Revenge Tragedy and Classical Philosophy on the Early Modern Stage
- Analyses the twentieth-century development of revenge tragedy as a genre, and diagnoses the roots of modern criticism’s tendency to treat most philosophy as estranged from the violent work of revenge
- Provides fresh readings of five plays central to the revenge tragedy genre, paying close attention to the conditioning influence of classical philosophy on their narratives of retribution
- Reveals how revenge tragedy’s distinctive ‘moods’ or ‘atmospheres’ emerge from fully-realized sets of ontological assumptions which help shape reception of retribution on the early modern stage
- Develops new reception histories for five classical philosophical doctrines, revealing their currency and, what’s more, radical adaptability within early modern England
This book discovers within early modern revenge tragedy the surprising shaping presence of a wide array of classical philosophies not commonly affiliated with the genre. By recovering the pervasive influence of Aristotelian faculty psychology on The Spanish Tragedy, Aristotelian ethics on Titus Andronicus, Lucretian atomism on Hamlet, Galenic pneumatics on Antonio’s Revenge and Epictetian Stoicism on The Duchess of Malfi, Crosbie reveals how the very atmospheres and ontological assumptions of revenge tragedy exert their own kind of conditioning dramaturgical force. The book also revitalises our understanding of how the Renaissance stage, even at its most lurid, functions as a unique space for the era’s practical, vernacular engagement with received philosophy.
Introduction: On Revenge Tragedy and the Shaping Influence of Classical Philosophy
- Oeconomia and the Vegetative Soul: Thomas Kyd’s Naturalisation of Revenge in The Spanish Tragedy
- Fixing Moderation: Titus Andronicus and the Aristotelian Determination of Value
- ‘A fine pate full of fine dirt:’ Hamlet Among the Atomists
- ‘Vein by vein:’ The Pneumatics of Retribution in John Marston’s Antonio’s Revenge
- Prohairesis on the Inside: The Duchess of Malfi and Epictetian Volition
Epilogue: A kind of sensible justice
Index
With expert attention to the philosophical frameworks as well as the performance conventions of Shakespeare and his contemporaries, Revenge Tragedy and Classical Philosophy on the Early Modern Stage elegantly aligns the materialist theories of Aristotle, Lucretius and others with the plots and language of revenge. A major contribution to the field, it establishes the ethical and communal power of revenge plays and their ability to dramatize vengeance as metaphysically fitting and recuperative.
The range of philosophy discussed by Crosbie is impressive, and the historical background regarding the currency of such ideas in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries is thorough
Crosbie’s book supplies an important absence in early modern literary studies, bringing several strands of classical philosophy into lucid conversation with the passion-fueled, metaphysical dramas of revenge of the period.
For those interested in theinterrelations of philosophy and literature in the period, this book will be required reading
