Please post your notes from the Oxford Lecture on The Duchess of Mafi here. You needn't present everything here - key features of the lecture only. This is in case you missed a point or if other had other thoughts on the matter to share.
Also, you need to have notes complete by next Monday/Tuesday on Jacobean Tragedy. These do not have to be typed, but I'll expect at least a A4 page back and front (considering I've already marked several section this should be easy!)
Mr. D
7 comments:
•A domestic tragedy, a woman’s determination, aspiration and sexual self autonomy.
•Also a revenge tragedy, though there is a question of sympathy for the avengers; Bosola or Ferdinand?
•Ideas about social rank and status, the theatre attempts to deal with the inner psyche (psychology) of the characters, though it was difficult to do this due to the time period.
•History based; not plagiarism.
•The previous retellings are usually moralistic, compared to Webster’s.
Morality/other interpretations
•“The Theatre of God’s Judgements” by Thomas Beard questions the Duchesses’ marriage.
•He was Protestant and looked at God’s method of dealing with issues, though he couldn’t understand Roman Catholics.
•Says God judges Antonio and the Duchess for marrying only for sex.
•Painter’s book “The Palace of Pleasure” places the blame on the Duchess and Antonio.
•Says the Duchess is stereotypical to the Renaissance period- she takes on the character of the lusty widow.
• Also that the Duchess has too much sexual desire which is punishable.
•Says Antonio was ambitious, hence the marriage; though Painter says we can never climb higher than we are expected to (socially).
Webster
•Strips out the moralistic gloss which the story had previously; the audience can engage with all the characters.
•The flawed characters gain sympathy/indifference.
•The Duchess is not sympathetic- she lies to her brothers about the marriage and wastes an opportunity to gain audience sympathy, though this is Webster’s fault, not her own.
•A key point in the drama is her few snatched moments of soliloquy which allow her to engage with the audience.
•She is willing to step over anyone to make her marriage work, hence the lack of sympathy.
•She moves between martial and marital depending on who she’s talking to- she addresses herself like “fighting talk”; not womanly imagery but similar to a soldier/ martial (army), which is separate from the marital sphere- she is in control despite her being a widow.
•Webster doesn’t allow the audience to get close to the characters though the lack of asides, unlike Shakespeare.
•Shakespeare’s first play, “Titus Andronicus” taught Webster about cruelty and gruesomeness, rather than more respected tragedies such as “Hamlet”.
•The Duchess asserts her bravery by saying “I am Duchess of Malfi still”, and tender words to her children portray her dignity and emphasise her grace, with representations to the era in which she lived and the patriarchal nature of it.
•Cariola’s begging shows that the Duchess is of a higher status than her.
•Webster’s version doesn’t concern itself with blame, unlike previous retellings/editions.
•He is interested in consequences and what happens next, not causes of problems.
Aimee
Duchess of Malfi (1614) Lecture
Lauren Doyle
Domestic tragedy - a woman’s aspiration for sexual self-autonomy
Revenge tragedy - male relatives (brothers) trying to avenge themselves for the loss of their honour
Usually the audience’s sympathy lies with the avengers, however in Webster’s version this is not the case. Instead, we are asked to question who exactly we are to sympathise with.
Deals with social rank, status and structure.
Explores the attempts of the theatre to deal with the inner-psych; at the time the text was produced there were different terminologies and explanations of the mind, so to a modern audience the effect differs.
We are presented with the increasingly mad Ferdinand. Bosola ends up seeking the vengeance for the Duchess’ murder after becoming remorseful and regretful of his actions. Kills Ferdinand. Raises questions of morality.
Eponymous Duchess
Real story of the Duchess of Malfi; previous retellings of the story were all moralistic.
Lauren #2
Other interpretations
‘Theatre of God’s Judgements’ - Thomas Beard; Struggles with the fact that the book conveys a Catholic world. It is God (not the brothers) that judges the Duchess for her fornication and use of men for sex.
‘Palace of Pleasure’ - William Painter; Places the blame on the Duchess and Antonio. Stereotypes the Duchess as the ‘lusty widow’ - comical stereotype for renaissance women who get lonely after their husbands have died. Painter feels the story acts as a moral teaching of the punishment for women’s sexual desires. Believes that Antonio was not lustful but ambitious - he acquired honour through his deed of marrying the Duchess. The play also conveys the issue of people “climbing higher than force permitted”, i.e the idea of people going above their assumed status in society, and the comeuppance should you do this.
Webster
Complicates the moral gloss and enables the audience to engage with all the characters.
