Jacobean Revenge Tragedy

7/18/2019 Jacobean Revenge Tragedy

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JACOBEAN REVENGE

TRAGEDY

Type of drama, particularly associated with theElizabethan and Jacobean periods, in whichrevenge is the central motive

‘tragedy of blood’, death, stabbing – violent display ofemotions (Senecan influence)

Late Renaissance prototype: Thomas Kyds TheSpanish Tragedy !"#$#%"#$&'

(hristopher )arlowes The Jew of Malta !"#$&' John )arstons Antonio’s Revenge !"#&&'

Thomas )iddletons The Revenger’s Tragedy !"*+*'

illiam -ha.espeares Hamlet, Prince of Denmar!"*+"'



158s and 15!s revenge tragedy

heroic tragedy (e"g" #hristopher $arlo%e’s Tamburlaine & Doctor Faustus)

domestic tragedy

general'specific political & social issues

hat happens %hen the rule of la% fails*

hat is the relationship bet%een private duties and private

responsibilities, especially %hen they conflict*

hat place does individual ambition have in a political state*

+o %hat etent does po%er corrupt*

hat -inds of political conflict are dangerous to the peace of the

state*



S+.#/ 02+34S

a Spanish or talianate setting symbolically indicates political'social corruption & decadence

enables the play%rights to discuss such issues in a setting that gives

them greater artistic and political freedom+reacherous act 6 disturbs balance of the universe 6 need for revenge,

restoration of balance 6 eacting of private revenge against acts of dishonour

6 yet avenger also dies 6 epiate for murder

scenes of real'feigned insanity

plays7%ithin7plays

scenes in graveyards, severed limbs, carnage'mutilation – scenes of

violence on the stage (violate decorum)

dar- %orld of corruption, perversion, blood and highly charged

passion

seemingly endless cycle of in9ury and retaliation



Formal developments

tragedy – clear structure begins in peace, ends in tempest: violent content: contemporary

relevance: moral closure

intensified interest in the psychology and interior life ofcharacters trapped by circumstance and the conse;uences oftheir actions

increased use of framing and 9utapositioning of scenes 7create different vie%points on the action < encourage the

audience to develop their o%n 9udgment on events andcharacters

increased eperimentation in form 7 incorporation of subplots

comic elements to disturb audience’s epectations

tragicomedy 6 eplicitly redemptive ending



+= >2#.?2@ 42

period of intense disillusion in the national life decline of landed %ealth 7 pursuit of moneyma-ing in its place

Aueen liBabeth’s death 7 absence of the magic of sovereignty in hersuccessor

series of conspiracies aimed at the throne 7 Cunpo%der Dlot

brea-do%n of established standards & beliefs 7 reflected in the drama

younger generation of tragedians

grim & sceptical

aare o! inner contradictionscondemnator" and satirical in tone

>ohn $arston

>ohn ebster

#yril +ourneur

+homas $iddleton Ceorge #hapman



#n!l$ences on Jaco%ean

Traged"

doctrines o! ac'iavelli 7 peculiar fascination

upon the liBabethans

pragmatic creed

techni;ue for overcoming the vicissitudes of fortune

haBards of the struggle for po%er

assumption 7 natural %ea-ness and %ic-edness of men

character of the ac'iavellian intrig$er ' villain



T'eories o! traged"

1" Cree- tragedy and theory

E" the medieval mystery & morality plays



1" Cree- tragedy and theory

2ristotle’s account of drama ( Poetics) – first epounded in the4enaissance by Scaliger – influential but una%are that effectivedrama could transcend the constraints of realism and decorum

because of its fictional status

theory of the unities – neo7classic critics tragedies hadto strictly conform to the unities of time, place, action

(e%ster)s address to t'e reader* appended to t'eWhite Devil

positions himself in the line of the Cree- tragedians(compares himself to uripides, cites Cree- tragicconventions)

his vie% of tragedy, his understanding of 2ristotelian ideason tragedy



If it be objected this is no true dramatic poem, I shall

easily confess it … willingly, and not ignorantly, in this

kind have I faulted For should a man present to such

an auditory, the most sententious tragedy that ever was

written, observing all the critical laws as height of

style, and gravity of person, enrich it with the

sententious !horus, and, as it were "ife and Death, in

the passionate and weighty #untius yet after all this

divine rapture … the breath that comes from the

incapable multitude is able to poison it$



his tragedy does not match critics’ definition of a ‘truedramatic poem’

