Duchess of Malfi: Punishment Flashcards
(11 cards)
‘Webster’s characters die __________, asserting their __________ to the last _______’
‘Webster’s characters die superbly, asserting their selfhood to the last breath’
Tyan
‘To bring her to _______’
‘To bring her to despair’ (Ferdinand about Duchess)
- Bring her to damnation, views himself as the ultimate judge
- Wants to control the Duchess’ mind and soul
‘Where shalt thou find this __________ registered unless in ____?’
‘Where shalt thou find this judgement registered unless in hell?’
- Hellish/immoral nature of Bosola’s actions that belong to ‘hell’
- Punishment of the Duchess not justified
‘Was I her _______?’
‘Was I her judge?’ (Bosola)
- Bosola questioning his actions and his authority over the duchess
- Reference to God’s divine judgement
‘____________ humour’
‘melancholy humour’
- Reference to Ferdinand’s lyncanthropy (mental/physical punishment for his immoral acts)
- Context: Greek physician Hippocrates belief human existence/health dependent on the balance of the 4 humours (blood, yellow+black bile, phlegm)
‘Now my __________ is perfect. ______, thou main cause of my _________’
‘Now my revenge is perfect. SInk, thou main cause of my undoing’
- Ferdinand and the Cardinal’s death fulfils Bosola’s revenge
- They are the reason for his sinful soul/ruin/downfall
‘she seems rather to __________ the end of misery than ______ it; a behaviour so ______ as gives a majesty to _________’
‘she seems rather to welcome the end of misery than shun it; a behaviour so noble as gives a majesty to adversity’
- Bosola to F about Duchess’ death
- ‘majesty to adversity’=makes hardship/death seem elegant + regal
- Acceptance of death rather than denial
- Noble=double entendre (means rank/status + honour/virtuous)
‘A wolf’s ______ was hairy on the ___________, his on the _______’
‘A wolf’s skin was hairy on the outside, his on the inside’
- Morally corrupt physical and emotional state
- Infection of both his interior + exterior being
How does the Duchess truly accept/embrace death in the 2019 Almeida production through use of props?
Bosola hands her the rope and she places it around her own neck (although Bosola actually carries out the execution)
What costuming does Bosola wear in the 2014 Wanamaker production when he speaks to the Duchess before her execution?
He wears a black cape with a scythe like the grim reaper
(symbol/personification of death + it’s inevitability)
“_____ and _____ strongly”
“Pull and pull strongly”
- Duchess accepting of her death + openly/gladly confronting it
