SUMMERS, KAREN CRADY, Ph.D. Reading Incest - The University ...

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111 eyes dazzle; she died young” (IV.II). His vision of himself and his feelings toward the Duchess are flawed and warped; his blindness to his deeds proves an inadequate shield to his actions, for the repression of his guilt manifests itself in other ways. Ferdinand’s progression into madness is foreshadowed by the many immediate references to inhuman things. Bosola compares the brothers to a “plum tree . . . rich and o’erladen with fruit, but none but crows, pies, and caterpillars feed on them” (I.I) He would “hang on their ears like a horseleech, till I were full, and then drop off” (I.I). Bosola wants to improve his own situation by parasitically draining the Cardinal and the Duke: others thrive in this way, so “why not I in these dog-days?” (I.I). Dog days are the hottest days of the summer and believed to be an evil time "when the seas boiled, wine turned sour, dogs grew mad, and all creatures became languid, causing to man burning fevers, hysterics, and phrensies" 7 . Considering Ferdinand’s affliction at the end of the play, the reference to dogs is especially telling. And the Cardinal is “a melancholy churchman. / The spring in his face is nothing but the engend’ring of toads” (I.II) Delio, hearing these descriptions, realizes about the Duke that “the law to him / is like a foul, black cobweb to a spider” (I.II). Not only does the animal imagery increase, it also becomes more lowly forms of animal life; spiders and toads are loathsome to many people. As Ferdinand becomes increasingly mad, he orders Bosola to spy on the Duchess in his absence: 7 See Brady’s Clavis Calendarium, 1813.
112 BOSOLA. It seems you would create me One of your familiars. FERDINAND. Familiar! What 's that? BOSOLA. Why, a very quaint invisible devil in flesh,-- An intelligencer. (I.II) This casts Ferdinand into the role of witch. When he learns from Bosola’s letter that his sister is pregnant, and still ignorant of her marriage to Antonio, his madness increases. He refers to the letter as a “mandrake root 8 . . . [he has] grown mad with it” (II.II). The weight of animal and insect imagery and growing signs of madness evolve into a spectacular manifestation of lycanthropy. Having obtained a secret key to his sister’s bedroom, Ferdinand steals in secretly when she is alone and lamenting to herself: DUCHESS. For know, whether I am doom'd to live or die, I can do both like a prince. FERDINAND. Die, then, quickly! Giving her a poniard. (III.II) This is almost a scene of rape: a woman alone, an unseen man entering her private quarters, the phallic dagger, and, again, the quick “death” suggesting sexual climax work together to give the scene a highly sexual charge. That the assailant is her brother reflects his internal debasement; as Duke, he represents the ruling class, suggesting its degradation. There is a parallel between this play and Gower’s tale of Canace; her father the king offered her a dagger with the implication that she should use it on herself as punishment for her relationship with her brother. As here, the focus of that tale is on the 8 Mandrake, a member of the nightshade family and thus hallucinogenic, has a root system that sometimes resembles a human torso. According to legend, when the root is dug up it screams and kills everyone who hears it. Its association with madness is likely due to its psychotropic properties.
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SUMMERS, KAREN CRADY, Ph.D. Reading
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READING INCEST: TYRANNY, SUBVERSION
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APPROVAL PAGE This dissertation has
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TABLE OF CONTENTS Page CHAPTER I. R
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2 of it, despite its familiarity to
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4 about incest was influenced by th
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6 clarification. Pope Gregory II ad
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8 sibling, and mother-son. 2 She no
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10 is viewed by both. Incest in eig
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12 subverts both the social and the
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14 CHAPTER II ‘SWICHE UNKYNDE ABH
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16 a book to each of the seven dead
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18 Richard” (111). The dedication
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20 an idea familiar to Gower’s me
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22 laboring-folk and Piers, in retu
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24 introduction of Amans, the unsuc
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26 learns. Augustine takes up the i
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28 of the king, whose primary duty
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30 bribed two priests to convince P
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32 story of incest implied, averted
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34 Again, her response impassions h
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36 in the most extreme sense. When
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38 in the first book, and relates t
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40 benign, sympathetic interpretati
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42 and Machaire, and at the same ti
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44 To finish the turn in the narrat
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46 oghne prest” (V.1382-3). Geniu
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48 incestuous. When she vows to tel
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50 epilogue that acts as a prayer f
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52 Of wommen were absent as thanne;
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54 speak at length and discover the
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56 Biblical incest, mostly unjudged
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58 of a king and the function of la
Page 67 and 68: 60 country. But the incest—the wo
Page 69 and 70: 62 As chivalry is a controlling the
Page 71 and 72: 64 conflicting demands of love and
Page 73 and 74: 66 material for adaptation or trans
Page 75 and 76: 68 four sons, Gawain, Gaheris, Agra
Page 77 and 78: 70 can not be ameliorated, at least
Page 79 and 80: 72 killed save Mordred, who was fou
Page 81 and 82: 74 surrogate son-knights. Cherewatu
Page 83 and 84: 76 Lo ye all Englysshemen, se ye ha
Page 85 and 86: 78 demonstrated to all present on t
Page 87 and 88: 80 corruption that plagues the Pend
Page 89 and 90: 82 CHAPTER III ‘INCEST IS IN ME
Page 91 and 92: 84 wished to rid himself of Anne Bo
Page 93 and 94: 86 societal forces. The plays focus
Page 95 and 96: 88 in the family and on a national
Page 97 and 98: 90 reputation shifted such that vie
Page 99 and 100: 92 comes not from an instinctive ap
Page 101 and 102: 94 virtue, resists and is made whol
Page 103 and 104: 96 willingness to sacrifice the liv
Page 105 and 106: 98 Rejection of God and divine orde
Page 107 and 108: 100 is as an “ungodly sickness”
Page 109 and 110: 102 exercise her own agency. Though
Page 111 and 112: 104 potential problem of having a f
Page 113 and 114: 106 The plots of these three plays
Page 115 and 116: 108 play, the Duchess will have bee
Page 117: 110 As we have seen, the Duchess us
Page 121 and 122: 114 But as Ferdinand’s outrages i
Page 123 and 124: 116 knife as phallus. Eros (Cupid)
Page 125 and 126: 118 posed by his slide into unreaso
Page 127 and 128: 120 and, as Kenneth Graham notes, i
Page 129 and 130: 122 Castle of Otranto displays the
Page 131 and 132: 124 Theodore is killed a group of k
Page 133 and 134: 126 memory, and regard your highnes
Page 135 and 136: 128 first Gothic playwright, publis
Page 137 and 138: 130 the castle is there primarily t
Page 139 and 140: 132 strength, and the men enter the
Page 141 and 142: 134 God bless me; and pass’d on.
Page 143 and 144: 136 familiar. It is more usual for
Page 145 and 146: 138 sensation of horror in the audi
Page 147 and 148: 140 foil to the Countess, with her
Page 149 and 150: 142 And when he knelt, weeping, to
Page 151 and 152: 144 Castle of Otranto, the knife is
Page 153 and 154: 146 and political realities during
Page 155 and 156: 149 destruction and disaster. One o
Page 157 and 158: 151 subvert both patriarchy and mon
Page 159 and 160: 153 BIBLIOGRAPHY Aers, David,ed. Me
Page 161 and 162: 155 Classen, Albrecht, ed. Violence
Page 163 and 164: 157 Ford, Jane M. Patriarchy and In
Page 165 and 166: 159 Lenz, Joseph. The Promised End:
Page 167 and 168: 161 Riddy, Felicity. Sir Thomas Mal
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