PATERNOSTER ROW.

WILLIAM SAVAGE, PRINTER,
BEDFORD BURY, LONDON.

REMARKS.

This tragedy has been so rapturously applauded on the stage, and so
severely criticised in the closet, that it is a task of peculiar
difficulty to speak either of its beauties or its defects, with any
degree of certainty. To conciliate both the auditor and the reader, both
the favourable and the unfavourable critic, the "Grecian Daughter"
demands a set of Remarks for each side of the question--and the
good-natured side shall have precedence.

This play had, on its first appearance, the most brilliant success, and
still holds a place in the list of dramas performed during every season.
There is a splendour of decoration, a glow of martial action, events of
such deep interest, and, above all, a moral of such excellent tendency,
which concludes the performance, that its attraction can readily be
accounted for, without the slightest imputation upon the judgment of the
public.

Perhaps, of all the events recorded in history, that filial piety, on
which the fable of this play is founded, may be classed among the most
affecting--yet it was one the most hazardous for a dramatist to adopt;
for nothing less than complete skill could have given to this singular
occurre