Abstract

This article looks at Edmund Burke’s rhetoric of pathos and spectacular performance at the trial of the first Governor-General of Bengal, Warren Hastings (1788-95). It considers how the acting style and the roles interpreted by contemporary celebrated performers – specifically, David Garrick and Sarah Siddons – had a considerable impact on Burke’s speeches and exaggerated theatricality. Focusing on the “Speech on the Opening of the Impeachmentµ, I argue that, within an already theatricalized matrix of public interest, Burke largely based his prosecution on emotions rather than on legal proofs.