Notes on the playThe Duchess Of Malfi - Commentary On Important Scenes
Act I, Scene I Genres: Renaissance Tragedies - Revenge Tragedy / Romantic Tragedy /Political Tragedy Bosola: Complex / Contradictory character / Anti-hero / Dark perspective Spokesman for the play - Demands audiences attention "Valiant" / "Melancholic moods, poisoned his goodness" Sees self as realist. Actually more of a dillusioned idealist Antonio: Noble in character - Not in birth Describes the virtues of the French Court - Contrast to Italian rulers of the time European setting - Allows corruption of the time to be criticized without public censor Act I, Scene II Duchess and Brothers present - Duchess never referred to by Name. Brothers: Antonio describes them as showing outward hypocracy - "mirth is... outside" Frequently compared to the Devil Ferdinand: Public role Totally against marriage - Shades of incestuous tendancies - Describes sister as "Lustful whore" Cardinal: Behind the scenes - Employs aid of spies Agrees with marriage, only if the families status is maintained Duchess: Strong / Passionate / Courageous / Sensual / Independant /Ambitious Threatens society - "In temperament she is a heroine of Shakespeares Romantic Comedies" Modern context - James had his Cousin imprisoned for marrying beneath herself Representation of new, less conventional concepts being explored - Given the status of Hero She is a woman lost in a corrupt world of men / Has no female equals / A free spirit, living in a ristrictive society Embarks on a tragic journey - Solitary in both physical and spiritual sense Contrasts Shakespeare - She is the female protagonist - Threatening the social Hierachy 1. Not subservient to men - Ignores her Brothers / Woo's Antonio 2. Places personal desires above the welfare of state - Caesar is an example of this culminating in his downfall 3. Places passion above reason - Blinded by passion / Poor judge of character - Perception of women at the time Act II, Scene II Bosola: Differs from Hamlet in his perception of human nature Sees the human form as disgusting / Views the living as walking corpses "Though we bear a rotten and dead body, we hide it in tissue" Act II, Scene IV Julia: Adds interest to the play / Adulterous partner of the Cardinal Has her emotions played with like a pet Representation of the seamy underbelly of deception within the Court amongst nobles She is the femenine equal to the Duchess - Independant / Strong willed (Killed by Brothers) Act II, Scene V The Brothers - Contrasting psychology of Brothers - Hot and cold passions Necrophelia - Ferdinands obsession with duchesses body / Digging up and taking corpses Necrophelia - Represented by Cardinal through his political hatred of love and life Ferdinand treats Duchess as if she has betrayed him and he is her lover - Incestuous Doesnt even recognize these incestuous tendancies in himself Imagery: Storms and fires - Release of passions Cardinal: Machiavellian dealings - Cool reason Puritan Concerns - The alliance of Church and State doesnt insure Holy Order - Opens door to Tyranny Cardinal: Mater of passion / Deficiency of feeling "A cynical and tedious experiment in physical gratification, devoid of passion and even pleasure" Theory Of Humous Explanation of human behaviour - Idea that bodily fluids (blood / phlegm / choler / black bile) determines persons disposition Imbalance of fluids - Inexplicable behaviour (Reflected by Webster) 1. Duchess - Sanguine (Full Blooded / Robust / Full of life) 2. Bosola - Melancholic (Depressed / Moody / Cynical) 3. Cardinal - Phlegmatic (Impassive / unemotional / stoic) 4. Duke - Choleric (Angry / Hot tempered) Act III, Scene II Dramatic and bold contrasts begin to emerge - Love Play becomes a deadly and incestuous play - Ferdinand at the helm. Lovers - At ease with each other (sexual banter) - Duchess in charge of situation showing her superior strength Ferdinands arrival - Destroys the idyllic setting Ferdinand - Desires power over Duchess, sexual and fraternal. (Yet remains reluctant to inflict harm himself) Incestuous feelings are evident, yet Ferdinand claims his only concern is that of the family name. Duchess - Her strength of character remains evident through all the darkness. She remains defiant and unrepentant until death. "Whether i am doom'd to live or die, i shall do so like a prince" This forshadows her later quote "I am the Duchess of Malfi" Duchess - Offers confidence in Bosola (Accomplished liar vs Naive female) Act III, Scene III Webster - Likes to chain scenes together using verbal links (Making an intricate web of images) Witches / Witchcraft - Constant references to these are seen throughout the play. Discussing secret marriage - Bosola suspects witchcraft Bosola describes the makeup of the old lady and suspects her closet for a shop of witchcraft. Act III, Scene V Antonio - Medieval perspective (Moral order designed by God) - Contrast of his optimism and