literature, education, and early modern drama // the words, words, words of Dr James Alsop, Teacher of English // views are my own and do not represent those of my employer
This chapter is part literature review, part mission statement: in it, I outline how the notion of a "ghost" would have been understood by somebody living at the turn of the 17th Century. What - or who - *were* ghosts? What did they look like? Where did they come from? Most importantly, I begin to explore how might the various historical, religious, and political significations of the ghost may have influenced the characters we see on the early modern stage...
In this paper, I argue that throughout Antonio's Revenge Marston establishes a clear relationship between the appearances of ghostly characters and glaring shifts in his play’s tonal register. Specifically, ghosts – primarily the recurring figure of Andrugio – appear to both signpost and facilitate a gloriously self-aware metatheatrical undercurrent designed to entertain and emotionally unsettle the audience in equal measure.
For a Senecan-styled tragedy of inordinate bloodshed, things work out remarkably well for the characters who survive John Marston’s 1602 Antonio’s Revenge...
Now that the nights are drawing in, I thought I'd share a few more of the spooky (and occasionally hilarious) shenanigans of days past that I came across while researching. Enjoy!
The following paper was originally presented at the “Making Connections” London Shakespeare Centre Graduate Conference, held at Shakespeare’s Globe, London, February 2018 (the location of the conference is relevant to the content of the paper!). It's one of the most enjoyable things I've written in many years, and I'm proud of what it represents. Enjoy!
