2 MAY 1914, Page 27

The Villain as Hero in Elizabethan Tragedy. By C. V.

Boyer. (George Routledge and Sons, 6s.)—Dr. Boyer's interesting and suggestive essay originated in " an endeavour to discover whether or not the heroic criminals of Elizabethan tragedy adhered to any particular type." Investigation led the author to enlarge the scope of his inquiry. He traces tack to Seneca the origin of plays in which the villain is hero, demonstrates the influence of Machiavelli on the type in Elizabethan days, and analyses the nature of the emotions aroused by such villain-heroes as Marlowe's Barabas, Webster's Bowie, Shakespeare's Richard III., Iago, and Macbeth.