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In order to better understand this play, it is important to know its historical background, especially the War of the Roses: the struggle between the Lancaster family, symbolised by a red rose, and the York family, symbolised by a white rose. Before the events described in this play, the Lancastrian Henry VI was murdered, together with his son and heir to the throne, Edward of Wales, by the Yorks: King Edward IV, Clarence, and their younger brother Richard of Gloucester, the future Richard III. The king and his son leave widows: Queen Margaret, who bitterly curses the Yorks, and Lady Anne, who mourns the death of her husband, but later marries Richard III.

Major Themes

The Allure of Evil: As the main protagonist who addresses the audience, Richard inevitably draws sympathy of the viewers. He uses his deformity and malicious accusation of others to justify his evil actions. Some characters, like Lady Anne, Buckingham and Hastings, allow themselves to be taken in by his charisma, adn they become complicit in their own destruction.

The Power of Language: Richard’s extraordinary skill with words enables him to manipulate, confuse and control those around him. He uses his eloquence to woo Lady Anne, blame the king for Clarence’s death, accuse the Queen and the Woodvilles of a plot, achieve Hastings’ execution and accomplish his own crowning.

The Connection Between Ruler and State: The so-called window scenes in this play–the depiction of the relationship between the court and the common people–provides a glimpse into how the drama in the royal palace affects the inhabitants. The fate of England under Richard suggests that the moral righteousness of a political ruler has a direct bearing on the health of the state.

The Birth of the Tudor Dynasty: Since the fate of Shakespeare’s career in the theatre depended directly on Queen Elizabeth, a Tudor, the playwright had to portray the fall of the Yorks and the ascension of the Tudor dynasty with the victory of Earl of Richmond, later King Henry VII, as a triumph of peace and justice.

The Supernatural: The determination of historical events by divine providence is reflected in the women’s prophetic curses, Clarence and Stanley’s prophetic dreams, and the parade of eleven ghosts who condemn Richard and encourage Richmond before the final battle.

John Webster (c.1580 – c.1634)
Webster is an English Jacobean dramatist best known for his tragedies The White Devil and The Duchess of Malfi, often regarded as masterpieces of the early 17th-century English stage. Webster’s life is obscure, and the dates of his birth and death are not known. His father, a coach maker also named John Webster, married a blacksmith’s daughter named Elizabeth Coates in 1577, and it is likely that Webster was born not long after, in or near London. Webster married the 17-year-old Sara Peniall in 1606, and they had two children. Webster’s two major plays, often performed to this date, are macabre, disturbing works that seem to prefigure the Gothic literature of the 17th century.

The Duchess of Malfi
This play is one of the most frequently revived Jacobean plays other than those of Shakespeare. The play features a complex interweaving of lechery, incest, murder, and torture with nobility, tenderness, and forgiveness. The darkness and horror of The Duchess of Malfi are dramatically compelling, but its unexpected glimpses of light give it a complexity and richness that have maintained the interest of scholars and audiences for centuries.
Major Characters
The title character of The Duchess of Malfi is strong, independent, and noble. She defies both social convention and the wishes of her brothers, the Cardinal and Ferdinand, her twin. Ferdinand, the Duke of Calabria, is a menacing man who appears obsessed with the repression of his sexual impulses. The Cardinal is similarly cruel, but whereas Ferdinand is hot-tempered, the Cardinal is cold and calculating. His affiliation with the church lends him a seemingly supernatural power, but the Cardinal is affiliated with the devil. The Duchess stands in contrast to her brothers, but she is not flawless. She is passionate and sometimes haughty, though she is also maternally tender, dignified, and pious. During her torture and death at the hands of Ferdinand and Bosola, she demonstrates a Christian attitude of forgiveness and confidence in her salvation. The character of Antonio lacks the complexity of the three siblings; he is more a victim than an actor in the tragedy. Bosola begins the play as cynical and self-serving, but his transformation in the final act leaves his character open to interpretation. He dies as he lived, a murderer; yet his recognition of the Duchess’s virtue and his pity for her make him a more sympathetic figure than the brothers who hired him.
Major Themes
Themes central to The Duchess of Malfi include identity, sexuality, and power, all closely intertwined in the tragedy. The theme of identity is carried through the play in several ways. The twin relationship between Ferdinand and the Duchess makes the characters mirrors of one other; the frequent presence of mirrors as stage props makes the metaphor explicit. The Duchess also battles with the issue of conflicting public and private identities: her status as an aristocratic lady contests with her love for the lower-born Antonio. The theme of sexuality is tied to identity, particularly in regards to Ferdinand and the Duchess; his apparent desire for her is a perversion of socially acceptable sexuality as well as a kind of narcissism. Sexuality is generally linked to danger and violence, as the most explicitly sexual characters are shown to be the most evil. The desire for power is also a controlling force in the drama; the Duchess’s brothers are driven by a desire to control the family fortune. The corrupted authority of Ferdinand and the Cardinal casts doubt on the power they wield, while the nobility of the Duchess as she faces her death suggests the possibility of a different sort of authority.

