Introduction : « La Duchesse d’Amalfi, des humeurs baroques à une passion moderne ? »
Webster’s tragedy, The Duchess of Malfi (1613), shows the weight of the fourteen-century-old Greek conception of compelling passions motivated by « humours », especially the black humour or melancholy. It stages a world still binding together human motivations and the material elements constituting...
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Centre de Recherche "Texte et Critique de Texte"
2019-01-01
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| Series: | Sillages Critiques |
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| Online Access: | https://journals.openedition.org/sillagescritiques/7923 |
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| author | Gisèle Venet |
| author_facet | Gisèle Venet |
| author_sort | Gisèle Venet |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Webster’s tragedy, The Duchess of Malfi (1613), shows the weight of the fourteen-century-old Greek conception of compelling passions motivated by « humours », especially the black humour or melancholy. It stages a world still binding together human motivations and the material elements constituting the Cosmos. The black humour determines the actions and passions of the Cardinal and Duke Ferdinand, brothers of the Duchess. It does so all the more as they seek to prevent their sister, a young widow, from wedding again, by hiring an “intelligencer” or spy who is himself prone to the same distemper. Bosola qualifies indeed as a malcontent or a machiavel, two popular figures of the English stage motivated by melancholy. Webster uses his stage to dissect the pathologically perverse and dominating brothers as in a « Barber-Chirurgeon's-hall », with Bosola as the actor and stage-manager of their passions. Away from this dark world of melancholy humours, the Duchess’s bold courting and legitimate, however secret, marriage to her superintendent enables her to create a space of intimate utopia where the couple is free from these alienating passions and humours. Yet, the dystopian antiquated world of melancholy passions destroys her new way of loving as the Duchess is persecuted by her brothers whose only will is revenge. Her act of dying makes vain the very predication on vanity that Bosola tries to implement to please her brothers. Because of its beautiful simplicity, her death enacts a modern form of aesthetics, that of the sublime. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-65d454efa2df4f3c84a91badf62b9b34 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1272-3819 1969-6302 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2019-01-01 |
| publisher | Centre de Recherche "Texte et Critique de Texte" |
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| series | Sillages Critiques |
| spelling | doaj-art-65d454efa2df4f3c84a91badf62b9b342025-01-30T13:47:05ZengCentre de Recherche "Texte et Critique de Texte"Sillages Critiques1272-38191969-63022019-01-012610.4000/sillagescritiques.7923Introduction : « La Duchesse d’Amalfi, des humeurs baroques à une passion moderne ? »Gisèle VenetWebster’s tragedy, The Duchess of Malfi (1613), shows the weight of the fourteen-century-old Greek conception of compelling passions motivated by « humours », especially the black humour or melancholy. It stages a world still binding together human motivations and the material elements constituting the Cosmos. The black humour determines the actions and passions of the Cardinal and Duke Ferdinand, brothers of the Duchess. It does so all the more as they seek to prevent their sister, a young widow, from wedding again, by hiring an “intelligencer” or spy who is himself prone to the same distemper. Bosola qualifies indeed as a malcontent or a machiavel, two popular figures of the English stage motivated by melancholy. Webster uses his stage to dissect the pathologically perverse and dominating brothers as in a « Barber-Chirurgeon's-hall », with Bosola as the actor and stage-manager of their passions. Away from this dark world of melancholy humours, the Duchess’s bold courting and legitimate, however secret, marriage to her superintendent enables her to create a space of intimate utopia where the couple is free from these alienating passions and humours. Yet, the dystopian antiquated world of melancholy passions destroys her new way of loving as the Duchess is persecuted by her brothers whose only will is revenge. Her act of dying makes vain the very predication on vanity that Bosola tries to implement to please her brothers. Because of its beautiful simplicity, her death enacts a modern form of aesthetics, that of the sublime.https://journals.openedition.org/sillagescritiques/7923sublimehumourtragedymelancholyAristotleThe Duchess of Malfi |
| spellingShingle | Gisèle Venet Introduction : « La Duchesse d’Amalfi, des humeurs baroques à une passion moderne ? » Sillages Critiques sublime humour tragedy melancholy Aristotle The Duchess of Malfi |
| title | Introduction : « La Duchesse d’Amalfi, des humeurs baroques à une passion moderne ? » |
| title_full | Introduction : « La Duchesse d’Amalfi, des humeurs baroques à une passion moderne ? » |
| title_fullStr | Introduction : « La Duchesse d’Amalfi, des humeurs baroques à une passion moderne ? » |
| title_full_unstemmed | Introduction : « La Duchesse d’Amalfi, des humeurs baroques à une passion moderne ? » |
| title_short | Introduction : « La Duchesse d’Amalfi, des humeurs baroques à une passion moderne ? » |
| title_sort | introduction la duchesse d amalfi des humeurs baroques a une passion moderne |
| topic | sublime humour tragedy melancholy Aristotle The Duchess of Malfi |
| url | https://journals.openedition.org/sillagescritiques/7923 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT giselevenet introductionladuchessedamalfideshumeursbaroquesaunepassionmoderne |