In Act 2 the Duchess shows mild attempts to grow in humanity but mainly the selfishness of her character detracts from our admiration of her. Although the Duchess is ‘so troubled with the mother’, and her discomfort symbolises a level of human mortality, contrasting evidently to the common image of perfection and divinity that was often attached to members of nobility, as modern readers we can not sympathise. The overt rudeness and imperative nature of her lexis in the scene act as an inconsiderate parade of authority, exploiting her ability, as a member of the ruling elite, to force actions upon others. She demands for ‘your arm, Antonio’ as soon as she enters the scene also, when eating the ‘present’ (apricots) that ‘taste of musk’ she forces Antonio to ‘taste one’ even though they are clearly unpleasant in flavour.
The somewhat loving character of the Duchess that is presented in Act 1 is discontinued within Act 2, as Webster now concentrates upon communicating her more stereotypically regal characteristics rather than her courtly tenderness. Upon entering the scene she immediately enquires whether Antonio thinks she 'grows fat', suggesting a preoccupation with appearance that preceeds any human sentiment. She also is made to seem dim in the respect that she does not realise Bosola's overt attempt to draw a confession out of her, and does not question Bosola's motives behind his suspicious gift of apricots. In Act 2, Webster presents a Duchess that is fully aware of her supposed superiority, with her elaborate suggestion that courtiers should wear hats when addressing her, like the French do before the King. The Duchess also refers to her attendant as being a 'tedious lady' who's 'breath smells of lemon peels', and with the play's original Elizabethan audience consisting of mainly lower class citizens who would perform jobs such as attendants, the Duchess's insults would not gain her the respect or sympathy of the audience. Therefore in Act 2, whatever humanity that the audience had acknowledged within the character in Act 1 is stripped away, and instead Webster presents a more egotistical and ruthless, matriarchal Duchess.
There is a marked change in the Duchess’ language and demeanour in act two which highlights a selfish change of character; however, instead of detracting from her quality of humanity, it only elucidates the human fallibility of her character. The impersonal and systematic use of imperatives, the chiding of her attendants upon entry, and the domineering hauteur of her temperament, negatively colour our previous sympathetic assertions of her character. In our initial outlook of the Duchess, we see her as a modest yet refined creature disregarding her wealth and honour for the purest and most humane of emotions; love. In act two, the emphasis on greed, the intense self-absorption of her character and the demands she makes of the courtiers, place emphasis on the darker aspects of even the most honourable of people. Moreover, this duality of character makes the Duchess easier to sympathise with, and more humane as she embodies a representation of the true nature of humanity. Webster illustrates that human nature does not fluctuate to and from bipolar extremes; of good and evil, selfishness and humility etc. He argues instead that human disposition falls somewhere in the middle, as reflected by the Duchess.
In Act 2 we are introduced to a more shallow Duchess character. Webster portrays the Duchess in this manner to display her noble royal side. By doing this Webster creates a more selfish,self analytical character. The Duchesses imperative nature in act 2 denotes the fact that she embraces her nobility thus meaning that as the reader we are forced to abandon our first impression of the duchess as a tender soft character .The Duchess displays her power and authority in this scene, contextually mocking the lower class through her language physicality and dialogue with servants. Often with female characters you can sympathise with them but Webster creates in act 2 a character who makes it hard for the audience to sympathise because of the knowledge that she knows what she is doing.
The character of the Duchess that we are introduced to in the opening of the play changes in the transition to act II. The Duchess on the turn of the act is a selfless character, admirable for her humanity despite being different in social standing from Antonio, who she has come to fall in love with. However, the character of the Duchess portrays the selfishness that is more stereotypical of royalty. Her first two sets of speech are asserting and demeaning towards other people, especially the assistant. To Bosola she says “I would have you, sir, provide for me...” and later calls an attendant a “tedious lady” and says “thy breath smells of lemon peels”. Clearly the Duchess’ character has changed in comparison to act I, but what is more noteworthy is how we find out the change more from other characters. Throughout act II the Duchess is only present for a small portion, and though we see changes through her speech, we also learn a lot about the Duchess from what other characters tell us. The pains and stresses the Duchess is going through is revealed through not what she says but the conversations Antonio has. This then levels out the basis of our sympathy. Despite her harsher characteristics being brought through, I don’t think we lose all sympathy simply because a modern audience we are can understand the pain of the child carriage she is going through. As a result we don’t lose admiration for her, but the humanity growth is questionable too.
