Ancient Literature in our Modern World

A movie I thought related to Jacobean Drama was Gran Torino, which stared Clint Eastwood. This movie contains themes such as revenge, corruption, greed and violence. This movie is not your everyday love story, in fact it’s not a love story at all. This movie is about a Korean War veteran, Walt Kowalski, who recently lost his wife. His once all-white neighborhood is now mostly Southeast Asian, which once was predominantly an all-white neighborhood. He doesn’t get along with his sons and doesn’t really communicate with his grandchildren, all of whom seem more interested in getting his house than anything else. This reminds me of the Lord Ferdinand and the Cardinal because the opposed the Duchess’ marriage so much, even as far as to imprison her and have her strangled, to just so they can inherit her fortune. His pride and joy, however, is his mint condition 1972 Gran Torino. Up to this point, there’s not really any action, revenge or corruption taking place. But it reminds me of the plot in The Duchess of Malfi. Walt Kowalski is a widow who seeks “forbidden love” in a sense. Not in a sexual way of course, but he seeks friendship with a boy named Thao, who he has recently became very close with due to an encounter. Thao, who is challenged by his cousin and other local gang members (The Spider Gang) to steal Walt’s Gran Torino almost gets shot by Walt. Gradually, however, he realizes he has more in common with Thao and his neighbors than his own family and becomes something of a neighborhood hero when he prevents the gang members from forcing Thao into their car. He gradually takes Thao under his wing, teaching him a few things about life and helps getting him a job.

Although Thao is trying to make something of his life with his new mentor Walt, Spider’s gang continues to pressure Thao on joining their gang by assaulting him on his way home from work. After Walt sees Thao’s injuries, Walt visits the gang’s house, where he attacks a gang member as a warning. In retaliation, the gang decides to shoot up Vang Lor home (home of Thao and his family), injuring Thao. The gang also kidnaps and rapes Sue, who was Thao’s sister. There are no witnesses and the members of the community, including the victims, refuse to talk to the police about the crimes. The refusal to speak is like a major theme throughout Jacobean drama, even though it may not be clearly stated, but it is a theme of secrecy. No one wants anyone to know what’s going on, keeping things between themselves or a selected few.

The next day, Thao asks for Walt’s help to enact revenge. As Walt is preparing for his fight against the Spider Gang, he locks Thao in his basement and tells him that he has been haunted by the memory of killing an enemy soldier who was trying to surrender. He persuades Thao that he should never be haunted by killing another man, especially with his whole life ahead of him.

The movie takes an interesting turn when Walt goes to the gang members’ house, where they draw their weapons on him. He loudly shouts outside there house and accusing them of the crimes they committed. He put a cigarette in his mouth, he asks on of them for a light, then puts his hand in his jacket and provocatively pulls it out as if he were holding a gun, causing the gang members to shoot and kill him. As he falls to the ground, his hand opens to reveal the Zippo lighter. The crazy part of the ending was that he was unarmed. Jacobean Drama contains a lot of violence, revenge and love. Walt essentially loved this boy as a son of his own as he got to know him. Thao had no father, so he looked up to Walt as a mentor and father-figure. And it wouldn’t be a Jacobean Drama if the violence and revenge didn’t have some kind of meaning behind it. In order to stop the Spider Gang from harming Thao and his family, and even the entire neighborhood, this old man steps up and defends those who needed a hero at the time. The scene after Sue’s rape “lighted a match” in Walt causing him to seek revenge, but for a good cause. The fact that Walt died for someone he loved without even hesitating, relates to the Duchess’ death scene where she died because of a secret marriage to Antonio, a man who she truly loved. This movie relates to the Duchess of Malfi in some interesting ways. It also depicts a strong Jacobean style in it’s plot.