The Duchess of Malfi/Rossetti — Theme Essay Plans

What 3 ideas can be used in a question about happiness?

Romance

Freedom

Morality

Happiness -- romance, Duchess of Malfi

JULIA: Due to being married to Castruccio, who in many plays is significantly older than her, Julia''s only fulfilment sexually is through extra-marital affairs. But we see that this degrades her rank and assigns her the status of a harlot, allowing her to be mistreated by the Cardinal. She cannot truly be happy because of her marriage, due to her rank, and her reputation.

DUCHESS & ANTONIO: Together, they face opposition from both ends of the class spectrum. The Duchess is forbidden from marrying down, and Antonio cannot marry up. They have to live their lives secretly and in fear, which threatens their happiness, and the eventual threat of the brothers ruins what little contentment they managed to cultivate.

Happiness -- romance, Rossetti

SOEUR LOUISE DE LA MISÉRICORDE:

- Julia has 'desired' and has been desired, passed around - or jumped around - from man to man, losing her self-worth and her worth in the eyes of others in the process.

- The speaker has lost herself and her worth due to love, both self-love ('vanity') and 'desire'.

IN THE ROUND TOWER AT JHANSI

- The Duchess and Antonio's steadfast loyalty and commitment to love against the backdrop of the corrupt court like 'swarming, howling wretches below' shows a pursuit of happiness true and full of affection. But this is ultimately quashed by death, just as in the poem.

- The spirit of Antonio and the Duchess live on as she claims, evidenced by her as Echo. Their love also persists through their son, though he becomes heir to a court of intrigue and corruption.

Happiness -- freedom, DOM

DUCHESS: The Duchess is constrained by her gender and her position as a Prince. She tries to balance both - rank and social status with personal fulfilment - but ultimately fails, and must be punished according to Elizabethan expectations for a woman of her standing. Although Webster may be suggesting it was her foolish ambition which led her to the end, it was undoubtedly driven by the patriarchal forces at work in the court of Malfi.

BUT... It can be said that the Duchess does eventually gain freedom, and this is through death. Her influence extends, and she is able to act as an omniscient, godlike figure, watching and haunting the remaining characters. This suggests that the only way she can be free is if she exists outside of society.

Happiness -- freedom, Rossetti

WINTER: MY SECRET

- The Duchess believes she is being coy and clever in keeping this secret from her brothers, but the fact her new life must remain a secret demonstrates her lack of freedom.

- Her lighthearted confidence about the scheme also reflects an underestimation of the constraints of her rank and status, and the severity of the punishments that accompany breaching this.

- As opposed to this, the speaker maintains her secret and therefore her freedom. Despite the 'nipping' and 'biting' forces threatening to expose her, she maintains her teasing and her privacy. Rossetti may be presenting the view that a woman's mind is a sanctuary from the dominant male forces of society, impenetrable and private.

Happiness -- morality, DOM

BOSOLA: Bosola is constrained by his class and his status as a criminal. He sees himself as subhuman and must work as the brothers' weapon for evil, stunting his morality. But his encounters with the Duchess see him infected by her strength. His radical transformation in the last act sees him aiming for vengeance to avenge the Duchess and enact justice.

Happiness -- morality, Rossetti

FROM THE ANTIQUE

- 'Not a body nor a soul' - Bosola is dehumanised and objectified for the brothers' cruel interests. He is denied morality and free will, bound to their agendas.

- The speaker is unhappy due to their lack of self-wroth, from both their own morals and the morals of the society which treats them as inferior.

What 3 ideas can be used in a question about power?

Power in love

Power in sexuality

Spiritual/moral power

Power -- love, DOM

- Women in the play are shown to have power in love, but weakness in lust.

- The Duchess assumes control in her relationship with Antonio, but she must take on a traditionally masculine role in order to do this.

- BUT... this could also be due to Antonio's class; her brothers, of equal standing, exert power over her.

Julia is shown to be under the control of the Cardinal, even if she believes she is acting out of autonomy. Physical abuse, degradation and murder are proof of his power over her.

