A New Way to Pay Old Debts
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Category Archives: Uncategorized
Margaret and Her Poor Manners
Ah Margaret, the poor and oppressed daughter of Overreach who desires freedom and love. The perfect daughter who only wishes for good and justice and blah blah blah blah. Bah Margaret is an ungrateful girl who lusts after some idiot young noble that was foolish enough to lose standing and title. I mean look! Overreach worked long and hard making his fortune and provides everything for her! He gives her lovely gowns, brilliant jewelry, and even gives her the opportunity to marry a noble lord! How does she repay him? By marrying that little twat of a noble called Allworth and ruins him mentally. Some daughter she is.
Would she rather be toiling on a farm working her hands to the bone? Would she rather sell herself on the street to random men to make ends meet? Would she rather be sold off to slavery and work for some stranger? Frankly I think she has it quite good compared to other young women around her age. She lives in a nice house and has all manners of things available to her. The least she could do was respect her father and marry Lovell! I mean she doesn’t have to worry about starving on the streets! Or having to endure rape and torture by bandits that roam the countryside. No need to care about clothing during those cold, bitter winter months. So Margaret isn’t this oppressed poor girl that she’s made out to be. No she’s just a spoiled little brat that couldn’t see what she had and decided to destroy her father. Some daughter she turned out to be!
(Just wanted to play the other side.)
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Overreach: Ambitious and an Enemy
Out of all the characters in A New Way to Pay Old Debts, Overreach acts out of radically private motives. He views everyone around him as rivals and he views a conflict based on winning or losing. He was also an ambitious character who would do anything to dominate in order to succeed in his plans. Margaret, his daughter and Marall were two people Overreach sought to dominate in order for his ambitions to go through,but since that failed, so did his plans and schemes.
Not only does Overreach want to be one step ahead of the others, he also laughs at the misfortunes of the other characters. He was a social climber who would do anything to climb up the ladder. Unlike other characters, who were good, Overreach acts against his past, denying it and not bound and respecting it. He also threatens his daughter Margaret to marry and was not a redeemable character because of his undesirable behavior and believes that “losers weepers, finders keepers” as a setting in his world.
Posted in A New Way to Pay Old Debts, Uncategorized
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Beatrice-joanna: Victim of desperation
Was Beatrice really a sociopath or was she just desperate? I sympathize with Beatrice because even though she was responsible for the deaths of two innocent people, it seems she didn’t really know what the consequences would be. Similar to Doctor Faustus, Beatrice was naive enough to believe her extreme actions would have no repercussions. She was so naive that she trusted De Flores, a man she loathes and has treated like dirt, without thinking he would use this information to easily blackmail her. From the start of the play, Beatrice seems to be acting out of desperation.
As the play starts off, I was immediately on Beatrice’s side because she was the victim of an arranged marriage. As we’ve witnessed throughout the semester with different plays, arranged marriages are very difficult or near impossible to get out of. Beatrice, like many strong women of her time might’ve done, decided to take matters into her own hands and get Alonzo killed in order to have her freedom. When her plan goes awry, she only gets more desperate and digs herself a deeper hole by getting Diaphanta killed. Beatrice’s reasons for doing what she did were in fact selfish, but at least they weren’t for the sake of greed or advancing in society. I could understand a woman scheming in order to marry the person they love. Beatrice felt she had no way out, and took extreme measures without putting much thought into how her actions would affect others (ie. Tomazo) and herself for that matter.
The Changeling Scene Study
In preparing to shoot this scene, our team knew that the focus would be to find a solemn place where the sounds of the mad could be heard. Given that Baruch and the surrounding area are full of life, we chose to do our study in the library to utilize a quiet place where background sound effect could be clearly heard (mad house occupants moaning). The characters constant personality change in this scene was challenging to capture, but it made the parts of Isabella and Antonio even more fulfilling to play. One thing that would have definitely helped our study would have been if we could have located a better mad house, but that is not something that is easy to come by. I hope everyone enjoys the movie!
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Volpone vs. Mosca
In class we discussed the differences between Volpone and Mosca, and Carol A. Carr’s article, “Volpone and Mosca: the two styles of roguery” argues that although there are similarities between the two, Volpone is the more intriguing, charismatic and less typical rogue/ villain.
