ABSTRACT
This chapter aims to scrutinize a repeated verbal detail in The Massacre at Paris, because it links Marlowe's play most securely with Shakespeare. It presents a more complete understanding of the Duke of Guise than the fragmented text is usually thought to yield. Although Titus Andronicus and Richard III lack verbal echoes of The Massacre At Paris, similarities among the characters of the three plays would seem to suggest some possibilities of influence. Using the term "unfelt imaginations" more inclusively, without trying to assign Marlovian or Shakespearian influence, that it accurately describes a similar psychological pattern in the Guise, Aaron, and Richard III at crucial points in their live. That Shakespeare introduces the phrase "unfelt imaginations" in a context that does not necessitate it suggests that the functions, powers, and abuses of the imagination are concerns pressing strongly on his consciousness. From a metadramatic perspective, the phrase "unfelt imaginations" can be useful in discussing the two dramatists' foremost responsibility.
