More lies?!

I’m just starting to read the Witch of Edmonton by William Rowley, Thomas Dekker, and John Ford. I haven’t gotten so far, just to Act 2. Through the little amount I have read so far, I find it very easy to follow and very interesting on what is going on.
As of right now , I find it interesting how the characters are already tricking other charactes. In the first scene, Winnifride seems to have the upper hand, though having an unwanted pregnancy isn’t fortunate, as she plays the two men in her life and yet fix her life. She gets married to Frank Thorney but is a lover of Sir Arthur. She promised (before the play) that she’ll stay with Sir Arthur even after marriage but Winni decides she’ll be an honest wife and stay true to Frank. Well Frank diminishes any “rumors” that he and Winni has gotten married to his father and promised his father that he’ll marry Susan, Old Carter’s daughter. Sir Arthur (before Winni dumped him) promised Frank that he’ll help Frank take care of things well since Winni dumped him, I’m pretty sure things will get even more difficult.
I find it very interesting how all the stories I’ve read this semester, the biggest problem most of the characters have is that they don’t tell the truth. Things would go smoothly, no one would die, everyone would be happy if they tell the truth and not hides things or be so deceitful.
From just the act that I’ve read, I can tell things are not going to go well. It’s the basic formula from all the other stories. Tell Lies=No Happy Ending. I’m already frustrated with the characters and I only read a couple of scenes. I just want to yell at them and tell them to stop being so sneaky and just come clean. Things will go a lot better. The truth isn’t THAT bad. So what if you life is ruined for a couple of days. You’ll get over it. But what you can’t get over is a lie turning into a bigger lie, transforming your life so much that you are living this lie and die. It’s a very depressing idea but all these characters make me depressed. Maybe I’ll just create my own story where people don’t lie. Then again, that would be boring, wouldn’t it?

Duchess of Malfi = Heroine

I feel sorry for the Duchess of Malfi. She’s a woman who isn’t afraid to get what she wants but everything is going against her till the end. She was really a woman ahead of her time. She married for love and without her brothers’ consent. Her husband, Antonio, has a lower social status than she does which is very rare to marry someone below you if you are a woman.
I see her as very heroic because of the actions she takes. She married on her freewill and had children by Antonio. The scenes where she is described as pregnant doesn’t make her less heroic at all. In fact, I see her as a stronger woman. Pregnancy is not the easiest thing to go through. Not that I’ve been through it but from what I heard. It brings her down to “normal” people’s level and not all glorious and beautiful. She is shown as a real woman going through nature’s beauty. Seeing a woman give up important things such as the Duchess’s political role to be a woman is very brave. She isn’t selfish; she is just doing what Mother Nature intended for her to do. I’m pretty sure the Duchess knew that the possibility of her getting pregnant when she remarried was very likely and that she had to put her political duties aside. That has to be a very brave thing to do though. She knew rumors would soon arise when she didn’t focus everything on her duties as a leader but as a woman and a woman with child.
The Duchess of Malfi is a very strong woman and I believe ahead of her time. She took her life in her hands which is very hard for women to do during this time period. I can see the Duchess putting her life on hold for her children. It is such a heroic thing for any women to do and most mothers do. I applaud the Duchess of Malfi for being herself and for answering to no one but herself. It’s just very sad that she lived then and not now as she would fit in so well in modern time.