Suchergebnisse

Christopher Marlowe's "The Massacre at Paris" is dedicated to the tragic events of the St. Bartholomew's night and their context. It is one of the first evocation of the real political incidents on stage in a verbal and non-allegorical manner. Simultaneously, the tragedy is full of both stereotypes and political anti-Catholic mindsets (such as extreme cruelty, Machiavellianism, etc.) that had been shaping the image of the continental "Other" among the English people. Additionally, the play was one of the first bloody revenge tragedies in the Golden Age of English drama. Marlowe contributed to the formation of the macabre "vocabulary of horrors" that would become a set of tools for subsequent experiments in this genre. The research explores the development process of these images. The article presents fragments of a new Russian translation of "The Massacre at Paris", which, in the author's opinion, makes it possible to determine the playwright's attitudes as well as the contemporaries' perception of the play more precisely.The study was presented at the I All-Russian conference "Christopher Marlowe and His Literary Heritage in Russian and World Culture: An Interdisciplinary Look" (Moscow, June 22–23, 2018). The conference was held within the framework of the project supported by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (No. 18-012-00679). ; «Парижская резня» Кристофера Марло, посвященная трагичным событиям Варфоломеевской ночи и их контексту, — одно из первых воплощений на сцене реальных политических инцидентов в буквальной, а не аллегорической форме. Одновременно трагедия полна как стереотипов, так и политических антикатолических установок (таких как крайняя жестокость, макиавеллизм и т. д.), формировавших в глазах англичан образы континентального «другого». Кроме того, пьеса оказывается одной из первых в списке кровавых «трагедий мести» золотого века английской драматургии. Марло внес вклад в создание макабрического «словаря ужасов», ставшего инструментарием для последующих экспериментов в этом жанре. В рамках исследования процесса формирования этих образов в статье представлен новый перевод фрагментов трагедии, позволяющий, по мнению автора, точнее отразить установки, которыми руководствовался драматург, и восприятие пьесы современниками.В виде доклада исследование было представлено на I Всероссийской научной конференции «Кристофер Марло и его творчество в русской и мировой культуре: междисциплинарный взгляд» (Москва, 22–23 июня 2018 г.). Конференция была проведена в рамках проекта Российского фонда фундаментальных исследований (№ 18-012-00679).

Building on the issue of genealogy of the history play I touched on in my previous article, this contribution examines how the characters in Christopher Marlowe's attempt at a proto-history play and of his preceding historical tragedies lead us both to the historical memory that a London Elizabethan theatregoer might have had, and to his imaginary polities where the plays were set — from the conventional Orient conquered by Tamburlaine, to England and France. The degree of detail and internal coherence of a polity could have had an impact of the traumatic effect of scenic violence. ; Продолжая начатую в предыдущей работе тему генеалогии английской хроники (history play), статья посвящена тому, как действия героев исторических пьес Марло и предшествовавших им трагедий на историческом материале связаны, с одной стороны, с исторической памятью, присущей лондонскому зрителю позднеелизаветинской эпохи, а с другой, с характеристиками воображаемых им политий, где происходит действие пьес — от условного «Востока», завоеванного Тамерланом, до Англии и Франции. Степень проработанности этой политии и связей внутри нее, вероятно, могла определять уровень «травматичности» показанного на сцене.

Christopher Marlowe's The Massacre at Paris, a play which probably dates from 1592 but has reached posterity in a mangled form, enacts the incorporation of religious and state politics in the theatre. Through a sequence of short scenes characterized by senseless brutality and black humor, Marlowe revisits one of the darkest episodes of French history, the Saint Bartholomew's Day Massacre, which took place on the 24th and 25th August 1572. Dramatizing the slaughter of thousands of Protestants by Catholics, the play not only reflects on the significance of massacre as a political term for an increasingly absolutist Renaissance Europe but also translates the violence of massacre into aesthetic form. Itself alien within the body of Marlowe's dramatic works, The Massacre at Paris has rarely been performed after its Elizabethan successful performances at the Rose; this is not surprising given the state of the extant text and its dismissal by many critics as crude anti-Catholic propaganda. Yet, the Massacre's corrupt and incomplete form, political ambiguities and emphasis on theatrical violence have inspired two contemporary artists, the French director Guillaume Delaveau and the Austrian composer Wolfgang Mitterer, to rethink and revive it. Both Delaveau's Massacre à Paris, first performed at Toulouse in 2007 and Mitterer's experimental opera Massacre, composed in 2003 and performed in 2008 and 2010 in France, refer to recent wars and atrocities and rejoice in the irony of the play. This paper seeks to investigate the play's ability to convey political thought and provoke contemporary audiences by reading it together with Delaveau and Mitterer's adaptations. The challenge of reworking the Massacre for our age involves the question of the theatre's potential to expose the audience to the horror of history.