While that may be true, I still find myself preferring Mosca to Volpone. One of the reasons for that is for all their seemingly innate roguishness / villainny there is still one essential difference between them: Volpone is the ‘gentleman’ and Mosca is his servant, his ‘parasite.’ That means that Mosca is dependent on Volpone for his livelihood and for his very survival. However weird their relationship seems in the beginning of the play, however untypical for the usual master / servant relationships, at the end of the day they all, from the vultures: Castrone, Voltore, Carbaccio, to the rest of the world, including Volpone, still view Mosca as someone below them, there to do their bidding. Despite the hints of admiration Volpone shows for Mosca’s ability to turn cons, there is still no admiration or respect for Mosca’s skill, as Volpone says in act 5.7.1-3, “Outstripped thus by a parasite? A slave/Would run on errands, and make legs for crumbs? …” ( And even further proved by the severity of Mosca’s punishment compared to the Volpone’s sentence.)
The article talks about how both Volpone and Mosca are intelligent and creative in their cons, and how although they are both detached from the money, they are detatched for difference reasons. But the issue with that is that while the cons are primarily entertainment (not profit) for Volpone, they are part of Mosca’s job and his way of life in order to survive.
Mosca is much more pragmatic and realistic because that is the reality of his station in life. The article mentions that while Volpone has static disguises he takes on, Mosca’s disguise is constant but at the same time fluid, as he adapts his manner to the person with whom he is interacting. But despite that fact, there is much less pretense to Mosca, no rose- colored cover or pretty words to present the type of person that he is or his motivation in a better light.
In class we also spoke about loyalty and how it seems that Mosca betrays Volpone. But Volpone’s loyalty is to the con, not to Mosca or his bastard children – so why did Mosca have to show him more loyalty than was shown to him?! Mosca says, “ I’ll bury him or gain by him. I am his heir / And so will keep me till he share at least” (5.5.13-15). Mosca wants part of the profit; he wants financial security and independence, which can be understandable because Volpone has no care or caution about anyone beside himself. In a play where every character (except two) is rotten to the core, at least Mosca doesn’t pretend to be better than he is, but the same cannot be said for the others.
Posted in Power struggles, Uncategorized, Volpone
Tagged betrayal, loyalty, master/servant, Mosca, pragmatism, survival, the lesser bad, Volpone
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Loyalty like a Fly
From the beginning it is clear that Mosca’s relationship to Volpone is rooted in the delicate acts they construe. They function as a finely tuned machine of trickery that operates seamlessly, even in the face of unforeseen obstacles. Throughout his servitude to Volpone, Mosca is undoubtedly loyal, and receives the greatest satisfaction at his successes in the name of their bizarre game. While Volpone seems to derive satisfaction from the sheer thrill, Mosca nourishes himself on the scraps of this profound enjoyment, much like a parasite would his host. He is an unswerving and irreplaceable aspect of Volpone’s grand ruse. Until he isn’t. Much like others in the play, he is forced to sacrifice his bizarre code of honor in the face of self-interest, which, oddly enough forces Volpone to do the same. Although portrayed rather abruptly, it would seem that this inevitable reversal is something Jonson is keenly fascinated with, an altogether unsurprising conclusion.
These shifts occur at key junctures. As soon as Volpone commits the fatal flaw of violating their relationship status, by elevating him beyond his well-accepted boundaries, he forces the break in Mosca’s otherwise solid code. In this darker take on the pitfalls of honor, the near inability of it to exist, one finds that the root of this falls to nature, and the movement of people. In such a city, marred as it is by strains of depravity, but also, resting on these shifting, oozing grounds as foundation. Mosca begins to realize that his affection for the con is growing beyond his bounds of loyalty.
Willing his estate to Mosca, forgetting his ultimate reliance on the cunning man, is symbolic for each misstep. And in committing this motion Volpone has allowed himself to fall victim to his own devices. The only way to right this imbalance is to essentially ‘reset’ by self-incrimination and acceptance of guilt. Thus they are all wrapped up in varying levels of greed and conditions for individual honor, and until the final unraveling, this suspends each character against the chaos of the cityscape of Venice.
Ultimately what does this mess present as a central theme? At the risk of oversimplification, some light cliche, and grandiose generalizations, the work as a whole takes a very hopeless turn for those mired in greed and depravity. It would seem that once tainted, various indiscretions are impossible to wash off.
