A Comparison of Pride in King Lear and The Duchess of...

The Sin of Pride Exposed in King Lear, and The Duchess of Malfi In this brief monograph, we shall be hunting down and examining various creatures from the bestiary of Medieval/Renaissance thought. Among these are the fierce lion of imperious, egotistical power, a pair of fantastic peacocks, one of vanity, one of preening social status, and the docile lamb of humility. The lion and the peacocks are of the species known as pride, while the lamb is of an entirely different, in fact antithetical race, that of humility and forgiveness. The textual regions we shall be exploring include the diverse expanses, from palace to heath, of William Shakespeare, the dark, sinister Italy of John Webster, and the perfumed ladys chambers of Ben†¦show more content†¦Only pride bows to flattery, and Kent is in essence telling Lear that his pride is getting the better of him. Another aspect of pride which appears in King Lear, as well as Websters The Duchess of Malfi, is that of the preoccupation with reputation and social status. In the latter play, it can be seen in Ferdinands speech to the Duchess in act III, scene ii, in which he tells her an allegorical story about reputation, love, and death (See appendix). Given the Dukes choleric disposition and unnaturally obsessive fixation on his sisters sexual activity, it is not altogether certain how far his speech is motivated by pride and how much it is a product of another mortal sin (not treated here), lust. All the same, it is indicative of an overall world view in which pride of place is woven into the social fabric of the time. (Indeed, things are not so very different today, 400 years later--Plus ca change...) The Duchess offers up her own little allegorical tale at the end of act IV, scene iii in which she relates the fable of the salmon and the dogfish to her murderer-to-be, Bosola (see appendix). This speech is the perfect companion piece and point/counterpoint-style retort to Ferdinands paranoid parable. Where Ferdinand casts death as a mere supporting character in his story, the Duchess more rightly sees death, the net, as the great leveler, bringing an end to the foolish, proud scorn of great men for those bornShow MoreRelatedDuchess Of Malf Open Learn10864 Words   |  44 Pagesï » ¿John Webster, The Duchess of Malfi Introduction 3 Learning outcomes 3 Background 3 Description 4 Act 1: setting the scene 5 Courts ideal and real 5 Discussion 5 Description 8 Bosola the malcontent 8 Discussion 9 Marriage for love: family opposition 10 Discussion 10 Love and marriage: Antonio the steward 13 Discussion 14 Love and marriage: the Duchess 15 Description 16 Description 17 Discussion 19 Act 2: discovery 21 Ferdinand 21 Discussion 22 Conclusion 24 References 24 Further reading 25 Next