Tuesday, October 30, 2007

Repetition and Service in 'Hyde Park'

One of the things that struck me in Hyde Park was the amount of repetition, particularly the number of times one character parrots back another character's lines. I also found it interesting that our 19th century editor italicized these repetitions. Why does this trope appear so often in this play? Is this a tendency of Shirley's writing? Does it serve a non-comic function in addition to its obvious comic effect? Is this play, in someway, about the way that characters repeat each other?

As I read through the seduction and romantic scenes, I was struck by the vast quantity of references to 'service.' I'll admit that this was seeded in my brain because of the amount of time I spent reading The Changeling, but it occurs to often to ignore. Here are some examples: "her servant" (II.i), "command me", "servant", "in [your servant's] number pray write me" (II.iii), "your servant" (IV.iii), etc. How is love in this play related to different understandings of service? Is Bonvile's winning of Julietta, though she is originally with Trier, based on his rhetorical attempt to position himself as 'servant'? How does that contrast with her relationship with Trier? Does Trier position himself as her 'master'?

No comments: