Context

Question 1

True Story

Answer 1

-Based on an Italian novella, which in turn is based on true historical events
-The real Duchess, Giovanna d’Aragona, married Antonio Beccadelli in secret and bore him three children
-She was murdered by her brothers, one of whom was a Cardinal, in 1510

Question 1

Date Written

Answer 1

1614

Question 2

How Webster deviates from the story

Answer 2

-Antonio didn’t die until a few years after the Duchess’ death
-Bosola’s repentance and revenge on the brothers is fictionalised
-Brothers weren’t accused or killed

Question 3

First performed by…

Answer 3

The King’s men, the theatre company that Shakespeare belonged to

Question 4

First performed in…

Answer 4

-Blackfriars
-More intimate and frequented by intellectuals
-Allowed for more sneaking and subtle lighting

Question 5

Tragedy

Answer 5

Play with a central protagonist of elevated social station, who consistently makes the wrong decision because of a flaw which leads to their downfall

Question 6

Aristotle’s theory of tragedy

Answer 6

Serious, has magnitude, is dramatic
-Only deals with one issue
-Feelings of pity and fear are central

Question 7

Revenge tragedy

Answer 7

-Prominent play in the 17th -Century
-Portray extreme violence

Question 8

What revenge tragedies were about

Answer 8

-Lack of justice
-Punishment in Jacobean was very harsh as a deterrent
-Idea was people shouldn’t take justice into their own hands as it’s up to God
-People who take it into their own hands escalate it
-Demonstrate the dangers of exacting such revenge

Question 9

Elements of revenge tragedy

Answer 9

-Court setting
-Murder
-Madness, the ‘malcontent’
-Issue of ‘machiavellian’
-Exploration of religion

Question 10

The Great Chain of Being

Answer 10

-God was perceived to have allocated the social hierarchy
-To change it would be usurping God’s powers and going against him
-Ultimate sin to defy the Great Chains of Being

Question 11

The malcontent

Answer 11

-Character who is mistreated and condemns their society
-But it prepared to use any means to gain promotion in the same society

Question 12

The Machiavellian

Answer 12

-After Machiavelli wrote an instructional book in 1513, the Machiavel became a stereotype in drama for villains who used manipulation or cruelty to acquire and maintain power

Question 13

Why 17th Century women were subordinate to men

Answer 13

The roots of these attitudes lay in the bible, when Eve is persuaded to dishonour god and eat the fruit of the tree of knowledge

Question 14

Which women were seen as independent

Answer 14

Women who did not display the traditional feminine virtues - modesty, chastity, obedience - were seen as a threat to social fabric and were often publicly punished

Question 15

Hippocrates attitude towards the womb

Answer 15

That it was a free moving organ that moved around the body causing hysteria. It was characterised as a mental illness that caused paralysis, spasms and general pain. Ferdinand’s attempts at making the Duchess insane link to this

Question 15

Bedlam and mental illness

Answer 15

-Bedlam was a hospital specialising in mental illness
-Visitors would pay to see patients even without any relation to them
-When public access in 1770 ended patient abuse began

Question 16

Suspects of witchcraft

Answer 16

Any females who were old, physically disabled, suffered from a mental disorder, had an irritable personality or were widowed could be suspected of witchcraft. Legislation existed so that possession of herbs like mandrake or cannabis could result in execution by burning. It was a common belief that witches could hunt or even kill and so communities staged witch hunts

Question 17

What did James I write about Witchcraft

Answer 17

‘Daemonologie’, an examination of necromancy and Black Magic, in 1597 - fascinated, imagery familiar to jacobean audience

Question 18

How did Webster censor

Answer 18

Setting plays in Italy - safe to explore politically unaccpetable ideas.

Question 19

Stoicism

Answer 19

The endurance of pain and hardship without complain or the expression of emotions. The Duchess is the most “ character, she welcomes her death with dignity.

Question 20

The White Devil (1612)

Answer 20

Webster’s first play which was not well-received initially. It has similarities to Malfi, however: both involve the supernatural, both focus on a heroine and both are tragedies.

Question 21

How was corruption started in court

Answer 21

When James was a young man - others attempted to flatter him to boost influence

Question 22

Church vs State

Answer 22

The country was divided into a two system rule - church and providence, and therefore two systems of judgment - divine and temporal. There was conflict between the two in the Jacobean era

Question 23

James and the English Church

Answer 23

Church system still adhered to an episcopate and supported the monarch’s position as the head of the church.
But there were many more Roman Catholics and James inherited a set of penal laws which he was constantly exhorted to use against them. James had said that he would not persecute “any that will be quiet and give but an outward obedience to the law” but he soon reinforced strict penalties against Catholics.

Question 24

Obsession with Protestantism and the Virgin Queen

Answer 24

Catholics were viewed as disloyal from the Virgin Queen’s ascension, Mary Queen of Scots was suspected of treason and was executed in 1587. The Duchess’ power and seemingly Protestant actions liken her to Elizabeth.

Question 25

Elizabeth I’s war speech

Answer 25

‘I know I have the body of a weak and feeble woman; but I have the heart and stomach of a king’

Question 26

James I’s sycophants

Answer 26

-Surrounded by them in court
-Suspicion of homosexuality

Question 27

Body Politic vs Body Natural (Renaissance)

Answer 27

-Body Politic: Needs of the state
-Body Natural: Needs of a person

Question 28

Calvinism

Answer 28

Reformed Christianity, emphasises the sovereignty of God and the authority of the Bible

Question 29

Puritanism

Answer 29

Regarded the Reformation of the Church under Elizabeth I as incomplete and sought to simplify and regulate forms of worship.

Question 30

William Painter’s ‘Palace of Pleasure’

Answer 30

-Duchess of Malfi is based off
-Criminalised the Duchess (lusty)