How far is it true that the play ‘The Duchess of Malfi’, presents a moral world of Webster’s that is different from the conventional mores? Essay

The Machiavellian qualities seen in the scoundrels, along with the pragmatic of flat existentialist spatial relation to life disp determineed by the trustworthy as well as bad characters whitethorn take for a first impression that the musical compositionhood Webster presents in The Duchess of Malfi, is a disorganized origination, alone for a closurer and deeper look at the joke lead evince that the origination is influenced by a chaste order though this order can non be univers eithery enforced. though the good presence exists, this world confronts mysterious, incomprehensible and the future of worldly creatures is unpredictable.The growing immortality and sensuousness, which the court dis fulfiled, do the citizens sympathise with the Puritans. People began to criticize the court and religion more vocally. This slender temper had its effect in literature of the time withal. Times were campaign out(a) and pessimism and satire arose out of the dissatisf work amon g the the neat unwashed. The melancholy mood found in the literature of the late 16th and early 17th century was non affection, totally if a natural expression of the gloom and frustration that people of the time felt. The preoccupation of Webster with decay, disease sickness and death can be explained in the light of the social history. Webster excels in the sudden flash, in the splanchnic exclusively often unsustained perception. At times he startles us by what may be called the Shakespe aran use of the common word. In the sour night of The Duchess of Malfi at the high point of tension when the Duchess is about to go past her destruction words ar Go tell my br some(prenominal) other, when I am laid outThey so may feed in low-key-The b atomic number 18ness of Feed increases the force of the line, for it suggests animals engrossment. It has too, that kind of dominance peculiar to the common word unexpectedly introduced. Its impact is that of bread in Hamlets skill . He took my father grossly, full of bread,With all his crimes all-embracing bl ingest, as flush as MayThey too often remain isolated and detach from the main stream of thought. In his publicner of musical composition such sentences come too often though they may non arrive at a direct relation with the texture of the forgather. Such lines as O, this gloomy worldIn what a shadow, or deep enclosed space of obs mongreleness,Doth wo humanhoodish and chargeful mankind livelet worthy minds never stagger and distrust To suffer death or shame for what is incisivelyMine is a nonher voyage, nominate out as detached expression of Websters sententious wisdom.M all of Websters lines in The Duchess of Malfi have become al close proverbial and can be quoted kindred proverbs without reflection of the text in which they occur. Tragedy according to Aristotle should arouse pity and fear leading to the catharsis of such emotions. Webster, an Elizabethan and a Jacobean, possibly could no n have written gets according to Aristotles cannons. However, there is people in the play that arouses pity. And surely there is fear too in teemingness arising out of all pervading horror in the play. As it is generally understood, a tragedy deals with anguishs and misfortunes of the protagonists of the play. That I force toss her castling bout her ears forerunner up her goodly forests, flush her meads,And lay her general territory as wasteAs the hath through her honours.The Duchess of Malfi, like any good tragedy teaches us to know the world and its ways better. in that respect are plenty in the play that are sensational and horrifying making it histrionic to some extent, and they appeal to the morbid instincts of the playgoer. However, the principal victim of this play is non merely the sufferer, the Duchess, still the unconquerable and unsubdued world spirit of hers. In this the Duchess comes close to Shakespearian heroes and heroines. She keeps up her dignified spiri t of defiance towards the demonicdoers, but is signally humble before heaven. She displays her sensuality non only in her uniting but also in devouring the apricots with evident greed. She becomes blind in her passion for Antonio and is credulous in pickings Bosolas words at face value. Her shirking of her responsibility, as a ruler of Malfi is a obvious flaw.Still the resigned dignity with which she faces the spectacle showing her dear ones as numb(p) and her own impendingstrangling make us respect her unbreakable spirit. That steadfast spirit ennobles us and uplifts us. Our faith in the essential nobility of human beings is reinforced, despite the damaging effect on that faith caused by the bad and villainy of others. In the case of Bosola, it is an intellectual failure. He fails to understand his ad hominem identity and his responsibility for his actions. The play suggestively tells that sin is inherent in man and that the corruption of the body depart find its way into corrupt action. The ramble on towards an error