Death Flashcards
Quotes and critics
‘The iconoclastic attitudes to death and bereavement give way to moral anarchy’
Andrew Maybe
Hal: I want the body stripped.
[…]
Hal: For the bonfire, then. Her teeth can go in the river
[…]
Fay: What about payment?
[…]
Hal: You can keep her wedding ring
Orton uses the act of stripping the corpse and the burning of the clothes to satirise the hypocrisy of society.
While death is traditionally treated with respect and veneration, characters such as Hal and Fay show irreverence and complete disrespect towards the corpse of Hal’s mother.
Jacobean lust spares no one and thereby renders everyone equal’
Moretti
Vindice: Nail down his tongue
Vindice: And may his eyes, like comets, shine through blood
Vindice: The brook is turned to blood
In TRT, death is irretrievably linked to the moral corruption of the court.
The ruling class aristocracy indulges in greed, sexual desire and betrayal, with characters such as the Duke and Junior meeting their end as a direct consequence of their lifestyle and vices.
Cyril Tourner’s ‘The Atheist’s Tragedy’
Contains several references to portents in heaven as signs of divine anger
Vindice speaking to Gloriana’s skull
Reference to Hamlet and Memento mori (artistic trope as a reminder of the inevitability of death).
Hamlet picks up the skull of Yorick and at the sight of Yorick, reminisces of the man who played a role in his upbringing.
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 / E’en in it own revenge
Vindice: As much as the dumb thing can, he shall feel
Death is commodified and exploited.
Vindice uses the death of Gloriana to advance personal vendettas against the Duke. Death loses its sacredness.
‘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.