Posted in Power struggles, Psychological detail, Satire, Uncategorized, Volpone
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Volpone: Money/Everything
The featured characters in this play all have one specific shared interest: Money. In this play, we witness how disgusting and inhumane money makes people behave. Mostly everyone in this play is driven by the desire to obtain more money, by any means necessary. Volpone fakes an extreme illness in order to attract money-hungry people like himself to give him gifts in hopes of being named in his will. He also impersonates Scoto the Mountebank in an attempt to sell a “magic oil” that supposedly cures any illness. Volpone is already a wealthy man, but having money only makes one lust for more of it. He spends much of the play pretending to be someone he’s not, making it very difficult to judge his character.
In exchange for money, characters like Corvino and Corbaccio are willing to give up important people in their lives. Corvino doesn’t think twice about giving his wife up to Volpone in hopes of winning him over and becoming his heir(It’s not even a sure thing). Corbaccio takes his son out of his will, and puts Volpone in his place. These characters are more concerned with their wealth than their family. To make matters worse, both of these characters are already wealthy and have an impressive income. Their greed blinds them and makes it easy for them to get fooled by Mosca. Money controls behavior and exposes some of mankind’s worst qualities.
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Volpone Scene Study
Our interpretation of the text focuses on four variations of honor, represented by specific colours which appear on the background as they do in the text. They run together essentially to form Venice, or a very abstract Venice at least, to emphasize the allure of the location, which drives much of the spirit of the play. It was filmed in this staggered way to make an uncomfortably noticeable irony between the motion of the text, and the incredibly interwoven plots that layer upon one another. It also allowed us to play with the timeline and perspective by forcing the viewer into a forced dialogue with each character simply by isolating them. The players are separated so as to better see the visual representation of their effect on their surroundings and company. Only when rapidfire conversation or necessary contact must be made are they staged together.
Posted in Stylistic qualities, Uncategorized, Volpone
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Trust
All the characters of this play are way too trusting. I mean honestly if I were in the shoes of these “heirs” I would’ve been questioning everything that Mosca told me. I wouldn’t be giving plates of gold or giving away my wife just because some servant told me that his master wanted me to be his heir. I mean just think about that for a second. Some servant comes out of no where and tells you, “Hey you’re the heir! Good job buddy! But you know there are other guys and honestly your odds of remaining heir aren’t too great. Why not give [insert item or service or person here] so your chances are even greater? [insert smiley face]” What is this? Are we playing a lottery or something? I mean I hope that anyone else would’ve paused at that moment and really questioned what was just said. [insert quizzical face here]But no, instead they fall over each other to be the “better heir.” They act as predators squabbling over a meal. You must hand it to Mosca, he certainly knows how to play with people.
Which leads to my questioning of Volpone’s intelligence. Why does he trust Mosca so? I mean if anything I would trust a man of his caliber the least. His name means fly for heaven’s sake! He’s a parasite and we all know what parasites do don’t we? Or at least everyone knows but Volpone. He just trusts the man! Mosca is in a position of great power over Volpone. I mean it’s HUGE. He essentially is the real mastermind behind the whole charade when it really comes down to it. Volpone just doesn’t see it and unfortunately wouldn’t see it until it was too late. Trust…you definitely need to be careful of who exactly you trust. For the person you least expect could be the one that sticks that dagger into your unsuspecting back.
Posted in Power struggles, Psychological detail, Uncategorized, Volpone
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The Shoemaker’s Holiday: Ralph’s Realistic Journey
The Shoemaker’s Holiday comedic tone was a breath of fresh air to the audience after almost a decade of tragic events such as outbreaks of a plague, bad harvest and inflation (483). The audience would have definitely been entertained with the comedic jokes and the subliminal sexual comparisons that Dekker writes for most of the characters in the play. In my opinion, I think the character of Ralph is one character the audience member would definitely be able to relate and empathize with the most, as England at the time had been at war with Spain for almost twelve years. One could image that many of the soldiers were returning with battle wounds similar to Ralph.
Ralph is released from war and returns back to the Eyre’s shop in Scene 10 with missing limbs. Although Ralph returned with these wounds, he is encouraged by Hodge to continue to be a shoemaker as he still had his hands and was still capable of making a living for himself. Furthermore, because Ralph continued as a shoemaker he was able to find his wife Jane and finally reunite with her. Ralph’s situation is one that is common when a country is at war. Many find themselves separated from their loved ones and often returned with permanent damages; however the character of Ralph is a representation that war heroes are valuable to society and reminding many that they can continue to live the life they desire to have.