We see the Duchess transcend in this act from a character once placed by the reader with high respect and value to a character on the end of desperation and weakly inferior to her situation. Modesty prevents the Duchess from not accepting the apricots from Bosola yet, her modesty is her undoing. Whereas in Act 1 we see the Duchess as a firm and strong of will character in this Act this is replaced by a character that is lead to her demise without resistance. “No they taste of musk- indeed I think they do” Notice here how the Duchess’s remarks to Bosola are short and there is a lack of that sophistication to speech both in the reduced level of her vocabulary and build of her sentences. The Duchess as a strong character is evident subverted in Act 2. A key point of comparison is the ‘banter’ the Duchess has with Antonio in Act 1 compared to how she seems to pervert around Bosola in Act 2. “How can the church build faster?... the church that must but echo this”. The Duchess her stands in Act 1 firm and rebellious the traits of a strong matriarch yet compared to Act 2 such firmness turns to a weaker response of diversion “I think she did To an Attendendant Come hither...” The Duchess shortly retorts to Bosola and as stage directions signify addresses another character, deliberately trying to ignore Bosola in a weaker attempt to divert such attention away. We see the Duchess more in Act 1 assert her power and or influence as a Duchess, a powerful figure in social hierarchy. Yet here in Act 2 her matriarchal dominance is tainted by her underlining agenda to keep her pregnancy a secret. Where as the audience sees a strong women and sees the Duchess with a positive light Act 2 changes this as the reader becomes critical of the Duchess’s ignorance of her own flawed selfishness.
Within Act 2 the role the Duchess plays changes into a question of how we view her. From Act 1, we are presented a Duchess that we can relate to as being the ‘good person’ of the play, which falls victim to her evil brothers. However, the structure and narrative of Act 2 begin to change our opinion as the audience, on how we actually view the Duchess. We see her questioning Antonio over her personal appearance suggesting a shallow side to the Duchess. This characteristic of the Duchess of being this superficial character with only regards to physical appearance gives way of her becoming selfish rather than a modest person. However, although we see her marrying Antonio and placing her royal status at risk which can be argued as a reason for her being called selfish, the humanity lays in her choosing to marry who she loves, despite him not being wealthy or socially known. The fact that Bosola informs the audience that the Duchess eats the apricots in a 'greedily' manner, provides no actual real evidence on the character of the Duchess, but just his views on her. Although, the manner in which the Duchess acts changes from Act 1 to Act 2, it’s not incomprehensive us as a modern audience to understand, as the situation in which the Duchess is in from being change, causing and allowing her to change alongside them.
There is a clear shift in the role of the Duchess in Act 2. She becomes a more shallow and selfish character that makes us think less of her. She does not seem to understand what is going on around her, you could say she is more oblivious to the hapopenings around her in this scene. In this scene she also becomes a lot more needy. She seems to want and depend on other characters such as Antonio, who happily obliges. Overall in act two, I lose sympathy for the duchess as a character, due to her selfish and arrogant behaviour.
In act 2,as it has been mentioned in all the posts the Duchess does seem selfish and greedy, which may loose the sympathy of the audience in that period. However, the audience of the 21st century may percieve the Duchess differently as this may show the human side of her, showing that she is just human and allowing the audience to identify with her.As many people in the 'real world', she too is unable to control her desires and make unlimited sacrifices for people around her. So i believe in act 2, although the duchess deviates form the traditional role of an ideal women, she seems less superficial and easier to relate to.
