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Notes on the play

The 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 Quiz

Here are the questions
quiz_act_by_act.pdf
File Size: 126 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

Here are the answers ..... no peeking!
quiz_answers.pdf
File Size: 121 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File


Summary questions

A useful way to revise the text ..... click below to open
summary-questions-on-the-duchess-of-malfi.pdf
File Size: 954 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File


Open Learn on Duchess of Malfi

A 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:
duchess_of_malf_open_learn.doc
File Size: 140 kb
File Type: doc
Download File


Theme Sheets

Four worksheets to help you focus on key ideas and themes
the_duchess.pdf
File Size: 95 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

class_and_hierarchy.pdf
File Size: 146 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

conflict.pdf
File Size: 80 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

revenge_tragedy.pdf
File Size: 29 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File



Articles and Critical views

We follow after bubbles

Theme of futility.
we_follow_after_bubbles.docx
File Size: 25 kb
File Type: docx
Download File


The Ring and Identity

A discussion of some symbols in the play
duchesschapter_the_ring.doc
File Size: 68 kb
File Type: doc
Download File


A theological approach

Some very useful references here
a_theological_approach.docx
File Size: 70 kb
File Type: docx
Download File


Feminine Stereotypes in Jacobean Drama

Very interesting
5.femininestereotypesjacobeandrama.pdf
File Size: 89 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File


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