Malfi - Outsiders quotations

‘Indeed, he rails at those things which he wants’ - Antonio about Bosola

AO2

• prolepsis of Bosola’s potential for corruptibility by the brothers, he wants to have as much power and be as violent as them, ominous

  AO3

• the malcontent

  AO4

• Stanley - ‘But what I am is one hundred percent American, born and raised in the greatest country on Earth and proud as hell of it, so don’t ever call me a polak.’ Both Bosola and Stanley are presented as outsiders in the societies they live in, Stanley due to his nationality and Bosola due to his status. However, perhaps Bosola is treated as even more of an outsider than Stanley, as a ‘creature’ rather than a ‘king’.

  AO5

• Coddon - ‘The malcontent is indeed the prince’s creature’

‘It then doth follow want of action breeds all black malcontents, and their close rearing, like moths in cloth, do hurt for want of wearing.’ - Antonio about Bosola

AO2

• unconventional animalistic imagery of a moth - drawn to the light = corruption which will destroy him, unrelenting and determined despite having little worth in the Chain of Being

• unconventional as even though he is seen by his society as weak and corruptible, he inhibits a lot of power in the events of the play through his violence against the Duchess and her children

AO3

• society in flux - ‘new men’ could ascend the social ladder

AO4

• ‘There is something about her uncertain manner, as well as her white clothes, that suggest a moth.’ Blanche is also aligned with imagery of a moth here, however she is presented as much weaker than Bosola as the light that she is drawn to is her desire for love which destroys her in the end, whereas Bosola is able to redeem himself from corruption even though he is killed.

AO5

• Brooke - [Webster’s world] is inhabited by people driven, like animals, and perhaps like men, only by their instincts but more blindly and ruinously.’

‘I was lured to you’ - Bosola

• animalistic imagery

• demeaning himself

• powerlessness

• passive tone of voice

• emphasises his low position in the Chain of Being

‘Why should I, of all the other princes of the world, be cased up like a holy relic?’ - The Duchess

AO2

• interrogative - incredulity of the way she is treated by her brothers regarding her gender and sexual desire

• diction choice of ‘holy relic’ - connotes value and religious significance to herself, yet she is distanced and isolated from the rest of the world due to her power

AO3

• gender roles - in marriage and in wider society women were seen as intellectually and morally inferior to men…

AO4

• ‘… she became a town character. Regarded as not just different but downright loco-nuts.’ The colloquial diction choice of ‘loco-nuts’ suggests that Blanche’s isolation from her society stems from not only her gender but also her mental state, which heightens her suffering in comparison to the Duchess in this instance

AO5

• Ribner - ‘The Duchess stands for ordinary humanity, love and the continuity of life through children.’