09 John Webster, 'The Duchess of Malfi' (fragments).doc

   John Webster, the Duchess of Malfi

Act V, scene iii

    A church graveyard
    Enter ANTONIO and DELIO

DELIO: Yond's the cardinal's window. This fortification
Grew from the ruins of an ancient abbey;
And to yond' side o'th' river lies a wall,
Piece of a cloister, which in my opinion
Gives the best echo that you ever heard,
So hollow and so dismal, and withal
So plain in the distinction of our words,
That many have suppos'd it is a spirit
That answers.

ANTONIO: I do love these ancient ruins.
We never tread upon them, but we set
Our foot upon some reverend history:
And, questionless, here in this open court,
Which now lies naked to the injuries
Of stormy weather, some men lie interr'd
Lov'd the church so well, and gave so largely to't,
They thought it should have canopied their bones
Till doomsday; but all things have their end:
Churches and cities, which have diseases like to men,
Must have like death that we have.

ECHO: [from the Duchess' grave] Like death that we have.

DELIO: Now the echo hath caught you.

ANTONIO: It groan'd, methought, and gave
A very deadly accent.

ECHO: Deadly accent.

DELIO: I told you 'twas a pretty one: you may make it
A huntsman, or a falconer, a musician,
Or a thing of sorrow.

ECHO: A thing of sorrow.

ANTONIO: Ay sure, that suits it best.

ECHO: That suits it best.

ANTONIO: 'Tis very like my wife's voice.

ECHO: Ay, wife's voice.

DELIO: Come, let us walk farther from't.
I would not have you go to th' cardinal's tonight:
Do not.

ECHO: Do not.

DELIO: Wisdom doth not more moderate wasting sorrow,
Than time: take time for't: be mindful of thy safety.

ECHO: Be mindful of thy safety.

ANTONIO: Necessity compels me.
Make scrutiny throughout the passages
Of your own life, you'll find it impossible
To fly your fate.

ECHO: O fly your fate!

DELIO: Hark! the dead stones seem to have pity on you,
And give you good counsel.

ANTONIO: Echo, I will not talk with thee,
For thou art a dead thing.

ECHO: Thou art a dead thing.

ANTONIO: My duchess is asleep now,
And her little ones, I hope sweetly: O heaven,
Shall I never see her more?

ECHO: Never see her more.

ANTONIO: I mark'd not one repetition of the echo
But that; and on the sudden, a clear light
Presented me a face folded in sorrow.

DELIO: Your fancy merely.

ANTONIO: Come, I'll be out of this ague,
For to live thus is not indeed to live;
It is a mockery and abuse of life:
I will not henceforth save myself by halves;
Lose all, or nothing.

DELIO: Your own virtue save you.
I'll fetch your eldest son, and second you:
It may be that the sight of his own blood
Spread in so sweet a figure, may beget
The more compassion.
However, fare you well.
Though in our miseries fortune have a part,
Yet in our noble sufferings she hath none;
Contempt of pain, that we may call our own.

    They exit

Act V, scene iv

    The CARDINAL'S palace
    Enter CARDINAL, PESCARA, MALATESTE, RODERIGO, GRISOLAN

CARDINAL: You shall not watch tonight by the sick prince;
His grace is very well recover'd.

MALATESTE: Good, my lord, suffer us.

CARDINAL: O, by no means:
The noise and change of object in his eye
Doth more distract him: I pray, all to bed;
And though you hear him in his violent fit,
Do not rise, I entreat you.

PESCARA: So, sir; we shall not.

CARDINAL: Nay, I must have you promise
Upon your honors, for I was enjoin'd to't
By himself; and he seem'd to urge it sensibly.

PESCARA: Let our honors bind this trifle.

CARDINAL: Nor any of your followers.

MALATESTE: Neither.

CARDINAL: It may be, to make trial of your promise,
When he's asleep, myself will rise and feign
Some of his mad tricks, and cry out for help,
And feign myself in danger.

MALATESTE: If your throat were cutting,
I'd not come at you, now I have protested against it.

CARDINAL: Why, I thank you. [he withdraws to one side]

GRISOLAN: 'Twas a foul storm tonight.

RODERIGO: The Lord Ferdinand's chamber shook like an osier.

MALATESTE: 'Twas nothing but pure kindness in the devil,
To rock his own child.

    Exit all but the Cardinal

CARDINAL: The reason why I would not suffer these
About my brother, is because at midnight
I may with better privacy convey
Julia's body to her own lodging. O, my conscience!
I would pray now; but the devil takes away my heart
For having any confidence in prayer.
About this hour I appointed Bosola
To fetch the body: when he hath served my turn,
He dies.

    Exit CARDINAL, enter BOSOLA

BOSOLA: Ha! 'twas the cardinal's voice; I heard him name
Bosola, and my death: listen, I hear one's footing.

    Enter FERDINAND

FERDINAND: Strangling is a very quiet death.

BOSOLA: [aside] Nay then, I see I must stand upon my guard.