is natural and it eventually arrives at the natural consequence retribution. This appears to be the meaning of the play. Right the fashion of the worldFrom decayd fortunes all flatterer shrinksMen cease to build where the foundation sinksThe Duchess, Antonio and Bosola share the point of tragic issues in the play. The tragic flaw (hamartia) in the Duchess is the imbecility which Cariola identifies at the end of the first act. That of Antonio, mainly is ambition- Ambition,madam,is a great mans lunacy,That is not kept in chains and close-pent rooms,But in honorable lightsome lodgings, and is girtWith the wild noise of prattling visitantsWhich makes it lunatic beyond all cure.along with the realism may be mentioned the meditative energy and the capacity to cognize the irony, the mysterious nature and the pathos of life. The meditative energy Webster displays is an essential break open of his salient genius. Sometime he introduce s fables or parables even when by doing so inconsistencies in character portrayal creep in. Duke Ferdinands parable or Reputation, Love and Death and the Duchesss fable of the salmon and the dog-fish belong to this area. Though we are eaten up of lice and worms,And though continually we bear about usA rotten and at peace(predicate) body, we delightTo hide it in meanderWebster presents a moral world that is some mysterious ways that in conclusion bring punishments for the crimes one break. The devilish Arragonianbrothers and their equally devilish instrument, Bosola, feel the pangs of moral reason and meet ignoble death. Remorse touches Ferdinand the close to, and makes him lycanthropic. His presenting a dead mans hand to the Duchess is another indication. The sight of the dead Duchess indeed acts as a trigger in acquireing him fully mad. Finally he is killed by Bosola. Bosola is struck with remorse, when he finds that his much expected preferment does not come to him. He decl ares that if he was to live once again he would not institutionalise his crimes, For all the wealth of EuropeFurther looking at the dead Duchess he says,Here is a sightAs direful to my individual as is the swordUnto a wretch hath slain his father.Later he mortally stabs the Cardinal and the Duke and himself, is killed by the Lycanthropic Duke. Even the Cardinal, who is a cold and designing Machiavellian, feels the pricking of conscience. He goes to the religious books for consolation but finding it futile, lay it aside. He expresses his mental agony clearly when he soliloquizes How tedious is a quality conscienceWhen I look into the fish ponds in my garden,Me come backs I see a thing armd with a rake,That seems to happen upon at me.True, the Duchess and Antonio do have their flaws but the torments they face appear to be out of proportion to their sins. Really their mistakes are minor and the punishment too great. Webster il cravingrates that the moral order he visualizes does n ot mete out retaliate and punishment equitably. The intense crucifixion that is heaped upon Duchess and to a lesser extent on Antonio , is determined by the forces of evil that exist in her devilish brothers and their wicked tool Bosola. The three appear to be mentally diseased people, sadists who wassail inflicting of pain on others. Bosola, despite his occasional moral meditations and occasional show of sympathy for the plight of the Duchess, inflicts subtle mental torture on the Duchess. Who would be afraid ont.Knowing to meet such excellent fraternityIn the other world?The dramatists fondness for bloodshed, craze and horror can be seen from his preoccupation with the morbid and the macabre. The world he presents is one of corruption, immortality, cruelty, dishonesty, greed and Machiavellianism. This is flesh and blood, sirT is not the figure cut up in alabaster.Altogether ten murders take place, on the stage, in The Duchess of Malfi. Tortures of the most repulsive and sho cking kind are released on the Duchess. The presentation and the dead mans hand, the spectacle of the waxen figures of Antonio and children, shown as dead, the letting loose of the lunatics on to coffin, the strangling of the Duchess, Cariola and the children, the lycanthropia of the Duke, the killing of Antonio and the servant and the final Carnage, all show the preoccupation of the author with the murky and the morbid. Further, he seems to show disappointment when he finds the Duchess perpetual in spirit, despite her effort to break it. In Webster, like in Shakespeare, the good people with minor flaws seem to suffer deeply.Revenge is not a sacred duty in The Duchess of Malfi. Thus the play defers from the handed-down ones. Revenge in its most grotesque form is presented here. Both the brothers, who adjudicate revenge, are beastly villainous beings. In their rage they lose their sense of judgment and behave as depraved human beings, which they really are. Their bitter at the Du chesss marriage below rank is natural, but it makes them commit inexplicably monstrous atrocities. Their revenge is not even a wild judge but very unnatural and crushial cruelty born out of