Duchess 3:2 Flashcards
how is tension introduced in 3:2 before it even begins?
- we know that F is on the way and Antonio is in the Duchess’ room
‘[To Antonio] You get…’
‘[To Antonio] You get no lodging here tonight, my lord.’ - Duchess
‘I must…’
‘Must? You are a…’
‘I must lie here.’ - A
‘Must? You are a lord of misrule!’ - Duchess
- joking, comfortable with each other
‘Indeed, my rule…’
‘Indeed, my rule is only in the night.’ - Antonio
- will always have a subordinate role, lower class
‘Alas, what pleasure…’
‘Alas, what pleasure can two lovers find in sleep?’ - Duchess
‘For she’s the…’
‘I shall like her…’
‘For she’s the sprawlingest bedfellow.’ - Cariola
‘I shall like her the better for that.’ - Antonio
- sweet, joking atmosphere (heightening our unease an audience at what is to come)
‘I’ll stop your…’
‘I’ll stop your mouth. [Kisses him.]’ - Duchess
‘Nay, that’s but…’
‘Nay, that’s but one! Venus had two soft doves/ To draw her chariot: I must have another. [Kisses her.]’ - Antonio
- parallels the Cardinal asking Julia ‘I pray thee, kiss me.’
- romantic
‘Oh, fie upon this…’
‘Oh, fie upon this single life! Forgo it!’ - Antonio
- clearly happy enough in his relationship to want the same for others
‘[Aside] Pray thee…’
‘[Aside] Pray thee, Cariola, let’s steal forth the room/ And let her talk to herself. […] I love to see her angry. Softly, Cariola.’ - Antonio
- playful and romantic
‘Methinks his presence, being…’
‘Methinks his presence, being now in court,/ Should make you keep your own bed, but you’ll say/ Love mixed with fear is sweetest.’ - Duchess
- she thinks she is talking to Antonio but he and Cariola have snuck out and Ferdinand has entered ‘unseen’
‘I’ll assure you/ You shall get…’
‘I’ll assure you/ You shall get no more children till my brothers/ Consent to be your gossips.’ - Duchess
- she thinks she is talking to Antonio but he and Cariola have snuck out and Ferdinand has entered ‘unseen’
- we know that Ferdinand and the Cardinal will never be godparents (‘gossips’)
'’Tis welcome:/ For know, whether I am…’
'’Tis welcome:/ For know, whether I am doomed to live or die,/ I can do both like a prince.’ - Duchess upon seeing Ferdinand
- doesn’t shy away
- ‘So I, through flights and threatenings, will assay/ This dangerous venture.’ - Duchess, 1:2
- ‘like a prince’ - doesn’t hold herself to lower standards because of her gender
‘Ferdinand gives her a…’
‘Die…’
‘Ferdinand gives her a poniard’
‘Die then, quickly.’ - F
- implying suicide, won’t kill her himself (cowardly)
- ‘This was my father’s poniard.’ - F, 1:2
‘Virtue, where…’
‘Virtue, where art thou hid? What hideous thing/ Is it that doth eclipse thee?’ - Ferdinand
- not even addressing the Duchess anymore, dehumanising her whilst humanising ‘Virtue’
‘Or is it true: thou…’
‘Or is it true: thou art but a bare name/ And no essential thing?’ - Ferdinand to “virtue”
- effectively suggesting the Duchess has lost her virtue
‘Sir…’
‘Do…’
‘No…’
‘Sir-‘ - Duchess (cut off, loss of control/power, contrasts to earlier in this scene)
‘Do not speak!’ - Ferdinand (anger, unpredictability, male dominance)
‘No, sir./ I will…’ - Duchess (contradicting the man and therefore contradicting her gendered role)
- apart from gender, they have equal power (because they are twins, no class or age divide)
What does Gibbons suggest about the use of a mirror in 3:2 when Ferdinand sneaks into the Duchess’ private chamber?
‘in such cases [the mirror] is an emblem of female vanity’, providing a visual allusion to the Dance of Death
- for example, a small mirror is used in the Dominic Dromgoole (2014) version, she first sees Ferdinand in this
‘I pray, sir, hear…’
‘I pray, sir, hear me: I am married.’ - Duchess
‘Happily not to your…’
‘Happily [married] not to your liking, but for that,/ Alas! Your shears do come untimely now/ To clip the bird’s wings that’s already flown.’ - Duchess
- Ferdinand is too late
‘Will you see…’
‘Yes, if I could…’
‘Will you see my husband?’ - Duchess (mature, rational)
‘Yes, if I could change/ Eyes with a basilisk.’ - Ferdinand (childish, immature, basilisks were believed to kill with one look)
‘The howling of a…’
‘The howling of a wolf/ Is music to thee, screech owl.’ - Ferdinand
- insulting the Duchess’ husband
- foreshadowing in the ‘howling of a wolf’
‘What e’er thou art that hast…’
‘What e’er thou art that hast enjoyed my sister-/ For I am sure thou hear’st me - for thine own sake/ Let me not know thee.’ - Ferdinand
- correctly assumes that the Duchess’ husband is near
- suppressed anger revealing itself (immaturity whilst the Duchess remains calm and collected)
‘I came hither prepared/ To work…’
‘I came hither prepared/ To work thy discovery, yet am now persuaded/ It would beget such violent effects/ As would damn us both.’ - Ferdinand
‘Therefore, use all means…’
‘Therefore, use all means/ I never may have knowledge of thy name./ Enjoy thy lust still and a wretched life/ On that condition - and for thee, vile woman […]’ - Ferdinand
‘Let not the sun…’
‘Let not the sun/ Shine on him till he’s dead’ - Ferdinand
- threats
‘If thou do love him…’
‘If thou do love him, cut out thine own tongue/ Lest it bewray him.’ - Ferdinand
- threatening but the Duchess remains calm in her response: ‘Why might not I marry?’ - D
‘Thou art…’
‘Thou art undone’ - Ferdinand
- ‘Oh, good Antonio,/ I fear I am undone!’ - D. 2:1
‘You are in this…’
‘You are in this/ Too strict, and were you not my princely brother/ I would say too wilful. My reputation/ Is safe.’ - Duchess
‘Dost thou know what…’
‘Dost thou know what reputation is?/ I’ll tell thee […] Once upon a time, Reputation, Love and Death […]’ - Ferdinand
- story-telling, in the 2014 Dromgoole production Ferdinand sat cross-legged on the floor before encouraging his sister to join him
- ‘it’s using the tool you used as seven-year-olds together to punish, its emotional manipulation and a real full stop to the whole of their relationship’ - Will Keen (Ferdinand, National Theatre 2003)