the actions of the play. Jacobean tragedy - Lack of confidence about moral order of the world Old structures in society were breaking down Machiavellian principles - Divorcing politics from christian ethics. Scientists - Materialistic views of the universe (Natural laws vs Divine command) Apocalyptic religions - Preaching the end of the world. (Progressive moral decay since the fall of Adam) Astronomical discoveries - stars were not fixed / dark spots on the sun. The ideology of a perfect unchanging creation Vs The gradually decaying world. Webster - Discovers moral order in the dignity of humans as opposed to faith. Montaigne(French Essayist) - Challenged Rennaisance concept that humans are superior to animals. "On the wild benifit of nature live / happier than we" Animals are kind to young / Faithful / Peaceful Act IV, Scene I Grotesque - Typical of Jacobean Tragegy, the play uses effects such as the severed hand and wax corpses (Inspired by Roman plays of Seneca) Webster - More than horror and sensationalism (Ferdinand desires to punish his sister / control his sister / control her body and soul) Fredinand aims to kill her and in addition break her spirit through sadistic trickery. We focus on the Duchess' response rather than the horror inflicted. Peter Murray "She beholds horror and we behold her, our attention is fixed on the Duchess because she is so deeply and pitiably human in her anguish" Act IV, Scene II Duchess - Remains elevated from the corrupt world she leaves behind (Maintains her sense of self worth) Alexander "one expression of that continual declaration of human independance" Duchess - Her vitality and lust for life cling to existence after she has been strangled (Speaks in the echo) Manages to convert Bosola Discovery - Ferdinand and Duchess are twins (Normally portray similar characteristics) Ferdinand clings to idea of Financial reasoning, covering up his true jealousy of Antonio. Fedinand - Self Loathing (Attacks his own shadow as if it were a form of his other self) Act V, Scene III Echo Scene - Derived from classical literature Greek Roots (Aristophanes parodies echo scene from Euripides Andromeda) - Love story of Narcissus and Echo (Girl doomed only to speak through others words) Renaissance examples - Thomas Dekkers "Old Fortunatus" The Duchess Of Malfi - Commentary On Characters Antonio and The Duchess - Some say Antonios inferiority = limited importance as character. Other claim he is a mouthpiece for Websters own opinions and judgements. - The relationship emphasises inequalities of power. (Gender and social status) - Antonios dying speech conveys how his life consisted of more promise than performance "we follow after bubbles blown in th'air" - Antonio and Delio's dialogue portray the possibilities of how a court may be run, in contrast to the corrupt court at Amalfi. - Antonio is describes by Bosola as "cedar planted by a spring". This shows his virtues.In contrast he describes the Brothers as "plum that grow crooked" - Antonio = Device to make points about society at the time (His inability to reach the Duchesses status in the sense of blood, yet he can in intellect) - In context - Powerful women were seen as a threat to a male dominated society (Queen Elizabeth Tudor) - Duchess - Lusty character, in Renaissance terms "The lusty widow" (Dialogue full of sexual innuendo) - She has all the qualities Antonio lacks. These qualities were seen as undesirable at the time - She has a dislike for darkness - contrasts from Ferdinands dark disguise. - The irony in this is that Webster is commenting on womens rights at a time when only men could act on the stage. - Webster = Law related background (Awareness of issue relating to womens rights) - Blank verse Renaissance Dramas = unrhymed iambic pentametre (5 stresses / 10 sylabbles per line) - This is broken to show and emphasise the Duchesses refusal to be restrained and unbalanced nature - Antonio is like Banquo in the sense he feels his feeling for the Duchess are "Mad Ambition. (Idea that ambition culminates in downfall) - Corruption - Rife in court (Duchess and Antonio untainted) - Even the Cardianal, a religious man is dishonest and corrupt |
Act by Act QuizHere are the questions
Here are the answers ..... no peeking!
Summary questionsA useful way to revise the text ..... click below to open
Open Learn on Duchess of MalfiA really useful and interesting website on the Duchess of Malfi by the Open University (unfortunately it only covers Act 1 and 2. Quality, though.
Click this link and explore the site. Or download this document: 
Theme SheetsFour worksheets to help you focus on key ideas and themes
Articles and Critical viewsWe follow after bubblesTheme of futility.
The Ring and IdentityA discussion of some symbols in the play
A theological approachSome very useful references here
Feminine Stereotypes in Jacobean DramaVery interesting
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