Reaching Out

So for my final ever undergraduate essay, I decided I'll write about the negotiation of political power in the tragedies we're studying... namely, the Spanish Tragedy, the Jew of Malta (which would have been great, seeing as it deals with minority status) and the Revenger's Tragedy. Then Dr. Hill said she didn't want us handling more than two plays and I was quite, quite deflated by that.

So I figured I'd work on the Revenger's Tragedy exclusively and explore the power struggles that the characters have to work through. I've conveniently categorized them into three groups:

- people with great political power (ie the Duke, Lussurioso)
These characters obviously abuse their position in different ways - through law and through status / wealth. They usually use this power to negotiate sex from anyone with lesser power, and those who deny them are met with violence.

- People with marginal positions (ie the Duchess, Suprio, Castiza, Ambitioso and Super Vacuo, Gratiana)
These are people who're closely related to those in power, but want to buck the system anyway and claim power for themselves. Spurio and the Duchess do this by engaging in an incestuous, illicit affair, whereas Ambitioso and Supervacuo try to plot to have Lussurioso killed. Castiza is asked to prostitute herself, which she angrily refuses, while her mother Gratiana feels the pinch of her marginal status and persuades Castiza to give in to Lussurioso.

- people who have SOME power but either have lost it or their power/status is impotent in face of higher-powered people (ie Vindice, Antonio)


It's problematic because then I have to define what "power" is, and there're so many dimensions to this. I'm also tying this to Marilyn French's theory in Beyond Power, but it's hard to come up with an aphorism that nutshells her theory.

More on this as I think of it.