English Literature paper 2

Revenge Tragedy:

Address the wrongs of the judicial system, often crimes went unpunished

Great Chain Of Being

Everything is placed into hierarchy - God being at the top

Madness

Imbalance of the 4 Humours

Supernatural Influences

Astrology

Murder via Poison

unmasculine and dishonourable

Petty Treason

Killing someone within your household structure of someone superior

Interpretations

In 2008, David Tennant wears a muscle t-shirt to emphasise masculinity

“To be or not to be” peripheral state, two rooms, symbolic of his contemplation

1964 version Richard Burton acts in a restless and twitchy manner to reflect his conflicting desires

critical quotes & critics

“Ophelia is stifled in a male world”

“pleasing men is in Gertrude’s interests”

“Hamlet cannot carry out the murder of Claudius because he identifies with him too much”

“Even in her madness she has no voice of her own”

Elizabeth

No heir to the throne, the future of the country was uncertain

promoted those who she favored rather than those who merited the position

spies to uncover plots against her, often checked letters to prevent her death ( created fears around secrecy within the court reflected via Hamlets spying and Secrecy)

Religon

Christians believed it was a sin to marry your brother’s widow

religious turmoil: ambiguous beliefs surrounding the ghost represent the religious uncertainty

Catholicism: Ghosts are purgatorial, they visit Earth to do good deeds and go to heaven

Protestants: Ghosts are an evil force making you do bad things on behalf of Satan, picking on the vulnerable

extreme grief

not acceptable, the imagination was considered dangerous for those grieving, constructing fantasies about the dead

Quotes:

To be or not to be that is the question

There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so

A little more than kin and less than kind.

Revenge is foul and most unnatural murder. - GHOST

O villain, villain, smiling damned villain!

A STREET CAR NAMED DESIRE:

Williams sister rose had a lobotomy and suffered in a mental institution

Williams was a homosexual, he also turned to drinking and drugs

Dubois family was built on the slave trade, abolished in the 1890’s

The New south meant the Dubois had less money

THE DUCHESS OF MALFI

King James had favourites, that he found attractive

the use of strange females was very unusual, female characters would be played by males

ASCND - stage directions

Blanche is frightened by a cat at the beginning

Stanley wears blue denim - working class

“Her white clothes suggest a moth” white is innocent moths are drawn to light

“He hurls a plate to the floor”

DOM QUOTES

Whether we fall by ambition, blood or lust,
Like diamonds we are cut with our own dust.

I am Duchess of Malfi Still

DOM interpretations and critical quotes

'This play is the tragedy of a virtuous woman who achieves heroism through her death' - Webster's feministic leanings