Page "Thomas Middleton" Paragraph 12

Middleton's plays are characterised by their cynicism about the human race, a cynicism that is often very funny.

True heroes are a rarity in Middleton ; in his plays, almost every character is selfish, greedy, and self-absorbed.

This quality is best observed in the A Chaste Maid in Cheapside, a panoramic view of a London populated entirely by sinners, in which no social rank goes unsatirised.

It can also be seen in the tragedies Women Beware Women and The Revenger's Tragedy, in which enjoyably amoral Italian courtiers endlessly plot against each other, resulting in a climactic bloodbath.

When Middleton does portray good people, the characters have very small roles, and are flawless to perfection.

Thanks to a theological pamphlet attributed to him, Middleton is thought by some to have been a strong believer in Calvinism, among the dominant strains in the theology of the English church of his time, which rigidly divides humanity into the damned and the elect, which focuses on human sinfulness and inadequacy more than in the other denominations of Christianity.