Power -- love, Rossetti

MAUDE CLARE

- In Maude Clare, Maude holds romantic power above Thomas even though she has now fallen from society. He 'hid his face' from her, and described her as a 'queen' - he still holds her in high esteem, and even his new wife acknowledges it, knowing he doesn't 'love me [her] best'.

TWICE

- In Twice, the speaker gives her heart first to a man, who rejects it on the basis that 'it is still unripe'. Yet she remains the one in power: she gives him her heart of her own volition, and permits him to scrutinise it. Though he does have power over some of her emotions, she then again chooses to give her heart to God.

- Although this may suggest an overarching dependence on male power and validation, she is still powerful enough to choose in both of these situations. She is the one with ultimate control and faith.

Power -- sexuality, DOM

- Women in the play are shown to have a false sense of authority over their own sexuality.

- Julia's promiscuity does grant her access to certain privileges, e.g. Antonio's lands.

- The Duchess believes she can defy societal restraints over her sexuality.

BUT... both women's sexuality becomes their weakness and the cause of their downfall. Men regain control and punish them for their sexual autonomy.

Power -- sexuality, Rossetti

MAUDE CLARE

Despite a lack of political power due to their engagement in pre-marital sex, Maude retains a different power over Thomas which reduces his to shame. Markedly, Maude Clare does not seem to be ashamed, speaking openly of 'the day we waded ankle-deep, for lilies in the beck', a clear nod to promiscuity given the exposed ankles.

SOEUR LOUISE DE LA MISÉRICORDE

The speaker's lamentation that 'I have desired and I have been desired, but now the days are over of desire' could be seen as a reflection of the Duchess having to give up romance and courtship to maintain her power. But unlike the speaker, she is unwilling and does not want to turn away from desire.

GOBLIN MARKET

Men control and punish Laura for her sexual autonomy, just as men do Julia in the play. Laura must be revived by chaste, virginal Lizzie, showing that power is not derived from sexuality, but rather from the absence of it. Indeed, Lizzie is portrayed as strong and powerful for resisting the sexual aggression

Power -- spiritual/moral, DOM

The Duchess embodies how women's power stems from morality and spirituality.

- Strength, courage and defiance of patriarchal rules

- Power over identity: 'I am the Duchess of Malfi still.'

- Faith: persistent Catholicism and belief in a heaven for her and her family.

This is as opposed to the spiritual weakness of all men in the play, minus Antonio and Delio.

BUT... Julia shows us that women without the Duchess' standing who defy Elizabethan norms for women are weakened morally, and are seen as less moral than even the Cardinal.

AND... Although the Duchess' strength of faith and identity means she resists the torture, she is still ultimately executed by Bosola following a depraved performance of torture directed and produced by Ferdinand.

Though identity, strength and love are important qualities, they are fleeting and transient. That men have such power over her life and death shows the extent of male power.

Power -- spiritual/moral, Rossetti

FROM THE ANTIQUE

'Not a body nor a soul' - Julia is taken as valued only for her body, and her soul is disregarded; she is seen as an immoral harlot, despite the man she mainly lies with having done much worse crimes than her. Similarly, the speaker reduces herself to less than, imbuing herself with no capacity for moral power.

TWICE

The speaker's dedication to God gives her more power than the man who previously disregarded her love. This proves the importance of faith and the superiority women have over men in such matters.

What 3 ideas can be used in a question about ambition?

Ambition for happiness

Ambition for power

Ambition for freedom

Ambition -- happiness, DOM

DUCHESS & ANTONIO: Antonio and the Duchess seek happiness together in defiance of social standards, class differences, expectations for a widow and a woman of the Duchess' standing, and her brothers.

-- They manage to: have a family, present the true example of love and Christian familial contentment

BUT...The Duchess is tortured and killed for her ambition, and the family unit is brutally broken up. Antonio is killed, and the only surviving memory of their ambition is their son.

Ambition -- happiness, Rossetti

TWICE: The speaker is despondent after rejection, and finds happiness by giving her heart to a new person - God. Antonio is a substitute for God for the Duchess. She chooses happiness with him. The reference to riches in the poem also links to the Duchess' continued objectification of herself using material objects.

