Duchess of Malfi Major Themes
- Created by: Davny
- Created on: 21-04-16 19:44
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- The Duchess of Malfi's Themes
- Family
- Duchess's desire to start a family directly goes against her brothers
- When Ferdinand hears of the baby he says 'I could kill her...it is some sin in us heaven doth revenge
- CONTEXT; FAMILY IN 17TH CENTURY, HIERARCHY MEANT WOMAN WAS ALWAYS BELLOWED MEN
- Duchess is nontraditional woman
- Chooses own husband
- Instigates entire relationship
- Proposes herself doesn't for Antonio to
- Duchess and Antonio want a happy and equal relationship but due to her statue this is impossible to have
- Duchess's desire to start a family directly goes against her brothers
- Marriage
- Within the first Act the Duchess has been told not to marry by her brothers but did it any way
- 'Diamond are of most value, they say, that have passed through most jewellers' hands'
- 'We are forc'd to woo, because none dare woo us'
- Within the first Act the Duchess has been told not to marry by her brothers but did it any way
- Lies and Deceit
- Ability to cheat is what keeps people on top in the Duchess of Malfi
- Antonio and the Duchess's lives are fine until the Cardinal and Ferdinand become involved
- Bosola, being a spy, is the main source of deceit in the play
- Cardinals lies, although hidden in part, is the thing that ultimately lead to his death
- Duty
- Antonio is the Duchess's master of horse so must retain responsibility of that while being her husband and 'onseer'
- The Duchess has to balance her political and personal life, part of the criticism of her is that she prioritising her self
- Society and Class
- Written at a time of huge social change, start of form of capitalism so social movement had begun
- Shown in the character of Antonio
- 'Without I raise it higher. Raise yourself, Or if you please, my hand to help you' Duchess to Antonio before the marriage
- Status isn't just because of birth anymore but can be achieved through merit, favour and bribery
- Shown in the character of Antonio
- Throughout the play the Duchess is warned not to marry beneath her and Antonio is warned about showing too much 'Ambition'
- 'How fearfully His ambition shows now' Delio about Antonio
- Bosola is also supposed to being 'ambitious' by Delio and Antonio but actually isn't as he expressly says to them both
- 'I look no higher than I can reach...When a man's mind rides faster than his horse can gallop, they quickly both tire''
- Bosola is also very aware of the insuffient rewards given to people in some members of the upper class's service
- 'There are rewards for hawks and dogs when they have done us service, but for a solider that hazards his limbs in battle, nothing but a kind of geometry is his last supportation'
- Servants were treated as property to their masters
- Bosola is the servant and spy of Ferdinand
- 'I am your creature'
- Bosola is the servant and spy of Ferdinand
- Written at a time of huge social change, start of form of capitalism so social movement had begun
- Power
- Opening is a description of a model of power that contrasts the corrupt court of Malfi
- 'a prince's court is like a common fountain, whence should flow pure silver drops in general, but if't chance some cursed example poison't near the head, death and diseases through the whole land spread'
- Webster obviously has a very cynical view of power
- Family dynamics tend to follow the same pattern as the power dynamic in court
- Ferdinand and the Cardinal, and the Duchess
- 'He and his brothers are like plum trees that grow over standing pools: they are rich and o'erladen with fruit but none but pies and caterpillars feed of them'
- The Cardinal and Julia
- Ferdinand and the Cardinal, and the Duchess
- 'I am the Duchess of Malfi still'
- Opening is a description of a model of power that contrasts the corrupt court of Malfi
- Suffering
- In the second half of the play Webster uses the idea that the world is awful
- 'I am acquainted with sad misery'
- 'And Fortune seems only to have her eye-sight to behold my tragedy'
- 'Their life, a general mist of error, Their death, a hideous storm of terror
- 'Pleasure of life, what is't?'
- In the second half of the play Webster uses the idea that the world is awful
- Reputation
- Ferdinand and Cardinal obsessed with Duchess's reputation
- Warn her not to be a 'Lusty widow'
- when they find out she has a child they say she's tainted their 'royal blood'
- Ironically Cardinals last words relate to leaving no reputation asking to be 'never thought of'
- Duchess doesn't care about reputation shown by her actions but pretends she does to her brothers
- 'I will marry for your honour'
- Last line of the play, 'Integrity of life is fame's best friend/ Which nobly, beyond death, shall crown the end' relates to the importance of living a great life rather than caring for what others think
- Ferdinand and Cardinal obsessed with Duchess's reputation
- Corruption
- Seen particularly in the cardinal
- Seen in cardinals employing Bosola and plotting to kill him
- Cardinal even kills his own mistress
- Cardinal having a mistress shows corruption in church
- Ferdinand's corruption drives him mad
- 'He and his brother are like plum trees that grow crooked over standing pool'
- Morality and Ethics
- In the Duchess of Malfi following christian ethics tend to course more harm than good
- The Duchess was quite nice through out which ultimately end in her death
- 'The reward of doing well is the doing of it'
- 'Your bounty, which makes men truly noble, e'er should make me a villian'
- 'Like diamonds we are cut with our own dust'
- In the Duchess of Malfi following christian ethics tend to course more harm than good
- Family
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