Edward Bulwer Lytton

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A detailed critique of Sophocles’ principal plays (Oedipus Tyrannus and at Coloneus, Antigone, Electra, Trachiniae, Ajax, Philoctetes) that praises his consummate theatrical art—mastery of concentrated pathos, character-contrasts, and stage-effect—while noting occasional defects (excessive appeal to physical pain, episodic unity). It contrasts Sophocles’ humane, actor‑oriented drama with Aeschylus’ loftier, less theatrical sublimity and situates Sophocles as the poetic embodiment of Periclean Athens.

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During the reign of Philip III the ambitious upstart Roderigo Calderon rises to virtual power at court by intrigue, patronage and alliance with Lerma and the king’s confessor, while contending with rivals (notably the Duke d’Uzeda) and the profligate prince. A love triangle over the novice Beatriz Coello — beloved by Don Martin Fonseca and coveted by the prince — leads to Beatriz’s flight, Calderon’s revelation that she is his daughter and her death in the ensuing struggle. Calderon is then arrested by the Inquisition, tried and executed amid factional reprisals that precipitate the fall of Lerma’s party and the rise of Gaspar de Guzmán (Olivares).

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Ernest Maltravers, crushed by a virulent review of his newly published book and by Florence Lascelles’s ruin and death—caused by Castruccio Cesarini’s forgery—vows vengeance.
At the confrontation Cesarini is mad; Maltravers spares and tends him, then quits England in self‑exile while Lord Vargrave prospers, and the tale closes with a sombre reflection on fate’s unequal distribution of suffering.

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Percy Godolphin, an idealistic and indolent man, is torn between the devoted, visionary Lucilla Volktman and the proud, ambitious Constance Vernon, whom he ultimately marries while remaining haunted by guilt.
Lucilla, driven by superstition and despair, seeks him out, prophesies danger, and dies after a final, fatal meeting that jolts Godolphin into remorse and a brief turn toward public life.
Awakened too late, Godolphin drowns in a stormy ford; Constance survives, mourning him and reflecting on the social and moral causes of their tragedy.

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End of text. A public-domain edition was provided by Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org). Thanks to their volunteers for preserving and digitizing classic literature.

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Young Kenelm Chillingly, heir of an old house, becomes enamoured of Lily Mordaunt, the naive, poetic ward of the artist Walter Melville, and their growing intimacy is strained by class scruples and rival claims. Melville, who also loves Lily, is chosen as her protector and would‑be husband, but Lily dies young—leaving a last, private note and a returned ring that reveal her deep, conflicted feeling for Kenelm and plunge him into grief. Crushed yet chastened, Kenelm wanders abroad, then returns resolved to put his energies into public life rather than into romantic idealism.

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A contested claim to the Beaufort estates unfolds: Philip, the long‑lost son of Catherine Morton, reappears and, despite Lord Lilburne’s and Robert Beaufort’s manoeuvres to suppress evidence and buy witnesses, a recovered parish register and credible testimony vindicate his birth and title. The family is reconstituted by two marriages (Sidney with Camilla; Philip with Fanny), Robert Beaufort dies reconciled, Lilburne escapes public punishment, and the story closes on domestic stability at Beaufort Court.

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William Brandon, an ambitious, proud judge who had secretly married and later betrayed a young wife and lost his son (Paul), rises to legal eminence while concealing his past. At the trial of the highwayman Lovett—revealed to be Paul/Clifford—witnesses expose the connection and Clifford accuses Brandon of having set him on a criminal path; Brandon collapses and dies soon after the verdict, and Clifford's death sentence is commuted to transportation. Years later Clifford (with his wife) is shown to have reformed abroad as a respected benefactor, Lucy Brandon disappears from England and other minor characters meet varied fates.

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Gertrude, seduced by Tyrrell, lapses into madness and dies; Sir Reginald Glanville, racked by grief, vows revenge and contrives Tyrrell’s ruin, but when Tyrrell is murdered Glanville becomes the prime suspect. Pelham, with the rogue Job Jonson, extracts Dawson’s confession that he and Thornton committed the murder; Thornton is arrested and condemned and Glanville is exonerated. Pelham marries Ellen, Glanville soon dies, and the narrator withdraws to the country, reflecting on love, guilt and the solace of study.

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Cola di Rienzi, after acquittal at Avignon and Papal recognition, returns to Rome as Senator and seeks to restore law, order and civic militias while courting power and popular devotion. Walter de Montreal’s mercenary politics and secret dealings with the Barons culminate in his arrest and execution, intensifying factional tensions. Rienzi’s fiscal measures to pay citizen legions (the gabelle), combined with unreliable foreign troops and noble conspiracies, provoke a popular uprising; deserted and betrayed, he is captured and murdered as the Capitol burns.

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An American adventurer exploring a mine falls into a hidden, highly advanced subterranean civilisation (the Vril-ya) that wields a universal force called “vril,” with strange technologies, winged inhabitants, long life, and a pacific but absolute social order. Hosted by Aph‑Lin’s family, he learns their language and lore, is loved by the powerful Gy Zee, and barely escapes when the community’s ruthless capacity for destruction and its political customs imperil him. He returns aboveground to record the marvels and to warn that such a superior subterranean race could one day threaten humanity.

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During gladiatorial games a web of intrigue unfolds—Nydia's testimony exposes Arbaces and exonerates Glaucus—but before justice is secured Vesuvius erupts, annihilating Pompeii; Glaucus and Ione escape by sea while Nydia disappears and many perish. Years later Glaucus, converted to Christianity, settles in Athens and reflects on the catastrophe and the city's eventual archaeological recovery.

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Courtly factionalism and familial treachery—Isabel’s intrigue with Clarence, Warwick’s alliance with Lancaster, and Edward’s return—drive successive reversals that culminate at the Battle of Barnet.
Parallel personal strands—Hastings torn between Sibyll Warner and Katherine Bonville, Adam Warner’s inventive labours, and Sibyll’s abduction by Friar Bungey—intersect the political struggle and yield betrayal, exile, and mourning.
Science and superstition collide as Warner’s Eureka is coveted and Bungey manipulates omens; fog, misrecognition, and artillery confusion turn the field, costing Warwick and Montagu their lives and restoring the Yorkist cause.