It may also be read that, in Twice, earthly love does not lead to happiness, and therefore the Duchess' ambition for happiness through love for Antonio is doomed to fail. It would be more prudent to do as Twice's speaker and seek love in God.

Ambition -- power, DOM

CARDINAL: The Cardinal is the play's embodiment of power. He is the silent orchestrator of the Duchess' torture and Ferdinand's mental instability, and he was the first to manipulate Bosola. He uses the guise of Catholicism to cover up his immorality and ascend his status. He seeks control over everyone around him.

BUT... He does not succeed. Like the rest of the antagonists, the final scene sees him slain and the Duchess' son - the product of his lack of control - the sole survivor of his lineage.

Ambition -- power, Rossetti

WINTER: MY SECRET: Like the speaker, the Cardinal exercises power over others; it gives him a sense of pride. The playful and teasing nature of the speaker is reminiscent of the scene in which he lures and kills Julia with the prospect of knowing his secret. Antonio also describes him as a 'foul black cobweb', where bad deeds stay for him to remember, making him a keeper of secrets like the speaker.

Unlike the Cardinal, the speaker in the poem maintains control over her secret. She withstands the forces and keeps the secret. However, if it is read as an allegory for pregnancy, it could be said that it is inevitable that her secret emerge, just as it is inevitable that the Cardinal's ambition for ultimate power is not met.

Ambition -- freedom, DOM

BOSOLA: Bosola is constrained by his class and his status as a criminal. He sees himself as subhuman and must work as the brothers' weapon for evil. But his encounters with the Duchess see him infected by her strength, and he desires more. His radical transformation in the last act sees him aiming for vengeance as freedom, but he ends up dead.

DUCHESS: The Duchess is constrained by her gender and her position as a Prince. Her ambition sees her over-confident and aiming to be both a woman and a ruler. But despite her assurance, her faith and her moral superiority, she is killed.

BUT... Her death is regal and she remains unyielding to the end. Her spirit haunts the play and oversees the death of those who stifled her in life.

Ambition -- freedom, Rossetti

SOEUR LOUISE DE LA MISÉRICORDE:

- It could be the Duchess' defiance of expectations. Instead of being a passive object of desire, she now wants to desire freely and act as she wishes.

- Just as the speaker laments on having been used and dried up, Bosola seems to believe his only use is evil, and there is no goodness left in him.

- The speaker yearns for, and strives for, freedom from vanity and desire, wanting to be beholden to nobody but herself. As the poem is based off the mistress of King Louis XIV, Rossetti invokes the idea that ambition for freedom can be attained through spiritual power.

FROM THE ANTIQUE

The degrading way in which the speaker refers to herself is similar to Bosola's self-perception. He calls himself a 'creature' and a 'familiar'.

What 3 ideas can be used in a question about passionate words?

Sexual passion

Declarations of love

Declarations of ambition

Passionate words -- sexual passion, DOM

Julia and Ferdinand in The Duchess of Malfi are both given to passionate outbursts on lustful, sexual matters, and both come to disastrous ends.

FERDINAND: Ferdinand's malevolence is driven by his twisted and incestupus obsession with his sister, the Duchess. Much of his language is passionate, superstitious and full of emotion, often rage. These feelings, and these passionate words, accompany his torture of the Duchess. As such, he dies believing he is a feral, raging creature - a poignant manifestation of his inescapable, brutish lust.

JULIA: Julia is driven by passion more than anything. Unsatisfied with her ageing husband Castruccio, she goes through the men of the court purely out of sexual drive. Her foolish behaviour is this passion and lust, and eventually her lustful relationship with the Cardinal - and her lustful promise to aid Bosola - lead her to her death.

Passionate words -- sexual passion, Rossetti

GOBLIN MARKET:

- Incest: The final act of salvation between Lizzie and Laura has incestuous undertones. Laura licks the fruit juices from Lizzie's body and skin.

