Themes Flashcards
What do we need to remember about Webster’s themes?
Not an academic treatise but a drama
Primarily there to entertain, with the further didactic purpose of providing moral instruction
Themes: big topical interests of time- entertain and instruct
The hollowness of worldly status
Declarative “I am the Duchess of Malfi still”
Bosola replies SENTENTIA “Glories, like glow worms, afar off shine bright, / But looked to near, have neither heat nor light”
Yes, antagonistic and contrary BUT
central theme of play is deceptive attractiveness of worldly status:
fame, glory, power, ambition all demonstrated as failing to offer happiness/lasting moral value— so play an ethical quest to find a deeper emotional/moral way of living; in Antonio, though destroyed by morally corrupt
‘noble’ in Jacobean Society meant
Inherent moral worth or a person of extremely high birth
Webster’s salutary reminder ACT 2 that all men, regardless of rank, share a common humanity
“Some would think the souls of princes were brought forth by some more weighty cause than those of meaner persons; they are deceived, there’s the same hand to them, the like passions sway them”
Revolutionary theme in the rigidly hierarchical nature of Jacobean society
Does a sententia retain any moral force if it’s delivered by an immoral character such as bosola?
Idk
1610 speech to Parliament- what did king James declare?
“Kings are justly called gods”
Marxist critique:
By having two main power brokers murdered by a mere servant, Webster attempts to demythologise state power
Act II scene 3- Antonio’s sententia on the nature of nobility
“The great are like the base, nay, they are the same, /
When they seek shameful ways to avoid shame.”
Both rich and poor guided by similar passions, social position the only difference between them
No innate quality to make one better or worse
Two most powerful figures (Ferdinand and Cardinal) are mean-spirited and driven by base and ignoble desires
MARXIST: politicise point, only difference is that the more powerful have more power to do harm
Bosola’s argument in favour of a meritocracy act 3 scene 2?
Applauds the duchess on preferring “A man merely for worth”
(May be part of cynical attempt to deceive duchess)
BUT perhaps providing this underlying motive (b wanting brothers trust) allows wester to distance himself from a dangerous social concept whilst still eloquently commending the idea
———- perfectly befits his character (probably honestly felt)
Also We are implicitly encouraged to applaud: crystallises what the plays heroine has done when following her heart
What makes bosola more enigmatic with regards to his calls for meritocracy?
Duchess dog-fish parable in A3S5 seems to support meritocracy BUT in response to Bosolas reversal of attitude: Antonio is “this base, low fellow” “One of no birth”
Context- ambition quote
A chief moral concern of PURITANICAL age because it often led to ruthless self interest
“‘Tis not Law / Nor conscience that can keep this fiend in awe”
George Withers, Of Ambition, 1613
What was a common device at the time for presenting radical and potentially dangerous ideas?
A conversational format in which fictional characters exchange opposing points of view
Eg. Galileo’s ‘Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems’ (1632)
Disguise: philosophical discussion between three friends
Really: arguing for Copernican supremacy
Hoped to escape wrath of Catholic Church which maintained earth at Center of everything
Ambiguity regarding ambition?
what might webster have favoured and why is this ambigous
3 quotes that show it’s dangerous to self and society
Indications that Webster may have favoured a meritocracy (‘this ambitious age’ bosola)
Maybe because he trained as a lawyer and could get wiggle room if censor vexed
A1S1 Antonio “Ambition, Madam, is a great man’s madness”
A2S4 Delio “I do fear / Antonio is betrayed. How fearfully / Shows his ambition now”
A5S5 Ferdinand “Whether we fall by ambition, blood, or lust, / Like diamonds we are cut with our own dust.”
How does Webster deal with social inequality?
