SEKECAN AND OTHER INFLUENCES 01 SIX ELIZABETHAN REVENGE PLAYS APPROVED* I<d»<ti2!ii5-^25axslwi Profeaeor ^. i. Direct or af He" feej/^traent' of th« SENECAK AID OTHER IRFLTJENCBS 01 SIX amSSTHAI KEVENGE PLAYS THESIS Present ©cl to th© Sra&uat® Council of tfa« Berth Texas Stat® €©ll®g® in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For th© B«gr®« of MASTER OF ARTS Bit 223584 Marilyn Fisher, R# A, Thornton, Texas August, 195S 2235m TABLE OP CO*T**rS Chapter ?ag9 X* THE VOGtflS or StfUSCA, 1670-1600 1 Definition of tha Tragedy of Blood Elements of Senaoaii f nige^y Appeal of 3an«oan Eras® Direct Imitations of Son#@a Departure iwm. Bmmmm Mod®! II* PROBLEMS OP CBRONOStOGTZt SOURCES, ARB AUTHORSHIP 14 2r«» ^i.ii.iwii>iiiliiv,i.ii foe Jew of Malta The' frlrif t Part of Xerotilino III. I1TEHRELAf IOKS Of SIX TRAGEDIES OP 8BVSR8X *2? lesta®©* of Each Revenge Play 5«qmbs Heaeata in tbe Tragediea of Revenge Mutual Dependence of Kyd# Marlowe, and Shakeapeare Parallax Devices Charaet arlaiftt ions If. DRMSATIC A® STOISTIC DEVICES CP THE HEVtSCIt PfcSjS. • . .58 ?b® Cborua In Bm&m and Rmm$® Play®' Innovation of tba Dunb Show and Play-withli*- t be-Play Art in Seaeea and Revenge Playa V. CONCLTISIOB 85 B1BLI0SMPB1 91 cmrtm i THE VOBTJE m Stmck, 1570*1000 I» this thesis mn attempt will be sade to tra©# briefly the revival of Seneoart tragedy from 1570 to the end of the sixteenth eenttiry through s«®te of the earlier translations, adaptations, end imitations, and to evaluate the stgnlfl* mm* of the final evolution of eueh works into the BUssabethan tragedy of revenge. In order to proossd more eeelly 1» dlseusslng Seneesn tragedy* it la appropriate to inelude here tase concrete definition of the tragedy of blood# Such definition is not poeelble wit hoot a brief glanea at the hiatal of the Kenan product in the tvagle dwsasa^ftee tragedies of Seneoa, modeled closely after the tragedies of Aesehylus, Sophoolee, and Burlpldes, link airiest tragedy with modern tragedy* The Qreeks had already delved into sllforas and fields of literature* end Kenan tragedy was an imitation of these great models* /^'Seneea «npots his tragedies to please a &#» mending audience whiah comprised an tq>per class clique with a elaesieal edueat ion, smut toe bora® in adnd that Seneea's plays were meant to be reoited# not aoted, and the reading public was anfclotas to reeelve aoodewl© wosfcs in latln# the 1 y mniversa1 langtMg.© of sehol&rshlp* eombinsd both U Lucas, Seneoa and Illgabothqn Trtumiy* p* 5&» classie and semantic alamanta to eaopoaa hi# tragadiea* During hit period of writ lug, §#mws& was fowid to abound in rb©t ©fie, to parage hit pedant iff, to soralisa with pn»* and to axaggarata graaaoma detail®, t/eeauaa pollti- aal stagnation derived hi» of a popular trand of writing. Sanaea** Stoicism induced a hardness in hi* character*! daath to than was a poaitive good} auiaida waa a luxury* In Tread—* AatyaaaXff afclld of Haator aikI Andremehe, ia described by tha messenger aa having met hia daath with a royal aeuK^feoiy*ena# daugitar of Heoube and Prlaa* wboaa blood ia to ho aplllad upon tha tonb of A o failles that aha •Ight be reunited with bar «at« in Kiyatiw* ia d—eribed by Andrcnsehe aa foXlowat Behold, bar aoul leana up w»h mighty Joy At thought of death* Oedipus, in fhsbala. e#lf»t&iMed ®ai a«if**KlM fro® his land beaauae of a stroke of fata wfciah threatened hia be- fora births eameatly seel® daath, but he is restrained from oomitting suicide by hia faithful daughter* Antigone, and ha declared that ha bad rather be forced to dia than be prevented from dying* ;/' Seneea'a tragedies »®y be briefly analy*ed aa a skele- ton of epie, lyrie, and drsnatie seenee, hi Id together by 2Lueiua Seneaa, 1'r—d—» IV, 94fr»946. Future cita- tion# to Seneea. will b# wmft in the ^ra^edi« ©f SttSftfe# translated by Prank Siller. rhetoric* Hit t mg@&lm stake up the logical development la dram tusder th» prevailing condlt loaui of • scholarly pilsli© with s twit# for intrigue* adultery* nurder, and horror pll«S upon horror through. the use of ghosts* mytho- logical characters* wmmtwml deaths, and wut list ion# f:he definition for the tragedy of blood Is *oet conveniently given by listing It* obaraeterlstInsi 1* The tragedy of blood la traglo Is that the princi- pal character or eharaet era raeet death as the Inevitable ,M"uW of * Mt"trophe fmsd •"»lnor8dlble horeoM- f* It la usually motivated by a desire for revenge becau.se of gmesfno Injuatlcas* Zm Xt ustsmHy contains numerous allusions to ©reels mythology* 4. It la further characterised by the uae of the ghost, 'Choice, itodi eharaet era, such as