Interpretation of The Duchess of Malfi Based on the“Structure Model of Binary Opposition”

梅佳

1 Introduction

The “structure model of binary opposition”covers the universal concept of opposites， and it believes everything was kept in a hierarchical structure， such as reason and emotion， male and female， upper class and lower class， light and darkness， good and evil. In many classic drama works， the opposite concepts can be interpreted with the theory of binary opposition， so as to understand the deeper meaning of the target literary works more clearly. The Duchess of Malfi is the representative drama of John Webster in the seventeenth century， which can be considered as his classic tragedy. In The Duchess of Malfi， the theory of binary opposition can applied to analyze the contradictions and conflicts between the upper class and the lower class， male and female， and the unfair treatment of women in the patriarchal society.

2 Upper Class and Lower Class

The description of class consciousness and class disdain in The Duchess of Malfi by the John Webster are extremely obvious. It included not only the disdain of the upper class to the lower class， but also the strong class consciousness of the lower class people.

As representatives of the upper class， Ferdinand and the Cardinal have always held a disdainful attitude towards the lower class. When Bosola asked for rewards because he was jailed for seven years in order to serve the devil， Cardinal. However， for the upper class， the people at the bottom of society were born to serve them， and they can never ask for rewards from the men with noble blood. Once the people at the bottom overemphasize their value， they will be condemned as “dishonest”. The plot of Bosola which serving for devils seems to be a circulation. For the first time， he was sent to jail because of Cardinal， and he didnt benefit from the upper class; and for the second time， he was arranged by Ferdinand to kill the Duchess， on his second mission， he lost his life. In the Act 3， Ferdinand directly expressed his contempt to Antonio and describe Antonio as “a slave smelled of ink and counters”. As siblings， they even warned the Duchess never get her noble blood be polluted by such a slave as the blood of the bottom people was worthless and dirtier than that of Labans sheep.

Ironically， Bosola， as a member of the lower class， obeyed Ferdinands orders and killed Antonio， who had the same status as him. However， the noble Duchess protected Antonio because she has broken their class boundaries between she and a slave.

The contradiction between the upper class and the lower class reflects the social orientation of values， which reflects the decadent class consciousness of The Duchess of Malfi， and it also reveals the absurdity and satire of distorted values.

3 Male and Female

Males superiority over females are reflected obviously in The Duchess of Malfi. The Duchess belongs to the upper class and has a higher social status. However， even if she was a aristocrat female， she could never escape the common fate which most of the women faced in the feudal society： they are oppressed and controlled by the patriarchal social system. The widowed Duchess was destined to be a tragic victim under the patriarchal society when she decided to marry Antonio secretly. They tortured the Duchess mentally and physically， brutally killed her and strangled her two sons to death. The tragic fate of the Duchess had been a foregone conclusion since the beginning of the story.

4 Conclusion： Awakening Sense of Rebellion

From the perspective of the opposition of the upper class and the lower class in the structure model of binary opposition， the awakening sense of rebellion was mainly reflected by the villain， Bosola. He ended with inevitable death in the final bloody slaughter in The Duchess of Malfi. From the beginning， he was a slave of Ferdinand， but finally he killed his employer. This is a obvious symbol of his awakening of rebellious consciousness.

From the perspective of the opposition of the male and the female in the structure model of binary opposition， the awakening sense of rebellion was mainly reflected by the protagonist， the Duchess. The first demonstration of her resistance was when she argued with Ferdinand： “Diamonds are of most value， they say， that have passed through most jewelers hands.” She has accepted her identity as a woman and never believe women are cheap， over the left， women are as precious as diamonds. Secondly， she broke through the moral restriction of feudal patriarchal society， bravely crossed their class boundaries and married Antonio， which further reflected her awakening of consciousness of resisting patriarchal society.

Works Cited

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