The story of As You Like It came from the novel by Thomas Lodge, Rosalynde, a popular contemporary pastoral and romantic adventure, which were then fashionable. Shakespeare entirely rewrote the dialogue, changed the ending, and added new characters: Jaques is a representative of the melancholic “humour,” a reflection of the growing interest in the psychological types of the period; the Clown, Touchstone, satirises the novel with cynical and sophisticated comments he makes when the forest lovers become sentimental; William and Audrey, the two yokels, provide a comic contrast to the pretty ladies and gentlemen who play shepherds.

Major Themes

The Therapeutic Effect of Nature: This play, and pastoral comedies in general, suggest that the oppressions of the city can be remedied by a trip to the woods and fields, and that a person’s emotional and spiritual state can be restored by conversations with uncorrupted shepherds and shepherdesses. Since the exiled Duke and his retinue finally return to the court, the life in the forest proves a temporary affair, and the main task of every individual is to find a balance between the two.

The Joys of Love: The play attempts to reverse the conventions of poetry and literature that love is a disease bringing suffering and torment to the lover, or the assumption that the male lover is the slave or servant of his mistress. Rosalind makes fun of Orlando’s statements about the suffering caused by his love, counsels Silvius against prostrating himself in front of Phoebe, and scolds Phoebe for the arrogance in playing the shepherd’s disdainful love object. She propagates love as a source of happiness and fulfillment.

Human Change: Characters in this play demonstrate how completely human beings can change, and their transformation is always positive. Some of these changes have to do with the restorative, almost magical effects of life in the forest. They also happen almost instantenously: Oliver, for instance, learns to love both his brother Orlando and Celia immediately after entering the forest, and the vengeful, ambitious Duke Frederick decides to give up his throne after a single conversation with a religious old man.

Gender Reversals: Rosalind, played by a boy in theatre, disguises into a boy named Ganymede, Jove’s young, male lover in Greek mythology. Orlando seems to enjoy practicing his wooing skills on a boy, and Phoebe is more attracted to the effeminate Ganymede than to the real male, Silvius. A comment on the ban on actresses in Elizabethan theatre, this crossdressing also carries strong homoerotic and homosexual connotations.

Shakespeare’s major tragedies are all about large figures in extremely trying situations, and this emphasis on extremes is the source of their special power. The marriage between Othello and Desdemona joins not just a man and a woman, but a middle-aged black soldier and a young white Venetian lady of noble birth. This marriage, so hated by Desdemona’s father, is for both of them a symbol of perfection. It seems that Shakespeare sets for himself the task of creating the reality of an extraordinary relationship and then completely destroying it. The contrasting marriage of Iago and Emilia with its bitter jokes and spiteful remarks, as well as the casual flirtation between Cassio and Bianca, make us see more clearly the special beauty of the initial love between Othello and Desdemona.

Othello may be seen as a morality play, with all the forces of good represented by Desdemona’s beauty, honesty and faith balanced by the forces of evil embodied in Iago’s envy, cowardice and cynicism. Between them stands Othello, a man calm when faced by enemy swords, Senators and raging sea, but insecure about his race, age, and status in the Venetian society. At the beginning of the play we admire his assurance, eloquence and the love he inspires in Desdemona, but we watch in horror when he is lured into doubts, questions, and, finally, murderous jealousy. Our frustration is increased because the reliable companion who might stop him from his error is the very villain who sets the tragic events in motion.

