Malfi Flashcards
Renaissance Marriage
Marriage for alliances - ‘currency of dynastic and diplomatic exchange’
Love and Marriage separate - marriage as a practical matter, love an overwhelming emotion
Foolish to marry for love
Women have little choice in marriage; subservient to men - raised inferior to male counterparts
Examples of Ladies marrying beneath them
• Catherine, Duchess of Suffolk and Richard Bertie (member of her household) for shared religious beliefs
Mary Queen of Scots
1542 - Queen at six days old after death of James V
Q. Frence, Q Scotland, claim to English throne
Held in captivity in England for 19 years - numerous plots to murder
Babington plot (Mary/Elizabeth)
Executed 1587
In DoM;
‘fix’d order’ of French court
Young widow - (murder plot of Mary’s second husband)
‘She’s a young woman’
Political prisoners
Renaissance Madness
Hysteria (connected with womb/uterus) considered a disease during renaissance period until 1941
Attitudes mostly related to bible and limited scientific theory
Marriage as remedy to madness
In DoM;
Duchess made mad by Ferdinand/Ferdinand’s female madness
Devil images/links
Wax figures/severed hand/evil/objects promoting evil
Bedlem Royal Hospital - pay to watch mental patients in order to deter from sinners - crazy people show
Renaissance Skepticism
Doubt of truth /belief that certain knowledge is impossible
After middle ages Christian doctrine suffocated progress of classical scholars
Hamlet - ghosts represent superstition and religious belief
Bosola ‘poisoned’ by melancholy multiple personalities in terms of morality - can’t decide on beliefs
Bosola is mathematical therefore challenging truth given by God
Francis Bacon - truth not based on five senses as room for possible mistakes therefore doubt comes before assumption of truth
Superstitious elements - bloody handkerchief / horoscope / devil (interpretation against senses so contradicts Bacon’s philosophy)
Bosola’s scepticism opposed other characters
Ferdinand not sceptical just paranoid
Stoicism - endurance of pain without complaint/display of feelings
Duchess is stoical character - ‘come violent death’
Cariola opposite - stoic with hierarchy
Jacobean Drama
Theatre written during the reign of James 1
Audiences appetites changing - plays more edgy and human situations exaggerated (extreme violence/human selfishness/effects of human ambition/nature of evil/extremes of human nature)
In DoM;
highly intelligent characters manipulating and committing crimes/acts of violence for ambition (Ferdinand, Cardinal, Bosola)
e.g. Bosola works only to further himself rather than for morality
Webster’s biography
Little is known of Webster, thought to be a member of the English court which is reinforced by his pessimistic outlook on it’s corruption.
Writing overlapped that of Shakespeare
Both DoM and The White Devil were poorly received during the 17th, 18th, 19th century however following the war, critics began to favour it due to the horror
Antonio
“Their judicious king…quits first his royal palace of flatt’ring sycophants”
Antonio
“A Prince’s court is like a common fountain…if’t chance some cursed example poison’t near the head, death and diseases through the whole land spread”
Antonio
“Here comes Bosola, the only court-gall”
Bosola
“Blackbirds fatten best in hard weather, why not I, in these dog days?”
Bosola
“this great fellow were able to possess the greatest devil and make him worse”
Ferdinand
“I would not have her marry again”
Ferdinand
“Marry? They are most luxurious will wed twice”
Duchess
“Diamonds are of most value, they say, that have passed through most jewellers’ hands”
Ferdinand
“This was my father’s poniard: do you see?”
