Summary
Summary OCR English Literature A Level Notes: Comparing the Duchess of Malfi with Chaucer's The Merchant's Tale
- Institution
- OCR
Part of Drama and poetry pre-1900 / Paper 1
[Show more]
Seller
Follow
Content preview
CHWEBAO3 50%
Comparison 25%
AO1 12.5%
Critics 12.5%
The Merchant’s Tale, a fabliau extracted from The Canterbury Tales and written circa 1390s
and The Duchess of Malfi, a Jacobean revenge tragedy first performed at the Blackfriars
theatre in 1614, (revived in 1617 and published in quarto in 1623)
DofM 1st performed 1614 at the Blackfriar’s theatre.
o Used to be a monastery – catholism no longer state faith so converted to
theatre.
o Webster was writing for this theatrical space as a moment requires complete
darkness (can’t have in open air theatre) – when F comes to visit the duchess
after he promises he will never see her again
o It cost 6 pence to attent (globe is 1 pence) – more expensive & cant hold as
many people therefore webster writing for a more sophisticated audience.
o James Shapiro argues more women in audience as it was seated therefore
more comfortable.
DofM published into Quarto 1623.
Power, Class
Negative court life
- Ferdinand doesn’t like people laughing at a joke that isn’t his – this tyranny parallel’s
January’s.
- Castruccio becomes a Placebo like figure who says that he would never laugh at a
joke unless someone else has laughed before him.
- Later when Bosola challenges F’s belief that he is complicated character and F
doesn’t get mad at his plain speaking, he is actually touched as he lives in a world
where no one ever challenges him
- January by contrast prefers sycophants (Placebo) to plain speakers (Justinus)
- They also all backchat each other
‘sycophants’
- DOFM: Antonio says that the French court is better than the Italian one because they
removed their sycophants
- This occurred in 1617 – the play was first performed in 1614 and the quarto was
published 1623 – this would’ve been added to the play to keep it topical.
- Webster added information following the 1614 production and 1623 quarto:
- Including Sycophants removed from French court in 1617 & the story Arabella Stuart:
1
, o Events of DofM uncannily mirror.
o She secretly marries William Seymour in 1610– when james finds out he was
very unhappy as threatens his dynasty.
o James forces them to divorce (like A&D) puts them on house arrest (like
A&D), they try to escape but are caught half way across english channel (like
A&D)
o They were also a love match rather than an alliance aimed at securing
successiom.
o 1615 Arabella starves herself to death (webster possibly added this detail to
the 1623 quarto to make more relevant and anti-jacobean).
o ^ ‘The church enjoys fasting: I’ll starve myself to death’
- Example of Opposition Literature:
o Texts of the periofwhich are critical of King James but have to do it covertly
(censors to make sure no anti-stuart propaganda).
o DofM is crirical of Italy and Catholics BUT also about England & James (1603-
1625) – it’s a double play
o Margo Heinemann (1980) coined the term in her book ‘Puritanism and
Literature’
- By 1614 King James has a reputation for tyranny
- Between 1610-1613 he adopted personal rule where he only called on parliament
three times
- Sycophants: Robert Carr and George Villiers
- Allusions to England:
o The echo scene depicts a post-reformation English landscape of ruined
abbeys – as opposed to an Italian landscape where Catholicism still had sway.
o ^shakespeares refrence: ‘bare ruined choirs where late the sweet birds sang’
(sonnet 73)
o ACT 5 also has a London location ‘Barber-Chirurgeon’s-Hall’
o John Russel Brown notes the peculiar allusions to London in The White Devil
(webster) and similar claims about the covertly English context could be made
about DofM
- More on sycophants:
o There is a dramatic irony as when the duchess tells her court that she has
sacked Antonio, they all talk nastily about her ex-empolyee as they think its
what she wants to hear.
o Bosola however speaks well of him which leads the duchess to tell him the
truth (husband and 3 kids)
‘fountain’
- Antonio’s image of good people at the top has a positive trickle down affect
- If Bosola exists the cardinal and Ferdinand have to as well – Bosola fell into the
galley’s by serving the Cardinal
2
, - Webster is thinking about power/authority/politics – George Benard Shaw/Tussard
Laureate says that wesbter’s play was just sensationalist
- Possible thinking about stuart court in Jacobean England – people were looking back
at Elizabeth’s reign with nostalgia – wesbter exploits this nostalgia by centralising a
female figure
Their destructiveness
- Bosola has an image shows that destructivness is common to all men at all levels in
society
- The difference is scale – a farmer can make a farmers life hard, a prince can blow up a
city
- Delio describes their mouths as ‘like a deadly cannon that lighens ere it smokes’
Bosola says he prays once all the court is asleep (when A asks him why he is wandering the
palace when he told everyone to stay in their rooms)
^ possibly not just evil Italian courts but also English
The madmen
- Ferdinand sends madman to the duchess in imprisonment
- AO5: as an audience we have seen all these people before (theatre uses the same
actors we have seen already) – this implies that Malfi itself is mad and its society
values are mad
LOMBARDY:
- ‘Lumbardye’
- ^ Lombardian lords had a reputation for tyranny – January is a comic tyrant
- ^ location also associated with banking and brothels which brings ideas of money
and sexuality into play
‘freendes’
- Claims they are friends but treats them like servants
You’ve heard my ‘entente’, so now ‘assente’
- The rhyme in two lines crystallises January’s weak mindedness.
- His councillors must all assent to his intent.
Placebo and Justinus
- Justinus: identifies him as a positive figure BUT he is aligned with the merchant’s
idea of just and not necessarily the readers
- Placebo: meaning ‘I shall please’
o Agrees wholeheartedly that ‘so ful of sapience’ is January that his decision to
marry is the correct one (sycophant)
o ‘I nevere with noon of hem debaat’ - Placebo will never challenge those
above him and he is proud of this
3
The benefits of buying summaries with Stuvia:
Guaranteed quality through customer reviews
Stuvia customers have reviewed more than 700,000 summaries. This how you know that you are buying the best documents.
Quick and easy check-out
You can quickly pay through credit card for the summaries. There is no membership needed.
Focus on what matters
Your fellow students write the study notes themselves, which is why the documents are always reliable and up-to-date. This ensures you quickly get to the core!
Frequently asked questions
What do I get when I buy this document?
You get a PDF, available immediately after your purchase. The purchased document is accessible anytime, anywhere and indefinitely through your profile.
Satisfaction guarantee: how does it work?
Our satisfaction guarantee ensures that you always find a study document that suits you well. You fill out a form, and our customer service team takes care of the rest.
Who am I buying these notes from?
Stuvia is a marketplace, so you are not buying this document from us, but from seller moniamazu. Stuvia facilitates payment to the seller.
Will I be stuck with a subscription?
No, you only buy these notes for £10.56. You're not tied to anything after your purchase.
Can Stuvia be trusted?
4.6 stars on Google & Trustpilot (+1000 reviews)
79271 documents were sold in the last 30 days
Founded in 2010, the go-to place to buy revision notes and other study material for 14 years now