To what extent can Bosola be considered a tragic hero? “Let worthy minds ne’er stagger in distrust/ to suffer death or shame for what is just. / Mine is another voyage.” Thus the dying Bosola concludes his last speech and‚ in doing so‚ ends the life of a character whose very nature is at odds with the others’ – and with himself. For Bosola is a paradox: as a malcontent‚ he delivers line after line of poisonous verse; insults old women; sneers at the Cardinal and Ferdinand‚ whom he sees (justifiably
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the character of Bosola. A malcontent can be identified by a number of traits. He is a discontented person; a rebel; disaffected‚ satirical and melancholic; bereaved or dispossessed and detached from an often corrupt society by his grievances; he has knowledge and intelligence without status. As one the key characters in ’The Duchess of Malfi’‚ Bosola can easily be studied to see if these traits of the malcontent are present in his own character. The initial presentation of Bosola in the first scene
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Bosola from Webster’s The Duchess of Malfi and Hamlet from Shakespeare’s Hamlet‚ both present elements of Aristotle’s model of the tragic hero; through both of the characters‚ Shakespeare and Webster use the features of the tragic hero to engage Elizabethan and Jacobean audiences in an exploration of issues linked to the Renaissance‚ religion and philosophy. This essay will explore how the playwrights present the tragic flaws in their heroes’ character and how they face struggles due to their inner
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to spy her. Ferdinand apart from eyeing the fortune of the Duchess he also eyes her beauty. But Cardinal‚ the other brother of the Duchess is worried only about her wealth. Bosola passes the news that the Duchess has given birth to a child and Ferdinand in unquenchable fury banishes the Duchess. Ferdinand with the help of Bosola gains a fake key to the chamber of the Duchess and enters the chamber without the notice of the Duchess and the Duchess oblivious to the fact that Ferdinand is hiding in her
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Despite the main female protagonist‚ the Duchess‚ possessing admirable qualities for a woman of the Jacobean Era‚ with Bosola acknowledging her worth‚ stating that her “behaviour (is) so noble/As gives a majesty to adversity”‚ John Webster has created‚ as critic Badendyck describes‚ “a male diseased world” around her; she is forced to live in surroundings where male characters such as her brothers Ferdinand and The Cardinal abuse and humiliate her throughout the play- suggesting that Webster’s play
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from Rome at the play’s start. Antonio‚ the manager of her household‚ has just returned from France. Before leaving the Duchess‚ Ferdinand engages Bosola‚ previously used by the Cardinal as a hit man‚ to ostensibly manage the Duchess’s horses‚ but in reality to spy on her for the brothers so they can be sure she remains chaste and does not remarry. Bosola is reluctant‚ but eventually agrees. Before they return to Rome‚ Ferdinand and the Cardinal lecture the Duchess about the impropriety of remarriage
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The princely powers of the Duchess of Malfi The Tragedy of the Dutchesse of Malfy‚ originally published under this name in 1623‚ is a Jacobean drama written by John Webster in 1612-13. The play starts off as a love story with the Duchess secretly marrying the steward of the household Antonio; a man beneath her class who she has fallen in love with. This marriage immediately shows the Duchess’ “princely powers” by defying the wishes of her brothers‚ Ferdinand and the Cardinal‚ to not marry again
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inevitable fates within the tragic drama. Bosola is arguably the most important character within the play. He features in nearly every scene and has many soliloquys throughout the play. Within this scene the audience are given the opportunity to compare his interaction between both the Duchess and Ferdinand and see his inner turmoil between his ambition and his conscience. Webster highlights this inner turmoil and the moral change which is happening to Bosola by the language that he uses in the scene
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decision to re-marry. She marries her steward Antonio though the Duchess assures that she will not marry again. But her brother is right when he thinks that she will go against his will. So‚ on the Cardinal’s advice‚ he hires Bosola as a spy. The undoing of the Duchess starts when Bosola suspects her to be pregnant. He is a very cunning man. He waits for signs that confirm his suspicion. He even gives the Duchess apricots to see if she eats them eagerly as any pregnant woman might. His suspicion is confirmed
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murders of the Duchess and her children. The Duchess‚ a symbol of motherhood and light‚ is unfazed by these horrors because she believes her family already dead‚ but she does explain that “the earth” seems made “of flaming sulphur” (4.2.26). And when Bosola tells her she must keep living‚ she makes it clear that hell is truly on Earth—“That’s the greatest torture souls feel in hell‚/In hell: that they must live‚ and cannot die” (4.1.70-1)‚ The Cardinal and Ferdinand are particularly responsible for
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