- Lust: In Goblin Market, Laura is punished for her lust. She indulges in the goblin mens' fruit despite her chaste and virginal sister warning her against it, and finds herself wasting away without it. The reference to the other girl, Janine, in the story, seems to resemble Julia, who dies as a result of her passionate lust.

- The goblins' rhymes and advertisement of their fruit act as passionate words of sexual lust, luring Laura into the folly of giving into their temptation.

Passionate words -- declarations of love, DOM

- The Duchess and Antonio declare their love passionately throughout the play: from the first meeting we see between them, their vows, the intimate scene in the bedroom with Cariola, when they last see each other and must separate. They believe, passionately and unwaveringly, that they will eventually be reunited, but their fate is not so kind.

- The Duchess's passions are stated more gravely. Her foolish behaviour is in the defiance of her brothers, not just in love, but keeping secrets, and lying to them. She believes she will be able to maintain this false pretence, but when her betrayal is found out, the consequence is brutal torture and death.

Passionate words -- declarations of love, Rossetti

TWICE: In Twice, the speaker passionately presents her heart to the man who she loves, but he rejects it. Her passionate words only lead to hurt and heartbreak.

WINTER: MY SECRET: The speaker teasing the listener with the prospect of her secret is much like how the Duchess seems to dangle her secret in front of her brothers. When Ferdinand remarks that she will have to remain chaste and virginal instead of being a lusty widow, her amused response could be prideful. Additionally, the speaker in WMS could be pregnant, and she knows the secret will get out eventually, just like the Duchess.

IN THE ROUND TOWER AT JHANSI: Together, the couple in the poem are doomed to death. But despite knowing this, and indeed being at the epicentre of it all, they remain passionate and declare their unwavering love for each other.

- The folly is in the suicide, a sin dooming them to hell.

Passionate words -- declarations of ambition, DOM

Bosola is interesting in that although he initially believes he is above doing the brothers' cruel bidding, he succumbs quickly, understanding that there is little more for him in the world. But after being complicit in the torture of the Duchess, he begins to gain a sense of virtue amd justice. His ambition is to enact this on the brothers. Not only does he end up dead, but he ends up killing Antonio, a man he held in high esteem as the pinnacle of clean morality.

Passionate words -- declarations of ambition, Rossetti

FROM THE ANTIQUE: The speaker's despair over their place in society and non-existent self-worth are similar to Bosola at the beginning of the play.

SOUER LOUISE: The speaker declares that she is beyond vanity and desire, no longer beholden to these sins. But her ambitions seem fruitless, for the repetition of the refrain suggests that, like Bosola, she is nonetheless trapped in a cycle of sin. Her passionate words have amounted to nothing.

What 3 ideas can be used in a question about control?

Patriarchal control

Sexual control

Class control

Control -- patriarchal control, DOM

The Duchess is the victim of patriarchal control by her brothers and by societal standards and expectations, which limit how she is able to live out her life.

BROTHERS: Ferdinand's incestuous desires manifets in attempts to control her sexuality and her feelings. She is coerced by her brothers into claiming she will never again marry, and although she defies this, it results in her death. The Cardinal in particular seems to be a very machiavellian, all-controlling figure of manipulation and authority. As a Cardinal, he represents male, religious power and authority, opposed to female liberation and self-governance.

SOCIETY: The societal expectations are for widows either not to remarry, or to remarry up, possibly with a man chosen by male relatives. The Duchess' refusal to comply with this sees her having secrets that get her killed.

ANTONIO: In her relationship with Antonio, she is able to resist patriarchal control by almost castrating Antonio, who takes on a passive role in the m

Control -- patriarchal control, Rossetti

WINTER: MY SECRET: The speaker overcomes patriarchal control through maintaining her secret despite the numerous aggressive attempts to pry it out of her. She stands against nature with her strength and refuses to yield to the expected patriarchal control.

GOBLIN MARKET: As Lizzie withstands the assault of the goblin men, the Duchess attempts to withstand the attacks of Ferdinand.

- The men have physical control in both but the women have moral and spiritual power that allows them to overcome this.

