16th and 17th century drama
The Duchess of Malfi as a Revenge Tragedy
“The Duchess of Malfi” by John Webster is a kind of Revenge Tragedy modeled on Seneca, the Latin playwright of 1st century A.D. This play is considered as one of the best plays of Webster and as a Revenge Tragedy, it is considered as the best tragedy after Shakespeare's containing almost all the characteristics of Revenge Tragedy. This play contains the depth of extreme violence, plotting and mostly revenge on the best part which are the chief elements of revenge tragedy. However, The Duchess of Malfi contains full of such terrifying, hair-raising situations from the beginning to the end. However, he we want to consider The Duchess of Malfi as a Revenge Tragedy, we need to know what we mean by revenge tragedy and its major conventions.
Revenge Tragedy: The name Revenge Tragedy arose from the Senecan tradition of making revenge the motive force for the action that leads to the tragedy. The characteristics of Revenge Tragedy are:
01. The story should centre on characters of noble birth.
02. The narrative should involve in complex plotting.
03. There should be murders
04. There should obviously be a desire for revenge.
05. The plot should involve physical horrors such as poisoning and torture.
06. Order should be restored at the end of the play.
07. The presence of supernatural elements
08. Brutal human impulses is the essential subject matter and it turns into complex, often deeply thought provoking aesthetic experiences.
However, the Latin playwright, Seneca, is considered to be one who established the revenge play tradition. Horrors and violence predominated in the Senecan tragedies. Thomas Kyd brought in the revenge tradition to English drama with his play The Spanish Tragedy. Later the tradition was practiced by other playwrights before Webster.
The Duchess of Malfi as a Revenge Tragedy: If we want to consider The Duchess of Malfi as a Revenge Tragedy from the light of the characterizations of
“The Duchess of Malfi” by John Webster is a kind of Revenge Tragedy modeled on Seneca, the Latin playwright of 1st century A.D. This play is considered as one of the best plays of Webster and as a Revenge Tragedy, it is considered as the best tragedy after Shakespeare's containing almost all the characteristics of Revenge Tragedy. This play contains the depth of extreme violence, plotting and mostly revenge on the best part which are the chief elements of revenge tragedy. However, The Duchess of Malfi contains full of such terrifying, hair-raising situations from the beginning to the end. However, he we want to consider The Duchess of Malfi as a Revenge Tragedy, we need to know what we mean by revenge tragedy and its major conventions.
Revenge Tragedy: The name Revenge Tragedy arose from the Senecan tradition of making revenge the motive force for the action that leads to the tragedy. The characteristics of Revenge Tragedy are:
01. The story should centre on characters of noble birth.
02. The narrative should involve in complex plotting.
03. There should be murders
04. There should obviously be a desire for revenge.
05. The plot should involve physical horrors such as poisoning and torture.
06. Order should be restored at the end of the play.
07. The presence of supernatural elements
08. Brutal human impulses is the essential subject matter and it turns into complex, often deeply thought provoking aesthetic experiences.
However, the Latin playwright, Seneca, is considered to be one who established the revenge play tradition. Horrors and violence predominated in the Senecan tragedies. Thomas Kyd brought in the revenge tradition to English drama with his play The Spanish Tragedy. Later the tradition was practiced by other playwrights before Webster.
The Duchess of Malfi as a Revenge Tragedy: If we want to consider The Duchess of Malfi as a Revenge Tragedy from the light of the characterizations of