ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book concerns how Coleridge invents tragedy for himself, using materials from various literary and philosophical traditions. It surveys critics who claim that there is no such thing as Romantic tragedy' and others who use the term only in reference to a small body of plays by the major authors. While this critical context is important, the tragic is a deeply personal concept to Coleridge. Aeschylus' tragedy Persians explores the mass bereavement following war, but while the epic Iliad also concerns war, pathos does not emerge as the dominant trait of a poem steeped in the details of combat and the nature of heroism. The solution of David Farrell Krell is to define tragedy in very general terms, which resonate with philosophical readings of tragedy but also seem to strip the tradition of any political or historical significance.
