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