“There is nothing sure in mortality – but mortality”: Notes on Middleton’s Way with Death

Abstract

The title quotation is attributed by Thomas Middleton to one of the shallower characters in his Revenger’s Tragedy (1606). This paper deals with the unconventional strategy of attributing such a fundamental sentence to an antagonist and analyses its fruitful outcome. It also tackles the theme of mortality in revenge tragedies, particularly in Hamlet and in Middleton’s play.

Keywords: Middleton, Shakespeare, Revenge tragedy, Mortality, the Vanity of human wishes