Duchess quotes Flashcards
A: “there speaketh so divine…
A: “there speaketh so divine a continence as cuts off all lascivious and vain hope”
- his infatuation with her
- “continence” = sexual self-restraint
“Diamonds are of most…
“Diamonds are of most value / They say, that have passed through most jeweller’s hands.”
F: “Whores, by that rule, are precious.”
“Let old wives report…
“Let old wives report / I winked and chose a husband”
“The misery of us…
“The misery of us that are born great, we are forced to woo because none dare woo us.”
“Love mixed with…
“Love mixed with fear is sweetest.”
“Why should only I of all other…
“Why should only I of all other princes of the world be cased up like a holy relic?”
“Methought I wore my coronet of state…
“Methought I wore my coronet of state / And on a sudden all the diamonds / Were changed to pearls.”
“Men oft are valued…
“Men oft are valued high when th’are most wretched.”
“Whether we fall by ambition…
F: (My sister! Oh my sister, there’s the cause on’t!) “Whether we fall by ambition, blood, or lust / Like diamonds we are cut with our own dust.”
- F’s last lines of play
- Ferdinand’s “own dust” is, to him, equivalent to “my sister”
- “the cause” COULD refer to what the Duchess herself did / what Ferdinand did to her
