Blind geweld? | Amsterdam University Press Journals Online
2004
Volume 135, Issue 1
  • ISSN: 0040-7550
  • E-ISSN: 2212-0521

Abstract

Abstract

This article investigates the ‘horror of vision’ in regard to staged violence in Dutch theatre plays between c. 1635 and 1665. Three plays in particular are analysed in which the violent act of blinding plays an important role. The theatre serves as a mirror for the onlookers who, through looking at characters that look at violence, learn to critically reflect on how they view theatrical violence themselves. The gaze that is performed on stage could be violent itself, but the horror of looking can also be related to the sensory and mental violence that the representation of extreme violence exerts on the onlooker. The discussed plays often refer to the pain of looking at the pain of others, whereas the viewing pleasure of audiences that would long for horror, is condemned, in contrast to blindness as the true way of (inward) vision.

Loading

Article metrics loading...

/content/journals/10.5117/TNTL2019.1.002.HAVE
2019-01-01
2024-03-28
Loading full text...

Full text loading...

http://instance.metastore.ingenta.com/content/journals/10.5117/TNTL2019.1.002.HAVE
Loading
This is a required field
Please enter a valid email address
Approval was a Success
Invalid data
An Error Occurred
Approval was partially successful, following selected items could not be processed due to error