Author Archives: bk145564

Posts: 4 (archived below)
Comments: 2

About bk145564

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The Changeling

Posted on May 7, 2013 by bk145564

Beatrice and De Flores’ relationship in The Changeling was very peculiar to me. Throughout the play she was disgusted by him, but when taking him up on his service she was then almost attached to his fate. The first introduction the audience has of their relationship is De Flores coming to talk to her but then she cuts him off showing her dominating status over him. It wasn’t until her passion for another man led her to the beginning of her end.

Beatrice was flirting with her demise when she flirted with De Flores to get him to kill Antonio. At this point she shows a break in the social boundaries by telling De Flores to stand up, rising him to her level. After committing the act, De Flores comes back to gain his reward. Accept, contrary to what Beatrice thinks, the reward he seeks is much greater then any monetary value. I saw this as him outsmarting Beatrice and making her in debt to him.

By neither of the characters specifying the reward for De Flores’ servitude, it places him in the perfect position. As soon as she asked him for his help she sealed her fate. De Flores was then able to gain the upper hand and this is truly the point where they become equal. Him physically then taking her virginity enforces that she just gave away her power. Her virginity was in fact the thing that made her most desirable, and without it she was then portrayed as less then.

At the end when De Flores stabs Beatrice is again another peculiar scene. She cries out in a mixture of pain and pleasure confusing to those that hear it. De Flores was not only to blame for her loss of status but now her loss of life. As they died by each other it almost seems poetic, but the fact that he stabbed her just shows how desperate he was to be so truly equal if not overpowering her.

Posted in Life vs. Death, Power struggles, Psychological detail, The Changeling | 2 Comments

A Strong Female Force

Posted on April 22, 2013 by bk145564

The Duchess of Malfi is a tragedy  that clearly depicts female social issues. Since this play illustrates the Duchess going against the male figures in her life, it is ironic to realize females were still not allowed to act on stage. When the Duchess chose to marry Antonio, she put her desire before what her brothers wanted. This showed her using power to make her own decisions.

Both Ferdinand and the Cardinal tried to control the Duchess. They prove to have no boundaries and even go to the extent of murdering at an attempt to regain their power. The brothers keep Bosola under their control until he realizes once again payment isn’t guaranteed. At the end, the character they used to destroy others (Bosola) ends up destroying them. Furthermore, the more they tried to control the Duchess the more everything spun out of control.

Even though it may seem the play ended on a bitter note for the Duchess and female empowerment, there was still hope. The eldest son of Antonio and the Duchess shows their actions were not all in vein. The Duchess still maintained control of her estate by having it left to her child from the husband she chose. This play depicts women to have a great deal of power by showing the danger of trying to trap in a strong, independent, female character.

Posted in Power struggles, Psychological detail, The Duchess of Malfi, Tragedy | 1 Comment

Shoemaker’s Holiday

Posted on March 16, 2013 by bk145564

Thomas Dekker’s play The Shoemaker’s Holiday is based around the buying and selling of goods. His play is a working class success story showing that true human value is measured in honest work instead of high class and social connections. During the time the play was written England was going through financial expansion and capitalism was on the rise. Throughout the play, the labor of shoemaking becomes a disguise in helping Lacy and Eyre to succeed.

Simon Eyre began the play as a middle-class shoemaker. After luck and with the help of Lacy, he ends up the Lord Mayor of London. However, it wasn’t the actual shoemaking which caused him financial gain but from pretending to be wealthy and sneakily buying a very profitable ship of goods. Lacy had helped him to do this buy getting the ship’s skipper drunk and giving him a down payment. He was then able to make his social climb.

In the same way Lacy set Eyre up in gaining his fortune, Eyre also gave Lacy the opportunity to work for him. Lacy, disguised as a Dutch shoemaker, was able to reconnect with Rose and ended up fitting her for shoes. At that point they then planned out their marriage. Ralph was also another main male character caught in a romance plot. However, shoemaking did not take the same disguise as it did for Lacy; instead the aftermath of war did. Ralph went off to war and came back physically unrecognizable. Unable to find his wife, he went back to the craft of shoemaking. While working, a servingman comes acquiring a shoe to be made for Hammon and his bride. He also gave a shoe to fit for size and Ralph realizes it is his wife who is to be married. Realizing his wife is alive, he is able to find her and take her home where she belongs.

All three of these men were able to obtain what they wanted through honest labor but very different approaches. Eyre shows human value by being an honest shoemaker most of his career. Although his gain of the ship was sneaky, it was given freely. By him helping Lacy and hiring him, it brought him success. Lacy’s new job of being a shoemaker and working helped him to get the girl. Ralph was honest throughout the play and went off to war even when he was just married. Even after war he continued to labor making shoes and was connected with his wife again. Shoemaking in this play was used to symbolize honest work of the middle class and the triumphs gained from it.

 

Posted in Comedy, Power struggles, The Shoemaker's Holiday, Uncategorized | 1 Comment

Tragedy to Comedy

Posted on February 25, 2013 by bk145564

After reading Kyd’s play, The Spanish Tragedy, and switching over to Lily’s comedy play, Endymion, there is quite a drastic change. It is obvious that this play was in fact written for Queen Elizabeth with her representation shown through Cynthia. It is interesting to notice the different style of the plays when they are made to be performed to different audiences. The plays themselves take on a mask and become much like the actors, fulfilling a certain role to please others.

Endymion takes on very different, mystical characters. It is extremely unrealistic in showing both godly and human characters conversing and taking notice of each other in the same world, but realistic in the emotions felt by the characters. Like most plays around this time, emotions were acted out rashly. However, unlike The Spanish Tragedy, there seemed to be more thought before the characters acted out purely for love. Eumenides proved this in his choice of Endymion over Semele. Furthermore, Cynthia had to act reasonable and realized being with Endymion would not be realistic. Instead of killing and seeking revenge on pure emotion, this play showed more logical sense while still being completely unreal.

Compared to a play taking a point of view and trying to promote a social idea, Endymion’s main purpose was to please Queen Elizabeth. The importance of friendship was shown but this play lacked a sense of social structure in the way that The Spanish Tragedy promoted. Showing her as Cynthia put her above mortals, not by choice but because it was her duty. It is ironic however that in both plays the women hold all of the power, and man’s fate seems to be directly tied to them.

Posted in Endymion | 2 Comments