Four Revenge Tragedies

Author: Thomas Kyd
Publisher: A&C Black
ISBN: 1472573579
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 596

Book Description
Francis Bacon described revenge as a 'kind of wild justice'. Then as now, early modern playwrights and their theatre-going public were fascinated by the anarchic energies that a desire for retribution unleashes. Rather than rehearsing familiar conventions, each of these plays presents a unique social and cultural milieu where dark fantasies of revenge are variously played out. In Kyd's The Spanish Tragedy a grieving father seeks public justice for the murder of his son by envious princelings. When his attempts are thwarted he turns a court spectacle of murder into the 'real' thing. Blackly comic in its tone and style, The Revenger's Tragedy (anon.) presents vengeance as mimetic art, witty and cruel. Ford's 'Tis Pity She's a Whore represents an innovative re-working of the genre as a brother's love for his sister leads to his spectacular revenge on his rival, her husband, in a society in which brutal retaliation for perceived wrong is the norm. In Webster's The White Devil crimes of passion ignite revenge in the courts of the Italian city states. This student edition contains fully annotated, modernized texts of each play together with an introduction discussing the dramatic and poetic style of each play, focusing on its action and play of ideas.

Four Revenge Tragedies

Author: Katharine Eisaman Maus
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN: 9780192838780
Category : Drama
Languages : en
Pages : 468

Book Description
The Revenge Tragedy flourished in Britain in the late Elizabethan and Jacobean period for both literary and cultural reasons. Thomas Kyd's The Spanish Tragedy (1587) helped to establish the popularity of the genre, and it was followed by The Revenger's Tragedy (1606), published anonymously and ascribed first to Cyril Tourneur and then to Thomas Middleton. George Chapman's The Revenge of Bussy D'Ambois and Tourneur's The Atheist's Tragedy were written between 1609 and 1610. Each of the four plays printed here defines the problems of the revenge genre, often by exploiting its conventions in unexpected directions. All deal with fundamental moral questions about the meaning of justice and the lengths to which victimized individuals may go to obtain it, while registering the social strains of life in a rigid but increasingly fragile social hierarchy.

Five Revenge Tragedies

Author: Thomas Kyd
Publisher: Penguin UK
ISBN: 0141960469
Category : Drama
Languages : en
Pages : 826

Book Description
As the Elizabethan era gave way to the reign of James I, England grappled with corruption within the royal court and widespread religious anxiety. Dramatists responded with morally complex plays of dark wit and violent spectacle, exploring the nature of death, the abuse of power and vigilante justice. In Kyd's The Spanish Tragedy a father failed by the Spanish court seeks his own bloody retribution for his son's murder. Shakespeare's 1603 version of Hamlet creates an avenging Prince of unique psychological depth, while Chettle's The Tragedy of Hoffman is a fascinating reworking of Hamlet's themes, probably for a rival theatre company. In Marston's Antonio's Revenge, thwarted love leads inexorably to gory reprisals and in Middleton's The Revenger's Tragedy, malcontent Vindice unleashes an escalating orgy of mayhem on a debauched Duke for his bride's murder, in a ferocious satire reflecting the mounting disillusionment of the age. Emma Smith's introduction considers the political and religious climate behind the plays and the dramatic conventions within them. This edition includes a chronology, playwrights' biographies and suggestions for further reading.

Bussy D'Ambois and The Revenge of Bussy D'Ambois

Author: George Chapman
Publisher: BoD - Books on Demand
ISBN:
Category : Poetry
Languages : en
Pages : 294

Book Description
"Bussy D'Ambois" and "The Revenge of Bussy D'Ambois" by George Chapman are two captivating plays that offer a compelling exploration of honor, ambition, and the pursuit of power in Renaissance France. Set against the backdrop of the French Wars of Religion, the plays follow the tumultuous life and tragic fate of the charismatic nobleman Bussy D'Ambois. In "Bussy D'Ambois," we are introduced to the titular character, a gallant and ambitious courtier who becomes embroiled in the deadly rivalries and intrigues of the French court. As Bussy navigates the treacherous world of politics and romance, he finds himself torn between his loyalty to his king and his own personal ambitions. "The Revenge of Bussy D'Ambois" continues the story as Bussy seeks vengeance for the betrayal and murder of his beloved. Consumed by rage and driven by a thirst for justice, Bussy embarks on a quest for revenge that will ultimately lead to his own downfall.

Four Great Tragedies

Author: William Shakespeare
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780671601058
Category : English drama (Tragedy)
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Book Description
Contains Hamlet, Othello, King Lear and Macbeth. Copyright © Libri GmbH. All rights reserved.

Revenge Tragedies

Author: Bente A. Videbaek
Publisher: College Publishers
ISBN: 9780967912158
Category : Drama
Languages : en
Pages : 772

Book Description

The Revenger's Tragedy

Author: Cyril Tourneur
Publisher: U of Nebraska Press
ISBN: 9780803252844
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 168

Book Description
"An intense and horrible view of life."--T. S. Eliot "This drama must now be acknowledged, for dramtic power, for coherence of structure, for astonishing compression and consistency of language, and for superb unity of tone, surpassed in the whole Elizabethan repertory by only the few greatest plays."--Lawrence J. Ross In the family of passions none is more patient than hate. This masterpiece of the Elizabethan stage, first published in 1607, is a study of debauchery, deep offense, and the high cost of revenge. It is often compared to Hamlet for its relentless tension and its lecherous royalty. Its protagonist, Vindice, is one of the most memorable characters in all of Renaissance theater, a murderer who will not let a single enemy remain alive.

Renaissance Revivals

Author: Wendy Griswold
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 9780226309231
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 328

Book Description
Renaissance Revivals examines patterns in the London revivals of two English Renaissance theatre genres over the past four centuries. Griswold's focus on revenge tragedies and city comedies illuminates the ongoing interaction between society and its cultural products. No cultural object is ever created anew, she argues, but is instead constructed from existing cultural genres and conventions, the visions and professional needs of the artist, and the interests of an audience. Thus, every "new play" is in part a renaissance and every "revival" is in part an entirely new cultural object.

Four Revenge Tragedies (The Spanish Tragedy, The Revenger's Tragedy, The Revenge of Bussy D'Ambois, and The Atheist's Tragedy).

Author:
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781420949377
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 381

Book Description

Four Great Tragedies

Author: William Shakespeare
Publisher: Courier Corporation
ISBN: 0486440834
Category : Drama
Languages : en
Pages : 417

Book Description
Collects four of Shakspeare's tragedies, including Hamlet, Othello, and Macbeth.