QUOTES

What lines from Antonio’s introduction in act 1.1 connotes ideas of the body politic and political corruption as core ideas for the play?

“Some cursed example poison’t near the head,/Death and diseases through the whole land spread”

What is Bosola’s first line in act 1.1 that sets him up as the witty yet cynical malcontent of the Amalfian court?

“I do haunt you still”

What does Bosola compare Ferdinand and the Cardinal to in act 1.1, symbolising corruption and insanity?

“Plum trees that grow crooked over standing pools, they are rich and o’erladen with fruit but none but crows, pies and caterpillars feed on them.”

Who does Bosola compare himself to in act 1.1, showcasing his intelligence as well as his ego?

“What creature ever fed worse than hoping Tantalus?”

What does Antonio say about Bosola at the end of act 1.1 that contains a semantic field of decay, reinforcing corruption as a theme as well as foreshadowing Bosola’s later actions?

“This foul melancholy/ Will poison all his goodness… an inward rust unto the soul”

How does Antonio insult the Cardinal in act 1.2, sharply critiquing the corruption within the clergy, specifically the common violation of the vow of celibacy?

“The spring in his face is nothing but the engendering of toads”

How does Antonio close his act 1.2 monologue about the Duchess, showing just how much he loves and almost idolises her?

“Let all sweet ladies break their flattering glasses/ And dress themselves in her?”

What does Bosola say in act 1.2 immediately after Ferdinand offers him money, showing his thirst for power and social mobility?

“Whose throat must I cut?”

What does the Duchess say to Ferdinand in act 1.2, challenging his misogyny and the belief around a woman’s value being solely concentrated in her virginity?

“Diamonds are of most value, they say, that have past through most jewellers’ hands”

What does Antonio state to the Duchess in act 1.2 that perhaps foreshadows Bosola’s actions?

“Ambition, madam, is a great man’s madness”

What does Cariola say to the Duchess in act 1.2, showing her loyalty and honour and foreshadowing the bloodbath that ends the play?

“As warily as those who trade in poison/ keep poison from their children”