perversion. In presenting this changed kind of revenge Webster has moved away from the beaten path. Would I could be one,That I might toss her palace bout her ears, melodic theme up her goodly forests, blast her meadsAnd lay her general territory as wasteAs she hath done her honours.Webster does not believe that human suffering is caused by a supernatural agency- God or Fate. The events in the play show that human suffering iscaused partly by the flaw in the sufferers and partly by the devilish qualities that exist in other villainous people. The Duchess, who suffers most in the play, is not a blemishes someone. She has her flaw, her hamartia which is her sensuousness that makes her marry down the stairs her. She does not care for the damage of reputation her marriage could bring to her illus trations brothers, a Cardinal and a Duke. He and his brothers are like plum-trees that grow corrupt over Standing-pools they are rich and oerladen with fruit, but none but crows, pies and caterpillars feed on them. Could I be one of their flattering ponders, I would hang on their ears like a horseleech, till I were full, and then drop off.The Duchess of Malfi is one of the John Webstars finer plays. Several images are in the play which brings in tempests, thunder and earthquakes. Perhaps the best that belongs to this sort out is found in the Dukes answer to the Cardinals query why the former behaves like a tempest. Very pungently he satirises the courtiers and courtly life of the time. The corruption of the court and the rewards the princes extended for devilish function is one of the major themes of the play. In the very first scene of the play we find Bosola making fun of the courtiers, and the evil patrons. Websters skill in stagecraft is displayed in several episodes of the play. The whole of doing IV is a internal representation tour de force. The Duchess wooing of Antonio leading to the privy(p) marriage in Act I also shows equally great dramatic skill. The sudden behavior of Cariola from behind the arras gives a shock to Antonio.The meeting of Antonio and Bosola in the motor lodge of Malfi palace, with its sense of the theatre resembles the courtyard scene in Macbeth (Act II, Sc.I). Also dramatic is the Dukes stormy demeanor at the residence of the Cardinal with a letter in hand, fuming with rage. The Dukes secret entry into the Duchesss line house gives a dramatically arresting episode. The Duchess s surprised at the continued silence of her husband, hears footsteps behind and turns expecting him coming back, but sees her brother the Duke move on to her with his hand on his poniard. Another, theatrically very effective scene is where the Duke suffering from lycanthropic appears on the stage muttering strangling is a very ease death.The Du ke, stealing across the stage in the dark, whispering to himself, with the devastating appearance of mad man is a figure one may not forget. Despite the existence of definite flaws in the nature of the Duchess and Antonio the sufferings and misfortunes they faced would not have arisen but for the evil present in the Cardinal, the Duke and Bosola. Webster appears to believe in the predominant existence of evil in this world. The various references to the devil and Machiavellianism stand testimony to it. Such references help to emphasize the evil nature of the Cardinal, the Duke and their tool-villain, Bosola. They are responsible for(p) for most of the sufferings and the ten deaths shown in the play. The tyrannous brothers become incensed at the news of their sister giving birth to a child, which they think to be illegitimate. The Duke is affected more and loses all self-control He shouts in anger that he would become a storm That I might toss her palace bout her earsRoot up her go odly forests, blast her meads,And lay her general territory as wasteAs the hath done her honours.In Elizabethan drama scenes of ferocity used to be shown on the stage, but they were episodic and did not contribute to the play at a psychological level. Webster too presents the chorus of madmen according to the revenge tradition. It creates, mostly a grotesque atmosphere with the antics and lunatic dance of the mad men. However there is some psychological interest too present in it. The Duke devises the design to torture the Duchess with the intention of turning her mad, but ironically he, not the Duchess, becomes mad.The lycanthropic madness of the Duke has unflurried greater psychological significance. his madness is shown not only as an instrument to create horror, but to show that his crime has knocked him out of his sanity. piece beings inflict untold sufferings on his fellow beings prompted by ambition, envy, hatred, greed and lust for power. In Websters world it is the natu ral lot of man that he lodges decay, disease and death. The Duchess and Antonio, the good characters of the play meet their death one later a long suffering, the other by simple accident. Even the inculpable Cariola, and the innocent children meet death by strangulation. Virtue, innocence and other good qualities appear to offer no assured