DOM - ALL KEY QUOTES

Question 1

‘a prince’s court is like a common fountain…pure silver drops should flow’

Answer 1

untainted water = purity, prized

Question 2

‘poison near the head, death & diseases spread’

Answer 2

AO1/2: Simile - positional language = destructive impact of a corrupt leader on a country
Foreshadows the destruction that is rife in italy under the jurisdiction of the cardinal and Ferdinand.

Question 3

‘plum trees that grow crooked over standing pools…rich, o’erladen’

Answer 3

ao1/2: Nature metaphor,
‘grow crooked’ = skewed moral compasses of the brothers, misshapen & deformed = this court is in an unnatural state.
‘standing pools’ - stagnation, lack of prosperity - immorality has defiled Italy
A03: veiled criticism of the sycophantic court of James I.

Question 4

‘[Widows] Livers are more spotted than Laban’s sheep’

Answer 4

AO1/2: religious allusion juxtaposes goodness and morality with the misogynistic stereotype of the ‘lusty widow’ who becomes corrupted by a desire for sex.
Imagery of decay - biological corruption = women biologically predisposed to have strong sexual appetites
AO3: position of women in the GCB
AO5: argument over the duchess remarrying ‘dynastic arg. concerned with dom’s body politic’ - JANKOWSKI

Question 5

‘cased up like a holy relic’

Answer 5

imagery of confinement = social restraints for the female gender.
Casual misogyny of the era = objectification through ‘holy relic’ - trad. ideas abt the pure virginal female, through repressions her sexuality will become an ancient forgotten desire, much like a relic. WOMEN SHOULD CONTAIN DESIRE