ABSTRACT
‘ Melodrama ’, a term deriving from the use of music to support emotion, covers a vast output of sensational plays, sometimes said to start with Holcroft's A Tale of Mystery, from the French of Pixerecourt, in 1802. Melodrama could also be called a development both from the more inward sensationalism of Gothic drama and from the heroic tradition. Victorian drama likes fresh air, and this is well provided by J. B. Buckstone. Irish country is more than scene and setting; it is entangled at every point with the stories; rocks and caves, sea and lochs, boats, storms, chapels, all contribute. Tom Taylor is typically Victorian in his high rating of the domestic emotions in contrast to personal ambition. Tom Taylor is typically Victorian in his high rating of the domestic emotions in contrast to personal ambition. Poetic dramas too showed a strong moral tone.
