Duchess of Malfi Acts 1 and 2 Online Assignment: In this assignment you have a lot of choice, so choose what best suits you! Whatever you choose, the assignment is due at its usual time—by midnight on Tuesday. You are not posting this to the blog—just share it with me (as you did with the last assignment) as a google doc. Use my address [email protected]. Your response must be 500 words (i.e. 1 page single-spaced). Options: *You may work alone or with the same partner or partners you did last time. Consult with your partner or partners and see what everyone would prefer. It’s your call. Just make sure all names of those who worked on the assignment are at the top. If you work alone, just put your name at the top. *You may answer ONE or TWO questions. It’s up to you. Either way, your writing should total 500-words. So, you’re either writing a longer response to one question or two shorter responses to two questions. Whichever you do, you’re writing 500-words. Be sure to follow the specific instructions for the question or questions you choose. You only need to have read Acts 1 and 2 to answer the questions (though keep in mind that for class Wed you should have Act 3 completed). Questions: 1. "Webster's The Duchess of Malfi depicts a world of social and moral uncertainty, a time and place of no balance between order and chaos. The tragedy of the play is corporate--of society as a whole--and not primarily the Duchess's." Based on your reading of Acts 1 and 2 so far, do you agree or disagree with this statement? Use evidence to support your claim. 2. "The Duchess of Malfi is a play about the Renaissance 'division' between 'custom' and nature,' that is, between what is socially expected of a person (especially a woman) in his or her public role, and what is personal necessity in his or her private life. " Using specific evidence from Acts 1 and 2, support or refute this statement. 3. The Duchess of Malfi is loaded with animal imagery and disease imagery. Take a good look at who uses it in Acts 1 and 2, and when. Then explain what ideas Webster seems to be expressing through its use by certain characters. 4. The character Daniel de Bosola is often described as one kind or another of a stock Renaissance character--the malcontent, the machiavel, or the melancholic. If he interests you, use evidence from the play to argue that he is, indeed, one (or more) of these stock "types." (Give examples to support your claim). Or, argue that de Bosola is a round character, with plenty of human complexity, and not a stock character. Again, deploy evidence from the play to support your assertions.