FROM THE ANTIQUE

- 'I wish and I wish I were a man / Or, better then any being, were not' → 'Whether I am doomed to live, or die, I can do both like a prince.'

The Duchess resists the shame and resignation that might be expected of her as a 'fallen woman'. Instead, she reclaims both of her titles and shows courage in the face of subjection, torture and death. She presents a stronger figure than the speaker in From the Antique.

'Better than any being': the speaker would rather be nothing

Control -- sexual control, DOM

Julia wavers between being controlled by her sexuality, and choosing to control others with it.

CONTROLLED: In some productions. The Cardinal is physically abusive. She is also lured to death by her own flippant sexuality - a characteristic/stereotype for women at the time: intemperately lustful whores.

CONTROLS: She is willing to seek sexual pleasure outside of her marriage to Castruccio, gaining power by cuckolding him and rebelling against societal restrictions. Her pursuit of Bosola shows her to be a figure of power compared to him, with his low self-worth. She, as well as the Duchess, is able to drive him further towards justice. She also uses her sexuality to gain capital, as seen by when she is able to own some of Antonio's land on the Cardinal's - her lover's - recommendation.

Control -- sexual control, Rossetti

SOEUR LOUISE DE LA MISÉRICORDE:

- The mistress was trapped in a sexual role, subservient to a powerful man, and it has ruined her life so far.

- But she is overcoming it.

GOBLIN MARKET

- Laura is controlled by her sexuality. She is powerless in the temptation of the goblins and it leaves her near death, the life draining from her. Sexuality becomes a way for the men to manipulate and control Laura.

- As opposed to this, Lizzie remains virginal and therefore immune to sexual control. Her defiance of the goblins' aggression is presented as strong and heroic. Her power derives from the resistance of sexual pursuit.

In both poems, sexuality is not a way to control, but rather a way in which women are controlled.

Control -- class control, DOM

Bosola is limited by his class in terms of his morals and actions. We see that Bosola is capable of goodness, as viewed through Antonio in the first act, when he claims he would be good if not for his melancholy.

SUBVERTS: In the final act, he is energised by the spirit of the Duchess - a symbol of overcoming systemic forces of control - and decides to act for good and justice instead of evil on behalf of the brothers. Though this ends in his death, and Antonio's, it also results in the death of the Cardinal and Ferdinand.

Control -- class control, Rossetti

SOEUR LOUISE DE LA MISERICORDE: The speaker has been controlled by men and their desires, and feels it has stunted her hopes and morals. Bosola, similarly, after acting under the thumb of the brothers, feels morally drained.

TWICE: The speaker is rebuked by the man she offers her heart to, and finds power in herself to give it to God. Similarly, Bosola takes his heart and commits it to justice and vengeance, believing finally in the possibility of his own goodness.

FROM THE ANTIQUE: If read as from the perspective of a prostitute or other fallen woman, the poem shows how control over one's life is taken from them by society and determined by their position in the hierarchy. She has lost all sense of self, dignity and worth; she believes she is not a body or a soul. Her worth and view of herself is controlled by her class.

What 3 ideas can be used in a question about folly and human error?

Love

Ambition

Corruption

Folly & human error -- love, DOM

DUCHESS & ANTONIO

Their attempt to love is perhaps the most foolish act of the whole play. They attempt to defy societal convention, the demands of rank and status, and the Duchess' own brothers and their patriarchal control. This love directly results in their deaths.

...BUT it can be said that it is only foolish because of the corruption of her brothers

The Duchess' lies and secrecy associated with her love also serves as a foolish act, as is her belief in her moral superiority which carries her to pursue love and disregard the will of her brothers.

Folly & human error -- love, Rossetti

MAUDE CLARE:

- As in DOM, the central character attempts to defy every rule and convention of society in pursuit of love. Her dalliance with Lord Tom, however, clearly ends poorly for both parties - Maude Clare is presumably socially disgraced, while Tom appears unable to fully face her. The pursuit of love at the expense of rank and social status is clearly proved foolish here.