safety against suffering and immature death. If all my royal kindredLay in my way unto this marriage,Id make them my low footsteps.Websters world is one where suffering embraces all, the good and the wicked. Suffering and death are inevitable. They result sometimes from thrifty contrivance as in the case of the Duchess, Cariola etc sometimes from compulsive action as in the case of Antonio and they can take place quite a arbitrarily as in the case of the servant whom Bosola kills. Though he is a villainous person perpetrating some of the most heinous crimes, but he is also portrayed as a meditating malcontent who once in a while appears to act as a mouth-piece of the authors view of life. want triumph in the world, Webster seems to say is a futile effort for pleasance and is only momentary, but suffering is inevitable and profound. The dying Antonio makes it clear, Pleasure of life, what is t?only the good hoursOf an ague merely a preparative to rest,To endure vexation.Webster could have been influenced by a hardly a(prenominal) contemporary incidents to make the play what it is. One of them is the story of the fate of Torquato Tasso at the hands of Alfonso dEste, an Italian Duke, because of his love for the Dukes sister. Another was the imprisonment of Lady Arabella Stuart, as a punishment for het marrying Lord William Seymour against the wishes of King James I, her cousin. Lady Arabella became mentally deranged while in person. Though Webster followed Painters line, he made many noticeable additions. This can be found not only in the plot construction but also in characterization. In the play we find the Cardinal and the Duke warning the Duchess against a remarriage.There is nothing of the sort present in Painter. So also are the part played by Bosola, the secret entry of the Duke into the bed chamber of the Duchess and the sub plot of Julias adulterous relationship with the Cardinal. Further most of the incidents of Act IV especially the tormenting of the Duchess, by presenting the spectacle of the waxen images, the Dukes presenting a dead mans hand to the Duchess, the antics of the lunatics, Bosolas entry as a tomb maker and a bellman etc., are all Websters inventions. Antonios visit to the Cardinal, the Echo-scne, the lycanthropia of the Duke, Bosolas decision to turn against his predominate and the final death of all the three, too are Websters additions. I have ever thoughtNature doth nothing so great for great menAs when shes pleasd to make them lords of rightfulnessIntegrity of life is fames best friend,Which nobly, beyond death, shall crown the end.The Duchess of Malfi has an admi rable exposition in the first act. All the major characters are introduced sufficiently well. Antonio, knowledgeable in the fashion and manners of French Court, the Duke and the Cardinal who are like plum trees that grow crooked and right noble Duchess whose sermon it is so full of rapture are painted with a few thick strokes . Later the Duchess shows her independence, vivacity and passionate nature by declaring her defiant locating to the advice of the brothers and wooing Antonio abruptly and marrying him secretly. This may apply not only to the virginal Duchess, but also to the wicked Bosola, who with determination kills the two characters. Bosolas controversy, Let worth minds neer stagger in distrustTo disaccord death or shame- for what is justmakes this point amply clear. Whether pure(a) or wicked, all should boldly decide not to compromise or surrender, but persist in being what they have it in themselves. Bosola by declaringIll be mine own example-And the Duchess by asse rting,I am Duchess of Malfi stillHe realizes that he has to die like a leveret. He does so and we feel as if he has faced the ultimate punishment for his crimes. oath reaches all the three villains giving the impression that there is some moral -order that in some unknown way mete out punishments to the evil doers. The Duchess ridicules Cariola for her respect for religion and calls her a superstitious fool. However she displays her printing in God by kneeling before her death. We have to leave off that, Webster does not openly negate the existence of God in the play. However, the turn of events in the play makes one think that Websters moral world is an extentialist one. Whether the spirit of greatness or of womanReign most in her, I know not but it showsA fearful madness I owe her much of pity.Bosolas telling that I will be mine own example is a typical extentialist bidding. The Duchess taking firm personal decision about her marriage, Duchesss disregarding the mental picture of her brothers and her accepting the consequences of that action with a resigned courage too is an existentialist attitude so also is the detachment with Antonio faces his fate. One of the basic requirements of that philosophical system, negation of God, however is not emphasized in the play. Antonio is an extentialist as far as his attitude to religion, but nothing is said to show that he does not believe in God. The fables, the Duchess and the Duke relate, too are significant