FERDINAND: What say to that? whisper softly; do you agree to't?
So, it must be done i'th' dark; the Cardinal
Would not for a thousand pounds the doctor should see it.
    
    Exit

BOSOLA: My death is plotted; here's the consequence of murder.
We value not desert nor Christian breath,
When we know black deeds must be cur'd with death.

    Enter SERVANT and ANTONIO

SERVANT: Here stay, sir, and be confident, I pray:
I'll fetch you a dark lantern.

    Exit

ANTONIO: Could I take him at his prayers,
There were hope of pardon.

BOSOLA: [stabs him in the dark] Fall right my sword:
I'll not give thee so much leisure as to pray.

ANTONIO: O, I am gone! Thou hast ended a long suit
In a minute.

BOSOLA: What art thou?

ANTONIO: A most wretched thing,
That only have the benefit in death,
To appear myself.

    Enter SERVANT with a light

SERVANT: Where are you, sir?

ANTONIO: Very near my home. Bosola?

SERVANT: O, misfortune!

BOSOLA: Smother thy pity, thou art dead else. Antonio?
The man I would have sav'd 'bove mine own life!
We are merely the stars' tennis balls, struck and banded
Which way please them. O good Antonio,
I'll whisper one thing in thy dying ear,
Shall make thy heart break quickly. Thy fair duchess
And two sweet children--

ANTONIO: Their very names
Kindle a little life in me.

BOSOLA: --are murder'd.

ANTONIO: Some men have wish'd to die
At the hearing of sad tidings; I am glad
That I shall do't in sadness. I would not now
Wish my wounds balm'd nor heal'd, for I have no use
To put my life to. In all our quest of greatness,
Like wanton boys, whose pastime is their care,
We follow after bubbles blown in th' air.
Pleasure of life, what is't? only the good hours
Of an ague; merely a preparative to rest,
To endure vexation. I do not ask
The process of my death; only commend me
To Delio.

BOSOLA: Break, heart!

ANTONIO: And let my son fly the courts of princes.

    Dies

BOSOLA: Thou seem'st to have lov'd Antonio?

SERVANT: I brought him hither,
To have reconcil'd him to the Cardinal.

BOSOLA: I do not ask thee that:
Take him up, if thou tender thy own life,
And bear him where the lady Julia
Was want to lodge. O my fate moves swift!
I have this Cardinal in the forge already,
Now I'll bring him to th' hammer. O direful misprision!
I will not imitate things glorious,
No more than base; I'll be mine own example.
On, on, and look thou represent, for silence,
The thing thou bear'st.

    They exit with the body

Act V, scene v

    The CARDINAL'S apartments
    Enter CARDINAL, with a book

CARDINAL: I am puzzled in a question about hell:
He says, in hell there's one material fire,
And yet it shall not burn all men alike.
Lay him by. How tedious is a guilty conscience!
When I look into the fish-ponds in my garden,
Methinks I see a thing arm'd with a rake,
That seems to strike at me.

    Enter BOSOLA and SERVANT

Now, art thou come? thou look'st ghastly;
There sits in thy face some great determination, 
Mix'd with some fear.

BOSOLA: Thus it lightens into action:
I am come to kill thee.

CARDINAL: Ha! help! our guard!

BOSOLA: Thou art deceiv'd;
They are out of thy howling.

CARDINAL: Hold; and I will faithfully divide
Revenues with thee.

BOSOLA: Thy prayers and proffers
Are both unseasonable.

CARDINAL: Raise the watch: we are betray'd!

BOSOLA: I have confin'd your flight:
I'll suffer your retreat to Julia's chamber,
But no further.

CARDINAL: Help! we are betray'd!

    Enter MALATESTE, PESCARA, RODERIGO, and GRISOLAN, above

MALATESTE: Listen.

CARDINAL: My dukedom for rescue!

RODERIGO: Fie upon his counterfeiting.

MALATESTE: Why, 'tis not the Cardinal.

RODERIGO: Yes, yes, 'tis he:
But I'll see him hang'd ere I'll go down to him.

CARDINAL: Here's a plot upon me; I am assaulted! I am lost
Unless some rescue!

GRISOLAN: He doth this pretty well;
But it will not serve to laugh me out of mine honor.

CARDINAL: The sword's at my throat!

RODERIGO: You would not bawl so loud then.

MALATESTE: Come, come, let's go to bed: he told us thus much aforehand.

PESCARA: He wish'd you should not come at him; but believe't,
The accent of the voice sounds not in jest:
I'll down to him, howsoever, and with engines
Force ope the doors.

    Exit

RODERIGO: Let's follow him aloof,
And note how the Cardinal will laugh at him.

    Exit above, Malateste, Roderigo, and Grisolan

BOSOLA: There's for you first,
'Cause you shall not unbarricade the door
To let in rescue.

    He kills the servant

CARDINAL: What cause hast thou to pursue my life?

BOSOLA: Look there.

CARDI...