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Three Tragedies by Renaissance Women: The Tragedie of Iphigeneia/the Tragedie Oa Antonie/the Tragedie of Mariam
199 pages, Paperback
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
January 27, 2023
Read this specifically for The Tragadie of Iphigenia and out of the two translations this one was lacking. The inconsistency of spelling in the characters and the presumption of knowledge of this story excluded much detail of the character's voice and certain events within the story. However considering the time period I suppose that was appropriate also for this translation to be done by a 16 year old girl while trying to discreetly comment on the politics of the crown at the time was incredibly clever.
September 15, 2012
This is brilliant! brilliant! brilliant!
Okay, perhaps that's a bit too much enthusiasm, but this books is wonderful. A lot of people slag off early modern women writers (re)discovered and (re)introduced into school / university syllabi by feminists in the 70s / 80s, but this book is so enjoyable, it proves that female-authored texts are valuable both as 'literary' texts and as testimonies (of sorts) of female experiences. The title is a bit misleading as of the three plays, two are translations (although authorship / authority and translation, especially during the Renaissance, especially with female translators is a thorny issue and another discussion) and only the third (The Tragedy of Mariam) is written by a woman in the strictest sense of the word 'by'. This play is also the one that stands out when it comes to how enjoyable / interesting the text itself is. Although the style is sometimes very un-dialogic (?) because this was written as a closet drama, it's very readable once you get used to the spelling and the characters are interesting and compelling (especially Salome, whom you have to love and hate at the same time).
Although you have to drag yourself through Antonie a little, I think the three text work together very well to illuminate each other. Mariam is often read in conjunction with Shakespeare's Othello or at least compared with it - but the comparison isn't really that helpful because Mariam and Othello were written by very different people and intended for very different audiences. So even if you buy / take this out of the library just for the Cary text, I recommend you read all the plays - as well as the introduction which is immensely useful in explaining how / why the theme of female (self)sacrifice is so common and what functions it serves, as well as giving you a lot of information on female characters in tragedies, early modern female writers / early modern women generally, the context / lives of these three writers in particular etc etc. There's also a recommended reading list included at the end of the introduction.
Okay, perhaps that's a bit too much enthusiasm, but this books is wonderful. A lot of people slag off early modern women writers (re)discovered and (re)introduced into school / university syllabi by feminists in the 70s / 80s, but this book is so enjoyable, it proves that female-authored texts are valuable both as 'literary' texts and as testimonies (of sorts) of female experiences. The title is a bit misleading as of the three plays, two are translations (although authorship / authority and translation, especially during the Renaissance, especially with female translators is a thorny issue and another discussion) and only the third (The Tragedy of Mariam) is written by a woman in the strictest sense of the word 'by'. This play is also the one that stands out when it comes to how enjoyable / interesting the text itself is. Although the style is sometimes very un-dialogic (?) because this was written as a closet drama, it's very readable once you get used to the spelling and the characters are interesting and compelling (especially Salome, whom you have to love and hate at the same time).
Although you have to drag yourself through Antonie a little, I think the three text work together very well to illuminate each other. Mariam is often read in conjunction with Shakespeare's Othello or at least compared with it - but the comparison isn't really that helpful because Mariam and Othello were written by very different people and intended for very different audiences. So even if you buy / take this out of the library just for the Cary text, I recommend you read all the plays - as well as the introduction which is immensely useful in explaining how / why the theme of female (self)sacrifice is so common and what functions it serves, as well as giving you a lot of information on female characters in tragedies, early modern female writers / early modern women generally, the context / lives of these three writers in particular etc etc. There's also a recommended reading list included at the end of the introduction.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews