Dionysus in the Dungeon

The Nietzschean Duality in David Ives’ Venus in Fur

Abstract

Since The Birth of Tragedy, Frederich Nietzsche’s theories have completely changed the landscape of theatre analysis. Even as tragedy as a genre has declined in popularity in recent years, his writings on tragedy remain relevant. The framework of The Birth of Tragedy has been used to reevaluate many different works, from the Greek classics to cartoons. I will explore how the Apollonian and Dionysian duality manifests in contemporary theatre, using David Ives’ Venus in Fur as an example of an effective use of this duality, while also examining the ways in which relying on it can stunt character development in the writing process.