- N and MC are victims: pregnant fallen women, woman married to an unfaithful man who values and loves MC more than her.

- Rossetti may be exploring how conformity and defiance lead to equally unsatisfying outcomes for women.

TWICE

Love in Twice presents an alternative to that presented by Webster. It is love for God, not earthly love between humans, that leads to fulfilment. Human love in Twice leads to disappointment and feelings of failure and unworthiness.

Folly & human error -- ambition, DOM

BOSOLA

Bosola's ambition to rise above his status is not foolish insofar as there are benefits to rising in rank, but he is foolish to believe this would be possible for him given the constraints of the court, Jacobean society and his own criminal history.

Therefore each act of violence he perpetuates in an attempt to rise in rank is utterly foolish, underpinned by a false belief in the possibility of his social ascension.

ANTONIO

Antonio is aware of the folly of ambition: 'Ambition, madam, is a great man's madness.' He does not yearn to ascend like Bosola, rather he has it thrust upon him. Nonetheless, his compliance in this scheme of love and social ambition sees him meet a tragic end.

Both characters are moral opposites, yet their foolish ambition results in them meeting the same tragic fate.

Folly & human error -- ambition, Rossetti

SOUER LOUISE DE LA MISÉRICORDE:

Like Bosola, the speaker is trapped in a cycle of giving into her sin and folly. Although she says 'the days are over of desire', she ends the poem with the same exclamation she repeats throughout - 'Oh vanity of vanities, desire!' This might suggest she is still not free, trapped in a cycle of frustration and grief, unable to escape the role of mistress and temptress.

FROM THE ANTIQUE:

The speaker regards herself as without body or soul, merely dust or a drop of water. In this sense, she laments her inferior place in society, much as Bosola does his.

Folly & human error -- corruption, DOM

The brothers' corruption is their ultimate folly, resulting in their downfall.

POWER

The Cardinal's lust for power leads him to the ultimate act of blasphemy, murdering, manipulating and torturing under the guise of a servant of God. Bosola's metaphor of the fruit tree perhaps most embodies this corruption and its consequences; like the fruit he offers, he grows rotten and destroys himself with his own corruption and power.

LUST

Ferdinand's treatment of his sister could be read as the product of sexual jealousy, a corrupted, incestuous lust that drives him to his eventual lycanthropic madness.

Folly & human error -- corruption, Rossetti

GOBLIN MARKET:

Read as an allegory for sexual temptation shrouded in the mythos of Genesis, Goblin Market reflects Ferdinand's incestuous love and desire. Like Laura longs to taste the goblins' fruit and ends up lifeless and dying, Ferdinand's desire for his sister leaves him mad and deluded. Both of them are driven close to death by sexual desire. The added layer of incestuous revival between Lizzie and Laura also substantiates the incestuous aspect of Ferdinand's corrupt lust.

What 3 ideas can be used in a question about love?

Marital love

Self-love

Forbidden love

Love -- marital love, DOM

Marriage is not organic love.

- Julia and Castruccio: cheating, cuckoldry, lust, productions which portray her as young and Cas as old, unnatural.

- Vs Duchess and Antonio: religious, beautiful, playful, intimate, moral

Love -- marital love, Rossetti

MAUDE CLARE

Nell is aware that Tom loves Maude Clare more than he loves her. Their marriage is a marriage by name, not love, a product of social convention.

GOBLIN MARKET

As with Julia and Castruccio, lust wins out over love

Love -- self-love, DOM

Duchess: excess of self-love and will

Bosola: opposite in complete self-loathing

- Moral failings

- 'Creature' and 'familiar' - sees himself as inhuman, an animal equipped only for evil

Love -- self-love, Rossetti

FROM THE ANTIQUE

The speaker, like Bosola, is full of self-loathing, believing she is nothing but a speck of dust, which nobody would miss if it were gone. Society has left her without any self-respect let alone self-love, emphasised by the interpretation that it is from the point of view of a prostitute or a fallen women. Society's treatment determines their self-worth.