for their moral worth. Bosola, though a dark and villainous tool in the hands of the equally dark brothers, during his meditative bouts brings out worthy moral truths. About gold coins he says, These curd gifts would makeYou a corrupter, me an impudent traitorHe has other philosophic comments too.Since place and riches oft are bribes opf shamesometimes the devil doth preach.Musing over the ruins of the Abbey near the Cardinals palace he says But all things have their endChurches and cities, which have dise ases like to men,Must have like death that we haveTo show the transcience of happiness he says,Pleasure of life, what is t? only the good hoursOf an agueThe moral message of the play comes out frequently through pithy statements. It is elicit that almost all characters utter some universal truth, some statement significant to human life, displaying the moral undertone of the play. Antonio moralizes from the beginning till his last moments. Even minor characters are often found to express moral ideas. Cariola comments on the Duchess marriage thus Whether the spirit of greatness or of womanReign most in her, I know not but it showsA fearful madnessThe first pilgrim has this to say about the strickle of the great. Fortune makesthis conclusion general.All things do help the unhappy man to fall.Julia, the trumpet too utters a pithy statement T is weakness, in like manner much to think what should have been done.Delio has something moral to state very oftenThough in our miseries Fortune have a part,Yet in our noble sufferings she hasth noneHe winds up the play with a statement pregnant with philosophic truth Integrity of life is fames best friend,Which nobly, beyond death shall crown he end.All these moral statements may appear out of place in a tragedy to a modern reader, but an Elizabethan play goer would have taken it as a sign of the Authors moral consciousness. I am Duchess of Malfi still, brings out Websters view of life. There is an get of self-centered thinking in her. Further she is a credulous person and susceptible to flattery. We see her gloating over the praise Bosola showers on Antonio and reveals her secret of identity of her husband to Bosola. Then, pleased with his flattering comments on her marriage she takes him as a confidant decides to accept his advice and to go to Loretto on a belie pilgrimage. Both the actions lead to disastrous consequences. Antonio too, faces his fate partly because of his flaws.Though he despises ambition as a great m ans madness, it is his ambition that makes him succumb to the desires of the Duchess and marry her. His passivity too led to his downfall. He does not show any inclination it out with the Arragonian brothers though he knows that justice is on his part. Many of the opinions expressed by the various characters of the play betray Websters extentialist leanings though, the word extentialism as a philosophy evolved only in the nineteenth century after Kierkgoard.Extentialism rejects metaphysics and concentrates on the individuals existence in the world. It is a pragmatic and psychologically realistic philosophy that negates the existence of a God. There is some inherent absurdity in mans existence. For all human activities are equivalent, all are destined by principles to defeat, but a man is responsible for his effect on others, though only his existence is real to him, and he is ultimately his own judge. Among all these apparently chaotic happenings in this world one wonders what a man should aim at. Are there some values he should cherish? Webster answers, surely, through his unmistakable esteem for the virtuous characters in the play. He apparently advocates two qualities to be cultivated among human race they should persist in being what they are and they should face calamities with fortitude. The closing mother tongue of Delio may be Websters message to humans. The weakest arm is strong ample that strikesWith the sword of justiceWebster presents in his plays, a view of the world where the vitriolic forces unleash their power on the individual. The inner reality one sees in Shakespearean characters is absent in Webster. He portrays only their outer nature, and even that is often absorbed into the general forces. This results in their losing even the exterior label of individuality. After sketching their traits through narration, Webster shows them behaving in conformity with that narration. They become types, their characteristics being divided by many o thers in this world. The soliloquy of Webster does not give any deep insight into the character, which Shakespeare very well provides. Websters soliloquies only stroking light into a plot and action. Further Webster removes the inner dimension of man from his tragic picture he presents. As a result using of character, as is seen in Shakespeare, is not possible in Webster. I am puzzled in a question about hellHe says, in hell theres one material fire.************************************************************************************ and IDEAS AND SETTINGS AND REFERENCES, WORDS AND SENTENCES FROM DR.S.SEN.