The Duchess of Malfi Brief Questions

The Duchess of Malfi Brief Questions

 

What is the original name of the play “The Duchess of Malfi?” ✪✪✪ (NU. 2019)

Ans: The Tragedy of the Dutchess of Malfy. 

Who is Bosola? ✪✪✪

Ans: Bosola, the villain in The Duchess of Malfi. 

What is Malfi?

Ans: Malfi is a dukedom in Italy.

Who says, “I am a tomb maker”? (NU. 2022)

Ans. Bosola says. “I am a tomb maker.”

What do you mean by ‘decadent play’? (NU. 2022)

Ans. A decadent play typically refers to a work of drama that embodies the characteristics of decadence. It usually describes a period of art or literature in comparison with the excellence of the former age.

Whom do the madmen include?

Ans: The madmen include a mad lawyer, a secular priest, a doctor, an astrologer, and a crazed English tailor.

Why did Bosola give some apricots to the Duchess? (NU. 2013, 16, 18, 20)

Ans. Bosola gives the Duchess some apricots to be sure whether she is pregnant or not.

Why does Ferdinand visit the Duchess in a dark room? (NU. 2020)

Ans: Because he has vowed never to see her again.

Who was Tantalus? ✪✪✪ (NU. 2021)

Ans: In Greek legend, Tantalus was the son of Zeus or Tmolus (a ruler of Lydia) and the nymph or Titaness Pluto (Plouto) and the father of Niobe and Pelops. He was a mighty king of Sipylus, an ancient kingdom near present-day Lydia.

With what are Cardinal and Ferdinand compared by Bosola? ✪✪✪ (NU. 2021)

Ans: Plum trees that are rich in fruit.

What was the name of the Cardinal historically? (NU. 2019)

Ans. Historically, the name of the Cardinal was Luigi or Lodovico.

Whose ring does the Duchess give to Antonio? (NU. 2020)

Ans. The Duchess gives him the ring that her (first) husband gave her at the time of her wedding.

Why does Ferdinand pretend to sleep in the court of law? ✪✪✪ (NU. 2021)

Ans: Ferdinand pretends to sleep in the law court so that offenders may become careless in their statements. 

Who arrests the Duchess? ✪✪✪

Ans: Bosola arrests the Duchess in disguise, wearing a mask on his face.

Who has made the wax figures of Antonio and his children?

Ans: Vincentio Lauriola has made wax figures for Antonio and his children.

Mention the literary period of John Webster. (NU. 2013)

Ans: Jacobean Period (1603-1625).

Who is Cariola? ✪✪✪ (NU. 2015)

Ans: Cariola is the Duchess’s maid and confidant.

How does Cariola die?

Ans: Cariola dies tragically by strangling. 

What is Ancona? (NU. 2017)

Ans: Ancona is a city-state in Italy.

Who witnesses the Duchess’ remarriage? (NU. 2017)

Ans: Cariola.

What was the parting request from the Duchess to Cariola? ✪✪✪ (NU. 2014, 18)

Ans: The parting request from the Duchess to Cariola is to take care of her children.

What kind of play is “The Duchess of Malfi”? ✪✪✪ (NU. 2015, 18)

Ans: The Duchess of Malfi is a tragedy.

What is melodrama? ✪✪✪ (DU aff. 2016)

Ans: Melodrama is a dramatic work where events, plots, and characters are sensationalized to produce strong emotional reactions from the audience.

Who was the Duke of Calabria? (NU. 2023)

Ans: Ferdinand was the Duke of Calabria.

Why does Ferdinand offer gold to Bosola?

Ans: Ferdinand offers Bosola gold to carry out his orders and do what he wants him to do.

What reasons do Ferdinand and the Cardinal put forth against the Duchess’s second marriage?

Ans: Her brothers, Ferdinand and the Cardinal, forbid her from remarrying, seeking to defend their inheritance and to avoid a degrading association with a social inferior. 

Why does Ferdinand visit the Duchess in a dark room? ✪✪✪ (NU. 2020)

Ans. Ferdinand visits the Duchess in a darkened room because he has vowed never to see her again and places in her hand a dead man’s hand that she will assume to be Antonio’s.

Why does Ferdinand show the Duchess his father’s dagger?

Ans: Ferdinand shows the Duchess his father’s dagger to threaten her that he will use it if she does not keep her lust under control.

What had the Duchess vowed about the ring?

Ans: The Duchess had never vowed to give the ring to anybody except her second husband.

How does the Cardinal bring about Julia’s death in the play?

Ans. He poisons her with a poisoned Bible.

What is Antonio’s conception of marriage? (NU. 2022)

Ans. Antonio believes that marriage brings either complete happiness or absolute misery.

What message does Delio give the audience in his last words? (NU. 2016)

Ans. In his last words, Delio gives the message to the audience that integrity is the best friend of reputation; integrity is rewarded even after death.

How does Bosola become sure that the Duchess is pregnant? ✪✪✪

Ans: When Bosola gives her some apricots, she eats them very greedily. Then they make her stomach feel uneasy. It makes her feel sick. This proves that the Duchess is pregnant. 

What is apricot? ✪✪✪

Ans: Apricot is a fruit.

Where is the Duchess buried?

Ans. The Duchess is buried next to the Cardinal’s house.

How does Bosola get the child’s horoscope?

Ans: After Bosola and Antonio fight, Antonio flees, dropping the child’s horoscope by mistake, and Bosola gets it.

How many children did the Duchess give birth to? ✪✪✪

Ans: The Duchess gave birth to three children, two sons and a daughter.

 How does Ferdinand react to the news of the Duchess’ childbirth?

Ans: Hearing the news, he goes crazy, angrily curses the Duchess, and brashly describes her as a strumpet.