the good and the evil counselor, ant All comprehensible mechanics of hlood-letting. la cHiwIalag some of Seneca*# plays# we find their structure is tte® same* Seneca divides hla play® Into five Act 1 la both retrospective and anticipatory of the catastrophes Act II a eta forth--- the principal character de- vising means to execute hie revenge? Act III bring* the rivals together| Act IV la usually the sunt* t ion of events| Aet V la gives over to the completion of the catastrophe*5 ^Harriofct Hy Ffcnsler, The BvOXufclOB of technic in .isabefchsa Tragedy* pp« 4®- It Is immediately Obvious that Seneea is provided the oppor- tualt; of narrating iM moralising |s the invariable use of the chorus to conclude the first act. In each ®f hie tragedies we are cognisant of his dramatic teehnlque** long, rhetorical speeches and auch epigrammatic atlcho- nythla. This llne-foxwline dialogue oocurs in the second aet of each of hia tragedies* and is aade tap of persuasive conversation on the pari of the nurse, counselor, or servant stoo attempts to reason against the principal oharacfter*s avenging an in justice* ';;;Kire«^hfW2fe Seneca's tragedies, the desire for revenge is the only point about which a plot may be woven# la 1hyeatea» At reus gains revenge a gainst his brother# Thyestes, for having usurped his kingdom and defiled bis wife; in Hercules Pugeaa, Juno, attmpting to strike evil against her brother, Jupiter* through his son, Hercules, thrusts the youth into madness after he has killed the tyrant, Lycue, and causes him to kill his own wife and children* In fhqbaiau as in Beroulec Parens * we find a deity seeking revenge for the surdar of a favorite* Apollo seeks revenge for I<aiu8, #10 is saMsrM by Oedipus, son of iLaius and Jocaata* In BlppoXitTai* because Hippolytus preferred the service of chaste Diana to a life of adultery with hia stepmother, Phaedra told his father, Theseus, that Hippolytus had committed filthy acts with her. Thceeua, foiled in an attempt to have his son put to death, appealed to Poseidcto, Ood of the aea, to destroy Hippolytus, and the 5M the request* In Thyesfcea, Hippolytus, ttedeiu I / kmmmmm* and Fqgsas* the atsnoepherc off aria* and rsvengs 1® set forth la th* opining stonologtte** Seneca aliens no device for oapfaaslslng a situation to escape hi». Its c bared; rrs may 'b#ew erudite upon araasingly abort notles. When Hedea ia to poison the bride of Jason* ftIX tbe poison® known to mythology arc «masrftt*A* Although •ueb lengthy emsBcratiens delay action and ipo saaevhat dis- tract i»g for the reader, they irt found frequently in Seneca's v@ptau In Oedipus* Tlreeias* unwilling to trust his parsoiml taoiftedg® tho earns# eC ft great pestilence, goes to the underworld to oonsult the wardered Mug Laina* For drasiatie effect, S®«a©a parados *11 the parsonages of Hades before Tiros ias is able to find Xing Laiua*5 this rhetorical Hcharacteristic of 8«a#w tn oil bit plays* is Attributed to the schools of rhetorie which taught declamation upon given situations in lisa of character por- trayal* This heightened style and display of technique appealed to the rcnantio Elisabethan age* Since Seneca was the aost available nodal, and since his plays were not composed for the stag®, the fain of tbe florid speeches is fmtA in flMktcry rather than in content*6 *Ibld.» 47-48. ' . ®A. D» 0odley# *Ser:ecan Tragedy^* in Sngllah Altera- ture and the Ckialei.« edited ,%y 9. 3* SoracuTp* ^Felix 1* Schelling# Bngltsh Dmrna.* p. 4&« 6 A rough division of the hi* tori* growth of K»glt»h Sene** into the three 167Q*X£eo# X£80»X£&0, a ad X690»X603f Is neo***ery for consideration of popu- larity. la 1670-X660, * lull is Setteean lufXuenoe was tv&» dent # and heeawae the uaiT*r*tti*» have Xeffc so reeords of Senecan act ivitie* during the deoad®,* we are aXmost #nt treXy dependent upon Xoet pXaya whieb are lie ted la the Revels AmmmtSm7 . Fwa X580-X690, there «nui a diatinet revival of S«»inr inflame# as mad* apparent by Newton** Theoai*. nfeleh la a translation of the whole of Seneea, and by Sevton*s ooXXecti.a of earlier translation* into tha on* mAwm, Seiaeea, Hi* Tan frujgeitle* Translated into Mmgl?mh* in X68X« la tbe same year* WlXXlaa Oager bad a Senecan tragedy, imlmmm* performed at Christ Churcfc* i^Xb the unlversit le« Senecan Influence was firmly established. The •tudent* at $ray«» Ins produced a pureXy Seneoan tragedy, ffaf? Mi*for»aB«* of Arthur, X687-X568*8 Xte im of the pXaya of Kyd# Karlowe, and Sbakeepeare, we find the most important influence of Seneea during thia "deeadj&r^rlyd1 a Sp*jriaji?'.% fraaedx* X68«, merfce the peak of 3ene*an influene*.