The Duchess does appear to grow slightly in huminity in Act 2, although her selfishness does detract from our admiration of her. It is Webster's intention to create a more noble side to the Duchess' persona, though as a modern audience it is difficult to relate to his portrayal. Her insluting nature of the gardener not only illustrates the context of the play itself, but serves to communicate to the audience that the Duchess quite clearly disregards anyone that is not of her calibre, calling him "unskilled".
The Duchess does show some attempt to grow in humanity, but the selfishness of the Duchess seems to only highlight the fact that she is only human, which sort of enables the audiance to see that members of nobility are only human. This is difficult for the audiance to grasp as the stereotypical view of nobility is that of snobbiness, they view themself as a higher class. as shpwn when she commands Antonio, of a lower class, to try the apricots, eventhough she tasted it and didnt like it. However Donne seems to try and portray the Duchess as admirable and that she is only human but as a modern audiance we find it hard to relate to. the use of the Duchess's landuage only highoights the fact that the Duchess believes she is better than her lower class citizens, as evident with the use of the gardener, being unskilled.
In Act 2 it seems that the Duchess does grow in humanity but that we as readers are not made explicitly aware of this character development due to her selfish tendencies.
Throughout the second act the Duchess demonstrates many character traits that give the reader the impression that she is growing in humanity; for example the pain and discomfort she is experiencing due to her pregnancy evokes a feeling of sympathy in the readers and also could serve as a subtle excuse for her previously erratic behaviour.
However, though this may be the case, the selfish behaviour she demonstrates serves to cancel out her moments of compassion. In the second Act the Duchess continuously orders people around, from demanding Antonio remove his hat (?) to ordering all the guards to stay confined in their rooms under the pretence of a crime.
Overall, I think it’s fair to say that during Act 2 the selfish nature of the Duchess detracts from our admiration of her - admiration that stems from the trouble she goes to in order to conceal her pregnancy and save Antonio from getting into trouble. This serves to give us a mixed opinion of the Duchess, a consistent feature throughout Webster’s play.
13 comments:
In Act 2 the Duchess shows mild attempts to grow in humanity but mainly the selfishness of her character detracts from our admiration of her. Although the Duchess is ‘so troubled with the mother’, and her discomfort symbolises a level of human mortality, contrasting evidently to the common image of perfection and divinity that was often attached to members of nobility, as modern readers we can not sympathise. The overt rudeness and imperative nature of her lexis in the scene act as an inconsiderate parade of authority, exploiting her ability, as a member of the ruling elite, to force actions upon others. She demands for ‘your arm, Antonio’ as soon as she enters the scene also, when eating the ‘present’ (apricots) that ‘taste of musk’ she forces Antonio to ‘taste one’ even though they are clearly unpleasant in flavour.
DK
The somewhat loving character of the Duchess that is presented in Act 1 is discontinued within Act 2, as Webster now concentrates upon communicating her more stereotypically regal characteristics rather than her courtly tenderness. Upon entering the scene she immediately enquires whether Antonio thinks she 'grows fat', suggesting a preoccupation with appearance that preceeds any human sentiment. She also is made to seem dim in the respect that she does not realise Bosola's overt attempt to draw a confession out of her, and does not question Bosola's motives behind his suspicious gift of apricots. In Act 2, Webster presents a Duchess that is fully aware of her supposed superiority, with her elaborate suggestion that courtiers should wear hats when addressing her, like the French do before the King. The Duchess also refers to her attendant as being a 'tedious lady' who's 'breath smells of lemon peels', and with the play's original Elizabethan audience consisting of mainly lower class citizens who would perform jobs such as attendants, the Duchess's insults would not gain her the respect or sympathy of the audience. Therefore in Act 2, whatever humanity that the audience had acknowledged within the character in Act 1 is stripped away, and instead Webster presents a more egotistical and ruthless, matriarchal Duchess.
