In The Duchess Of Malfi Webster portrays the downfall of the Duchess. Explore and Examine the key scenes where these transitions take place.

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In The Duchess Of Malfi Webster portrays the downfall of the Duchess. Explore and Examine the key scenes where these transitions take place. From the onset of the play the audience do not have to wait long until we are made aware that some sort of downfall towards the Duchess is going to take place when Ferdinand makes his motives clear, “She’s a young widow, I will not have her marry again”. However, before the downfall can take place, Webster cleverly builds up the Duchess’s status and portrays her as having a patriarchal, powerful air around her, which is shown through her bold declaration and profound statement that those that are “born great” are “forced to woo”. It is this climax of power that is needed to occur by Webster to enable a downfall to happen, without the suspense built up by Webster, the downfall of the Duchess wouldn’t have nearly as great an effect on the audience. We are made aware of the transition of the Duchess’s downfall in Act 1, Scene 1 when the Duchess makes the first advances in bringing about her own downfall when she chooses love with Antonio causing the divide in their conflicting statuses which will have adverse effects on both there lives, which society in the Jacobean period would have regarded as an immoral relationship. So, although it would seem most likely to argue that the other macabre characters such as the evil Bosola and the conniving Ferdinand were the main catalysts in bringing about the Duchesses downfall, it seems that the Duchess actually sparks the transition herself without realisation. Although, the Duchess is the hero in the play she also has a tragic flaw which is the main cause of her downfall. It could be argued that her flaw is her persistent need for power and her love for Antonio could be just a way of not conforming to the expected role she is meant to fill, which is reflected in her powerful

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