Discuss The Ways In Which The Duchess Of Malfi Tries To Invoke Pity And Fear In Its Audience. - University - Essay

1462 words - 6 pages

Discuss the ways in which The Duchess of Malfi tries to invoke pity and fear in its audience.
The Duchess of Malfi is a Jacobean, Renaissance play written by the English Dramatist John Webster. Throughout this play, Webster invokes pity and fear into his audience through violent scenes and themes of death, secrecy and corruption. These themes are conveyed through the main characters and their moral perspectives; the evil moral actions that are taken by the brothers, Duke Ferdinand and the Cardinal, which over power the innocent moral actions that are taken by the Duchess and Antonio. The tragically romantic play focusses on the tragic Duchess, a young widow, who secretly marries her household steward Antonio, who is of low social rank. After the Duchess has a child, her brothers become infuriated and send an infiltrator, Bosola, to the Duchess as a method of cruelty towards her which takes the play to its bloody climax. The Duchess of Malfi, like other Jacobean tragedies, delves into the deterioration of the Christian faith and how religion is adapting to the Renaissance. In the past John Webster was trained to be a lawyer and so The Duchess of Malfi becomes a morally ambiguous play as neither moral, immoral or morally unclear characters make it out alive showing that no matter how the characters acted death was inevitable.
In most Jacobean plays, alongside the theme of revenge came tragedy. The Duchess of Malfi was then categorised as a ‘revenge tragedy’ and this was critiqued by many as there was “little attempt to expand or challenge the definition or examine other pressing claims to a dominance of theme.” The name of ‘revenge tragedy’ came from the Senecan tradition of making leads to the tragedy. Traditionally, a revenge tragedy would centre around a character of a noble birth and focus on a complex plot which focussed on this character. Revenge dramas were often extremely violent, showcasing physical horrors on stage such as painful torture and bloody murders that were fuelled by a desire for revenge. As these plays would conclude on stage, order would be restored within the world of the play. Before the Renaissance, revenge was a very common method to bring justice to a wrong-doing. As the Renaissance began, the legal system began to grow and develop into a more sophisticated system where acts of revenge were no longer legal. After these laws were passed revenge dramas grew in popularity as the audience began to enjoy viewing acts of revenge on stage and could redress wrongs that were being ignored by the court through the power of theatre. Due to John Webster’s experience within the law it was only fitting that he produced revenge dramas about high-class citizens.
It was through revenge drama that the audience could see both sides of a revenge story while not being an immediate part of the revenge. This made the audience question themselves as pity was felt for the wronged individual and moral, undecided emotions were f...

More like Discuss The Ways In Which The Duchess Of Malfi Tries To Invoke Pity And Fear In Its Audience. - University - Essay

'there Is A General Reluctance To Examine Ways In Which HRM Can Be Integrated With And Contribute To The Overall Direction Of An Organisation.'critically Discuss

1994 words - 8 pages ... HRM integration with strategic managementA businesses strategic management decision-making process usually takes place at its top levels, with a strategic planning group consisting of the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), the Chief Financial Officer and Executive members. It is important to note that each component of the process involves people-related business issues. (Noe, R. et al 2003). With this in mind, it is essential that the HRM function ...

Critically Discuss The Ways In Which The Personality Of A Leader Might Affect Employee Turnover - Business - Essay

2244 words - 9 pages ... [Type text] [Type text] [Type text] Charlotte Blunderfield People and Organisations nz024572 26024572 MM1F11 26024572 (i) Critically discuss the ways in which the personality of a leader might affect employee turnover Introduction An effective leader is a firm’s visionary; they are clear as to what the direction of the organisation is and can devise strategies in order to push it to survive and ...

Discuss Representations Of Augustan Power And The Ways In Which This Power Has Been Portrayed As Beneficial For Rome And The Roman Empire

1860 words - 8 pages Free ... Throughout his rule Augustus, born Gaius Octavius Thurinus, the Emperor of Rome, actively promoted his achievements in inscriptions, works of art and literature. This essay outlines and analyses these representations of Augustan power and the ways in which this power has been portrayed as beneficial for Rome and the Roman Empire.Augustus was adopted by his famous uncle Julius Caesar in 44 BC, and was thenceforth known as Gaius Julius Caesar ...

Essay On Webster's Presentation Of The Cardinal In The Duchess Of Malfi

626 words - 3 pages ... Explore Webster's presentation of the Cardinal in The Duchess of Malfi. You must relate your discussion to relevant contextual factors. Misogynistic corruption of the Catholic Church Manipulative Webster presents the Cardinal as a misogynistic and manipulative character. The Cardinal is used to represent the corruption of the Catholic Church. The Cardinals' misogynistic views are highlighted through his interactions with his sister and his ...

This Essay Discusses The Basic Mechanics And Characteristics Of The Ways In Which We Humans Use Wind As A Tool

274 words - 2 pages ... have the right location. I hope to cover, in this report, the different types of windmills, their history, locations, how they are built, what wind turbines are, and the many uses of wind power. Wind power has received a lot of underlying popular support but at the same time a great deal of apathy. Wind Power is not only a term used for the power created by windmills. Wind powers is what moves a sail boat, or a wind surfer. There are many ...

