Climbing the Social Ladder, Again

Posted on May 15, 2013 by thomash

In Philip Massinger’s A New Way to Pay Old Debts, the primary focuses of the play involve class conflict and a tangled marriage between Allworth and Margaret. However, one aspect of the play that I found to be very interesting is the change that occurs in Wellborn. After reading The Changeling and The Duchess of Malfi, audiences can see how powerful character change can be, but in this work Wellborn undergoes a dramatic change in class rather than character.

Based on the exchange between Wellborn and Tapwell in scene 1.1, it is apparent that Wellborn was once a noble man of great wealth. However, he has now squandered his wealth away and has been degraded to being kicked out of the bar by Tapwell, who he had previously helped. This once powerful and wealthy man is now nothing more than a dirty bum. Despite being down on his luck, Wellborn does not resort to desperation to satisfy his needs.

When Allworth stumbles upon Wellborn beating Tapwell, he stops him and eventually offers him money to help in his situation, but Wellborn will not take the money. He refuses to accept donations from a youth and claims, “I’ll eat my arms first”( 1.1.176). Lady Allworth also offers Wellborn money after he speaks to her about the righteous acts that he had done for her late husband. In response to this assistance, Wellborn simply rejects the money and demands only the respect of Lady Allworth’s servants. As the play progresses, the only individual that Wellborn accepts money from is Overreach, which he uses to pay back his creditors who were ruined due to his negligent credit. Towards the end of the play Wellborn has reestablished himself as a noble man with strong values. He is not the wealthy man that he once was, but he is no longer the poor, run down man that he was at the start of the play.

Wellborn did not have a dramatic internal change as Bosola and Beatrice did in prior plays, but his change of class prior to and throughout the play shows his determined character. He kept his morals intact and worked from the bottom to once again gain good fortunes. He was even able to gain revenge against Overreach in the process.

Posted in A New Way to Pay Old Debts, Power struggles | 2 Comments

Incest and Sororicide

Posted on May 15, 2013 by Yevgeniy Kharonov

As a biologist I know that human children that are raised together are averse to having sex with each other because of a complex network of genes that have evolved in order to prevent these sorts of relationships from yielding offspring. The offspring of closely related family members typically inherit all the recessive or abnormal genetic traits. In the Anthology’s introduction to Tis Pity She’s a Whore by John Ford (not assigned reading), the authors discuss the theme of incest. They tell us that dramatists stage incest because it is a matter that the audience pays serious attention to. Most times incest is associated with the villains. In the The Duchess of Malfi, incest was not discussed directly, but rather through Ferdinand’s obsession with his sister’s sex life. Ferdinand’s suppressed sexual desire of his sister morphed into a desire to see her dead. From incest to sororicide, the descent is quite rapid and as a member of the audience, I am riveted. I look forward to seeing how “Ford makes the incestuous lovers central and… rather ordinary” (p1905) in Tis Pity.

ASIDE: I also recommend A Song Of Ice and Fire by George RR Martin and the spin off Game of Throne on HBO for the dramatization of incest and sororicide on Middle Earth (which is strangely like Renaissance England).

Posted in Generic types, Love relationships, Psychological detail, The Duchess of Malfi | 1 Comment

Ethics of Service

Posted on May 15, 2013 by Yevgeniy Kharonov

In Massinger’s A New Way to Pay Old Debts, the role of the servant is captured in two differing lights. Firstly there are the servants that work in the home of Lady Allworth with great pride and fulfillment. These servants are absolutely necessary for the upkeep and normal function of the household. There is Order the steward, Amble the usher, Furnace the cook, Watchall the porter, and Waiting-woman and Chambermaid. Lady Allworth treats her staff with respect and shows them gratitude for their work, as when she gave Furnace money for new aprons and a summer suit: “In the meantime, there is gold / To buy thee aprons and a summer suit” (1.2.58-59). The staff shows great loyalty in return for Lady Allworth’s conscientious conduct. Overreach tries and fails to get Order to criticize Lady Allworth about her mourning rituals: “Sir, it is her will, / Which we that are her servants ought to serve it / And not dispute” (1.3.4-6). The staff also knows their place in the household and in society in general. In the presence of Lovell, Lady Allworth asks Amble and Waiting-woman for some privacy. Their reply characterizes both their social status and their respect for Lady Allworth: “Amble: We are taught better / By you, good madam. / Waiting-woman: And well know our distance” (4.1.173-174). The house servants’ compliance was imperative to the fruition of Wellborn’s plot (of the false engagement to Lady Allworth). Without the servants this plot would have never worked and Wellborn would not have been able to attain the same resolution for his debts.