Mismatch between D and A
Mismatch between duchess and Antonio referred to on a number of occasions:
PRO Initially duchess: “The misery of us that are born great, / We are forced to woo because none dare woo us…”. She is spiritual, attracted to virtue and not status: “This goodly roof of yours is too low built”
CON most other characters who comment reflect prejudices of time:
- Compassionate First Pilgrim: “Here’s a strange turn of state: who would have thought / So great a lady would have matched herself / Unto so mean a person?” III 4
- Bosola (though rails against system that denies him status he believes he deserves) will use this prejudice if it suits him
The Hollowness of Worldy Status: Delio
Delio crystallises message of play as ethical quest: “These wretched eminent things / Leave no more fame behind ‘em than should one / Fall in a frost and leave his print in snow...” (BIBLES emphasis: transitory nature of life) Delio concludes (sententia) that what really matters is how life is conducted: “Integrity of life is fame’s best friend, / Which nobly, beyond death, shall crown the end”: judgement beyond death
How is corruption and sycophancy dealt with by Webster?
4 points
1) Italy and 100 years of history: can allude to misconduct of James’ court
2) Presents a world of sycophants desperate to advance their position, regardless of consequences to others
3) ‘places in the court are but like beds in the hospital, where this man’s head lies at that man’s foot, and so lower, and lower’: SICK society, eagerly await the opportunity to benefit from death/misfortune of those above them
4) extends vision initially set out by A’s sententia: ‘but if’t chance / Some cursed example poison’t near the head/ Death and diseases through the whole land spread’
Context revealing corruption and sycophancy
1610: Robert Carr persuaded King James to dissolve parliament because of its desire to regulate royal finances, would have personally affected Carr’s ability to acquire wealth from James
Why is flattery of interest to Webster?
inextricably woven with corruption and sycophancy, it was a well-known strategy employed by King James’ favourites to advance their position in court
Quote making clear the damage that insincerity/flattery causes?
Act III Scene I: flatterers fluff up egos of powerful in dedication to parasitic self-interest, encouraging rulers to lose all sense of reality
Bosola refuses to flatter Ferdinand;
Ferdinand says:
- ‘I never gave pension but to flatterers / Till I entertained thee: farewell. / That friend a great man’s ruin strongly checks, / Who rails into his belief, all his defects’
What does Antonio have to say about flattery?
Puts a disinterested moral perspective on it, whilst warning of the same dangers as Bosola/Ferdinand.
Opening speech:
a ‘judicious king /… quits first his royal palace/ Of flatt’ring sycophants, of dissolute/ And infamous persons…’
A king safeguarded from duplicitous flatterers by wise advisors: ‘And what is’t makes this blessed government/ But a most provident council, who dare freely/ Inform him the corruption of the times?’
Why can it be argued that Webster was hinting that it was time the social order was replaced with something more in line with laws of nature?
What was he arguing for?
There are many references to ‘the devil’ and to ‘hell’ in the play because the society Webster inhabits has two ‘cursed examples’ at its head.
BUT Antonio’s vision describes a ‘blessed government’
People not judged by birth or promoted for willingness to pander but rather be judged on moral worth and rewarded on the basis of merit: meritocracy
How does Webster suggest a society where a persons birth grants or denies them privilege is against the laws of nature?
Duchess: ‘The birds that live i’th’field / On the wild benefit of nature, live / Happier than we; for they may choose their mates’
Why is the Duchess’s decision to marry below her unacceptable?
What is Webster’s reaction to it and why is this significant?
She has extended the power base, jealously guarded by Cardinal and Ferdinand, to include low-born
Larger the ruling class, the fewer the riches for each member: UNACCEPTABLE
WEBSTER seems to see positives in her subversion: if so, he has radically departed from sentiment expressed in his source material, Painter’s The Palace of Pleasure- ‘Shall I be of opinion that a household seruaunt oughte to sollicite, nay rather suborne the Daughter of his Lorde without punyshment’
A quote/analysis emphasising Bosola’s enthusiasm for defying the social convention of marrying for class?
“Can this ambitious age / Have so much goodness in’t as to prefer / A man merely for worth, but without these shadows / Of wealth and painted honours?”
- deceive Duchess & win her confidence OR
- a tribute (as Duchess sees it) to her courage and moral foresightedness for being willing to defy powerful social convention by which ruthless political elite cling onto power and wealth they’ve inherited by mere birthright?
