Shakespeares melodramatic villains.

Shakespeares melodramatic villains.
Melodramamost often associated with the eighteenth- and nineteenth-century stageis often defined in terms of its sensationalism and its emotional appeals to the audience. As a dramatic form, it makes the distinction between good and evilbetween villains and heroesvisually apparent rather than a matter for words and debate. Richard IIIs rhetorical skill and the charisma he wields through his speeches are noteworthy, but these characteristics also connote his deceptive nature and his duplicity. In this, he is similar to Portia when she appears cross-dressed in the Venetian court as Balthazar. As a young advocate, Portias speeches weave a web of words that entangle Shylock in the law he craves, thereby denying him the justice he seeks.

Richard III and The Merchant of Venice present audiences with a world characterized as full of perils, which can lead quickly to the loss of ones life or at least ones livelihood. These plays also stage ideological confrontation as spectacles, taking form as conspiracies, intrigue, and legal trials. How do these plays and these performances of Shakespeares melodramatic villains bring villains under control? What spectacles or quasi-providential forces are brought into play to control evil?

Last Completed Projects