Doesn’t make it a moral fable of social rank or the comeuppance delivered to sinners.
The Duchess is presented as a complicated character, making it hard for the audience to form a confident opinion of her; She lies to her brothers, hints at Antonio in order to sway him into proposing and then wastes a key opportunity to attain the audiences support/sympathy during her soliloquy on stage where she decides to have a more general, haughty chat describing how she would step over anyone who would try to interfere with her marriage, as opposed to forming computational alliances. She expresses much fighting talk making the audience liken her to a man.
Martial sphere - army take control
Marital sphere - her being a widow
Complexity of language in his use of asides
Webster doesn’t allow us to get close to the characters
Theatrical cruelty - learnt from Shakespeare
Duchess presented ambivalently - distanced, lies to her brothers, Antonio portrayed as not being fully consented to the marriage, no name, just her husbands given title.
Then we have aspects of sympathy for her - scene of joking ad intimacy with her, Antonio and the maid. Her death - callous execution of her and her young children. Her insistence during her execution of “I am the Duchess of Malfi still” shows her bravery even in the face of death and her reluctance to die without dignity. Teamed with Cariola’s death in which she begs for mercy, which emphasises the nobleness of the Duchess. We also sympathise with her in scenes of intimacy with her children.
This produces the effect of the audience having inconsistent attitudes and perceptions of the Duchess as she struggles with the impossibility of reconciling her ambition for self-governance in a patriarchal society.
Plot inconsistencies acts as an indication of the play documenting the real life social discrepancies.
His version of the play doesn’t concern itself with blames or causes. Why does the Duchess lust after the weak and unconvincing Antonio? Why are the brothers so set against her re-marrying? (although he does hint at an incestuous feeling in Ferdinand). Explores the interesting brother-sister relationships of the Jacobean period.
Illustrates an interest in the consequences of actions and toys with it; the inevitable discovery of the secret marriage is drawn out until the end.
Punning of the word ‘ring’ - noose, marriage, sexual undertone, fight place.
Duchess of Malfi Lecture Notes
OVERVIEW:
Domestic tragedy, woman's self determination – seeking sexual autonomy
Revenge tragedy – brother's anger towards Antonio and their sister's love
Issue of where the sympathy lies and for whom Webster wants the audiences sympathy to lie
Difficulty dealing with inner psyche – references are not made on purpose, with limited knowledge of modern psychology
OTHER INTERPRETATIONS OF HISTORICAL FIGURE:
'Theatre of God's Judgement', Thomas Beard – suggests Duchess and Antonio are judged by God for their fornications out of wedlock, and this determines their fate. Also disapproves of catholic Cardinal, though God gives him a purpose to do good through his evil.
'The Palace of Pleasure', Painter – blames the Duchess and Antonio, suggesting Duchess plays the 'lusty widow' stereotype, of whom is weary of lying alone, and her excessive sexual desire is punished. Painter also emphasises Antonio's fatal flaw as being his ambition, marrying above his social class.
In contrast, Webster strips and complicates the moralistic gloss, enabling the audience to engage more with the characters. With the complex plot, less emphasis is held on a clear moral, although they exist inconclusively. The character of the Duchess, unlike the damning previous interpretations of the figure, is and isn't sympathetic – on one hand lying to her brothers and not taking advantage of moments of soliloquy to gain the audience's sympathy, however the audience are aware of her tragic fate and so are less condemning of her behaviour. The audience also gain sympathy for her through the domestic scenes between the Duchess and Cariola and through her final tender thoughts of her children. Webster portrays her as predominantly masculine also, shifting between martial and matriarchal spheres with her changing roles as duchess and mother, proposing a complexity to the character. However other characters and the audience feel towards her, she maintains a pride and decorum, adamantly declaring upon her eminent death “I am the Duchess of Malfi”.
Shakespeare used the clearing of a stage to allow character asides, monologues and soliloquys for the audience to engage with the character and gain a greater understanding, however Webster's refusal to do this with the character of the Duchess disallows us to get a glimpse of the true character beyond her official role.
Webster's favourite Shakespeare play was Titus Andronicus, Shakespeare's earliest and goriest play – influenced Webster's inclusion of brutal murders on stage.
The inconsistent attitude towards the Duchess is reflective of the cultural uncertainty of the time.
Unlike other Interpretations of the historical figure, Webster is not concerned with blame or cause, with several unanswered questions – why does the Duchess want to marry a man below her social class? - Is there a moral in Webster's incestuous allusions? - Or does Webster merely use incest to gain the interest of an turbulent audience who seeked moral guidance?
