Reading Byron's dramas through the conceptual framework of modern play theory helps us appreciate the works of 1820–2 as a unique experimental project. If we focus on Byron’s transgressive playfulness both in terms of genre expectations and the ethos of his original sources (ranging from the Bible and the apocrypha to historical accounts and popular fictional narratives), we may disambiguate some of the more persistent critical quandaries, such as Byron's unsystematic thinking or lack of dramatic rigueur. Rather than aloof carelessness, these dramas clearly attest to Byron’s critical insight into the limits of the authoritative, be it religious or historical, and form a key part of his lifelong exploration of liberty, where the personal is inextricably linked to the political. Play, and playing, for Byron, is one of the key concepts of cultural history.

Chapter Eight seeks to approach the intangible subject of the cognitive map for literature from a number of overlapping directions which all point towards a particular model for readerly mapping. Approaching the subject through reader-response theory, ancient models of memory-mapping, and cognitive map theory, the chapter defines a doubled (combined) model of mapping for literary space and place. The book concludes by considering ways forward for the mapping of literature in and through the digital medium in the light of this cognitive model. (83)