- The play is about a corrupt man who is happy that his sons have been killed and rapes his daughter. Before he can harm anymore of his family his daughter and wife hire assassins to kill him. The family is then executed for this.
- Beatrice is trying to protect her family and herself from her father. She does not want him to harm her and attempts to stop him. She then prevents it from happening again by hiring assassins and tries to cover up what she has done. When she is found out she refuses to sign anything saying she did it as she does not believe that she should be held responsible. She is then executed by the Church. She is young about 19-20 years old and of a small stature. She is innocent and pure however this is corrupted by Cenci. She is pretty and usually gentle and loving towards people. However, she is strong and can be tough if she needs to be.
- The first scene with Beatrice is the banquet scene where she discovers her brothers are dead and her father wants to rape her. There are many people there and it is in their house. The next scene is in Lucretia, her step mother’s bedroom just after she has been raped. Her fiancé Orsino then comes in to help them. The next scene is in their living room and Cenci’s bedroom where she instructs the assassins to kill him. The next scene is just after this has occurred where Camillo finds out what they have done and arrests them in their house. The last scene is in a torture chamber below the church where Beatrice is attached to a cross and is about to be executed.
- Beatrice is the main character and is Cenci’s daughter who represents the corruption of innocence and emphasises how evil Cenci is.
- She is raped and then causes Cenci’s death before being executed.
- She is either at home or in the torture chamber.
- The play is re-contextualised to today so that it is relevant to the audience. This is because Artaud stated that theatre should be done in the time for the people of the time. Old theatre should not be done.
- It is set in Rome due to the Catholic Church and is in the city.
- The original story was set in the late sixteenth century however Artaud’s performance was in 1935 and set in this period.
- In this time the church had a huge influence on people and were considered of very high authority. They had the power to punish whomever they chose to through the pope and this is how Beatrice is killed.
- The Cenci family are of a high class as he is a Count and they therefore have a lot of money and influence. As Cenci has so much power he is able to go about things with impunity, however, as Beatrice is female she has no power, she is subject to what her father chooses.
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