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i read it all but hardly have a clue what’s going on ( ) Other sins only speak, murder shreiks out: The element of water moistens the earth, But blood flies upwards and bedews the heavens. Oh mercy, revenge upon the cursed Vengeful in five sumptuous acts of poetry, racy bits and bloodshed. The initial revengers are a creepy pair of powerful brothers miffed that their sis has moved on from bereavement and is now happily shacking up. They enlist the world's most literate assassin for the wet work. I began this a month ago and made it half way. I started over and completed the piece this evening. Touch your caps to the lyrical wizardry of John Webster. Extra points should be awarded for use of a poisoned book. Warning: this review contains spoilers. **** I read this for a group read. It was certainly a dramatic play: characters constantly left and entered the stage, and the action never let up. Years seemed to pass in a matter of seconds. In the bare-bones text supplied by Project Gutenberg, these chronological shifts were disorienting, and the stage directions didn't provide that much indication of where and when we were supposed to be. The story itself was interesting, especially that the Duchess had a stronger role than I would have expected from a play of that period -- she makes her own marriage and figures out a way to save her husband, even though in the end the scheming ring of men around her prove to be simply too many for her to outwit. The end reminded me of Hamlet, with the huge body count and the bewildered last person standing come to claim the title. There were a lot of people to keep track of before they became bodies, and without the commentary or background, it was hard to keep track of some of them. I'm going to have to read a print copy to get all of that background and perhaps further my understanding of the play. I've given this 3 stars because it really did rocket along, and I bet the commentary will be interesting. no reviews | add a review
Belongs to Publisher SeriesIs contained inElizabethan Drama, Volume II: Dekker; Jonson; Beaumont and Fletcher; Webster; Massinger by Charles William Eliot Elizabethan Drama in Two Volumes [set] by Charles William Eliot (indirect) The Harvard Classics [50 Volume Set] by Charles William Eliot (indirect) A Treasury of the Theatre: An Anthology of Great Plays from Aeschylus to Hebbel by Philo M. Jr. Buck Has as a commentary on the textHas as a student's study guideNotable Lists
Drama.
Fiction.
HTML: Shakespeare may get the lion's share of attention when it comes to early modern playwrights, but critics regard the era as something of a golden age of drama. John Webster's The Duchess of Malfi, based on a quasi-fictional Italian tale, continues to receive acclaim today. The play follows the life of the titular duchess, who chooses a husband from a lower socioeconomic class. Outraged by this perceived slight, her family plots revenge -- and falls apart in the process of carrying out their nefarious scheme. .No library descriptions found. |
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Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)822.3Literature English & Old English literatures English drama Elizabethan 1558-1625LC ClassificationRatingAverage:
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