Love -- forbidden love, DOM

Although forbidden, Webster portrays the love between the Duchess and Antonio as the most natural, moral and beautiful of the play. It is a healthy Protestant ideal union, with equality, lust, love and playfulness.

Love -- forbidden love, Rossetti

MAUDE CLARE

The forbidden love between MC and Lord Tom seems more organic than the sanctioned love between Nell and Tom, who admits that he loves MC more than Nell. The images of 'wading ankle-deep' suggest a vulnerability and intimacy not seen in the marriage between Nell and Tom, showing that, like with the Duchess and Antonio, forbidden love may be more true and organic than that which is allowed.

TWICE

As Webster presents the Duchess and Antonio as the pinnacle of Protestant love, Rossetti presents the speaker as finding the truest and most fulfilling love with God. Although not forbidden, it reflects the genuine and godly facet of this relationship.

What 3 ideas can be used in a question about the outsider?

Female subversive

Class subversive

Corrupt outsiders

Outsider -- female subversive, DOM

THE DUCHESS -- Duchess as an outsider looking down.

- An outsider as she wields an unusual amount of power for a woman, and also because compared to those who have power like her brothers, the courtiers, etc. She is morally superior.

- As Echo: maintains a ghostly presence as a spectator and influence of events, infiltrating Bosola, Ferdinand and Antonio's choices in the final act.

JULIA -- Julia effortlessly weaves between the court, an outsider on the inside.

- Due to her reputation, she is an outsider in the court, reviled, used and mocked.

- Webster uses her character to expose the double standards of the court: whereas society revolves around the corrupt and morally bankrupt brothers, Julia's questionable morals see her alienated and tossed aside.

As a consequence of their outsiderness, these women meet tragic ends. However, before this they show an insight into the double standards and moral depravity of society.

Outsider -- female subversive, Rossetti

SOUER LOUISE

Like Julia, the speaker of Souer Louise has had the essences of her life drained and used away by societal forces. She is an outsider as a mistress.

FROM THE ANTIQUE

The speaker of FTA feels she is an outsider from society, and none would care whether she lived or died. She is without a body or soul to many. Because she is not a man, she feels as though she is less than nothing to society. This is true in the case of Julia, and possibly even the Duchess, whose power is stripped from her as she is ousted from society. Yet, unlike the speaker here, she regains power over herself.

MAUDE CLARE

Like the Duchess, who is an outsider but maintains her dignity, Maude Clare is scorned from society but remains morally superior to Lord Tom, who represents polite society. Her status as an intruder on the wedding and her bravery, dignity and defiance in the face of her own exclusion paint her as the ultimate female subversive who draws power from her exclusion.

Outsider -- class subversive, DOM

BOSOLA -- Bosola is an outsider as he is a malcontent.

- He sees the corruption and double standards of court, railing against the brothers and their cruelty. He becomes something of a wonky moral compass for the play, guiding its transforming moral reality and exposing the flaws of society.

- He is also an outsider due to his class: Unlike Antonio, a moral and noble gentleman, or the brothers, powerful and high-ranking, he is little more than a lowly criminal. He is outside of the wealthy core of the court, not by choice.

- He is also an outsider in that he holds no delusions about his own depravity. Whereas the Cardinal hides his evil behind his robes, the Duchess disguises her selfish will in love and Ferdinand buries his cruelty in his lycanthropic mania, Bosola is open about his own depravity and moral failings. He is an outsider for his honesty.

Outsider -- class subversive, Rossetti

MAUDE CLARE

Bosola is like MC and everyone else is Lord Tom. He, like her, is open about his sins, whereas everyone else, like Lord Tom, hides their true face and instead pretends to be more superior than they truly are. Her honesty about wading ankle deep despite the social indecency shows how Rossetti presents the outsider: a figure of dignity and defiance, revealing the weaknesses and corruption of society, especially given the reaction of ultimate 'insider' Lord Tom -- he cannot even face her.

Outsider -- corrupt outsider, DOM

The Cardinal most embodies the role of the corrupt outsider, acting as a Machiavellian figure who orchestrates the tragic events of the play and manipulates those around him. He is an outsider because he is in control of everybody else, superior in his manipulation and corruption.

