ACT 1 Flashcards
Analyse Antonio’s opening speech.
In this speech we see the Renaissance motif of contrast between the ideal and the real world. He sees the French court as a model of good government and, where there is courtly corruption, ‘death and diseases through the whole land spread.’ The rest of the play powerfully reinforces this view (structure). There is a sense of a world falling into chaos owing to the self-seeking and self-destructive nature of the political elite. Antonio’s observations open the play and his comments imply that he can be trusted - he is an honest character. He is, though, arguably naïve in his description of what a court should be like and this perhaps creates fear for his ability to survive in what Act 1 reveals is a dangerous world.
How is Bosola portrayed in this first act, from the point of view of Antonio and Delio?
Bosola immediately conforms to the stereotype of the malcontent - bitter, disaffected and condemning the courtly corruption on account of his own failure to achieve worldly success. A significant feature of Bosola is his imagery - e.g. ‘standing pools’ in contrast to Antonio’s free-flowing fountain, demonic possession, predatory animals and so on. Indeed, the use of animalistic imagery is characteristic of Bosola - he portrays himself as a scavenger feeding off those in power. His language helps to evoke a darkness in Bosola’s character, but also an element of pity, complicating our ability to pass moral judgement on him. Bosola is a complex and ambiguous character and this is established from the beginning - he rejects the gold offered by Ferdinand, but he accepts the corrupt employment on realising that he is to be provisor of the horse - a prestigious post. In this way, Webster makes a powerful comment about the corrupting influence of a society that fails to provide honest opportunities for ambition and talent.
How are Ferdinand and the Cardinal portrayed in this first act, from the point of view of Antonio and Delio?
Ferdinand is volatile and the Cardinal is more circumspect - he represents another theatrical stereotype in revenge tragedy - the machiavel. His language is more restrained than his brother’s and this suggests their differing reasons for the Duchess not remarrying - the Cardinal is concerned with family prestige and his own social standing whereas Ferdinand is preoccupied with her sexuality. The Cardinal represents the power of the Church which is presented as just as deeply corrupt as the power represented by Ferdinand (he has power over more secular affairs).
Analyse the climatic scene between the Duchess and Antonio.
Powerful and moving, Webster creates a refreshing delicacy here which starkly contrasts with the menace and tension caused by her brothers. The wooing sequence shows us two people whose powerful mutual attraction is forced to operate under the restrictions of unsympathetic social expectations. Webster presents it as a wholesome expression of human sexuality. This is in stark contrast to the attitudes towards sex expressed by her brothers here, and later in the play. The Duchess is only ever referred to by her title, reinforcing the conflict between political stability and personal desire - she chooses to retain her role as head of the state of Malfi rather than submitting to her husband’s rule. In doing so, she embodies a tension between her own bodily desires and the need for stable political rule - a stability which is impossible given her brothers’ threats about the idea of her remarrying.
CONTEXT How was social class regarded in Jacobean society?
Jacobean society was hierarchical, with the king at the apex, supported by an aristocratic class and landed gentry. Monarchs such as James I (and many of his followers at the top of the social hierarchy) believed in ‘the Divine Right of Kings’ (i.e. that God chose the monarch), which supported the view that everyone had their God-given place within the social structure (the Chain of Being) and that, therefore, no one should move from their level. However, during this early seventeenth-century period, ‘new men’, born relatively low on the social scale, began to ascend the social ladder through their native ability either financially or politically.
CONTEXT Which monarch can the Duchess be compared to?
The Duchess’s disobedience and independence parallels Elizabeth I’s decision to remain unmarried in order to retain her power.
CONTEXT How are attitudes towards Italy and Catholicism relevant in this play?
The corruption of much of the late-medieval Catholic Church had been a major factor in the rise of the rival Christian movement of Protestantism, leading to the Church of England being established in England from the mid-sixteenth century. With this came increasing anti-Catholicism, with Catholics often portrayed as loyal to the Pope rather than the English monarch and, therefore, as traitors (this perception was reinforced after a series of plots by Catholic individuals to overthrow Queen Elizabeth I during her reign). The play exemplifies the deep distrust that many people in early modern England felt for Roman Catholics and for Italy.
How could this play be regarded as ‘feminist’?
The Duchess’s response to the brothers warning about marriage (‘The marriage night / is the entrance to some prison’) is both foreshadowing, but also a realistic appraisal of women’s lack of rights in this period.