1" ac-no%ledges the critical generic la%s stemming from

2ristotleE" he flouts those rules, partly bec of his contemporaryaudience

=is implicit account of tragic theory combines Cree- and

4oman tragedysententiousness

height of style

gravity of person

presence of a chorus and a messenger, or commentator(@untius)



ebster’s address to the reader recognition of certain

aspects of Cree- tragedy

1" decorum & content he could have observed la%s about the

height of style and gravity of persons

E" structural function of the chorus – transposes into his o%n

plays onto characters li-e ?osola – comment upon the action

and motives of the great

F" he could have ‘lifen death’ %ith the characterisation of a

messenger figure, bringing ne%s of tragic deaths – ho%ever

implies that such – not fit for the audience for %hom he is

%riting the tragic mode has to adapt to the circumstances of

dramatic performance and production in his o%n time



?ut F -ey areas shared by 2ristotle and ebster

1" centrality of plot & its structural arrangement in

tragedy

E" characterisation through action

F" the messenger %ho %ould ‘lifen death’ by narrating on

stage the off7stage tragic denouement is brought

literally onto the stage by ebster and his

contemporaries the passion & %eight he attributes tothe messenger’s narration becomes part of the action

observed and felt directly by the audience



ebster’s invocation of the 4oman tradition

Seneca – tragedian most studied during liBabethan

and >acobean periods

strict formal pattern focus on protagonist’s revenge for an

act of dishonour against himself or his family, usually ending

in everyone’s death

stated aim of such tragedies to learn political and personal

stoicism fortune can thro% endless disasters at us, but

ac;uiescence, detachment and submission to one’s fate

produces a %iser man

sententiae (succinct proverbial phrases)

‘sententious tragedy’ (ebster’s phrase)



+toic p'ilosop'" emphasis 7 dying %ell, dignity

plays of Seneca % Thyestes, &gamemnon, 'edea

a guide to conduct in misfortunetaste for realistic descriptions o! %lood" actions andp'"sical tort$re

sententio$s morali,ing

calamit" 7 regarded as insepara%le !rom t'e '$mancondition

defiant courage of the hero, %hich enables him to preservehis integrity

ebster self7consciously placed his o%n %or- %ithin

this tradition



E" +he medieval mystery &

morality plays

practice of tragedy %ithin the #hristian $orality and

$ystery tradition through interpretative narratives

about ?iblical events

%ithin this frame%or- tragedy G the story of the 0all

by analogy any temptation, %hich could eventually be

redeemed through repentance and rebirth

the nglish $orality Dlays – performed didactic, allegorised

tales about the temptations of the devil (Hice) on $an-ind,

embroilment in corruption, eventual punishment of Hice, &

re%ard for a virtuous $an-ind

tragedy defended as a moral mode 7 ebster’s

tragedies – %ithin this morality contet



• 2ll these conceptions 7 vital part in the

tragedy of the period

• II o%sessive preocc$pation it' deat'

al%ays li-ely to provide the clima of a tragedy

but to the liBabethans and >acobeans G playJs very

raison d’Ktre,

end of human achievement

embodiment of the final and the terrible

emblems and disguises of death, memento mori – the s-ull, the

%orm, the grave



Jo'n (e%ster (15L871MFE)

first mention of his dramatic career 7 dated 1ME 7

collaboration

° play !aesar(s Fall

° "ady )ane

° !hristmas !omes *ut +nce & ear (1ME)

° -estward .o (1MN) and #orthward .o (1M5)

° The Devil(s "aw%!ase (1M1)

° The -hite Devil , 1M1E

° The Duchess of 'alfi – 1M1F

° 1M15 7 !haracters



T/E 01(/E-- 23 )4L35

Ointegrity of lifeO published in 1MEF

court life of the talian 4enaissance

fierce ;uest of pleasure

rec-lessness of crime

%orldliness of the great leaders of the #hurch

inherent corruption and despair of humanity

good and evil G inverted

only motivation for any character is self7interest

tragedy of blood and revenge

+" S" liot 7 P-ebster was much possessed by death and saw the skull beneath the skin/



Quchess’ ordeal

compromises her integrity *

%eb of deceit and subterfuge – conceals her offence

tragic figure 7 in the process of suffering develops in

stat$re dignity and refusal to succumb to influence

overthro%s patriarchal authority

follo%s her o%n moral compass

ignores social and political pressuresremains the epitome of virtue even in the most horrificcircumstances

virtue R dignity in the face of death

t'eme 7 %omanJs passion pursued in defiance of the social code



.ppressive atmosphere

terrors of madness, %itchcraft, and the

supernatural

sombre half7%orld, poised bet%een deathand life

nightmarish rhythm of the duchessJ

persecutionacts %ith stoic resignation



-lot

based on historical events

?andelloJs novels adapted into 0rench by ?elleforest 7translated into nglish by illiam Dainter Palace of

Pleasure (15MM) 7 cautionary tale

ebster, ho%ever 7 tale of suffering ' tragedy

ordeal 7 his heroine≠

confined to violence and deathebsterJs moral scheme

Quchess’ murder – avenged

?osolaJs gradual a%a-ening to the ini;uity of his

service



duchessJ ordeal 7 horrifying 7 lac- of an eplicit motive

*** innocent victim of her brothersJ 9ealousy, suspicion,

and greed

action moves on the psychological plane to the frontiers of

madness

a limbo of suffering 7 purgatory

time and place 7 suspendeddeprived 7 cherishes mosthusband, children, position, very

identity

loses all desire to live 7 passes beyond 7 state of defiant self7

assertion ( OI am Duchess of 'alfi stillO)

Jacobean Revenge Tragedy

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