Greedy and Marall are technically Overreach’s servants and parallel the loyal servants in Lady Allworth’s home. These two show their loyalty to their master by complementing his notorious schemes and in most cases carrying them out. However they do not show the same respect for Overreach as the respect that Lady Allworth gets from her servants. Marall and Greedy are in it for themselves and each one only serves in order to attain their personal desires. They interact in a way that befits common thieves and sell-swords. Overreach calls them fools and knaves while they reply: “You are all wisdom” (2.1.23), or “The best I ever heard! I could adore you” (2.1.43). Overreach realizes that he needs his servants : “Alone I can do nothing, but I have servants / And friends to second me…” (5.1.312-313). Unfortunately, Marall does not have much loyalty left for Overreach and he betrays him by changing the deed for Wellborn. He then offers his services to Wellborn :”If it please Your Worship / To call to memory, this mad beast once caused me to urge you to or drown or hang yourself; / I’ll do the like to him, if you command me” (5.1.335-337). To which Wellborn replies:

You are a rascal! He that dares be false
To a master, though unjust, will ne’er be true
To any other. Look not for reward
Or favor from me; I will shun thy sight
As I would do a basilisk’s. Thank my pity
If thou keep thy ears. Howe’r, I will take order
Your practice shall be silenced (5.1.337-344).

In the end, everyone gets what they deserve and those who were loyal to their masters retain pride in their loyalty, while those that betrayed their masters retain great shame. As Wellborn said: “His conscience be his prison” (5.1.347).

Posted in A New Way to Pay Old Debts, Comedy, Power struggles, Satire | 1 Comment

Overreach: Ambitious and an Enemy

Posted on May 14, 2013 by dc135125

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 | 1 Comment

A New Perspective

Posted on May 13, 2013 by wendy c

As discussed in today’s class Massinger illustrates a different point of view of the lower class. Overreach is a character full of schemes that would do anything just as long as it followed his hidden agenda. This is clearly different from other characters we have read prior to this play, in which characters of the lower class were often those that possess righteous personalities such as Simon Eyre in The Shoemaker’s Holiday. Massinger’s characterization of Overreach is relevant to modern society as there are countless individuals who are also as reckless as Overreach in order to climb higher on the social ladder.

However Overreach’s character is an important contrast to the relationship that servants have with their masters in the play. The servants of the Allworth’s household all have a genuine affection and dedication for Lady Allworth and her stepson Tom Allworth. As we have already seen in Act 1 scene 2, Order, Amble, Furnace and Watchall expressed concern as how to little Lady Allworth has been eating after the death of her husband. Similarly they express concern to Tom Allworth in Act 2 scene 2, as they continuous remind him to remember to eat. This form of dedication is unique, as we have seen from previous plays that we have read, servants often know the deepest secrets of their master and are easily bribed to reveal these secrets to interested parties as we have seen from Pedringano in The Spanish Tragedy. This type of betrayal would not occur in the Allworth household, when asked by Lady Allworth to refrain from overhearing her conversation, both Amble and Lady Allworth’s waiting-woman replied: “we are taught better / By you, good madam. / And well know our distance” (4.1.176-174). Such response from servants emphasizes the dedication evident in all of Lady Allworth’s servants.

Massinger’s close attention to detail to the personalities of all the characters captivates the reader. Although the storyline composes of details similar to ones we have read in previous plays, it offers a unique twist in perspective not only to the plot of the play but also to society.

Posted in A New Way to Pay Old Debts, Generic types, Power struggles | 2 Comments

A New Way to Pay: Scene Study

Posted on May 12, 2013 by peter d'antonio

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M7MKa-Z2w1k

Hi everyone.

This is the final scene study of the semester brought to you by Peter and Eugene. While we will gladly share some of the tribulations that we faced in the course of doing this in class tomorrow (namely filming a two-character scene with a crew of two already acting in the scene), for now try to absorb the hundred or so lines that are as densely packed and difficult to recite as they appear to be. I am sure that Massinger never intended the likes of us to perform this, but I suppose that is the price to pay for having your play last nearly 400 years.

Anyway, enjoy (or at least try to).

