"Betray'd to shame": Venice Preserved and the paradox of she-tragedy

[...]Muir's work does generate an axiom of adaptation, which is as follows: a superior writer (Le., Shakespeare) revives an already existing story by bathing it in the purifying waters of his genius and artistry. In her analysis of Venice Preserved, Jessica Munns points out that in the wake of the Rye House Plot, which was supposed to be a scheme to assassinate Charles II and his brother James, Restoration audiences demonstrated an "enthusiasm for discovering plots against the state" (167). [...]Jaffeir's strange vow reprises the 'betrothal scene' between Othello and Iago. Venice Preserved makes it much easier to believe that murder is performed in the service of love, because the speedy death Jaffeir imparts to Pierre does enable the latter to escape torture.