KCL • CCH • Minor programme • AV1000 • Numerical and graphical analysis
This problem concerns the distribution of a given vocabulary across a literary text. The task is to discover in what parts of the literary work, a Renaissance English play, the words of this vocabulary are most and in which parts least important by representing this distribution in the most accurately expressive graphical display possible. The viewer should be able to tell at a glance which scenes of the play are most likely to be relevant for further research and which least relevant. Note that for the purposes of this question, the relevance of a scene is defined by the density with which the words occur within that scene, not by their number of occurrences.
The play is Ben Jonson's Volpone (1607); the vocabulary comprises the word-forms denoting women. The research topic for which this task is preparation concerns the role(s) of women in this play.
You are supplied with the following raw data:
In essence the task begins with an analysis of the distribution graph in Dataset 3c: what is wrong with it? How is it crude and incomplete? How can you improve on it?
Volpone is a very funny comedy concerning the greedy machinations of the main character, Volpone (Italian, “fox”), who conspires to cheat other rich men of their wealth. He is eventually discovered and condemned, but meanwhile he also tries to cheat a weak and corruptible man of his young and virtuous wife, the beautiful Celia. The play also involves another weak man, Sir Politic Wouldbe, and his strong-minded wife, Lady Politic-Wouldbe. Otherwise women do not play much of a role. Words denoting women, however, are numerous and telling. They are often, as you can see, not very complimentary—but then neither are the words denoting men.
revised January 2008