Duchess of Malfi: Ferdinand (Character Profile and Analysis)

Summary: Power. Incest. Lycanthropy.

Quotes	Analysis	Context
Bosola: “He and his brother are like plum trees that grow rooked over standing pools: they are rich, and o’erladen with fruit, but none but crows, pies and caterpillars feed on them.” (p.11)	The metaphor of “plum trees” provides a sense of authority to The Cardinal and Ferdinand but then, this is countered with the negative imagery of “crows, pies, and caterpillars”.	Webster’s comment against autocracy (?). In the court, you have the two main authorities (the brothers); yet, they are the two who facilitate the tragedy – comment this in parallel to Webster’s view against autocracy.
Antonio: “The Duke there? A most perverse and turbulent nature;” (p.17)	The adjectives “perverse” and “turbulent” foreshadows Ferdinand’s, later, incestuous behaviour towards the Duchess when he speaks in innuendos.	Antonio is of a lower class, yet notices this, which exemplifies the different social classes that exist at the time and what separates them from each other.
Antonio: “In quality. / He speaks with others’ tongues, and hears men’s suits/ With others’ ears […]/ Rewards, by hearsay.” (p.17)	Facetious manner in court and how Ferdinand uses “others” in order to advance himself. Moreover, the verb “Rewards” highlights such gains that could be made.	Ferdinand’s character could be viewed as a representation of the corruption that existed within James I’s court.
Delio: “the law to him/ Is like a foul black cobweb to a spider,” (p.17)	The animal imagery incorporated with the simile shapes how Ferdinand creates his own rules and does not abide to the law.	Webster commentates on the inefficient legislations that exist in society and how this benefits some individuals more than others.
Ferdinand: “You are my sister. /This was my father’s poniard: do you see? […]/ And women like that part which, like the lamprey, Hath ne’er a bone in’t.” (p.24)	Ferdinand speaks with sexual innuendos to the Duchess, “poniard” and “lamprey”, which reveals his ulterior reason as to why he does not want her to get married.	Incest for Jacobean dramatists was a titillating plot device which could be used to intensify a character’s response to a particular situation or, indeed, to another character.
Ferdinand: “I have this night digged up a mandrake.” (p.52)	Witchcraft; mandrake = seem to resemble man, induced madness	Superstition played an important role in the Jacobean era. Link to James I’s hunt for witches.
Ferdinand: “Happily with some strong-thighed bargeman; /[…] That carries coals up to her privy lodgings.” (p.53/4)	“coals” = her dirty work; “privy lodgings” = private acts of sex; Ferdinand also imagines her having sex…	Masculine depiction of manual labour aligned with the Duchess – he fantasises about her having sex, intimate moment = twisted.
Ferdinand: “I could kill her now /In you, or in myself, for I do think /It is some sin in us heaven doth revenge / By her.” (p.54)	“Sin” and “heaven” are religious terms, which links to Ferdinand’s idea that he is doing what is right and just according to religion.	Religious motives would have been important and would have justified Ferdinand’s actions.
Bosola: “Grossly /Flatter yourself.” (p.59)	Ferdinand was highly complementary of himself, while no one else thought of him in the same way.	This can be linked to the theory of humours = choleric (angry, hot-tempered)
Ferdinand: “What hideous thing /Is it that doth eclipse thee?” (p.62)	Foreshadows his lunar sickness – lycanthropy	In Renaissance England, werewolves represented societal anxieties about the relationship between a human’s body and mind.
Ferdinand: “Upon a time Reputation, Love and Death…” (p.64)	Ferdinand’s Fable speaks of his message in metaphors.
Ferdinand: “How doth our sister Duchess bear herself /In her imprisonment?” (p.84)	Language of captivity; isolation	Ferdinand believes through the method of isolation; he can make the Duchess confess – but she has nothing to confess for.
Ferdinand: “The death /Of young wolves is never to be pitied.” (p.102)	The animal imagery of “young wolves” used by Ferdinand links to his bout of lycanthropy.	Lycanthropy has many definitions, the most prominent comment upon transformations of man into wolf: a “werewolf.”
Ferdinand: “Let me see her face again. /Why didst not thou pity her?” (p.103)	After the murder of the Duchess, Ferdinand feels immediate guilt and grief for her loss and immediately blames others around him.
Ferdinand: “Eagles commonly fly alone: they are crows, daws and starlings that flock together. – Look, what’s that follows me?” (p.110)	Bird imagery – to link with the Duchess; alludes to a proverb about shadows highlighting the fact that his guilt continuously follows him	Women in the Jacobean age were confined by their male counterparts – the Duchess’ brothers are hers.
Ferdinand: “You are a fool. […]” (p.111)	Switches to prose – mental disintegration as he recognises his sins	Typically, those of lower classes would speak in prose so the transformation links to his lycanthropy.
Bosola: “what a fatal judgement /Hath fallen upon this Ferdinand.” (p.113)	“fatal judgement” links to religion, and how God has decided what will happen to him.	Religion was important in society, and here, the act of murder is punished by death.