“A little point, a kind of nothing”: the final scene (v.v) of The Duchess of Malfi
The final scenes of Elizabethan tragedies often serve as résumés of the preceding action and dominant image patterns in the play. Webster’s relatively short (120 lines) final scene in The Duchess of Malfi not only brings the fatal dénouement, with the violent deaths of the main villains –Ferdinand,...
Gardado en:
| Publicado en: | URI:https://journals.openedition.org/asf, |
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| Autor Principal: | |
| Formato: | Article ou chapitre numérique |
| Idioma: | Anglais |
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Arrêt sur scène / Scene Focus
2023
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| Acceso en liña: | Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM |
| Résumé: | The final scenes of Elizabethan tragedies often serve as résumés of the preceding action and dominant image patterns in the play. Webster’s relatively short (120 lines) final scene in The Duchess of Malfi not only brings the fatal dénouement, with the violent deaths of the main villains –Ferdinand, the Cardinal, Bosola – but also the culmination in a series of reductive images –blackness, emptiness, mist, “a kind of nothing” – of the extremely rich and complex image texture of the entire play. It is Bosola, purveyor of so many images of corruption, mortality and nihilism throughout the play, who voices these ultimate, extreme visions of the eternal void. And Delio, the “normal” man, entrusted with the play’s closing lines, can only resort to an image of melting and utter annihilation. |
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