The Courier's Tragedy

[Judith A. Panetta]

The Revengers Tragedy by Anonymous-maybe Cyril Tourneur (1575?-1626) or
maybe Middleton...very similar with the scheming potboiling bastardy sibling
rivalry in who get the Dukedom.

"...A witness? To what?
Why, to my brother's vengeance. What's that to me?
I like it, and like it not. This vengeance is a law,
Prompted by nature, promulgate by our blood,
Which, when we broach it, makes our blood thrill
As now my brother's doth. Sure, 'tis a violent joy,
And I suspect it. Nay, I must doubt myself,
For in mine own veins joy is the very moment of suspect.
Why do they so? Alas, we dare not know.
Most perilous actions, dire and dangerous
Are lesser danger than to search ourselves
Masks off; that's fearful. Yet the masks being on,
I fear the first fires of our inward flames
Are fouler than our vices' outward names."

Hippolito, The Revenger's Tragedy, Cyril Tourneur.

Yummy.

-----Original Message-----
From: owner-pynchon-l at waste.org [mailto:owner-pynchon-l at waste.org]On
Behalf Of Tim Strzechowski
Sent: Friday, August 10, 2001 8:44 AM
To: Pynchon-L
Subject: The Courier's Tragedy


Just in quick response to Dave's post (and for anyone interested in
Jacobean drama), here are a few off-the-top-of-my-head links to Jacobean
theatre.

For some general characteristics of Jacobean drama:
http://www.bartleby.com/216/0901.html
http://w2.xrefer.com/entry.jsp?xrefid=365626

For brief summaries of some major (and minor) Jacobean dramas:
http://www.sogang.ac.kr/~anthony/17cdrama.htm

Revenge tragedy, from which Jacobean is derived in part:
http://www.xrefer.com/entry/374462

As mentioned in a previous post, there's a pretty good article that
discusses Desire and Violence in Jacobean Tragedy:
http://www.twics.com/%7Ejupiter/luv2deth.html

Regarding Webster's _The Duchess of Malfi_, there's a discussion of the

theme of entrapment:
http://www.fortunecity.com/victorian/dali/88/prison.htm

and incestual themes:
http://www.mtsn.org.uk/acdepts/english/general/duchessofmalfi.htm

both of which come from this site:
http://drama.alphalink.com.au/vce/duchess.htm

Tim