Characters such as Desdemona, Iago and Othello are not only powerful figures, but they are also immensely challenging for actors to portray. An actor playing Iago, for instance, has to consider the numerous motives for his actions, choose and emphasise the one crucial for the destruction he seeks. Othello must be a believable combination of both a great general and an immature bridegroom, showing both the strength of a military hero and the vulnerability of a lover. The contemporary theme of interracial marriage the play develops is still very topical in today’s multiethnic societies.

CHRISTOPHER MARLOWE: DOCTOR FAUSTUS

The Author
Born in Canterbury in 1564, the same year as William Shakespeare, Marlowe was an actor, poet and playwright during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (1558-1603). He attended Cambridge University. After receiving a Master’s degree in 1587, instead of becoming a clergyman according to his education, he moved to London, became a playwright, and led a turbulent, scandal-plagued life. The fact that the Queen intervened on his behalf when his degree was withheld led some to suspect that Marlowe worked as a spy for the crown. In London, he produced seven plays, all of which were immensely popular. He pioneered the use of blank verse—non-rhyming lines of iambic pentameter. In 1593 he was accused of heresy and was arrested. Shortly after being released he was stabbed to death in a tavern brawl. After his death, rumours spread about his treason, atheism and homosexuality. His most important works: Tamburlaine, Part I & II (1587-88), The Jew of Malta (1589), Edward II (1592), Doctor Faustus (1593).

The Work
Based on the German work, Historia von D. Iohan Fausten of 1587, translated into English in 1592. Later versions of the same story include Goethe’s long poem Faust and operas by Gounod and Boito, as well as a symphony by Berlioz. No Elizabethan play outside Shakespeare has raised more criticism and controversy. It was published in 1604, and the second version (1616) contains parts believed to be added by other writers, mainly comical scenes written in prose.

Main Characters
Dr. Faustus seems to be sentenced to eternal condemnation as soon as he sells his soul to Lucifer in exchange for knowledge and magical powers. At first he does not believe in hell, and he refuses to acknowledge the testimony about it from Mephastophilis and the Gospel. He rejects the authorities in philosophy, physics, law and religion, and his greed for power makes him only pursue black magic. In full Renaissance spirit, he decides to accept no limits, traditions or authorities in his quest for knowledge, wealth and power. At the end, before he is carried off by evil spirits, he is fully aware of his sins, and he gives in to the Christian worldview, but it is too late.
Mephastophilis is an ambiguous character. At first, he warns Faustus about the consequences of his decision, but later threatens him when his victim is drawn to remorse and repentance. This demon is a manifestation of the sorrow that comes with separation from God.

Major Themes
1. Sin, Redemption and Salvation
2. The Conflict Between Medieval and Renaissance Values
3. Power as a Corrupting Influence
4. The Divided Nature of Man (The Battle between Good and Evil)
5. Faustus’ Rejection of Ancient Authorities
6. The Existence of Knowledge Outside of Books
7. Degradation of Faustus’ Ambitions

WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE (1564-1616)

Shakespeare is the greatest English and one of the greatest world dramatists. He was born at Stratford-upon-Avon as the third child of one of the most prosperous men in the town. In 1582 he married Ann Hathaway and had three children with her. He began his career as a playwright and actor in London somewhere between 1585 and 1592. By 1598 he was well known and his plays were extremely popular. His playing company, the Lord Chamberlain’s Man (the King’s Men after 1603) built their own theatre, the Globe, in 1599. After 1607, he lived mostly at Stratford, and after 1611 in retirement. He died on April 23, the same day he was born. During his lifetime, fourteen of his plays were separately published in booklets called Quartos. In 1623, two of his fellow actors published a collection of 36 plays in one volume, known as the Folio.

Shakespeare’s work is usually divided into four periods:
1. Experimental (until 1594)
2. Comedies and histories (1594-1600)
3. Tragedies and dark (bitter) comedies (1600-1608)
4. Dramatic romances (tragicomedies) (after 1608).

His best known plays:
Comedies: All’s Well that Ends Well, As You Like It, The Merchant of Venice, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Much Ado About Nothing, Twelfth Night, The Tempest (tragicomedy).
Histories: Richard II, Henry IV (two parts), Henry V, Henry VI (three parts), Richard III
Tragedies: Romeo and Juliet, Julius Caesar, Macbeth, Hamlet, King Lear, Othello, Anthony and Cleopatra