Critics Quotes Flashcards
What does Irving Ribner say the Duchess stands for?
The Duchess, not her brothers, stands for ordinary humanity, love and the continuity of life through children.
What is the tragedy described by R. S. White?
The tragedy of a virtuous woman who achieves heroism through her death.
What does Theodora A. Jankowsk say about the Duchess?
She challenges Jacobean society’s views regarding the representation of the female body and woman’s sexuality.
What does Kate Aughterson say about the Duchess’s brothers?
Despite her political sovereignty, her brothers assume a patriarchal control over her body and sexuality, an assumption which extends over her political state.
What does Irving Ribner say about Ferdinand?
Ferdinand demonstrates a complete descent of man into beast.
How does David Cecil describe Webster’s view of the world?
The world as seen by [Webster] is, of its nature, incurably corrupt. To be involved in it is to be inescapably involved in evil: all its apparent beauties are a snare and a delusion.
What does Helen Mirren say about the play?
It is essentially a feminist play about a woman who is fighting for her autonomy.
What does Lee Bliss say about the Duchess’s pursuit of happiness?
The duchess seeks private happiness at the expense of public stability.
How is Bosola described by David Charles Gunby?
Bosola is generally recognised as a man divided against himself.
What does Grace Windsor say about male reactions to female power?
When confronted with female power and sexual desire, male characters react with extreme violence.
What does Dympna Callaghan say about female desire?
[female desire was seen as a] disease and a monstrous abnormality.
How does Jacki Moore describe the Duchess in contrast to her brothers?
humble and holy, she is the antidote to the brothers’ evil.
What does John McRae say about Ferdinand’s desires?
He doesn’t control them, they control him.
What does David Cecil say about corruption in the world?
The world as seen by [Webster] is, of its nature, incurably corrupt.
What does P. B. Murray say about the Duchess’s spirit?
the radiant spirit of the Duchess cannot be destroyed.
How does Jil Ingram Philips identify the Duchess?
identifies the Duchess as a virtuous Machiavel.
What is a psychoanalytic view of Ferdinand?
- Ferdinand as driven by repressed incestuous desires
- his actions = unconscious attraction that he cannot reconcile
- madness = failure of his ego to mediate between his ID and super-ego.
What is a psychoanalytic view of the Duchess?
- ‘I am the Duchess of Malfi still’ - a form of psychological resistance despite being stripped of power = triumph of selfhood
- madmen - attempt to further disintegrate her psychological state
What is perhaps an alternate reading of the Duchess’s stoicism in death?
- existential freedom, suggests a reflect a refusal to let external forces define her sense of self.
What is a feminist reading of the Duchess’s dignity and stoicism in death?
- resistance against the systemic oppression.
- However, the strangulation may act as the patriarchal system attempting to silence women - her voice echos on - Bosola admits she ‘haunts’ him.
What is a feminist reading of the character of Julia?
- unable to assert control over her relationships reflects border societal oppression of women
- Julia’s death - interpretation of religion being a tool to control and manipulate women
What is a feminist reading of the character of Cariola?
- Cariole lacks the same outward agency however her role as a witness to the Duchess’s defiance can be seen as a form of quiet resistance.
How does the character of the Duchess subvert expectations of tragedy?
- lacks moral weakness that the tragic protagonist must possess - in a modern perspective love is not a moral weakness but a strength.
How does the Duchess’s Marriage link to social status ?
- challenges rigid class hierarchies of the time. Her marriage = betrayal of royal blood - Unions across classes seen as destabilising and unnatural;
- love can transcend class boundaries - however ant - lack of agency in front of the brothers highlights that social class is insurmountable
- brothers embody aristocratic tendencies to want to preserve power and status
How does the character of Bosola criticise attitudes towards social status?
‘places in court are but like beds in the hospital’ - disillusionment with a system that rewards power over merit.
- corruption or aristocracy