Instead, Webster focuses on consequences, of which are explicitly alluded to throughout the play with the symbolism of the ring representing marriage and sexuality but also doom in the association with a hangman's noose.
David L
Domestic tragedy (woman self determination to find self autonomy sexually) + revenge tragedy
Theatre was used to explore psychological effects on the characters because they could not do it scientifically in words
Previous retelling are usually moralistic
Thomas Beard in ‘Theatre of gods judgement’ said god uses wicked people to do his dirty work in a roman catholic world
‘The palace of pleasure’ painter blames the duchess and Antonio for the downfall. The Duchess’s sexual desires mean she is punished and she is portrayed as the ‘lustful widow’ Antonio is too ambitious and marries above his social station – ‘we ought never to climb higher than our force permit us’
The play is a window into the sex lives of the rich and famous
Webster complicates the moralistic gloss of the story
Duchess does draw sympathy – ‘I am duchess of malfi still’
- refuses to compromise her dignity
- image of dead children
- duchess is killed on stage
Duchess does not draw sympathy – lies to her brothers
- she has the chance to win audience over in her soliloquy but doesn’t. (Webster does not allow audience to get close)
- she comes across to manly – soldierlike
- 2 spheres marshal (responsibility) and marital (personal)
- We never know her name
- We know her only by the title name her husband gave to her
- We don’t know why the duchess wants to marry Antonio
Webster learned Shakespeare’s theatrical physical, gruesome violence but not he did not uses Shakespeare’s psychological exploration
Cariola’s begs before her death this is in contrast to the death of the duchess who does not loose dignity
Webster does not concern himself with blame or causes more interested in consequences
Ferdinand has an incestrial desire
Threats of the brothers emphasis on the ‘ring’ = noose =death or sexual imagery (it foreshadows the death of the duchess)
DK
Key notes:
-Women’s aspirations – self autonomy (self rule)
-How much and who do we have sympathy for? Question which is raised – the duchess or avengers?
-Based on social rank and status: ability of the theatre to present these
-Historical based, appears in many plays
Other interpretations
-“The Theatre of God’s Judgements” by Thomas Beard questions the Duchesses’ marriage.
-Painter’s - “The Palace of Pleasure” blames the Duchess and Antonio.
-“Lusty widow” Renaissance literature
-Women’s sexual desires are punished
-Antonio was too ambitious
-“Never climb higher” – above your own social status
-Couple get their comeuppance
-Was Webster’s main source
Webster
-Complicates a moralistic story
-Question of sympathy
-Indifferently for all flawed characters
-Webster’s arguably doesn’t use asides and soliloquies to get close to the audience
The Duchess
-The Duchess – lies to her brothers
-Webster wastes opportunities to get audience to feel sympathetic for the Duchess through the lack and ineffective use of soliloquies
-Duchess bravery is more a mans – soldiers
-Exists in two different spheres – head of state with responsibilities and of a woman in her family and marital areas.
Moral
-Question of how morality is represented throughout the play
-Duchess is ambivalent – don’t know her name
-Defined by first noble husband
-She wants to marry but her brothers don’t allow her to. Why?
Major themes
-Bonds of service – obligations
-Social superiority
-Duchess of Malfi gives insight to Religious and Social Corruption.
-A domestic tragedy, a woman craving for self autonomy
-Male characters take revenge on her for that
-Social rank and status is influencial
-Plot based on historical stories of marrying the socially inferior
-Almost all monolistic
-William painter made a verion of the play.
-He portrayed the Duchess as the stereotype of a lust widow, A woman who has sex so vividly she may have murdered her husband during the act of sex
-Her accessive sexual desire though, is not portrayed as strongly in this version
-Use of Aside in this version, the audience gets to know what the characters are thinking, whereas the other characters do not
-Theme of cruelty, the duchess being murderedon stage, strangled by executioners
-wickedness and pessimism portrayed in websters version
-Morality, portrayed ambivilently,
-Duchess refuses to give into her loss of status even at her death bed, "I am the duchess of Malfie still"
-Ferdinand has incestrial desires
-Comedy is also apparent, when the duchess comes back into a scene which is surposedly years later and all of a sudden has 2 children
-The play is a grotesque construction which is not like reality, A mirror of madam tusords, waxwork of reality
-Shows the ability of those in high social status to control those around them
-Metaphysical language
-Malcontent and common placing are also apparent throughout the play.
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