Compare The Ways In Which Madame Loisel And The Daughter In 'two Kinds' Respond To The Pressures And Expectations Of Their Families And Societies

753 words - 4 pages ... . Her mother tries to make he a wonder kid and to change the way the daughter is. The mother tries to make her daughter a wonder kid and the daughter starts to respond in a way that she just doesn't care. Then in some time the daughter be really tiered of the testes that the mother is making her that and the fact that the mother is trying to change her. And so, she starts to take short cut, and with the only intention to stay the way she it, the ...

Explore The Ways In Which Conan Doyle Presents His Arch Villain And His Hero - School - Essay

800 words - 4 pages ... Explore the ways in which Conan Doyle presents his arch villain and his hero detective to the reader. In the book the speckled band, Conan Doyle makes the villain overly suspicious, so everyone at least knows who he is but is waiting for the hero to figure it out. So, you just want to put yourself into his shoes and solve the mystery as the hero detective. He is interested in exotic animals, so he keeps a jaguar and a baboon on his property. He ...

The Role Of Fear And Racism In To Kill A Mockingbird - English - Essay

548 words - 3 pages Free ... Thompson 1 Sarah Thompson Mr. Clarke English 9A 25 October 2016 To Kill a Mockingbird To Kill a Mockingbird ​by Harper Lee revolves around a case that demonstrates the prejudices and racism of the time. The story exhibits the notion that fear and racism is often more powerful and is often the driving force behind people’s decisions rather than reason and intelligence. Decisions and actions backed by racism in the novel are very common. The major ...

“discuss Some Of The Ways That Stressful Experiences Can Be Managed. - The Open University - Essay

2038 words - 9 pages ... discuss how different stressful experiences affect different people in terms of socio-economic status, environment and personal resources and how they cope or not in some cases. In addition, this essay will discuss some of the ways that stress can be managed in terms of building resilience and managing stress in order to reduce its impact on health and wellbeing. Stress can be described as a common but complex phenomena (The Open University, 2013a ...

Compare The Ways In Which Steven Spielberg (saving Private Ryan) And E.M. Remarque - English Literary Studies - Essay

940 words - 4 pages ... Stage 1 Pre-Literary English Studies Comparative Text Essay Word Count: 998 Georgina Dunn Compare the ways in which Steven Spielberg (Saving Private Ryan) and E.M. Remarque (All Quiet on the Western Front) explore a range of ideas about war and warfare. Steven Spielberg’s film ​Saving Private Ryan ​and ​Erich Maria Remarque’s novel ​All Quiet on the Western Front respectively explore a range of ideas about war and warfare through the use of ...

The Dutchess Of Malfi

1103 words - 5 pages ... main parts. In the first party, I want to discuss the play and the text in which it develops. In the second part, I want to say more my opinion of the characters who impress me most.The story seems a simple one. The Duchess¡¦ husband died, which renders her a widow. Wanting to protect the fame of the family, his brothers, Ferdinand and Cardinal, ask her not to marry again. After all, a Duke¡¦s family is powerful locally ...

Analyse The Provided Extract From Pride And Prejudice, Discussing Ways In Which The Narrative Voice And Dialogue Are Used

1734 words - 7 pages ... techniques. The story is enhanced through her satirical style, and fluidity of passage. Jane Austen encourages us to not only engage with Elizabeth but also 'see' the wider themes through her use of the narrator. The style of narrative techniques changes so often, that we are always 'seeing' things from differing perspectives which is one of the charms of 'Pride and Prejudice'.TOTAL WORDS: 1,059BibliographyJane Austen, 1992 edition, Pride and Prejudice,Hertfordshire, Wordsworth Classics.Pam Morris, 'Reading Pride and Prejudice',in Dennis Walder (1995 ed.), The Realist Novel,London, The Open University ...

Discuss The Problems Which May Arise In Linkage Analysis Which Uses Spatial And Temporal Data. - Assignment - Assignment

2578 words - 11 pages ... ’ which didn’t develop during the child’s socialisation which results in no concept of rules, regulations or morals/ethics which are deemed socially acceptable (Freud, cited in Brookman, 2005, p.77). The work of Freud led many further developments of psychology itself and in relation to crime. As discussed before, this essay will be discussing psychological social learning theory in relation to crime. One of the key question raised during the ...

Criminal Law Discuss Peters Potential Liability In The Circumstacnes Given To You Below - University - Essay

1462 words - 6 pages ... Discuss Peters Potential Liability As the defendants’ actions did not lead to death he would be charged with Non -fatal offence. These offences are against a person that don’t result in death but does however result in various degrees of injury. Grievous bodily harm if found under section 18 of the Offences Against the Persons Act 1867 ‘whosoever shall unlawfully and maliciously by any means whatsoever wound or cause grievous bodily harm to any ...

Discuss The Use Of Setting In The Yellow Wallpaper - Bournemouth University/english BA - Essay

1168 words - 5 pages ... Patrick Bird – s5070931 Patrick Bird s5070931 BA English – Forms and Context Discuss the use of setting in The Yellow Wallpaper Total Word Count – 1.164 The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman is a story about one woman’s descent into madness owing to post-natal psychosis after the birth of her child. In this essay, I will be examining the use of setting and analysing how it ties into the story and the characters. In terms of setting ...