The Duchess of Malfi Vs A Midsummer Night’s Dream The female characters in William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night’s Dream and John Webster’s The Duchess of Malfi mirror each other. The Duchess and Hermia show courage and determination when standing up to their oppressors. Cariola and Helena, when confronted with authority, submit to it. Regardless of the strength of the women, however, genre determines their fate -- those in the comedy live happily ever after, whereas, those in the tragedy do not live at all.
The Duchess rarely gives into her oppressors. When her brothers try to sway her away from her marriage with Antonio, she disregards them. “Shall this move me? If all my royal kindred / Lay in my way unto this marriage, / I’d make them …show more content…
When Ferdinand and the Cardinal kill the Duchess, Cariola professes her devotion to the Duchess. Before the men kill Cariola, she gives them excuses as to why they should not kill her, “I will not die, I must not; I am contracted / To a young gentleman. . . If you kill me now, / I am damn’d; I have not been to confession / This two years. . . I am quick with child” (IV, ii, 197). This proves that she lied about her devotion to the Duchess, giving in to the men confronting her. Helena does similar actions; she completely devotes herself to Demetrius. She gives in to the men in her life. “You draw me, you hard-hearted adamant; / But yet you draw not iron, for my heart / Is true as steel: leave you your power to draw, / And I shall have no power to follow you” (II, i, 570). She allows the men to walk all over her. The women in A Midsummer Night’s Dream and The Duchess of Malfi mirror each other. Even though Helena and Cariola have similar personalities, and Hermia, the Duchess, their end turns out very different according to the play genre. Even if they both submit to men, Helena lives happily ever after while Cariola dies. Hermia and the Duchess both stand up for themselves and ignore the men’s instructions; however, Hermia gets to marry her love while the Duchess gets killed because of her love. The genre of the stories ultimately decide the women’s
The Duchess rarely gives into her oppressors. When her brothers try to sway her away from her marriage with Antonio, she disregards them. “Shall this move me? If all my royal kindred / Lay in my way unto this marriage, / I’d make them …show more content…
When Ferdinand and the Cardinal kill the Duchess, Cariola professes her devotion to the Duchess. Before the men kill Cariola, she gives them excuses as to why they should not kill her, “I will not die, I must not; I am contracted / To a young gentleman. . . If you kill me now, / I am damn’d; I have not been to confession / This two years. . . I am quick with child” (IV, ii, 197). This proves that she lied about her devotion to the Duchess, giving in to the men confronting her. Helena does similar actions; she completely devotes herself to Demetrius. She gives in to the men in her life. “You draw me, you hard-hearted adamant; / But yet you draw not iron, for my heart / Is true as steel: leave you your power to draw, / And I shall have no power to follow you” (II, i, 570). She allows the men to walk all over her. The women in A Midsummer Night’s Dream and The Duchess of Malfi mirror each other. Even though Helena and Cariola have similar personalities, and Hermia, the Duchess, their end turns out very different according to the play genre. Even if they both submit to men, Helena lives happily ever after while Cariola dies. Hermia and the Duchess both stand up for themselves and ignore the men’s instructions; however, Hermia gets to marry her love while the Duchess gets killed because of her love. The genre of the stories ultimately decide the women’s