Please enable JavaScript.
Coggle requires JavaScript to display documents.
The Duchess of Malfi - Context - Coggle Diagram
The Duchess of Malfi - Context
Religion
The reformation - Henry 8th separated from the Catholic church to create the Protestant church. During this time, many monasteries were destroyed [A5, Sc3]
There was a lot of fear and cultural anxiety surrounding Catholicism - the predatory wolf (Ferdinand) symbolises the 'Catholic spiritual predation' feared by protestants
Catholic ritual is satirised throughout the play through Webster's use of props e.g. daggers, waxwork bodies, severed hand
Loreto [A4, Sc3] is a shrine to the virgin Mary
Anti-Catholic sentiments arose from the defeat of the Spanish Armada and were highlighted by the monarchy's views [Henry VIII], the threat of Catholic plots against the well liked Queen Elizabeth I
Literary tropes
Malcontent - a character who is discontented with the social structure and other characters in the play, and is often an outsider who observes and comments on the action, and may even acknowledge they are in a play
Machiavellian villain - a character who uses clever but dishonest methods to gain power/control - often manipulating other villains to do so
Role of women
Often women who didn't display proper feminine values such as chastity and obedience were publicly punished for example using the ducking stool or Scold's bridle.
Mary I and Elizabeth I were both English monarchs in the 15th century - in many of Queen Elizabeth's portraits she is seen wearing diamonds/pearls to symbolise her purity and virginity.
Blamed for original sin - falling to temptations
Marriage often seen as strategic, a way to trade between men
James I imprisoned Lady Arabella Stuart for marrying without his permission
17th century class structures
Older twin believed to be more developed in the womb and therefore stronger - the younger twin is dependent upon the other
Nobility are expected to marry their equals in society
The great chain of being - idea of natural social hierarchy (God at the top, then king, then humans, then nature etc) to try and change this is to try and usurp God
Renaissance doctors used the four humours as an explanation of human behaviours - biological determinism
Marriage :
1604, James I tightened the laws on marriage so that it had to take place in public with a priest and two witnesses
Staging religious ceremonies was forbidden
The remarriage of widows was looked down upon - one famous case however was the Duchess of Suffolk who in 1552 married her servant
Revenge tragedy
Thomas Kyd's 'The Spanish Tragedy' was the first revenge tragedy as we know it
Revenge tragedy terminology:
hubris - excessive pride
catharsis - releasing of strong or repressed emotions
anagnorisis - moment where a character makes a critical discovery
peripeteia - a reversal of circumstances/turning point
Webster's life
Webster worked/trained as a lawyer
Born in 1578 to a maker of wagons and coaches
Play as a performance
The play was first performed in Blackfriars - lit by candles
Performed in 1614, published in 1623
The real Duchess of Almalfi
Giovanna d'Aragona born 1478 into the Italian aristocracy, she married at the age of 12 but she was left widowed whilst pregnant at 20
The Duchess married her steward and they ran away together to Aucona - here Brothers pressed the Cardinal of Aucona to to expel them. Ultimately, Antonio was killed and the Duchess and her children were never seen again