Lehal Library

xxxiii Introduction nothing to grasp all the power he could. Renaissance Italian theatre had updated this type of villain with elements from Machiavelli, transforming the character into an unscrupu- lous courtier who takes pleasure in wicked calculation and cruelty. It was from this model that the English theatre developed its endless ­mani­festations of the devious rogue (pander, miser, or revengeful cuckold) who administers poisons with aplomb and is never without a dagger beneath his cloak. From the point of view of the dramatist, an unscrupu- lous character who has a secret agenda and relies on his presumed intellectual superiority to dupe those around him is obviously an exciting proposition. Such a figure can be depended upon to create tension, keep the plot moving and allow for resolutions where the larger group’s benign order once again imposes itself after the tragic disturbance caused by the wicked, scheming individual. Beyond a super- ficial repulsion that the audience feels towards such a character, be it Marlowe’s Jew of Malta, Webster’s Flami- neo in The White Devil, or Shakespeare’s Iago, there is also an undercurrent of excitement at the thought that it might be possible to take life entirely into one’s hands, manipulate people and circumstances at will and generally pursue one’s selfish goals without a thought for moral codes or eternal damnation: in this sense the Machiavellian villain looks ahead to the worst of modern individualism. Then there was also, of course, the contrasting pleasure of seeing the clever schemer ‘hoist with his own petard’. xxxiv