English a level - AO5&3 the duchess of malfi

context and literary criticism

summarise the context of 16th-17th century Catholicism

English reformation (1533-1603)

Catholic counter-reformation (1545-1648) in response solidified Catholic doctrine

many criticisms of Catholicism seen through Webster’s images of corruption

summarise the context of Giovanna D’Aragona

lived from 1478-1510

became duchess of Amalfi aged 12 through marriage

Cardinal and a Marquis for brothers

Widow aged 19

Fell in love with the estate steward called Antonio, had to 2 children and a rumoured 3rd on the way

fled Amalfi in 1510 but was returned and died that year

Antonio was killed in Milan in 1513

summarise the context of Calvinism

branch of Protestantism that began in the 16th century and gained popularity in England in the 17th century

emphasises the authority of the bible and sovereignty of God

inspired by teachings of John Calvin (1509-1564)

double predestination

Webster identified as a “hard-line Calvinist”

summarise the context of horror and gore

TDoM often regarded as the last great tragedy of the Jacobean era

Jacobean drama often features contemplations of death and the afterlife

play considered a reconstruction of a Senecan revenge tragedy

summarise the context of the medical renaissance

Columbus’ voyages from 1492 onwards brought new plants to England which enable new medicines

severe European plague outbreaks of 16th and 17th centuries

by the mid 16th century doctors were allowed to dissect bodies

during the early modern period Monarchs became insistent on disease not entering their court

2 arguments/quotes from Theodora Jankowski about the Duchess’ marriage

“the Duchess becomes an uneasy and threatening figure” in the “double position of wife and ruler”

“the Duchess’ marriage and sexual politics are represented as so revolutionary that she must be punished”

2 quotes from Martha Ronk Lifson

describes the Duchess as “a political, sexual, maternal, suffering, dying figure”

“it is this body which the Cardinal and the Duke wish to destroy”

2 phrases used by Christina Luckyj to describe the Duchess and her brothers

“the Duchess’ individualism”

“brother’s tyrannical moralism”

quote from Christina Luckyj to describe Bosola’s shift after the Duchess’ death

“the dead duchess is “recast” into the body of Bosola”

two opposing views on whether the Duchess is a subversive character: name scholar and quote

Elizabeth Oakes: the Duchess “transgresses none of the rules of decorum for a widow at the time”

Theodora Jankowski: the Duchess is subversive due to the challenge of gender ideology

quote from Elizabeth Oakes on the Duchess’ character development

“her wish to die for Antonio is the climax of her development as a character”

argument from Clifford Leech (1951 - historical critic approach)

The Duchess is a “warning to the rash and wanton” of the inherent dangers in taking a second husband

quote from Frank Wadsworth (1956)

“essentially the heroine’s play”

how does the 1980 version starring Helen Mirren portray the Duchess

as highly sexualised

what symbol did the 2018 production at the Swan Theatre use and what did it represent

a bull carcass filled with blood dragged on by the Duchess as the start and sliced open by Ferdinand in the second half of the play. symbolises the patriarchy

difference between Elizabethan and Jacobean dramas

Elizabethan era preferred comic dramas

Jacobean era (began in 1603) plays are often tragic, political, cynical, and concerned with mercy and forgiveness

key English political figure the Duchess of Malfi can be compared to

Queen Elizabeth I (1533-1603)

what is The White Devil

a revenge tragedy written by Webster in 1612 that notably explores corruption, specifically regarding a Cardinal who becomes Pope

summarise Machiavellian political philosophy in 3 points

political ambition comes before political morality in government

deceit endorsed as an effective method of maintaining control

awareness of good and bad can exist and people chose bad/sin anyway

how does the 2019 version of TDoM in London directed by Rebecca Frecknall use the symbol of blood

the blood shed in the play is black to symbolise the corruption and perverted nature of the court

how does the 2019 version of TDoM in London directed by Rebecca Frecknall emphasise female power

all 3 murdered women (Duchess, Cariola, Julia) haunt the stage after their deaths rather than disappearing

the Duchess’ daughter survives rather than her son and is given her title

what was the English renaissance and how does it connect to revenge tragedies

15th-17th century cultural and artistic movement that made revenge tragedy a more popular genre due to the widespread fascination with power, corruption, morality, and human nature

2 literary influences on Webster’s revenge tragedy

Thomas Kyd’s ‘The Spanish Tragedy’ (1592) established the genre of revenge tragedy in England during the Elizabethan era

Shakespeare’s ‘Hamlet’(early 1600s)

Bible teaching used by the Catholic church preventing King Henry VIII from divorcing because Catherine of Aragon (his late brother’s wife) did not birth a male heir

Leviticus 20:21: “if a man marries his brother’s wife, it is an act of impurity”

how does Webster’s drama fit within the classical, traditional framework of a play (inspired by Aristotle’s ‘perfect play’)

five acts (exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, denouement)

features a dumb show

what are the four humours? give a theologian who believed in their use

blood (sanguine = full of life)

black bile (melancholic = cynical)

yellow bile (choleric = angry)

phlegm (phlegmatic = lack of emotion)

Aquinas

context of stoicism

originated from the ancient Greeks and is the endurance of hardships without complaint

seen reflected in the Duchess

quote from J. E. Pearson

“the heroine dies well before the end of the play so that the significance of her death can be explored”

Quote from Tennenhouse

“womanhood and sovereignty are logically incompatible”

quote from Lee Bliss

The Cardinal’s “emotional detachment is more terrifying than Ferdinand’s impassioned raving”

quote from Brian Gibbons

Bosola faces a “growing crisis… between cynicism and compassion”

what is Lycanthropy

the transformation of a person into a wolf

stories in England as lycanthropy as a result of witchcraft or demonic intervention were popular

images of lycanthropy also used to demonise the Catholic Church: Machiavelli called Pope Sixtus IV as “a wolf rather than a shepherd”

quote from Cecelia Daileader

the Duchess is “a female Christ”

when did Machiavellianism first appear in England

1607

summarise the Renaissance Court

a centre of cultural production: a “work of art” (Burckhardt)

more precise definitions of courtly etiquette promoting self-awareness and self-control

criticisms of the court became prevalent in renaissance literature

when was the English Renaissance

1485 - early 1600s

Jankowski on the Duchess’ tragedy

Webster presents the destruction of the Duchess as inevitable in order to show her limitations in a patriarchal society

argument from Joyce E Peterson

TDoM is predominantly political satire

quote from T.S. Elliot

Webster is “possessed by death” and “a genius directed towards chaos”

quote/argument from Belton

critics have found '“little to like or admire in Antonio”; he is primarily singled out for is his “passivity”

3 frameworks for feminist readings of either text

De Beauvoir’s immanence and transcendence

Nussbaum’s 7 notions of objectification

Freud’s Madonna-Whore complex

4 of Nussbaum’s 7 notions of objectification

instrumentality (a tool)

inertness (not an active agent)

violability (no boundaries)

denial of subjectivity (no feelings)

quote from Poel

Julia is “designed as a set-off to the Duchess; as an instance of unholy love in contrast to the chaste love of the Duchess”

2 examples of 17th century receptions of TDoM

Middleton: “thy monument raised in thy lifetime”

Ford: “a masterpiece”

Lewis Theobold’s interpretation

rewrote the play, naming it ‘the Fatal Secret’, in 1733

wished to “tame… a wild and undigested play”

gave TDoM a happy ending and omitted much violence

quote from Lamb (romantic)

Duchess’ wooing of Antonio and her torture and death are “moments of the sublime”

argument from Hazlitt (Romantic)

the play is too full of horror, and the Duchess only speaks the “dialect of despair”