-David L
There is a marked change in the Duchess’ language and demeanour in act two which highlights a selfish change of character; however, instead of detracting from her quality of humanity, it only elucidates the human fallibility of her character. The impersonal and systematic use of imperatives, the chiding of her attendants upon entry, and the domineering hauteur of her temperament, negatively colour our previous sympathetic assertions of her character. In our initial outlook of the Duchess, we see her as a modest yet refined creature disregarding her wealth and honour for the purest and most humane of emotions; love. In act two, the emphasis on greed, the intense self-absorption of her character and the demands she makes of the courtiers, place emphasis on the darker aspects of even the most honourable of people. Moreover, this duality of character makes the Duchess easier to sympathise with, and more humane as she embodies a representation of the true nature of humanity. Webster illustrates that human nature does not fluctuate to and from bipolar extremes; of good and evil, selfishness and humility etc. He argues instead that human disposition falls somewhere in the middle, as reflected by the Duchess.
And Sir, lay off the bad jokes!
In Act 2 we are introduced to a more shallow Duchess character. Webster portrays the Duchess in this manner to display her noble royal side. By doing this Webster creates a more selfish,self analytical character. The Duchesses imperative nature in act 2 denotes the fact that she embraces her nobility thus meaning that as the reader we are forced to abandon our first impression of the duchess as a tender soft character .The Duchess displays her power and authority in this scene, contextually mocking the lower class through her language physicality and dialogue with servants. Often with female characters you can sympathise with them but Webster creates in act 2 a character who makes it hard for the audience to sympathise because of the knowledge that she knows what she is doing.
The character of the Duchess that we are introduced to in the opening of the play changes in the transition to act II. The Duchess on the turn of the act is a selfless character, admirable for her humanity despite being different in social standing from Antonio, who she has come to fall in love with. However, the character of the Duchess portrays the selfishness that is more stereotypical of royalty. Her first two sets of speech are asserting and demeaning towards other people, especially the assistant. To Bosola she says “I would have you, sir, provide for me...” and later calls an attendant a “tedious lady” and says “thy breath smells of lemon peels”. Clearly the Duchess’ character has changed in comparison to act I, but what is more noteworthy is how we find out the change more from other characters. Throughout act II the Duchess is only present for a small portion, and though we see changes through her speech, we also learn a lot about the Duchess from what other characters tell us. The pains and stresses the Duchess is going through is revealed through not what she says but the conversations Antonio has. This then levels out the basis of our sympathy. Despite her harsher characteristics being brought through, I don’t think we lose all sympathy simply because a modern audience we are can understand the pain of the child carriage she is going through. As a result we don’t lose admiration for her, but the humanity growth is questionable too.
Carl L
We see the Duchess transcend in this act from a character once placed by the reader with high respect and value to a character on the end of desperation and weakly inferior to her situation. Modesty prevents the Duchess from not accepting the apricots from Bosola yet, her modesty is her undoing. Whereas in Act 1 we see the Duchess as a firm and strong of will character in this Act this is replaced by a character that is lead to her demise without resistance. “No they taste of musk- indeed I think they do” Notice here how the Duchess’s remarks to Bosola are short and there is a lack of that sophistication to speech both in the reduced level of her vocabulary and build of her sentences. The Duchess as a strong character is evident subverted in Act 2. A key point of comparison is the ‘banter’ the Duchess has with Antonio in Act 1 compared to how she seems to pervert around Bosola in Act 2. “How can the church build faster?... the church that must but echo this”. The Duchess her stands in Act 1 firm and rebellious the traits of a strong matriarch yet compared to Act 2 such firmness turns to a weaker response of diversion “I think she did To an Attendendant Come hither...” The Duchess shortly retorts to Bosola and as stage directions signify addresses another character, deliberately trying to ignore Bosola in a weaker attempt to divert such attention away. We see the Duchess more in Act 1 assert her power and or influence as a Duchess, a powerful figure in social hierarchy. Yet here in Act 2 her matriarchal dominance is tainted by her underlining agenda to keep her pregnancy a secret. Where as the audience sees a strong women and sees the Duchess with a positive light Act 2 changes this as the reader becomes critical of the Duchess’s ignorance of her own flawed selfishness.
