Be sure to read all about the genre of Revenge Tragedy for Tuesday, even though you've already had a brief taste of it with Titus Andronicus. We'll have an in-class response when you arrive, but here are some ideas to consider:
* Why does Hackett suggest that such over-the-top gore and violence (shown on-stage, unlike the Greeks) could be therapeutic for the audience? Why on some level do we need to see violence enacted in art?
* Why is the Machiavel (the one we met in the Prologue to The Jew of Malta) such a recurring character in these plays? What anxieties might this reflect about Renaissance society and England's place in it?
* Why do you think revenge is one of the oldest subjects for drama (going back to the first plays by the Greeks)? What is so compelling or dramatic about the idea itself? How do the Elizabethan and Jacobean (the age under James I, who succeeded Elizabeth) put their own spin on this?
* Though there were many revenge tragedies in this period, what made the plays Hackett cites stand out? Based on these examples, what might be the recipe for a truly memorable revenge tragedy? Does Titus seem to share these characteristics?
* What role(s) do women play in revenge tragedies? Why might the age have become much more concerned with women, giving them major roles and even allowing them to become the star of the play, as in The Duchess of Malfi?
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