1. Jacobean Revenge Tragedy
Lesson 6
LO: To explore the character of Bosola through his dialogue in Act 2, Scene 1.

2. Reading Log Don’t forget to complete your Reading Log for Act 1
You should include:
Major events
Character profiles + relationships
Themes: secrecy, marriage, nobility
Key quotations (use Padlet too)
Interesting language: puns/classical and biblical references, stichomythia, iamabic pentameter etc.
Dramatic conventions: arras
Symbols: ring
Context: corrupt courts, Elizabethan personality types, medical knowledge, religious tensions, witchcraft, italian setting, social hierarchy, position of women in society
Any critical views to support any of the above.
Links to Rossetti (note reference to ‘winking’ in No Thank you John!)

3. Quick Task
“Bosola impresses us immediately as being ambiguous, and this ambiguity I assume is wholly intentional on Webster's part. The old view, recently resurrected by Clifford Leech in a book which should have been authoritative, that Webster is simply careless and/or forgetful, must, I think, be rejected. Certainly we are not justified in accusing a writer of carelessness or incompetence until we have made a substantial attempt to understand his ambiguous or clouded passages. The ambiguous presentation of the character begins in the first act, when two seemingly completely contradictory views of Bosola are presented, in three speeches, two by Antonio, and one by Delio. Antonio speaks first: Here comes Bosola The onely Court-Gall: yet I observe his rayling Is not for simple love of Piety: Indeede he rayles at those things which he wants, Would be as leacherous, covetous, or proud, Bloody, envious, as any man, If he had meanes to be so [I. i ]. p in Thayer, C. G. (1957), ‘The Ambiguity of Bosola’, Studies of Philology 54(2), pp [Accessed 19 February 2016]

4. Bosola- Malcontent or something more?
What is your opinion of Bosola and why?
Find a quote from the play which you think underpins the idea of ‘ambiguity’.
The following should help you to consider this question:
Why does Bosola seek revenge upon the Cardinal?
Why is Bosola prepared to spy on the Duchess, to assist Ferdinand to take her prisoner and to organise her execution?
Delio speech line 68-71
Antonio72-79
Trapped working for corrupt and powerful men?

5. Bosola – the story so far
A ‘black malcontent’ whose ‘foul melancholy /Will poison all his goodness’
Has knowledge and intelligence without status
Come up with a list of words to describe his character
Honest, rough, innocent, bitter, discreet, clever, unambitious for status, does not submit, untrusted, unafraid, feared, servant, angry, careful, angst-ridden, chancer

6. What’s in a name? Bosola-
Bos= protuberance on a body, prominence or knob, enlarged part of a shaft, conduit running out of the belly of a figure or slang for masterliness
Ola=diminutive (unusually small)
Together they are a paradox

7. Text Focus
Pg 36-38
What is significant about what Bosola says in the above pages?
Why is he so rude to the midwife? Is he just anti-feminist? Or is it something else?
Look carefully at the word play used when discussing the Duchess.
Critical reading: p refer to Randall, D, ‘The Rank and Earthy Background of Certain Physical Symbols in “The Duchess of Malfi”’, Renaissance Drama, New Series, 18 pp
He sees her as the end result of the corruption he rails against

8. Check
‘In the opening scenes of The Duchess of Malfi, the most compelling character is Bosola.’ In light of this view, explore ways in which Webster presents Bosola.
Include comments about the Malcontent in the Jacobean era.
Significance of name
Think carefully about writer’s purpose.
Analyse language/punctuation/structure/line length in depth.
Link wider readings (critical views)
Context
In pairs, read another response to the above questions.
Peer assess using the mark scheme.
WWW and EBI + DIT
Edit your paragraph to improve it further.
Key question: can we be sure of anything about Bosola?? ambiguity
Tragic figure: I am your creature
Faithful – but faithfulness is to tyranny
There is good in him, seen by Delio and Antonio
Key word: solipsism; nothing more important than me
People are pawns, women objects, powerful men are envied
A doomed revenger
Timed response