Bates Motel is a perfect example of a modern day Jacobean drama because of all the over-the-top violence, incest, jealousy, and revenge it contains in the show. Bates Motel is a TV show on AMC being a contemporary prequel to Alfred Hitchcock’s 1960 film, “Psycho”. The series begins with a mother, Norma Bates and her son, Norman Bates starting a new life after the husband’s death in their new motel. This is a very simple beginning with serious plot twists with every turn as the show progresses.
The show covers all the basis of a Jacobean drama. Norma, the mother is an extremely paranoid and jealous mother leading to the suppression and suffocation of her son. The mother was raped within the first episode of the show by a stranger. The son has severe mental problems where he experiences blackouts. However, these are not normal blackouts. The son becomes very violent and goes as far as even killing people. After the first person Norman kills, they hide the body instead of reporting it. Norma also has an older son whose father is actually Norma’s brother. It happened from an incestuous rape further creating drama in the show. This show is anything but simple, in fact it is an endless suspense full of drama similar to that of a Jacobean drama.
This is a great example to be used for a connection to Jacobean writing. Bates Motel is a sick, twisted show and embodies a lot of the same themes found in Jacobean era literature. Violence, incest, and the internal conflict between doing what is right and what you feel is right are very clear here.