The Revenger's Tragedy As A Tragedy

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In the article, Thomas Middleton, William Shakespeare and the Masculine Grotesque, written by Celia R. Daileader, Daileader made claim to the statement of The Revenger's Tragedy being a feminist Hamlet. These claims are backed up by various theories and quotations from both The Revenger's Tragedy and Hamlet and can be easily argued with. In this essay, the argument of The Revenger's Tragedy being more feminist than Hamlet will be discussed by firstly looking at the context of The Revenger's Tragedy and Hamlet as well as by briefly delving into minor aspects of The Spanish Tragedy as well as examples from other Renaissance plays mentioned in Daileader's article.

By using Daileader's article as a reference, an oppositional view will be conducted by comparing and contrasting the claims made in the article with knowledge from the play and by discussing the differences and similarities in characterization in accordance to the article, specifically. Finally, a conclusion summarizing the points made from Daileader's article and the claims made in this essay will be reached in reference to The Revenger's Tragedy not being a feminist Hamlet.

Daileader starts off the article by making various comparisons between Middleton and Shakespeare in terms of their writing and how they characterize men and women in their plays. (Daileader, C. 2008: 452) In the beginning of Daileader's article, Daileader states that, "The Revenger's Tragedy, written the same year as the former and quite obviously reworking Hamlet, almost every male character bears the name of a vice or defect-Lussuriouso, Spurio, Ambitioso, Supervacuo, Vindice, Sordido-and the only virtuous characters are female."

Although this statement could be conceived as probable, the followi...

... middle of paper ...

...wards women, similar to that of Hamlet.

Daileader fails to directly account for why Hamlet is more sexist or oppressive than The Revenger's Tragedy and could only argue in terms of the author's as opposed to directly referencing each play (Daileader, C. 2008: 466). For example, Daileader used a lot of examples from Middleton and Shakespeare’s other plays, but none of them in reference to The Revenger's Tragedy or Hamlet (Daileader, C. 2008: 466). Although Daileader has some relevant points, most of the arguments in terms of the oppression and role of women could be compared to Hamlet in similar terms, thus making the argument invalid. More research would have to be done on Daileader's part in terms of relevance and specific details on why Hamlet is more sexist than The Revenger's Tragedy opposed to why The Revenger's Tragedy could be considered as more feminist.

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