Antony West
Within Act 2 the role the Duchess plays changes into a question of how we view her. From Act 1, we are presented a Duchess that we can relate to as being the ‘good person’ of the play, which falls victim to her evil brothers. However, the structure and narrative of Act 2 begin to change our opinion as the audience, on how we actually view the Duchess. We see her questioning Antonio over her personal appearance suggesting a shallow side to the Duchess. This characteristic of the Duchess of being this superficial character with only regards to physical appearance gives way of her becoming selfish rather than a modest person. However, although we see her marrying Antonio and placing her royal status at risk which can be argued as a reason for her being called selfish, the humanity lays in her choosing to marry who she loves, despite him not being wealthy or socially known. The fact that Bosola informs the audience that the Duchess eats the apricots in a 'greedily' manner, provides no actual real evidence on the character of the Duchess, but just his views on her. Although, the manner in which the Duchess acts changes from Act 1 to Act 2, it’s not incomprehensive us as a modern audience to understand, as the situation in which the Duchess is in from being change, causing and allowing her to change alongside them.
There is a clear shift in the role of the Duchess in Act 2. She becomes a more shallow and selfish character that makes us think less of her. She does not seem to understand what is going on around her, you could say she is more oblivious to the hapopenings around her in this scene. In this scene she also becomes a lot more needy. She seems to want and depend on other characters such as Antonio, who happily obliges. Overall in act two, I lose sympathy for the duchess as a character, due to her selfish and arrogant behaviour.
In act 2,as it has been mentioned in all the posts the Duchess does seem selfish and greedy, which may loose the sympathy of the audience in that period. However, the audience of the 21st century may percieve the Duchess differently as this may show the human side of her, showing that she is just human and allowing the audience to identify with her.As many people in the 'real world', she too is unable to control her desires and make unlimited sacrifices for people around her. So i believe in act 2, although the duchess deviates form the traditional role of an ideal women, she seems less superficial and easier to relate to.
- Harjit
The Duchess does appear to grow slightly in huminity in Act 2, although her selfishness does detract from our admiration of her. It is Webster's intention to create a more noble side to the Duchess' persona, though as a modern audience it is difficult to relate to his portrayal. Her insluting nature of the gardener not only illustrates the context of the play itself, but serves to communicate to the audience that the Duchess quite clearly disregards anyone that is not of her calibre, calling him "unskilled".
By Aimee
The Duchess does show some attempt to grow in humanity, but the selfishness of the Duchess seems to only highlight the fact that she is only human, which sort of enables the audiance to see that members of nobility are only human. This is difficult for the audiance to grasp as the stereotypical view of nobility is that of snobbiness, they view themself as a higher class. as shpwn when she commands Antonio, of a lower class, to try the apricots, eventhough she tasted it and didnt like it.
However Donne seems to try and portray the Duchess as admirable and that she is only human but as a modern audiance we find it hard to relate to. the use of the Duchess's landuage only highoights the fact that the Duchess believes she is better than her lower class citizens, as evident with the use of the gardener, being unskilled.
Ross
In Act 2 it seems that the Duchess does grow in humanity but that we as readers are not made explicitly aware of this character development due to her selfish tendencies.
Throughout the second act the Duchess demonstrates many character traits that give the reader the impression that she is growing in humanity; for example the pain and discomfort she is experiencing due to her pregnancy evokes a feeling of sympathy in the readers and also could serve as a subtle excuse for her previously erratic behaviour.
However, though this may be the case, the selfish behaviour she demonstrates serves to cancel out her moments of compassion. In the second Act the Duchess continuously orders people around, from demanding Antonio remove his hat (?) to ordering all the guards to stay confined in their rooms under the pretence of a crime.
Overall, I think it’s fair to say that during Act 2 the selfish nature of the Duchess detracts from our admiration of her - admiration that stems from the trouble she goes to in order to conceal her pregnancy and save Antonio from getting into trouble. This serves to give us a mixed opinion of the Duchess, a consistent feature throughout Webster’s play.
Lauren
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