Conversation Piece - Monday, December 8, 2008
"Oh, come not near me, sir; I shall defile you.
I am that of your blood was taken from you
For your better health. Look no more upon't
But cast it to the ground regardlessly;
Let the common sewer take it from distinction.
Beneath the stars, upon yon meteor
Ever hung my fate, 'mongst things corruptible;
I ne'er could pluck it from him. My loathing
Was prophet to the rest, bu ne'er believed;
Mine honor fell with him, and now my life."
(The Changeling V.iii.158-67)
I am that of your blood was taken from you
For your better health. Look no more upon't
But cast it to the ground regardlessly;
Let the common sewer take it from distinction.
Beneath the stars, upon yon meteor
Ever hung my fate, 'mongst things corruptible;
I ne'er could pluck it from him. My loathing
Was prophet to the rest, bu ne'er believed;
Mine honor fell with him, and now my life."
(The Changeling V.iii.158-67)
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
I've Seen This Before
Ferdinand's raving recalls many things we've studied and talked about in previous plays. We've discussed the humoural conception of the body and the ways, such as blood-letting, to balance these forces. Ferdinand takes the medicinal treatment of humoural imbalance and darkly twists it. In "[purging her] infected blood," he doesn't want to treat her, but kill her by using fire. His own purging of bodily fluids, giving tears to his handkerchief, contrasts with his plan for the Duchess. He has agency in the discharging of his tears while she has none in his plot to purge her. This too, the leaky female versus the self-contained man, we have seen before.
