VIOLENT WORDS

The emphasis given to words is important, as the plays are played in front of an audience, avoiding censorship is essential so it is important for playwrights to carefully choose the words they use. That is why violent vocabulary is significant in these plays. Some entire dialogues have violent connotations. Some sort of violence seemed to be everywhere in the Renaissance society, as "People saw it every day, on the scaffolds and gibbet, especially in the midst of sectarian strife"¹¹².

In the Early Modern period, many tools, such as pamphlets, polemics and even poetry, were used to express discontentment and to intensify popular violence¹¹³. As the theatre is inspired by what happens in the society, it is not surprising that the violence was used as a main theme in the theatre of the time.

To enter more deeply into the analysis of the plays it is essential to deal with the treatment given to women, and more particularly, how they are seen and how the male characters talk about them. The main observation is about the change of behaviours towards women throughout the plays. At first, the male characters welcome the main female characters (Isabella, Annabella and the Duchess) as they are not a threat and they are obedient and kind. They do not see any wickedness in them, for instance in Measure for Measure, after their first encounter Angelo calls Isabella a "virtuous maid" (2.3.133). In 'Tis pity she's a whore, Act I Scene 2 as Soranzo – through the intervention of his servant Vasques – and Grimaldi fight for the love of Annabella, she is the centre of male desires, a status that she does not assume anymore at the end of the play. Concerning the Duchess, at the very beginning her brother Ferdinand does not consider her as able to make her own decision as it is shown in Act I Scene 1 when he talks with Bosola about the Duchess possible remarriage:

"I give you that

To i'th' court, here, and observe the Duchess:

To note all the particulars of her 'haviour, What suitors do solicit her for marriage

112 Review by R.W BUSHNELL of ‘Horrid Spectacle: Violation in the Theater of Early Modern England by Deborah G. Burks’. Renaissance Studies, vol. 20, no. 3, June 2006, p.437.

113 Ibid, p.437.

And whom she best affects: she's a young widow, I would not have her marry again." (1.1.116)

In this scene, Ferdinand is obsessed with his desire to control his sister, under the pretext of protecting her, he tries to control the Duchess' relationships. He even does not want her to marry again and his jealousy makes him hire Bosola to spy on his sister. As for Antonio, her future husband and current master of household, he considers her of "such noble virtue", naming her "the right noble Duchess" (1.1.114).

Nonetheless, male characters who see no threat in female characters at first sight are the ones who finally treat them violently when women do not follow the male expectations.

It can clearly be observed with the word "whore" that appears eight times during the argument between Soranzo and Annabella in Act IV scene 3 of 'Tis pity she's a whore, amongst other insults such as "strumpet" or "damnable monster". This scene is very relevant concerning the verbal violence that women endure as Soranzo threatens Annabella to death such as in "Thus will / I pull thy hair, and thus I'll drag / Thy lust-belepered body through the dust" (4.3.219). The violence of this statement is characterised by the use of the word

"belepered" that refers to the leprosy disease. As it is combined with the word "lust", Soranzo puts the lust and the leprosy in the same level of infection. According to him, Annabella is infected by lust and can possibly transmit it to him. Thus, the lust becomes a disease, that she has caught by having a sexual intercourse, and which contrasts with the purity expected from her as a young bride. Moreover, in the Old Testament of the Bible, leprosy is also a disease that requires people infected to be excluded from the community¹¹⁴. It can also be viewed as a sin-cursed disease because of Adam's and Eve's sins¹¹⁵. And as it is related to death, this may be a prediction of Annabella's death, a death related to her own lust.

The last sentence pronounced by the Cardinal is just as hard because he judges Annabella's behaviour only: "Who could not say, 'Tis pity she's a whore?" as if she is the only person to blame for the deaths and the chaos of the play.

In Measure for Measure the verbal violence seems to be reduced as the threat of death is not directly led towards Isabella but towards her brother, against whom Angelo

114 Cline, Austin, et al. ‘What Does the Bible Say About Leprosy and Lepers?’ Learn Religions, https://www.learnreligions.com/what-is-leprosy-248632. Accessed 15 May 2019.

115 Gillen, Allan L., ‘Biblical Leprosy: Shedding Light on the Disease That Shuns’. Answers in Genesis, https://answersingenesis.org/biology/disease/biblical-leprosy-shedding-light-on-the-disease-that-shuns/. Accessed 21 May 2019.

never ceased his threatening, repeating over and over sentences such as "he must die", "he cannot live", "he must die tomorrow".

The Duchess of Malfi is the play that identifies the most the verbal violence as the

"linguistic violence is a characteristic trait of Ferdinand's and the Cardinal's vocabulary"¹¹⁶. And each time they discuss together, the violence is shown such as in Act II Scene 5 when they talk about the future of their sister "Cursed creature!", "witches" (2.5.138), "I could kill her now" (2.5.139). In the case of the Duchess, she is called "whore" when she talks with Ferdinand in Act I scene 1:

"Duchess – Diamonds are of most value,

They say, that have passed through most jewellers' hands.

Ferdinand – Whores, by that rule, are precious." (1.1.117)

In that scene, Ferdinand already threatens his sister about a possible remarriage without his consent. If she remarries she exposes herself to be relegated to a prostitute level.

Furthermore, the word 'death' deals with the entire plays and the violence that is linked to it appears like the sword of Damocles above the head of women. Female behaviours towards desire lead to men's violence and the threat of death. There is a link between death and desire¹¹⁷. The terms used to talk about someone who has an orgasm is "the little death", which reinforces the connection between death and sexuality. Thus, in the three plays, to enjoy sexuality exposes the characters to a death sentence, for instance Claudio who is condemned to death by Angelo for his sexual intercourse with Julietta.

Moreover, this link can be easily seen in The Duchess of Malfi with the image of the fire used by Ferdinand. He uses this image to talk about or to the Duchess, associating the fire with sexuality:

" FERDINAND – Go to, mistress!

'Tis not your whore's milk that shall quench my wild-fire, But your whore's blood." (2.5.138)

Ferdinand reveals that he knows about the Duchess' children by using a comparison with the "whore's milk" and the blood. However, this connection between milk and blood announces the near death of the Duchess due to her marriage and pregnancies. There is also a double-entendre with "wild-fire" which might allude both to his anger and to his sexual

116 P. DROUET and W.C. CAROLL (dir.), and al; op.cit., p.249.

117 C. SILVERSTONE, "New directions: Fatal Attraction, Desire, Anatomy and Death in Tis Pity she's a whore" in C. LUCKYJ. The Duchess of Malfi. Bloomsbury, 2011, p.87.

desire for his sister. Ferdinand sort of admits his sexual desire towards his sister, confessing that he could imagine her making love:

"Talk to me somewhat, quickly, Or my imagination will carry me

To see her in the shameful act of sin" (2.5.138)

In this scene, he does not consider his own action – which is to imagine his sister having sexual intercourse – as shameful. He only emphasises the fact that the sexual intercourses that the Duchess has are shameful.