Tuesday, May 31, 2011

The dish best served cold (A history of revenge in the arts)

ENGLISH REVENGE DRAMA by Linda Woodbridge reviewed by David Hawkes - TLS

Khan wanted it. (via Geek Twins)

Revenge subverts the ethical basis of a competitive society. It is also a revolution in miniature; it assumes that the existing state of affairs is insupportable, and it actively seeks to transform it. Indeed, the English revolutionaries of the 1640s often conceived their revolt as revenge for a broken contract between monarch and subjects. In this exciting analysis of English revenge drama at its Elizabethan and Jacobean zenith, Linda Woodbridge argues that early modern audiences and playwrights enjoyed and celebrated revenge, associating it with the pursuit of social and economic fairness. Revenge, she notes, is an evening of scores, a levelling.
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