Double Meanings in The Duchess of Malfi

I am one of those people who makes a lot of noise when they get involved in a story, which is why this weekend was an interesting time to be in or near my dorm room. I spent much of the weekend reading The Duchess of Malfi and reacting--vocally--to whatever tickled my fancy. Around Act 4, however, I came to a somewhat disconcerting realization: that my favorite parts of the play (judging from my reactions) were the parts where characters were playing with double-meanings, generally in a pretty sick way. I'm not sure what this says about me, but I think it's interesting to consider why Webster puns in this way, especially considering the character of the times in which he was writing.

The fun starts when Bosola assures the Duchess and Antonio that Ferdinand wants "his head in a business" and would rather have "his heart than his money" (3.5.27, 33), but it continues in times when Antonio says things like, "My duchess is asleep now, / And her little ones, I hope sweetly" (5.3.39-40). This is a pretty serious case of dramatic irony, since the entire audience knows that the duchess has been killed, but Antonio holds out hope that she is alive until Bosola tells him that she has died, right before he follows her. Also, right before Cariola is strangled, she tries to stop them by claiming to be engaged; at these words, the executioner leers that the noose is her "wedding ring" (4.2.228). These double-meanings are all really clever, but they're also incredibly dark. Perhaps the coolest occurrence of double-meaning in The Duchess of Malfi occurs when Antonio and Delio are in the courtyard, and the courtyard echoes back really ominous parts of Antonio's speech (5.3.9-42). I was just blown away with how clever this word play was, and I remember wondering why other playwrights didn't do this...until I remembered that they did, Shakespeare especially.

So why did I notice the word play more in The Duchess of Malfi than in Twelfth Night? I don't know what this says about me, but I think it's because I enjoy sick word play more than I do sex-related word play, and Shakespeare is known for his clever sex puns. However, this got me thinking a lot about how Webster's use of dark word play and imagery is very indicative of his age of melancholy writing, whereas Shakespeare's Twelfth Night is at the beginning of this movement and is just beginning to introduce the melancholy voice. In some ways, The Duchess of Malfi seems to be an inverted version of Twelfth Night, where Twelfth Night is primarily fun and outrageous with some hard melancholy themes layered in, whereas The Duchess of Malfi has light-hearted sections (generally where Antonio and the duchess first fall in love, and where it turns out that Antonio's son will be able to take over the duchy), eclipsed by the overwhelming melancholy of the play. It seems as if both playwrights are following conventions of their times, but stretching them so that they can make a point: in Shakespeare's case, that there are important, deep themes to think about; and in Webster's case, that true love and goodness can still exist and continue on to rule the next generation.

At any rate, I really enjoyed the word play in The Duchess of Malfi, and I thought that it was interesting to compare it to Shakespeare's word play and consider what that means regarding their respective arguments and time periods. While my roommate is now a little disturbed that I get so much enjoyment out of dark puns, I believe that this was a worthwhile focus to take while reading The Duchess of Malfi.