Notesale: Turn your study into money

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English literature Revision: Mock, 22nd May 2018Section BHow far would you agree that Webster and Williams alike in “creating settings and
locations which speak volumes about social attitudes” in The Duchess of Malfi and A
Streetcar Named Desire? [60]
Settings & Key
Themes:
Dark and Light
imagery-

The Duchess of Malfi:

“she stains the time past
and lights the time to come”
In both plays light is ~ in this sense, Antonio
symbolic to
associates the Duchess’s
represent the
virtue and nobility with the
differences
light
...

that she might not be fully
However, the
Duchess is seen to aware of the danger that is
be more associated to come
...
As a result,
we could argue that is symbolizing that the
Duchess’s virtue has been
even though the
removed, and the removal
Duchess was
equally deceptive,
of her security
...

subjects the Duchess to
...
In
Malfi, it acts as the
and secrecy
...
As a
which implies that

A Streetcar Named Desire:

Connections: context

“I can’t stand a naked
lightbulb” ~ this rejection to
the light, can also be
Blanche’s rejection to seeing
the truth behind her fantasy
...

When hiding in the darkness,
Blanche becomes a
deceptive figure in which she
uses as her security from her
true age, intentions, nature,
and guilt
...


Malfi- the contrasting
association of Ferdinand
with the darkness, may
portray his darker
Machiavellian qualities, and
his ability to deceive his own
family for his personal
political gain
...
It is also
seen in scene 4, when
Blanche is isolated from
Stella through the lighting
when the lights ha “[a
lingering brightness on their
embrace]”
...

Malfi- they use curtains as a
method of concealment
...

Both of the women are of
higher class (Blanche and
Stella) who descended from
former plantation owners
...

Blanche closes the curtains,
which could imply that she is
concealing her true femininity
from the men, in fear or in a
vicious nature
...


concealment ultimately
leads to tragedy
...


“it is fitting for a soldier arise
to be a prince, but not
Both plays
necessary a prince descend
consist of the
to a captain” ~ castruchio
tensions between suggests that that Antonio
the class’s
...
From a
quiet where the ruler is a
Marxist
perspective, class soldier” ~ castruchio gives
divisions can be
Antonio a warning that
seen as the
warmongering and ‘action’
source of tragedy leads to disorder in the
for the upper
state
...

“Raise yourself, or if you
please, my hand to help
you: so” ~ when marrying
Antonio, the Duchess can’t
have him down there
physically and in rank
...
And she uses the love
she has for him to put him
there
...

there is in
Webster’s, as in
In keeping her as a widow,
Malfi, marriage
he is able to maintain
takes a form of
control over her and her
control and a
estate
...
Even also be seen as his desire to
though in Stella’s
control the Duchess as a
marriage she is
manifestation of his
restricted (lack of
incestuous desires for her,
independent
preventing her from having
finances) by law
Class Divisions-

2

“[Mitch…continues through
the portieres]” ~ during this
scene, Mitch repeatedly
passes this, which could
suggest that he has more of a
feminine nature and is more
sympathetic towards women
...
This implies that
she thinks of him to be stupid
...


“Napoleonic code” ~ in this
reference to the civil code, he
emphasizes that, “what
belongs to the wife also
belongs to the husband and
vice versa”
...
You could say, from
this perspective, that
marriage in 1940’s America
was viewed as more equal to

While the men are of
working class
...


Malfi- characters are put into
the great chain of being, and
there are constant
reminders of hierarchy and
how things should be in a
“fixed order”
...
However, the
Duchess asks Antonio to
rise and be by her side in
marriage and rank
...

After the civil war and world
wars, there was increasing
conflict between Old
America, which was based
on slavery and aristocracy,
and then the modern age,
which was based on
industrialism and the
working class
...
However, its
contents had influenced
many aspects of the
European and American
law
...


any sexual relationships
because he can’t have her
...
Could be
in it for the money?

Male Patriarchy
Proclamations-

“[gives he the poniard] Die
then” ~ this acts as a
symbol for male patriarchy,
as when Ferdinand
threatens the Duchess with
their father’s poniard to
remind her of her role in
society, her status in the
face of her feminine
sexuality which is embodied
in her secret marriage
...
He takes control of her
in a very dominant way
...

“[Hurls the plate on the floor]”
~ the dismissal of his
domestic and physical
assertion of dominance
...

“Stanley might represent the
more animalistic presence”
– Burks
Malfi- the use of allegory
links to the influence of
mortality in plays, in which
the characters’ moral
qualities are often
personified

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