- Controls Ferdinand, Julia, Bosola, the Duchess - everybody is under his thumb

- Bosola tree and Antonio spider web metaphors.

Outsider -- corrupt outsider, Rossetti

GOBLIN MARKET

The depiction of the goblins in the poem bears much similarity to that of the brothers. Their temptation, their power over life and death, their violence and manipulation, all resemble Ferdinand and the Cardinal.

What 3 ideas can be used in a question about freedom?

Freedom from patriarchy

Freedom from class

Freedom through death

Freedom -- freedom from patriarchy, DOM

DUCHESS

- Freedom and power through love: the Duchess attempts to gain freedom over love. Her brothers forbid her from remarrying in an attempt to repress this freedom, but her immediate marriage to Antonio is a clear defiance to their patriarchal control. Despite this, the result of their union is tragic, and ultimately both of them die as a result of aspiring to a free love.

- Power: her rank and title give her power that means she should be able to transcend patriarchal control, especially given her widowhood. However, we see that her brothers are still obsessed with controlling her to the point of torture and murder. They take her title and her Dutchy from her and imprison her in her own palace, showing that in the end her rank will not free her from patriarchal forces.

JULIA

- Freedom and power through sexuality: relations with Cardinal = land; relations with Bosola = sexual fulfilment; cheating on Castruccio gives her some semblance of autonomy beyond marriage as he becomes the

Freedom -- freedom from patriarchy, Rossetti

MAUDE CLARE

Maude Clare attempts to assert her worth and dignity via intruding on Lord Tom and Nell's wedding. But both she and Nell are powerless because of Tom, their worth and power defined by their relation to him. Any notion of power either of them have - MC in her wedding gifts and candidness about their affair, Nell in her attempts to gracefully wrestle back power and her steadfast faithfulness - are fickle. It is Thomas, who cowers before Maude Clare, who ironically wields the most power.

WINTER: MY SECRET

The Duchess' only form of control, her secret, is penetrated and becomes her weakness. As opposed to this, the speaker in WMS is able to gain power over the man she is teasing through her secret, manipulating and toying with him whilst still maintaining superiority.

SOUER LOUISE

The speaker of SLDLM laments the life she spent in service of desire and vanity, beholden to the whims and affections of men. Her mourning of elements of her life that she lost to this control resem

Freedom -- freedom from class, DOM

- Bosola serves the brothers because he aims to be free from the restraints imposed on him for his class. He wants to be, as he claims, 'raised.' However, he does not achieve this freedom by the end of the play, dying morally lost and 'in a mist' as Antonio initially predicted for him.

- Bosola is inhibited by his service to the brothers, which sees him abused, manipulated and mistreated, forced to carry out acts of violence in order to aid their cruel schemes.

- He is chained, therefore, by both his moral decay and those responsible for it. He seeks freedom through the very means which are holding him back.

Freedom -- freedom from class, Rossetti

SLDLM

Like the speaker, he is trapped in a cycle of sin that decimates his self-worth and dignity, ruining his life. He is only free from it in death after he has killed the brothers.

Freedom -- freedom through death, DOM

BOSOLA

In life, Bosola is pursued by societal forces which drive him to violence and degeneracy. The brothers manipulate the GCB and the hierarchy of the court in order to push him further into moral decay. In death he is finally free from these malicious forces, as well as having fulfilled his desire for vengeance, with both the brothers dead and Antonio's son living on to rule in his mother's stead.

DUCHESS

The Duchess regains her power and influence in death. She becomes Bosola's moral compass and conscience, driving his desire for justice, and influences Ferdinand's hysterical, guilt-ridden mania.

Freedom -- freedom through death, Rossetti

IN THE ROUND TOWER

The societal forces which constrain freedom in DOM can be compared to the 'howling, swarming wretches below' in ITRTAJH. The Captain and his wife commit suicide to escape the wrath of the rebelling Indian seapoys, effectively escaping the societal consequences of Colonial rule.