Bracciano's Vittoria Nudity

The embodiment of social discord, Vittoria acts as a catalyst and source of conflict between competing discourses of morality, yet does not centre in her own tragedy. She states ‘I scorn to hold my life/ At yours or any man’s entreaty’; having had to use her sexuality for social mobility, she abhors the idea of her existence continuing to be dependent on men. She has suffered at the actions of men such as Bracciano who promised to ‘seat [her] above law and above scandal.’ The assumption he is above the law indicates arrogance; although powerful Bracciano is subject to the force of sexual desire. The unjust punishment of Vittoria contrasts the courteous treatment of Bracciano; Francisco offers a chair to ‘his lordship’ but Bracciano instead sits on the ground. The act of laying ‘a rich gown’ is an echoing motif which creates a fluid …show more content…
A thematic conflicting of forces, characteristic of medieval morality plays with definitive good and evil components, reflects Jacobean issues of changing authority, in particular the conflict between King James I, parliament, and church powers; the political instability within this Italian court mirrors that of the Jacobean.
Though women are excluded from political environments, they are essential to their stability. It could be argued Vittoria is presented as an archetypal transgressive female within the framework of Jacobean patriarchy. Dr June Waudby states The White Devil is a ‘pervasive and coercive text’ , a cautionary tale predicated on the necessity of containing female sexuality. Women’s increasing power to inherit and control wealth, as a result of being pivotal to the