Although scholars of both literature and history have made arguments for Christopher Marlowe's religious belief in Catholicism, the Church of England, and even atheism (which could have been conflated with both by different parties during his lifetime), few consider the belief system of the Polish Brethren, a precursor to Unitarianism established by one Faustus Socinus. This essay uses historical and social network analyses to suggest a close tie between Marlowe's acquaintances and believers in Socinianism. Clues in Doctor Faustus and Massacre at Paris suggest Marlowe's skepticism concerning the doctrines of Catholicism, Lutheranism, and Calvinism. Furthermore, repeated references to Poland and the beliefs of the Socinians suggest Marlowe's familiarity with the doctrine of the Polish Brethren. Finally, the complex ties between the Elizabethan Secret Service—of which Marlowe was a member—and the early modern royal courts across Europe provide evidence that the Reformation in England was shaped by far more complex—and even modern—ideas of religious diversity than we typically credit. For Marlowe, these influences produced a deep-seated resentment of organized religion and its impact on the anti-Catholic policies of the Elizabethan government during the 1580s and early 1590s.

Scott McMillin: This collection of three papers, selected by Scott McMillin, highlights new scholarly work on the repertory of Strange's Men, Pembroke's Men, and Queen Anne's Men. Lawrence Manley: The repertory of Strange's Men, as it is represented in Henslowe's records of their 134 performances at the Rose Theatre in 1592/3, contains an unusually large number of plays involving pyrotechnics, possibly including the staging of human immolations. Though pyrotechnics were a familar feature of traditional dramaturgy, such effects were used by Strange's Men to represent acts of cruelty and judicial punishment that had an edge of topical relevance to English history and politics. The theatrical daring of pyrotechnics in the Strange's repertory may thus have been part of a 'company style' that readily accommodated the politically daring and dramatically innovative work of Marlowe in The Jew of Malta and The Massacre at Paris and of the young Shakespeare in 1 Henry VI. Roslyn Knutson: Although Pembroke's Men in 1592/3 had talented (if youthful) players and a patron in good standing with the queen, the company reportedly fell on hard times. No one knows why. Here I consider whether the problem might have been the repertory, which I explore in terms of the four plays known to be theirs (Edward II, 1 Contention, The True Tragedy, and A Shrew), or their touring schedule. Mark Bayer: In 1616, Queen Anne's Men, under the management of Christopher Beeston, moved theatrical operations from the Red Bull, a large public playhouse in Clerkenwell, to the Cockpit, an indoor hall on the increasingly fashionable Drury Lane. The success of this move was overshadowed by a riot on Shrove Tuesday, 1617, in which apprentices damaged the new theatre, forcing the company to return temporarily to the Red Bull while the Cockpit was under repair. Narratives of this event tend to describe it either as an indiscriminate episode of civil unrest or, more cogently, as demonstrating a specific animosity towards Queen Anne's Men because they were now playing the Red Bull repertory at a prohibitively expensive venue. In an effort to revise these received interpretations, I argue that the reasons for the riot go well beyond the release of aggression and issues of cost. The profit-driven motives of the Queen Anne's Men violated communal principles of fair dealing and their abandonment of the Red Bull and Clerkenwell affected a more intangible sense of loss and indignation, placing pressures on local businesses that relied on the daily theatre traffic, and severely weakening charitable efforts within the parish.

