The Duchess of Malfi Essay

Antonio, who has begun to discover the importance of independence, must use this to his mother, who has her own vision of his future. The fact that he holds this value signifies growth in Tony’s character, and his continuing development into a man.

Claudio's sister Isabella is dragged out of the convent to plead for him, on the assumption that her superior virtue might move Angelo's heart to pardon her brother. Does it? No. Rather, it pierces right through Angelo's cold Puritanism and sets his heart and other bits on fire. We see through this carefully controlled man into the roaring pit that he has tried so hard to conceal. He falls a victim to the very passion he is prosecuting in Claudio; in doing so, he comes to represent the conflict between good and evil in Vienna as he struggles with the knowledge that he cannot control his own desires.

When Antonio is dragged to the Orsino’s court by his guards, he claims that Viola (whom he thinks is Sebastian) is the cause of all his troubles. Antonio tells the duke his entire story about how he met Sebastian and Sebastian's supposed betrayal of Antonio:

Antonio’s conflict is that both sides of his family are trying to have influence in the type of person Antonio will grow into.

In an additional transformation, his friends are essential in turning Antonio into a more self-sufficient person. The first time Antonio goes to school, he is scared of his peers and is not capable of thinking for himself. As he goes through school, he starts developing a strong friendship with Samuel and Florence, who help him gain more independence by assisting him to not be dependable on his mother. He gains this confidence which assists him in making large decisions by himself. The ordinary procedure of distinctive growth begins for Antonio.

To start off, Antonio is always under pressure from certain people that want him to do specific things in hopes of him securing the future of his people. This ties into conflicting cultures, which plays an important role when it comes to Antonio’s early life since his actions are defined by the conflicts between the Luna and the Marez. The Luna are the devoted farmers who worship the earth and the moon, while the Marez are very free-spirited vaqueros who are extremely devoted to their lifestyle and horses. Being a Marez is what causes Antonio’s three older brothers to go into the world and leave there family behind. “It was true, I thought, it is the Marez blood in us that touches us with this urge to wonder. Like the restless, seeking sea” (40). His brothers chose a path that Antonio is struggling to pick and cannot seem to identify with. This is a big deal because Antonio is only in the first grade and he is being pressured into growing up faster than he should be.

the personality of his duchess, he is shown to be a heartless, arrogant man. His complete

Antonio’s relationships with others, the events that he experiences, and his natural curiosity for the world and religion all lead to the conflicting beliefs and questions of morality that he develops throughout the story.

I think Antonio’s brothers made a big influence on Antonio. When Antonio’s brothers left for war, I think Antonio realises how strong and powerful his brothers were. Antonio probably realised that they were strong men and that they had to lose their innocence to become as powerful as they were. Although, Antonio’s brothers maybe regretted the war, Antonio still got influenced by other characters in the story that it is okay to grow up and lose a part of your innocence.

Topic 6: (TOC) “Elaborate on instances where Antonio’s loss of innocence furthered or took away from his development as a character.”

Antonio rescues Sebastian after the shipwreck that separated him from his twin, Viola. Antonio immediately takes a liking to Sebastian and helps get back on his feet. Sebastian heads to Duke Orsino’s court to look for work, Antonio offers to help but Sebastian has to decline as Antonio is a wanted man and accompanying him on his journey would put him at risk. “But, come what may, I do adore thee so, / the danger shall seem sport, and I will go.” (2.1.43-44) Antonio follows him anyways and ends up encountering Viola dressed as Cesario in the middle of a fight with Sir Andrew. Because Antonio thinks Cesario is Sebastian, he steps in to defend him, out of his love. Viola is confused because she’s never met Antonio before. But, Sir Toby and Sir Andrew recognize him as the wanted criminal that he is and turn him in to the authorities. Although Antonio is ultimately released he still ends up heartbroken as Sebastian ends up married to Olivia.

Bosola can be described as a convincing character as unlike some of the characters in the play, his opinions and principles change throughout, therefore constantly altering the audience's feelings about him. He is the only character to communicate to the audience via soliloquy, divulging his true thoughts and intentions which often differ from his outward appearance, making him psychologically realistic and interesting. Although this would suggest he is a convincing character, Bosola, at times, falls into set roles of the Jacobean Tragedy; malcontent, satirist and avenger. Webster uses Bosola to fulfill these conventions of the genre and to direct and drive the plot, especially after the Duchess' death. Even though Webster uses Bosola in

Our paper focusses on the significance of God and justice in John Webster's plays, in particular The Duchess of Malfi, and how god and justice are not particularly evident in his tragedies. The Duchess of Malfi is one of those Italian stories, full of hatred, wrath and wickedness, of which the Elizabethans were so fond. Firstly, we will begin with an outline of Elizabethan Revenge Tragedy; where the passion of revenge, motivated by subsidiary passions of anger, jealousy, pride, ambition or envy, was not held to be a crime, but rather the most befitting and just way to right a wrong, as was evident in the case of Bosola, who Killed Cardinal and Ferdinard on realizing that he has been duped by them into committing a grave sin of killing the innocent Duchess. In the God-fearing Elizabethan Age (1558-1603), with the word of God so expressly

The passage to be studied is from Act 3, scene1, from the play, ‘The Duchess of Malfi’. The importance of this passage, and where it fits into the play, is explained in the first paragraph. The following paragraph will highlight some of the distinctive features of its language, starting with the beginning of the passage and comparing it to the end of the passage. The analysis of the text will cover rhythm, sounds, punctuation, repetition, alliteration, enjambment and caesura. Using these techniques Webster helps the reader to extract meaning, characterisation and the themes of the play. Finally, the third paragraph will show how the distinctive features of the language can be translated into performance using lighting, tone of voice, props, costume, sound and space. The language used in the text of the play is the source to its meaning and performance.

The citizens of Vienna having lived under relaxed laws have grown accustomed to breaking them, and Escalus, an old lord with experience in government, warned Angelo (in vain) of the consequences of harsh action; however, Angelo would not be deterred. An excellent insight to Angelo's style of law enforcement comes from the convicted brother of Isabella, Claudio. While in prison and given to many thoughts, Claudio speculates on the motives of Angelo: