Duchess 2:3 Flashcards
‘Sure I did hear…’
‘Sure I did hear a woman shriek. List. Ha!/ And the sound came, if I received it right,/ From the Duchess’s lodgings.’ - Bosola
Bosola and Antonio’s relationship up to and including 2:3
- suspicion
- Antonio is what Bosola could have been - resentment
- Antonio is quite generous for example telling Bosola he can leave his melancholy behind
- have a lot in common in the opening to 2:3 - both hear the noise and are up wandering around, they’re not supposed to be out so both very tense and defensive
‘There’s some stratagem…’
‘There’s some stratagem/ In the confining of all our courtiers/ To their several wards.’ - Bosola
‘It may be ‘twas the…’
‘It may be ‘twas the the melancholy bird,/ Best friend of silence and solitariness,/ The owl, that screamed so.’ - Bosola
- ‘I heard the owl scream’ - Lady Macbeth, 2:2
- also echoes 2:2 of Macbeth in the shared lines, frequent questions, and pace which contribute to the tension of the scene
‘I heard some…’
‘I heard some noise! Who’s there? What art thou? Speak!’ - Antonio
- the short sentences indicate the fast pace showing that Antonio is tense and concerned
‘Antonio? Put not your face…’
‘Antonio? Put not your face nor body/ To such a forced expression of fear -/ I am Bosola, your friend.’ - B
- it is clear to Bosola that Antonio is scared and he tries to use this against him, making himself out to be a safe person in the situation (‘your friend’)
‘Bosola? [Aside] This…’
‘Bosola? [Aside] This mole does undermine me. [To Bosola]/ Heard you not/ A noise even now?’ - Antonio
- asides are Bosola’s characteristic, the use of them by Antonio presents him as a bit illicit
‘Heard you not/ A…’
‘From…’
‘From the…’
‘Not…’
‘Heard you not/ A noise even now?’ - A
‘From whence?’ - B
‘From the Duchess’s lodging.’ - A
‘Not I. Did you?’ - B
- the shared lines create a fast pace
- why does Bosola lie? He just said he heard ‘a woman shriek […] From the Duchess’s lodgings’ > it could perhaps be to gain control
What does Bosola suggest him and Antonio do to investigate the noise (which B lies about, saying he didn’t hear it)?
‘Let’s walk towards it.’
‘No. It maybe ‘twas/ But the rising of the wind.’
‘Methinks ‘tis very…’
‘Methinks ‘tis very cold, and yet you sweat./ You look wildly.’ - Bosola
‘I have been setting a…’
‘I have been setting a figure. For the Duchess’s jewels.’ - Antonio
- both lying, they are no jewels and Antonio was actually drawing a horoscope for his sin not the jewels
‘Ah, and how falls your…’
‘What’s…’
‘Ah, and how falls your question?/ Do you find it radical?’ - Bosola
‘What’s that to you?’ - Antonio
- sudden turn on Bosola when he starts to ask questions of Antonio
- all B asks is if he is having any success - Antonio is not coping well under the pressure
‘What’s that to…’
‘What’s that to you?/ ‘Tis rather to be questioned what design,/ When all men were commanded to their lodgings,/ Makes you a nightwalker.’ - Antonio
- sudden switch to the offensive
‘Now all the court’s…’
‘Now all the court’s asleep, I thought the devil/ Had least to do here. I came to say my prayers,/ And if it do offend you I do so,/ You are a fine courtier.’ - bosola
‘[Aside] This fellow will…’
‘[Aside] This fellow will undo me./ [To Bosola] You gave the Duchess apricots today./ Pray heaven they were not poisoned.’ - Antonio
- aware of his situation and B’s intelligence (‘this fellow will undo me’)
