The Atheist's Tragedy
by Cyril Tourneur
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Written by Cyril Tourneur and first published in 1611, "The Atheist's Tragedy, or the Honest Man's Revenge" is a classic Jacobean era revenge play. In this drama we find the story of D'Amville, a wealthy French nobleman and our titular atheist. D'Amville is a cynical, ruthless, and Machiavellian character who conspires to have his brother, the Baron Montferrers, killed and ruin his nephew, Charlemont, in order to gain the son's inheritance. With a complex three-level plot structure "The show more Atheist's Tragedy" would incite much critical analysis since its publication, specifically with regard to the plays place in the evolution of Jacobean tragedy and the revenge play. One can compare Tourneur's work here to "The Revenger's Tragedy," which some believe to actually be authored by Tourneur and not Thomas Middleton, as well as other revenge tragedies including Thomas Kyd's "The Spanish Tragedy," and George Chapman's "The Revenge of Bussy D'Ambois;" all instrumental works in the development of this form of drama. show lessTags
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Little is known about the life of Cyril Tourneur. In 1600 he published a verse satire, The Transformed Metamorphosis, and the two plays associated with his name---The Revenger's Tragedy (1607) and The Atheist's Tragedy (1611)---are both strongly satirical. The Revenger's Tragedy is a masterpiece of tragic farce and black comedy, with an show more impassioned contempt-of-the-world rhetoric. Its authorship has been questioned, with Thomas Middleton the leading candidate. The Atheist's Tragedy directly engages the theological theme of atheism; it is both grotesque and homiletic in its proof of the existence of God. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
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