In the same speech the Duchess states, ‘we [those of noble blood] are forced to express our violent passions in riddles and in dreams, and leave the path of simple virtue’, she recognises she has ‘violent passions’ and sees no wrong in it, Ferdinand sees it as in inherent flaw in women, as did most men of the period, women were stereotyped as hot-blooded and ‘lusty’, a character trait embodied in the play by Julia, who typifies all the male views of women.
The Duchess’ repetition of ‘forced’ in her speech suggests that she sees it as inevitable that she marries Antonio and leaves tradition and ‘simple virtue’ behind – and that perhaps it is fate intervening, rather than a conscious decision made by her in order to defy the social normalities. However, this can be seen in the play as the Duchess’ hermatia, her fatal mistake which leads to her downfall, she fails to see the significance of their marriage and entirely underestimates her brothers, ‘Yet, should they know it, time will easily scatter the tempest’.
The Duchess puts her personal feelings before her state, showing perhaps that the spirit of woman reigns most in her at the start of the play. She allows her passions to overthrow rationality, something a male protagonist would typically not do, in fact it was thought that women were often irrational and did not have the same power of reasoning as men, (a contrast can be drawn between the Duchess, a female tragic hero, who spends little time in reflection of her actions, and male tragic heroes of the Sixteenth Century such as Hamlet and Macbeth who think deeply about themselves and constantly rationalise and reason about their actions). Another of the Duchess’ perhaps ‘female’ flaws, is her vulnerability to the misjudgement of people, such as her dismissal of her brothers’ potential cruelty and her mislead trust for Bosola in Act III Scene II, where she naïvely reveals that Antonio is her husband. Bosola completely over-flatters Antonio to the Duchess, ‘He was an excellent courtier’, ‘His breast was filled with perfection’, yet she is deceived by his false charm and exposes Antonio, ‘This good one you speak of is my husband’. This can also be interpreted as the Duchess’ hermatia, rather than her earlier decision to marry a man of unworthy parentage; it is a fatal mistake (although more in the short term) and more directly leads to her death. It is an error seemingly showing the spirit of woman reigning most in her, and it seems it is not until after these two enormous misjudgements that her spirit of greatness actually shines through.
The lead up to the Duchess’ death scene, Act IV Scene II moves very quickly, with short scenes at the end of Act III and the reversal of fortune for the Duchess, the peripeteia (according to Aristotle’s theory on the structure of tragedy which was typically adopted in Renaissance Tragedies) to build up suspense to her dignified, climactic and noble death. She is met by Bosola, disguised as a bellman, who would traditionally make a speech to the condemned in order to prepare them for death. Bosola’s speech is full of imagery contrasting images of disturbance and calm stillness, ‘A long war disturbed your mind, here your perfect peace is signed’. The use of rhyme added to the content of his speech gives an air of finality, and emphasises the inevitability of the Duchess’ death. Her response to this is very different to Cariola’s who panics and shrieks, ‘Hence villains, tyrants, murderers!’ she remains calm and accepting, ‘Farewell Cariola, In my last will I have not much to give’, and says of her executioners ‘I forgive them’ which makes her seem almost Christ-like in death. This inherent decorum of the Duchess shows the spirit of greatness reigns most in her, although it is uncertain until Act IV, her nobility is the principal trait of her character and although she inevitably has some of the spirit of woman in her, her ‘greatness’ is superior in her personality.
The following death of Cariola, where she makes up every excuse possible to avoid it, and is clearly afraid, ‘I am not prepared for’t! I will not die!’ emphasises the courage of the Duchess. Also Julia’s death, from kissing the Cardinal’s Bible, not only exposes the utter cruelty and hypocrisy of the Cardinal (and essentially therefore, the Church) especially to the audience, as the religious dress of the Cardinal would make it even more apparent, but also serves again to contrast with the Duchess. Julia is entirely the opposite in character to the Duchess and embodies all the stereotypes of women in the Jacobean time, as irrational, passionate, sex-obsessed (constantly mentioned by men in the play, such as Bosola when talking to the Old Lady, ‘the devil takes delight to hang at a woman’s girdle like a false rusty watch, that she cannot discern how the time passes’, suggesting women are so preoccupied with sex they do not realise time is passing) and greedy. As she dies, Julia states ‘I go I know not whither’, typically of a sinner, showing she is uncertain whether she is destined for heaven or hell, unlike the Duchess who is completely sure of herself and her going to heaven, ‘Who would be afraid on’t [death], knowing to meet such excellent company in th’other world’.
The difference between the Duchess and almost all the other characters can be seen in Webster’s use of animal imagery. While characters like Julia and the Cardinal are likened to hawks and toads, the ‘flatter’ing sychophants’ to insects and Ferdinand to a spider with a ‘foul black cobweb’, the Duchess is, throughout the play, described as small birds, specifically a lark, nightingale, and robin redbreast, ‘Didst thou ever see a lark in a cage’. This affiliates the Duchess with the more beautiful and good side of nature rather than the other characters. This again emphasises the idea of the Duchess’ as a great and noble character, who is trapped among these nasty corrupt characters.
The Duchess does have the spirit of woman in her, essentially shown by her longing for safety and love and her misjudged fatal mistakes in the first half of the play, which I think are due to her feminine weaknesses and underestimations of the inhumane cruelty of her brothers, and society. However, following her hermatia, she seems to become wiser, and perhaps realises the impossibility of her desire to have a separate, private family unit away from her public body as the sovereign of Malfi. Her nobility in death fully exposes her ‘spirit of greatness’ and proves that it reigns most in her.
