context

• what inspired the dramatists?

  
  

  great poverty + prosperity lived cheek by jowl - wealth unequally distributed leading to dangerous unrest
• what kind of society was present in Jacobean and Elizabethan england?

  hierarchical society
• what was the average life expectancy during the era?

  just over 30
• subordination of women


  men firmly in control, James I hated women, women were seen as less rational than men
• the jacobean court


  dominated by a small number of aristocrats - James I court particularly corrupt - created vast debt and sexual corruption flourished
• religion


  catholics were distrusted and feared because they were seen as superstitious and corrupt
• contempt for foreigners


  foreigners viewed as aliens - abused and insulted in drama of the time
• The Duchess of Malfi date


  Webster wrote The Duchess of Malfi ten years into the Jacobean era (17th century) in England and only a few years before Shakespeare's death. (1614)
• The Duchess of Malfi true story


  The play is based on an Italian novella, which in turn is based on true historical events. The real Duchess, Giovanna d'Aragona, married Antonio Beccadelli in secret and bore him three children. She was murdered by her brothers, one of whom was a Cardinal, in 1510.
• Webster deviates from the story how

  True story - Antonio didn't die until a few years after the Duchess' death, and Bosola's repentance and ultimate betrayal and murder of the brothers is fictionalised, as the two were never accused or killed. Development o f the character Bosola, who was morally opposed to the crimes he was forced to commit, however still 'must do/ 'all the ill man can invent'.
• First performed by


  The Duchess of Malfi was first performed by the King's Men, the theatre company to which Shakespeare belonged that performed all of his work. Richard Burbage, who first played famous characters such as Hamlet and King Lear, was the first to play Duke Ferdinand. Henry Condell, one of the editors and publishers of Shakespeare's First Folio, first played the Cardinal.
• First performed in ... theatre


  Play first performed in Blackfriars, more intimate and frequented by the intellectuals - allowed for more sneaking and subtle lighting and play has different texture to Shakespeare as it was for a different audience.
• Tragedy


  a play with a central protagonist of elevated social station, who when confronted with a series of choices consistently makes the wrong decision because of a central flaw in his character - leads to fall - because of elevated status, others fall with him.
• Aristotle's theory of tragedy


  tragedy is serious, has magnitude, is dramatic, only deals with one issue and feelings of pity and fear are central.
• Revenge Tragedy


  A prominent type of play in the 17th century, however, dates back to the Senecean Tragedies in Ancient Rome. Thomas Kyd and Middleton all portray extreme violence in their respective works.
• What were revenge tragedies also about

  The lack of justice - contained all elements of tragedy also. Punishment in Jacobean was very harsh as a deterrent as couldn't catch them easily - people also deterred by idea of God being omniscient and would punish them in the next life. The idea was that people shouldn't take justice into their own hands as it is up to God, but in these tragedies people do take it into their own hands and so escalate it - makes it worse. Revenge tragedies demonstrate the dangers of exacting such revenge.
• Elements of Revenge Tragedy

  (also called tragedies of the state) court setting, murder, subterfuge, madness (links to breakdown of state) 'malcontent', the issue of the 'machiavellian', exploration of religion.
• The great chain of being


  God was perceived to have allocated the social hierarchy, and therefore to change it would be usurping God's powers and going against Him. It was an ultimate sin to defy the Chain of being, which both Lucifer and Eve committed.
• The malcontent


  The malcontent would be a familiar stereotype to a Jacobean audience, as a character who is mistreated and condemns their society, but is prepared to use any means to gain promotion in the same society. Other example - Hamlet.
• The machiavellian


  The archetypal Machiavellian character would be familiar to a Jacobean audience, as, after Machiavelli wrote an instructional book in 1513, the Machiavel became a stereotype in drama for villains who used manipulation or cruelty to complete acquire and maintain power.
• Why 17th century women subordinate to men

  The roots of these attitudes lay in the bible, when Eve is persuaded to dishonour god and eat the fruit of the tree of knowledge. Dympna Claghan explains that this story is 'both the justification and the cause of women's subjugation
• Which women were seen as independent

  Women who did not display the traditional feminine virtues - modesty, chastity, obedience - were seen as a threat to social fabric and were often publicly punished, using, for example, the ducking stool, or were demonised as witches.
• How was the society obsessed with disease and death

  Public executions were commonly attended by the public and different methods of torture were used to ensure the victim suffered for as long as possible. Furthermore, severe outbreaks of the plague were common, for example in London in 1603 over 1/6 of the population died in an outbreak of the plague.
• Dekker's opinion of the plague

  The plague was a result of the corruption and decadence in the court under Queen Elizabeth I, and it was a common concern in the 17th century that the corruption in James' court could lead to a further spread of 'death and diseases'.
• The four humours


  Used as an explanation for human behaviour by renaissance doctors.
• Ferdinand's humour


  choleric (excess of yellow bile - angry) - poor intentions of deceit.
• Duchess's humour


  sanguine (excess of blood - full of life) - courage and amorousness, positive nature of deciet
• Cardinal's humour


  phlegmatic (excess of phlegm - lack of emotion)
• Bosola's humour


  melancholic (excess of black bile - cynical)
• What did Hippocrates think of the womb


  That it was a free moving organ that moved around the body causing hysteria. It was characterised as a mental illness that caused paralysis, spasms and general pain. Ferdinand's attempts at making the Duchess insane link to this
• Bedlam and mental illness


  Bedlam was a hospital specialising in mental illness. Visitors would pay to see patients even without any relation to them. When public access ended in 1770 patient abuse began.
• Sumptuary laws


  Social order was becoming more fluid in the 17th century, especially as a result of James' policies that allowed court positions to be bought and sold, reducing the significance of ancestry. In order to protect social rankings these were passed which decreed that people should dress according to their social status, and, therefore, only the aristocracy, for example, could wear certain, more extravagant, fabrics.
• Who was suspected of being witches


  Any females who were old, physically disabled, suffered from a mental disorder, had an irritable personality or were widowed could be suspected of witchcraft. Legislation existed so that possession of herbs like mandrake or cannabis could result in execution by burning. It was a common belief that witches could hunt or even kill and so communities staged witch hunts.
• What did James 1st write about witchcraft

  'Daemonologie', an examination of necromancy and Black Magic, in 1597 - fascinatd, imagery familiar to jacobean audience
• How did Webster censor

  Setting plays in Italy - safe to explore politically unaccpetable ideas. (Madness ran in the royal-blood (Phillip of Spain's heir was strangled in prison) - wasn't safe)
• How did poverty increase and why discontent?

  A result of increased colonial expansion - inflation, increased taxation, mass unemployment and low wages.

  
  

  Following on from the peasant revolt in 1381 - exasperated by the extravagance they saw in James' lifestyle and his court, leading to consistent peasant protests throughout the 17th century.
• Stoicism


  The endurance of pain and hardship without complain or the expression of emotions. The Duchess is the most " character, she welcomes her death with dignity.
• The White Devil (1612)


  Webster's first play which was not well-received initially. It has similarities to Malfi, however: both involve the supernatural, both focus on a heroine and both are tragedies.
• How was corruption started in court

  When James was a young man - others attempted to flatter him to boost influence - It was a tactic that Robert Carr and George Villiers were to use with great success after James was made king of England
• The Basilikon Doron


  Written by James in 1599 (Royal gift) for his eldest son and heir prince Henry, in which he advises him to choose courtiers and advisors with great care. However, this was deeply ironic as James was notorious for filling government positions with flatterers and poorly qualifies people, such as Robert Carr.