1. Jacobean Revenge Tragedy
Lesson 19
Act 4 Scene 2 The Death of a Duchess
LO: To compare and contrasts the deaths of Cariola and The Duchess.
To explore the theme and context of madness

2. T.S Eliot
Webster was much possessed by death And saw the skull beneath the skin; And breastless creatures under ground Leaned backward with a lipless grin.
Daffodil bulbs instead of balls Stared from the sockets of the eyes! He knew that thought clings round dead limbs Tightening its lusts and luxuries.
AO5: what can we learn about Webster from Eliot’s 20th Century view?
How might it be relevant to our understanding of TDOM?

3. Text focus lines

4. The Duchess’ response to death
She is matter of fact
She forgives her executioners
She declines to pray
She kneels
AO3 Context
What were Christian beliefs about death? Consider beliefs about the soul, judgement and heaven

5. Cariola’s response to death
List the reasons she gives for why she must not die.
Find quotes from the Duchess that show the contrast of reaction and response to death.
What is the dramatic effect of such a contrast?
She bites and scratches!
I am not prepared for’t! I will not die!

6. Bosola’s response
Read Ferdinand’s speech lines What does he seem to be suggesting?
Now read Bosola’s speech lines What are his feelings at this point about:
Ferdinand and the Cardinal
The Duchess
Himself

7. A brief revival Why does the Duchess revive?
What is the dramatic effect of this?
What is your response?

8. A critical approach Positive Negative Poetically powerful Improbably
Tragic vision
Grossly excessive violence for effect
A masterpiece
laborious
Great theatre
Decadent and immoral
Has a command of terror
No moral purpose
No poet morally nobler
Lacks humanity
Ramshackle loose structure

9. Check your learning
What is the significance of this scene and what do we learn about the following characters?:
Ferdinand
Bosola
The Duchess
Mini essay: Write up your response with quotations, adding relevant context and other interpretations
AO1: tragedy, revenge, malcontent, symbolism
AO3: religious beliefs, Shakespeare, drama as literary form
AO5: Renaissance views, Romantic views, Post Modernist views, your views.
Consider that the main character has now died… what problem might this pose for Webster??

10. AO3 further reading
Context research – Elizabethan attitudes to madness.
They mirror Webster’s characters: fantasies of witchcraft, lust, corruption