Crime Flashcards
Quotes and critics
‘Loot questions the distinction between those who break the law and those who uphold it’
Emma Parker
(The) ending could be ‘merely cynical in making morality, if not life itself, seem futile’
Foakes
“satirising the extravagances and corruptions of the court of James I”
Foakes
Vindice’s actions blur the line between justice and criminal behaviour. Societal failure and the unequal feudal system in which Vindice lives have made it impossible to deliver proper justice through lawful means.
Marxist reading
Dennis: Don’t want a last squint, do you? No? Where’s the money?
Hal: Bury it. In a mineshaft. Out in the country (referring to Mrs McLeavy’s body)
Dennis takes the chewing gum from his mouth and sticks it under the coffin
Dennis asks Hal, ‘Do you want a last squint? no?’.
His immediate rhetorical question regarding Hal’s mother’s coffin shows his irreverence and concern for money.
Hal and Dennis undermine traditional notions of morals by hiding the loot in the coffin, blending grotesque comedy with sharp social critique.
Example 2:
Hal: I want the body stripped.
[…]
Hal: For the bonfire then. Her teeth can go in the river
[…]
Fay: What about payment?
Hal: Twenty per cent
Fay: Thirty-three and a third
Hal: You can keep her wedding ring
Fay: Is it valuable?
Hal: Very
Orton uses the act of stripping the corpse and the burning of the clothes to satirise the hypocrisy of society.
Hal and Fay’s concern for her possessions and the money hidden in the coffin accentuate Orton’s criticism of society.
Material wealth precedes human life and dignity and shows how far people are willing to go in pursuit of their selfish goals, resorting to committing crimes if they must.
‘Duke: oh royal lecher: go grey haired Adultery’
Self-explanatory.
Oxymoron underscores Middleton’s criticism of the ‘noble’ court and aristocracy who indulge in shameful acts such as violence.
Junior: Why flesh and blood my lord
Crimes such as murder, sexual exploitation and rape are commonplace amongst the ruling class aristocracy.
The normalisation of such abhorrent crimes suggests that crime is reflective of a corrupt and immoral society instead of the actions of one individual.
Vindice: ‘Tis the best grace you have to do it well; / I’ll save your hand that labour
Vindice: And useless property, no - it shall bear a part
Vindice: As much as the dumb thing can, he shall feel
Members of the court are driven by materialistic desires, and no higher ideals can counteract their depravity. For example, the love and devotion Vindice once had for his fiancée have been corrupted into an instrument of vengeance.
Vindice uses her skull as a mere prop and tool for his plot for revenge. Vindice’s descent into criminality mirrors the criminals he seeks to punish.
Antonio: Away with that foul monster / Dipped in a prince’s blood
[…]
Antonio: Just is the law above.
Revenge only perpetuates the cycle of violence and despair.
There is no redemption, as Vindice becomes indistinguishable from the villains he seeks to punish, corrupted by vengeance and is ultimately sentenced to death.
