(Streetcar/Malfi) Death/Destruction
- Created by: NHow02
- Created on: 25-02-19 19:04
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- Death/ Destruction
- Duchess of Malfi
- Corruption
- 'I have this night digged up a mandrake'
- 'cover her face...mine eyes dazzle'
- Elizabethan belief that when one twin dies the other's soul does as well
- Eyes are typically seen as 'windows to the soul'
- In this moment, Ferdinand distances himself from his sister (her goodness exposed his darkness)
- Elizabethan belief that when one twin dies the other's soul does as well
- ForeshadowsFerdinand's lycanthropia (creates devilish/ beastial effect)
- Ferdinand gave in to his baser instincts of 'ambition blood or lust'
- Mental illness was associated with lack of morals (possessed by the Devil)
- Ferdinand gave in to his baser instincts of 'ambition blood or lust'
- Aphrodisiac + poison (once uprooted it drives someone insane)
- TS Eliot: Webster always saw the 'skull beneath the skin'
- Webster uses this play to reflect the secrecy & corruption of the English court
- TS Eliot: Webster always saw the 'skull beneath the skin'
- 'cover her face...mine eyes dazzle'
- 'I have this night digged up a mandrake'
- Status
- 'diamonds are of most value, they say, that have passed through most jeweller's hands'
- 'All the diamonds were changed to pearls'
- Duchess' status was a mask against life's harsh realities (only thing that protected her and she cast it aside)
- The Bible states that Adam & Eve wept a lake of pearls after being cast out of paradise
- Elizabeth I was often painted wearing pearls to present her as a 'virgin queen'
- Leggatt: 'variety and vitality of her nature as a whole.'
- However, still a well sought after jewel. Duchess retains her authority
- 'I am Duchess of Malfi still.'
- However, still a well sought after jewel. Duchess retains her authority
- Leggatt: 'variety and vitality of her nature as a whole.'
- Can be a colourless or precious stone
- Duchess' status was a mask against life's harsh realities (only thing that protected her and she cast it aside)
- 'Jeweller's hands' - moulded into a 'feminine ideal' OR her virtue is improved with sexual experience
- Highborn 'Renaissance marriages' were practical matters and used for alliances
- Excess sexuality: 'Hysteria' is derived from the Latin word 'Hyster' meaning 'womb'
- Defined by materialism and wealth. (Webster fails to give her a name - a prize to be won)
- 'All the diamonds were changed to pearls'
- 'diamonds are of most value, they say, that have passed through most jeweller's hands'
- Corruption
- Streetcar Named Desire
- 'crumpled white satin evening gown'
- 'evening' suggests fading light/ life, only time she'll be seen, seductive time
- 'White' is a symbol of innocence & purity
- Juxtaposition shows battling perceptions of the feminine ideal
- Williams: 'destructive power of society on the sensitive non-conformist individual'
- 'moonlight swim'
- Lunacy comes from the world 'luna' meaning 'moon'
- METAPHORICAL DEATH
- 'peels of laughter are heard as if a child were frolicking in the tub'
- The homophone 'peels' suggests Blanche is ********* away her sins as well as reality
- Reminiscent of Lady Macbeth, who is stained by her sins (seeking purity)
- Child-like image suggests she is seeking rejuvenation as if the bath was a 'fountain of youth'
- Subject to the reverse (OR lobotomy leaves her in child-like innocence)
- Blanche wants to wash away/forget everything, and is in turn forgotten
- Williams' sister was admitted to an insane asylum and subject to a lobotomy
- The homophone 'peels' suggests Blanche is ********* away her sins as well as reality
- 'peels of laughter are heard as if a child were frolicking in the tub'
- Madness
- Scene 11: [filtered into a weird distortion, accompanied by the cries and noises of the jungle]
- By entering the 'polka game' of life, Blanche seals her fate
- The play was originally called 'The Polka Night'
- Number of time the tune plays increases towards the end (creating a feverish effect)
- Music is always followed by a shot (replays her husband's death + hers with him)
- Darwinian idea of 'survival of the fittest'
- Shawn Alff describes the play as a 'heathens paradise'
- The ideal of the American Dream
- Shawn Alff describes the play as a 'heathens paradise'
- 'distortion' suggests she is underwater/ drowing
- By entering the 'polka game' of life, Blanche seals her fate
- Scene 11: [filtered into a weird distortion, accompanied by the cries and noises of the jungle]
- 'crumpled white satin evening gown'
- Duchess of Malfi
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