suffering/madness
Quote #1
[…] Who must dispatch me?
I account this world a tedious theatre,
For I do play a part in't 'gainst my will. (4.1.81-82)
Analysis:
The Duchess reflects on her suffering by comparing life to a “tedious theatre,” highlighting the play’s self-awareness of its theatricality. She feels forced into a role she did not choose, emphasizing her loss of agency and the performative nature of her suffering.
Quote #2
I am not mad yet, to my cause of sorrow.
Th'heaven o'er my head seems made of molten brass,
The earth of flaming sulphur, yet I am not mad;
I am acquainted with sad misery
As the tanned galley-slave is with his oar. (4.2.23-28)
Analysis:
The Duchess endures immense torment but insists she is not mad, despite her hellish surroundings. The biblical imagery of heaven and earth as infernal underlines the extremity of her suffering. Comparing herself to a galley-slave connects her to Bosola’s own experience of hardship, fostering empathy between them.
Quote #3
And Fortune seems only to have her eye-sight
To behold my tragedy. (4.2.35-36)
Analysis:
The Duchess sees Fortune (Fate) as an indifferent observer of her misery, intensifying her tragic isolation. Unlike others who believe in random or fair fate, she feels specifically targeted by misfortune.
Quote #4
[…] Didst thou ever see a lark
in a cage? Such is the soul in the body: this world is like her
little turf of grass, and the heaven o'er our heads like her
looking-glass, only gives us a miserable knowledge of the
small compass of our prison. (4.2.122-26)
Analysis:
Bosola’s metaphor compares the Duchess’s physical imprisonment to the soul trapped within the body, suggesting that true suffering is existential confinement. This highlights the theme of entrapment—both literal and spiritual.
Quote #5
Of what is't fools make such vain keeping?
Sin their conception, their birth weeping;
Their life, a general mist of error,
Their death, a hideous storm of terror. (4.2.181-84)
Analysis:
Bosola’s bleak worldview sees life as inherently flawed and random. His experience of corruption and tragedy fuels this nihilistic vision, which underlines the pervasive suffering throughout the play.
Quote #6
The Cardinal: There is a fortune attends thee.
Bosola: Shall I go sue to Fortune any longer?
'Tis the fool's pilgrimage. (5.2.294-96)
Analysis:
Bosola rejects the idea of fate as benevolent or predictable. His skepticism about “fortune” symbolizes the play’s larger theme of human helplessness against capricious destiny.
Quote #7
Thou in our miseries Fortune have a part,
Yet in our noble suff'rings she hath none.
Contempt of pain—that we call our own. (5.3.54-56)
Analysis:
Antonio distinguishes between misfortune’s role in causing suffering and the human capacity to endure it nobly. This dignified approach contrasts with Bosola’s cynicism and mirrors the Duchess’s own noble suffering.
Quote #8
We are merely the stars' tennis balls, struck and banded
Which way please them. (5.4.54-55)
Analysis:
Bosola’s cynical metaphor portrays humans as powerless objects in a cruel cosmic game, reinforcing the theme of randomness in suffering and the absence of divine justice.
Quote #9
Pleasure of life, what is't? Only the good hours
Of an ague; merely a preparative to rest,
To endure vexation. (5.4.67-69)
Analysis:
Antonio, upon facing death and loss, expresses a despairing view of life’s fleeting joys as mere preparation for suffering and eventual rest in death—highlighting the inevitability of pain.
Quote #10
Oh, this gloomy world!
In what a shadow, or deep pit of darkness,
Doth womanish and fearful mankind live! (5.5.99-101)
Analysis:
Bosola’s final words emphasize the bleakness and darkness that define human existence. His use of “womanish” reflects contemporary gendered insults, but also reveals his contempt for human weakness in the face of suffering.
Quote #11
These wretched eminent things
Leave no more fame behind 'em than should one
Fall in a frost and leave his print in snow:
As soon as the sun shines, it ever melts,
Both form, and matter. (5.5.112-16)
Analysis:
Delio reflects on the fleeting nature of fame and suffering, suggesting that all pain and glory alike will disappear. This ambiguous closing note questions the lasting impact of the characters’ tragic suffering.
Quote #1
“…I want to be near you, got to be with somebody, I can’t be alone! Because - as you must have noticed - I’m – not very well…” (1.141)
This is the first hint we get of Blanche’s madness. Oddly enough, it isn’t solitude but rather the negative influence of other people that ultimately destroys her.
Quote #2
“…And funerals are pretty compared to deaths. Funerals are quiet, but deaths – not always.” (1.185)
We get the sense from lines like this that all these deaths – of her family members and also her husband – are really at the source of Blanche’s madness.
Quote #3
“There’s so much – so much confusion in the world… Thank you for being so kind! I need kindness now.” (3.215)
Notice when Blanche starts retreating into her fictional world of fantasy – at the first display of real violence from Stanley. This almost foreshadows her breakdown at the end of the play as the result of Stanley’s sexual violence against her.
Quote #4
“Young man! Young, young, young man! Has anyone ever told you that you look like a young Prince out of the Arabian Nights!” (5.116)
It’s no coincidence that Blanche describes the young man as a fictional character – it reminds us that this entire scene is part of her altered perception of reality.
Quote #5
“I guess it is just that I have – old-fashioned ideals!” (6.80)
Blanche’s relationship with Mitch is founded on her lies and intentionally distorted perceptions. Regardless of Stanley’s actions, the Blanche-Mitch couple is doomed from the start.
Quote #6
“I don’t want realism. I want magic! … I misrepresent things to them. I don’t tell the truth, I tell what ought to be truth.” (9.43)
Now we see that Blanche’s fear of the strong light is about more than the age showing on her face. She’s not only hiding her appearances from the world, but refusing to look at the world in a harsh light herself.
Quote #7
“Never inside, I didn’t lie in my heart…” (9.59)
What Blanche means is that she believed her own lies, too – she was as taken in as Mitch with the persona she exuded.
Quote #8
“I couldn’t believe her story and go on living with Stanley.” (11.24)
Uh-oh. Looks as though self-delusion runs in the family. And as though Stella is picking up where her sister left off. On the other hand, delusion seems to be the only option Stella really has (again, not unlike Blanche).
Quote #9
“I shall die of eating an unwashed grape one day… buried at sea… in the blaze of summer…” (11.69)
Blanche’s delusions have grown more romantic and literary as she retreats further into madness. She’s given up on trying to reconcile her visions with reality and surrendered completely to fantasy.