The Atheist's Tragedy Analysis

Written in the 1600’s by Cyril Tourneur, The Atheist’s Tragedy delves deep into different components of atheism. Of these components, the issue of life is given much attention. Throughout the play, D’Amville plays a leading role in plotting certain deaths, hence depriving characters of their lives. He is directly responsible for the death of his brother, Montferrers, just as he is indirectly responsible for the death of Borachio. D’Amville, however, is not fascinated by the lack of life; rather he is driven by the gain of it. Similar to the beliefs of the Roman philosopher Lucretius, D’Amville readily accepts that “death casts up the total sum of joy and happiness…and [that he will] melt into dust.” (Tourneur, 251, 1.1.17-21) This particularly disturbs D’Amville, and therefore prompts him to resolve this issue. To D’Amville, the only way to secure his immortality is through the succession of his lineage. Therefore, D’Amville is motivated to control not only his own life, but the lives of those around him as well. Tourneur presents a rather intimidating opponent to D’Amville, the will of an unknown Supreme Being that arguably oversees his entire plot. Given the …show more content…
Every time D’Amville speaks in prose, he follows the rhythmic patterns of iambic pentameter. As he discusses the importance of his children to his life, asserting that “There’s my eternity…to add to life as much of happiness”, D’Amville follows the rules of iambic pentameter without flaw (Tourneur, 254, 1.1.124-127). He does not waver, or mistakenly add or remove a syllable; rather he is entirely confident in his speech. Exactly ten syllables are found on each line, all of which align perfectly with the patterns of stress. His speech is a reflection of his attitude; just as he does not falter in his rhythmic dialogue, he does not falter in his ability to live through his