"Intolerance of Catholics and Catholicism is one of the best-known features of seventeenth-century England" ; but at the same time it is also "in some ways […] one of the least explored. In particular ; little is known of the essential feature of this intolerance – the nature ; extent and causes of the Protestant fear of Catholics." It was this quote which struck me the most while I was conducting research for my thesis. Robin Clifton made this statement in his study on "The popular fear of Catholics during the English Revolution" in the early 70's and addressed a well-known phenomenon of early modern studies. We all know about the religious and political struggles of the Elizabethan and Jacobean eras. We know about the event which initiated the whole English Reformation ; that is the divorce of Henry VIII from Catherine of Aragon and his second marriage to Anne Boleyn. And we know that "a vocabulary of anti-Catholicism or anti-Popery was developed and deployed for a wide variety of national and international circumstances" ; but the reason why this ; in essence ; marital issue launched the prosecution of hundreds of English Catholics and converted a Catholic nation into a Protestant nation with fierce anti-Catholic sentiments has remained an under-investigated and intriguing phenomenon. The aim of my thesis was to find a satisfying answer to these questions. The basis for this answer consists of political and historical facts ; legal texts and a selection of dramatic texts of the early modern period. I chose dramatic texts for the simple reason that theatre was the only open medium and form of entertainment which was accessible for all social classes. Moreover ; going to the theatre did not "demand literacy in an age when most of the population was illiterate" ; and when books were reserved for the literate few ; that is to say that even the uneducated 'groundlings' – as they were called – formed a welcome part of the audience. By choosing such a broad spectrum I hoped to have built an ideal foundation of historical and literary inquiry ; which would offer sufficient information and leave as little questions as possible. The structure of my thesis therefore aims at providing all necessary facts and information at first and in a second step bringing all the information down to a common denominator and find an – in this case – philosophical explanation. Therefore ; the first part of my thesis offers a broad and extensive overview of the historical background of the early modern period by bringing together "a number of religiously coded events" like the excommunication of Elizabeth I ; the execution of Mary Stuart ; the victory over the Spanish Armada and the Gunpowder Plot. These events are put into context with the governmental measurements – in the form of decrees and statutes – that were passed as a direct response and attempted to restrict and finally banish Catholic life from England. I limited the time span to nearly one hundred years ; starting in 1534 and ending in 1625. The second part offers a discussion of ten selected dramatic texts and subsequent literary analysis. To fulfill the requirements needed for such a literary analysis the dramas selected were chosen for different reasons. Firstly ; it was essential that one or more Catholic characters be amongst the characters. Secondly ; these Catholic characters had to be complex and in some way provoking the audience and/ or the other characters. Furthermore ; they needed to be influential and in some position of power ; so that the possible abuse of their office would be of major consequence. Considering the time these plays needed to cover ; I kept close to the historical time span ; so that the first play was produced in 1588 and the last in 1641. Thus ; the final selection included plays from the Elizabethan ; Jacobean and Caroline era ; which fulfilled the aforementioned criteria. All plays contain one or more Catholic characters ; who are in relatively powerful positions and either abuse their power or manipulate those around them to achieve higher political and personal aims. In the case of the Elizabethan plays ; it is the Bishop of Winchester ; later Cardinal Beaufort of Shakespeare's Henry VI ; Parts 1+2 ; Cardinal Pandulph of Shakespeare's The Life and Death of King John and the Catholic league around Catherine de Medici and the Duke of Guise in Marlowe's The Massacre at Paris. Doctor Faustus ; was chosen because of the open derision of Catholicism displayed on stage ; and opens the chapter on Elizabethan drama. In the first Jacobean play ; Thomas Dekker's allegory The Whore of Babylon ; the plot centers on a Catholic league led by the Empress of Babylon – an allegorical figure ; representing the pope and the Vatican. John Webster's plays The White Devil and The Duchess of Malfi both show a cardinal who considerably – and negatively – influences the strand of the plot ; either by abusing his position or by manipulating other characters. The last Jacobean play ; Thomas Middleton's A Game at Chess ; is another allegory ; staging a game of chess in which the Black House is representative of a Catholic league ; and the White House stands for the English Protestants. The last play discussed in this thesis is James Shirley's The Cardinal. After having provided this basis ; which I found necessary to offer before the theoretical analysis ; the third part of my thesis then merges history ; law and drama and highlights the common features these three levels have in common. For example ; techniques for isolating Catholics off the stage and Catholic characters on the stage ; Protestant fears of being seduced by cunning missionary priests and the theatrical representation of these fears on stage ; or ; for example ; the completely exaggerated image the English Protestants had of the pope ; which also found its way to the stage. Finally I searched for an explanation for all these elements which would illustrate that the processes on the stage were just a mirror of the processes off the stage. And which furthermore would support my thesis that early modern drama was just as influential in promoting the prosecution and banishment of Catholics in England as the legal and political measurements ; or that politics and literature worked in a mutual and reciprocal cooperation ; respectively. I attribute this explanation to the philosophical writings of the Lithuanian phenomenologist Emanuel Levinas. Levinas has worked out the idea of 'the other' based on his experiences during the Holocaust – he was held prisoner in a special camp at Hanover ; while his Jewish relatives were being murdered in Lithuania by German National Socialists. Due to situational similarities ; that is ; life as a member of an alienated ; demonized and persecuted minority ; I thought his approach was the most suitable to apply to English Catholics 400 years before.