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Summary The Duchess of Malfi Key Themes (English Alevel OCR) £7.49   Add to cart
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Summary The Duchess of Malfi Key Themes (English Alevel OCR)

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Summary of the key themes of Webster’s ‘The Duchess of Malfi’ including related quotes, critical perspectives and contextual points. Used for English Literature Alevel OCR.

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  • October 22, 2023
  • 4
  • 2023/2024
  • Summary

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THEME 1; Gender

Quotes:
- “I am the Duchess of Malfi still”
- “This was my father’s poniard”
- “I intend to make you overseer”
- “[He kneels]”
- “He might count me a wanton, not lay a scruple of offence on you”

Critics:
- Christina Luckyj- “Vital young women stifled by misogyny” (about Julia and the
Duchess)
- Norton- “Revenge tragedies represent women as powerful and independent, and
explore the social and cultural forces that oppress them.”

Context:
- Condemnation of female sexuality in Jacobean England, association with morality
and chastity for women (double standard not applied to men)
- Marital laws which stated that Jacobean women were the property of either their
husbands or their closest male relative, denying women autonomy and freedom

THEME 2; Religion

Quotes:
- “I came here for devotion”
- “For he stews in his way flatterers, panders, intelligencers, atheists and a thousand
such political monsters”
- “I make it a question whether her beggerly brats were ever christened”
- “Oh, my conscience! I would pray now, but the devil takes away my heart for having
any confidence in prayer”

Critics:
- Horatio Busino- “deride our religion as detestable and superstitious...move them to
laughter and much mockery” (On English theatrical portrayals of Italian Catholicism)
- Dominic Baker Smith- “Webster's God, unlike his devil, is a hidden one.”

Context:
- Rising anti-catholic sentiment in Jacobean England; the Catholic Church was seen to
be motivated by greed and wealth rather than religious faith and the Italian setting
allowed Webster to critique the corruption he perceived within the Church

THEME 3; Class status

Quotes:
- “Sway your noble blood”
- “[He kneels]”
- “Raise yourself”
- “Men oft are valued high, when th’ are most wretched”

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