by Ángela de Azevedo
Season 2, Episode 1: Weapons of Honor
Hosted by Hailey Pearce and Pete Sheldon
Points of Interest
- Introduction
- Presumed Dead summary and Spanish Golden Age overview
- Honor in Spanish Golden Age
- Honor for women (enclosure)
- Honor for men (dueling)
- Scene Analyses
- Male honor and religious overtones (Rodrigo)
- Male honor and dueling (Don Alvaro and Alberto)
- Female honor (Jacinta, Dorotea, and Clarindo)
- Crossdressing and subversion (Lisarda)
- Wrap up and thanks
Episode Transcript and Bibliography available here.
Season 2, Episode 2: Talkin’ About Our Genre-ation
Hosted by Devlin Ford and Shawn Passero
Points of Interest:
- What is a murder mystery? Where do they come from?
- History of the genre and its evolution through famous examples
- What must be present in a plot to be considered a murder mystery?
- Thematic elements, plot structures, character archetypes…
- What subgenres are relevant?
- “Howcatchem” and definition
- Why do people enjoy them so much?
- Psychological research and personal opinion
- Play Context
- Reminder of who was “killed,” who did the killing, and the motive.
- Alvaro Monologue
- Clarindo/Papagayo Scene
- How does Presumed Dead fits the bill of a typical murder mystery?
- How does it relate to Shakespeare?
Episode Transcript and Bibliography available here.
Season 2, Episode 3: Birds of a Feather Fool Together
Hosted by Jacob Laitinen and Petra Shearer
Points of Interest:
- Summary of El muerto disimulado, or Presumed Dead
- History and definition of a gracioso, or clown in Spanish Golden Age dramas
- Fools in ancient Greece, commedia dell’arte, and Shakespeare
- Character spotlight on Papagayo
- Performance of selected scenes from Presumed Dead
- Finding the heart of fools and other stock characters
Episode Transcript and Bibliography available here.
Writ in the Margins Podcast 