Christian perspective in Webster Essay

By close consideration of two extracts of your choice, assess the vastness of the Christian perspective in Websters presentation of the Duchess.There has been much debate over whether the Duchess of Malfi is a character who is essentially a victim of her brothers totalitarianism and the debasedion of her courtyard, and whose downfall is caused by such, or is responsible for her own negligent and selfish actions by marrying a man she loved further in doing so abandoning her princely duties. Certainly, Websters borrowings saw the Duchess as little more than a whore or a strumpet (much like Julia in Websters version), but modern auditions, with modern sympathies, have preferred to see the Duchess as a heroine who is sacrificed for love.The two passages I have chosen to consider neatly contrast from each one other in showing how the Duchess is susceptible to religious corruption (III.ii.305-320), but equally, how she dies a Christian, almost a martyr (IV.ii.210-239).In I.i, Antoni o, the Duchess future husband, recounts a explanation of the French court, the King of which has quitted his royal palace Of flattring sycophants, of dissolute, And infamous persons (ll.7-9).This depiction acts as a yardstick by which we comp ar the court of Malfi. In fact, the undefiled presentation could be taken as an abstract concept presented visually, rather than any actual occurrence however, the effect is the same either way. Unfortunately, we soon diddle what be get under ones skins of the King in III.iii, the corrupt Cardinal tells us that the famous Lannoy had had the honour Of taking the French King prisoner. This shows us just how powerful corrupt courts are. It strikes an ominous note, not filling us with the most hope for the Duchess stars or fate. Against this backdrop of sleaze and rottenness, the Duchess hardly stands a chance and so we come to our initiatory passage (III.ii.305-320).In III.ii.305-320, we witness the Duchess, having confided in Bosola n ot only that she is married to Antonio, her household steward, but that she has several children by him, is persuaded by Bosola to feign a voyage To our Lady of Loretto (ll.306-7), under the (clearly ironic) pretence that shemay departher country with more honour, and her flightWill seem a princely progress, retainingHer usual train nigh her (ll.308-311).In fact, we know that, on arriving in Loretto, where the Cardinal, by design, awaits her, she is shamefully stripped of her princedom, as is Antonio of his lands (III.iv.5ff esp. Stage Directions), and her train, bar a faithfully minority (a sign of hope for us all, displaying the moral rectitude of the few), desert her in her disgrace (III.v.2-3), for reasons of politics, fear, and uncertainty. Clearly, the pilgrims who witness the banishment do not judge either Antonio or the Duchess harshly rather they sympathise with them (ll.32-43), so perhaps we are meant to too. Having said that, however, they have not seen what we have s een previously the wise though portentous warning from Cariola, ignored by the Duchess, that if you will believe me, I do not like this jesting with religion, this feigned pilgrimage (III.iii.315-18).The Duchess is, by any means, not faultless to suggest that she defies the malefic in her court and her brothers hearts is too generous indeed, despite good intentions, good receptions from onlookers, and indeed, sympathy from the audience, especially the modern one, she is not able to over come the evil in her court and in her brothers heart in this instance she falls at their mercenary, Bosola, and, of course unknowingly, gives in to the evil she allows herself, in her own words, to be led by the hand at his direction (ll.311-2). The Duchess is after all a tragic heroine her personality is therefore susceptible to the genre which dictated that she should be realistic, like any other human being.The root of the tragedy can be traced back as far as Aristotles Poetics, which se es it as a form of drama in which a calamity is brought about through a flaw in the character of the hero or heroine, who through a flaw in the character of hero or heroine who, through suffering, achieves a dignity and self-knowledge previously lacking. The audience feels they can identify closely with this character, which has human faults, and the audience is thus sympathetic even empathetic to their case and should experience heights of emotion such as pity, even horror, at the Duchess death. They should emerge from the theatre in some way purged by the experience. According to this theory, Tragedy is the great dramatic form which shows human nature as unchanging only increasing the tragedy of the Duchess life and story further, especially because we, as a modern audience, know it is based on a true-life story (recorded in Painters castling of Pleasure).The Duchess is motivated by seeking wisely to prevent future sorrows, lamenting those in the past (ll.319-320) in other wor ds, she has good intentions, but by themselves they are not enough to dispel the power of the corruption which surrounds and suffuses her.While it may have been established that the Duchess doesnt really defy the evil in her court and her brothers hearts, it is more possibly that she makes a good end. These are separate things it is possible to fulfil one, but not the other and evidence for the truth of the last mentioned statement can be found in the second passage, IV.ii.210-239.