Duchess scenes

Question 1

Paragraph one: Duchess

Answer 1

‘Will you hear me I will never marry’ (1.1) vs ‘hear me I am married’

‘made me stark blind’
‘I owe her much pity’

Question 2

Lusty widow

Answer 2

Ref by Ferdinand 1.1 - a sexually liberated women who disposes of her body at will

Question 3

Duchess first appearance

Answer 3

Appears 154 does not speak till 220
Elizabeth ‘video et traceo’ (I see and say nothing)

Question 4

Significance of holy relic quote

Answer 4

‘Why should I be cased up like a holy relic’
fight of Catholicism and Protestantism - neither a catholic fetish monument/ protestant funeral monument

Question 5

Paragraph 2: Duchess

Answer 5

’ I winked and chose a husband’ - masculine role
puts private life above political
F: ‘bastards’ - degradation in status - not legitimate
D: ‘I am Duchess still’

Question 5

Paragraph 2: Duchess

Answer 5

’ I winked and chose a husband’ - masculine role
puts private life above political
F: ‘bastards’ - degradation in status - not legitimate
D: ‘I am Duchess still’

Question 6

Cardinal

Answer 6

‘Must not know I had intelligence in the Duchess’s death’
‘kiss the book’

Question 7

Significance of Cardinal

Answer 7

Represents corruption of the Catholic church not having a focus on God but on rules and government
(Cardinal-Soldier)
-4% Catholic

Question 8

Significance of Cardinal marriage quote scene 1

Answer 8

‘The marriage night is the entrance into some prison’
-Foreshadowes Duchess’s fate

Question 9

Ferdinand and guilt

Answer 9

‘I will throttle it’ (throws himself on shadow)
‘dig up graves’

Question 10

Werewolf - foreshadowed and significance

Answer 10

Madmen - ‘let us howl’
Werewolves hidden threat
-Caused by an imbalance of the four humors of the body
- Gchainofbeing Milton - gone down so significantly less lines

Question 11

F - ‘ill confess nothing’

Answer 11

Protestant religion - fellowship with God is not restored
-Clear image of Hell in Renaissance - the revival of the Classics (Dante)

Question 12

Bosola

Answer 12

‘I am your creature’
‘Slain by hand unwittingly’ - on purpose 2.3 ‘false steward’ - jealous

Question 13

Who was Bosola played by

Answer 13

1985 National Theatre Ian Mckellen

Question 14

Descriptions in Duchess

Answer 14

‘She stains the time past and lights the time to come’
‘Plum trees that grow crooked’
‘engendering of toads’
B: ‘I am your creature’

Question 15

James 1 - stark blind

Answer 15

James 1, who Schama states “was drunk on spending,” which maybe suggests the irrational nature of England’s king

Question 16

Ferdinand and incest

Answer 16

Ferdinand’s imagination when he claims he can see her in “the shameful act of sin,” to which in his frustrated voyeur he debases himself by going into a debauched fantasy. The symbolic “sin” suggests his perception of the Duchess fraternising with the Devil. Yet the Cardinal juxtaposes this with the monosyllabism “are you stark mad,” and holds the same shock as a 17th Century audience. This is because it would have been improper for someone of Ferdinand’s status to exhibit such fury. Moreover, the symbolic “stark” only mentioned twice within the play, creates a parallel with the wooing scene, which emulates Ferdinand’s sexual desires

Question 17

What does Foucault argue

Answer 17

Webster works madness through the faculty of sight

Question 18

Ferdinand ‘Ill confess nothing’ context

Answer 18

the murder of Lord Overbury in the tower of London by the cunning wit of Lady Frances

Question 19

‘She and I were twins’

Answer 19

Genuine shock or further narcissism
only acknowledges his twin’s death because he has murdered half of himself in a psychological suicide (Then link to lycanthropia)

Question 20

Opening sentence

Answer 20

In both a Duchess of Malfi and A Streetcar named Desire justice and virtue are glorified whilst wickedness is condemned

Question 21

F when he sees D - guilt

Answer 21

Cover her face mine eyes dazzle”
-metaphor for his tears or accentuate to the audience the purity of the Duchess, which further dramatises Ferdinand’s antagonism
-remorse would have been important in the 1600s as the faith was abundantly Christian, thus most people would have expected the guilty to feel ashamed of their unjust actions as it went against Christian morals

Question 22

Bosola and guilt

Answer 22

“direful to my soul” in which the hyperbole illustrates his intense regret. The metaphorical ‘soul’ also may foreshadow how he becomes connected with his rational self, and likewise, to Plato’s chariot analogy, Bosola can now control his soul’s appetites and desires, and no longer wants to gain status and power