Posted in A New Way to Pay Old Debts, Comedy, Love relationships | 1 Comment

“The Changeling”

Posted on May 11, 2013 by Melissa Salamat

I wondered what the title really meant for this play as I was reading through the scenes. I recognized that Antonio was listed as ‘the changeling’ in the cast list but from what I perceived, he was a minor character compared to Beatrice and De Flores. But it is clear by the end of the play that Antonio only serves as a faint parallel of the true changelings.

Beatrice’s working in cahoots with De Flores for their murder plots  may not seem like an unusual situation for a Jacobean drama. What makes this unique is the fact that they have completely different image between themselves and the world. There are many examples where a switch in emotions is seen in Beatrice and De Flores, like their relationship; Beatrice went from despising him to seeking out his company and De Flores in changing his view of Beatrice from infatuation to controlling.

While these are obvious observations I noticed that their personalities never really changed. I felt Beatrice remained a spoiled and indifferent character throughout the play, from picking and choosing who her husband would be to killing people just for the sake of her well being. She blamed others on her misdirection, such as De Flores and Alsemero, rather than herself. Also, De Flores remained a trickster and a person in control throughout the play, even to the point of suicide. It is understandable that emotions will change day in and day out but I personally didn’t feel that these two characters genuinely embody the definition of a “changeling.”

Posted in Love relationships, Power struggles, Psychological detail, The Changeling | 2 Comments

Love Sick

Posted on May 9, 2013 by peterb

“Are you not well, sir?,” Jasperino says as soon as he hears that Alsemero is unwilling to depart for Malta. Jasperino knows something is obscuring Alsemero’s judgment. Alsemero responds a bit sarcastically saying, “Yes, Jasperino, unless there be some hidden malady within me that I understand not.” They have a very “brotherly” relationship despite Jasperino being a friend of Alsemero who is a nobleman. They are close enough for Jasperino to recognize that Alsemero is acting a bit strange.

We hear this all the time in the present. When someone is “love sick” and they are mixing logic and emotions which is obscuring perception. When you desire something so much you’ll neglect other sensible thoughts and actions to obtain it. This is usually the wrong way to go.

“The seamen call. Shall we board your trunks?,” says a servant. “No, not today,” responds Alsemero. Jasperino reminds him that it is the astrologically crucial day to leave and they should leave for a safe journey to Malta. Alsemero, against better judgment, refuses again.

When Beatrice-Joanna enters Alsemero greets and kisses her. Jasperino has a short aside to the audience in which he basically says “I knew it!” and “this cannot be good!” Jasperino’s entire point at the start of the play is that Alsemero’s new interest in Beatrice-Joanna is against better judgment and that it could have been avoided. Since Alsemero does not listen to his friend he has already foreshadowed his demise. All of which could have been avoided if he wasn’t so love sick and just boarded the ship.

Posted in Psychological detail, The Changeling | 1 Comment

Beatrice-joanna: Victim of desperation

Posted on May 8, 2013 by melissacarbuccia

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.

Posted in Doctor Faustus, Love relationships, Power struggles, The Changeling, Uncategorized | 2 Comments

You can’t always get what you want

Posted on May 8, 2013 by zr126166

Or can you? What’s the price than that you have to pay? Is it worth it? These are the questions that came to my mind after reading The Changeling. De Flores was able to achieve what seemed to be impossible at the beginning of the play. He was disrespected and despised by the woman that he was so obsessed with. The likelihood of his ever getting Beatrice’s attention was equal to zero at the time when the plot started. From this perspective the play is De Flores’ success story where the unlikely hero realizes his dream.

De Flores knew right away that his time had come when Beatrice asked him to get rid of Alonzo, and he grabbed the opportunity. He was so obsessed with her that he didn’t think a moment about the evil deed of stabbing her suitor to death. He knew his goal and he did everything to realize it. He succeeded; he got what he wanted, but the cost was tremendous. He committed two homicides and also the young and innocent Beatrice whom he was madly in love with has changed beyond recognition. All of this happened for the opportunity of having one sexual act with her. De Flores was a smart guy; if he wasn’t so obsessed he must have realized that at the end they will not live “happily ever after.” Instead of this they both end up dead. De Flores was so blinded by his goal to pursue Beatrice that he did not realize that this end is inevitable.

You can’t always get what you want – it is better this way. In order to be successful the advice is to set a goal and work your way toward it. It is something that is worth to take into consideration, but first, one should realize that there are things that not worth to pursue, and that another saying,“the end justifies the means” is also not an absolute one.

Posted in Psychological detail, The Changeling | Tagged | 2 Comments