Lesson Plan Three
Oh the horror!
- No Revenge Tragedy would be complete without the catalogue of horrific items we touched on at the start of the commentary.
- In this lesson we want you to research (singly or in pairs) the following items in detail and then decide on the significance of their dramatic functions in the play.
- There should be a prize for the most thoroughly researched and enlightened contribution!
The learning objective here is to understand the ways in which the conventions of the genre tragedy are applied in the play for specific dramatic effects and outcomes.
- The Malcontent in Jacobean drama
- Rings and their different significances
- Tombs, tomb makers and winding sheets; cords, coffins and the bellman. (Act 4)
- The 'wild consort' of madmen (Act 4)
- Lycanthropy, wolves and werewolves (mainly but not exclusively Act 5).
Main Activity
As a minimum you should have established the following:-
1. The Malcontent in Jacobean drama
- As opposed to the climactic years of the reign of Queen Elizabeth 1st and the glories that it encapsulated, the beginning of the C17th was a time of doubt, uncertainty and prevailing melancholy. After the death of 'Gloriana' the country had the 'wisest fool in Christendom' as its monarch. James 1st was suspected of being a Catholic, or at least being sympathetic to Catholics at a time of growing Puritan influence. Plotting and suspicion were the order of the day. Corruption, or suspected corruption was the way to promote yourself and to be promoted.
- The economy (almost entirely agricultural) was in recession…
