Prince and the Courtier
The issue of courtly love, in renaissance drama is one utterly surrounded by high emotion, intrigue and secrecy. So much so that the effects of courtly liaisons can literally and figuratively end with physical death caused by emotional responses to its loss or by the vengeance of those who might feel wronged or betrayed by the lovers. Honor, independence, family, and virtue are dramatically intense issues associated with affairs of the heart, especially in the case were a purse or a lineage is perceived to be at risk.
Call for the robin-redbreast and the wren, / Since o'er shady groves they hover, / And with leaves and flowers do cover/The friendless bodies of unburied men." The White Devil. Act v. Sc. 2.
I know death hath ten thousand several doors/
For men to take their exit." Duchess of Malfi. Act iv. Sc. 2.
Those men and women who overstep the boundaries of convention and disturb the honor code are friendless. There are many ways to overstep the role of the honorable, not the least of which is through flagrant acts of outranking love. The prince and the courtier, as well as the women who are often the objects of unquenchable desire are charged with the role of social police. Within the introduction to The Duchess of Malfi in the Norton Anthology of English Literature the nature of Websters achievements are encapsulated within a single line of text:
His art is one of brilliant highlights and black shadows, of furtive and dangerous intrigue carried out in the flickering light of hell fire; it serves to illumine once clear character who accepts without faltering or cringing the ultimate test." (Abrams 1241)
Within John Webster's works, The Duchess of Malfi and The White Devil there are many messages about the results and realities...
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Ghost of Hamlet and the Sanctity of Death The play Hamlet occupies such an important and fascinating place in public consciousness and in all of world literature for good reason: it explores some of the most eternal themes that the human condition has ever encountered. The themes presented throughout Hamlet tough upon some of the most timeless issues the human race has ever encountered -- these are themes like love
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