The Duchess of Malfi: Act 2

by John Webster
Money, power, and love destroy a noble family in this semi-historical tragedy by John Webster. Learn these words that first shook The Globe Theater in 1614. Read the full text here.

Here are links to our lists for the play: Act 1, Act 2, Act 3, Act 4, Act 5
35 words 13 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. loathe
    dislike intensely; feel disgust toward
    I do wonder you do not loathe yourselves.
  2. ominous
    threatening or foreshadowing evil or tragic developments
    We account it ominous,
    If nature do produce a colt, or lamb,
    A fawn, or goat, in any limb resembling
    A man, and fly from 't as a prodigy:
    Man stands amaz'd to see his deformity
    In any other creature but himself.
  3. continual
    occurring without interruption
    Though we are eaten up of lice and worms,
    And though continually we bear about us
    A rotten and dead body, we delight
    To hide it in rich tissue
  4. seethe
    be in an agitated emotional state
    I observe our duchess
    Is sick a-days, she pukes, her stomach seethes
  5. wane
    grow smaller
    She wanes i' the cheek, and waxes fat i' the flank,
    And, contrary to our Italian fashion,
    Wears a loose-bodied gown
  6. folly
    the trait of acting stupidly or rashly
    if simplicity direct us to have no evil, it directs us to a happy being; for the subtlest folly proceeds from the subtlest wisdom
  7. disposition
    your usual mood
    A lawyer's mule of a slow pace will both suit my disposition and business; for, mark me, when a man's mind rides faster than his horse can gallop, they quickly both tire.
  8. ascendant
    position or state of being dominant or in control
    O, sir, you are lord of the ascendant, chief man with the duchess: a duke was your cousin-german remov'd.
  9. passion
    an irrational but irresistible motive for a belief or action
    Some would think the souls of princes were brought forth by some more weighty cause than those of meaner persons: they are deceiv'd, there's the same hand to them; the like passions sway them
  10. knave
    a deceitful and unreliable scoundrel
    I forgot to tell you, the knave gardener,
    Only to raise his profit by them the sooner,
    Did ripen them in horse-dung.
  11. politic
    marked by artful prudence, expedience, and shrewdness
    Have you prepar'd
    Those ladies to attend her; and procur'd
    That politic safe conveyance for the midwife
    Your duchess plotted?
  12. antidote
    a remedy that stops or controls the effects of a poison
    For that you may pretend
    She'll use some prepar'd antidote of her own,
    Lest the physicians should re-poison her.
  13. breed
    have young (animals) or reproduce (organisms)
    So, so, there's no question but her techiness and most vulturous eating of the apricocks are apparent signs of breeding, now?
  14. discern
    perceive, recognize, or detect
    Go, go, give your foster-daughters good counsel: tell them, that the devil takes delight to hang at a woman's girdle, like a false rusty watch, that she cannot discern how the time passes.
  15. cunning
    marked by skill in deception
    There was a cunning traitor!
  16. expose
    put in a dangerous, disadvantageous, or difficult position
    She's expos'd
    Unto the worst of torture, pain, and fear.
  17. daunt
    cause to lose courage
    How superstitiously we mind our evils!
    The throwing down salt, or crossing of a hare,
    Bleeding at nose, the stumbling of a horse,
    Or singing of a cricket, are of power
    To daunt whole man in us.
  18. stratagem
    an elaborate or deceitful scheme to deceive or evade
    There's some stratagem
    In the confining all our courtiers
    To their several wards
  19. undermine
    weaken or impair, especially gradually
    This mole does undermine me.
  20. imputation
    a statement attributing something dishonest
    Poison'd! a Spanish fig
    For the imputation!
  21. traitor
    a person who says one thing and does another
    Traitors are ever confident
    Till they are discover'd.
  22. impudent
    marked by casual disrespect
    You are an impudent snake indeed, sir
  23. libel
    print slanderous statements against
    Are you scarce warm, and do you show your sting?
    You libel well, sir?
  24. base
    not adhering to ethical or moral principles
    The great are like the base, nay, they are the same,
    When they seek shameful ways to avoid shame.
  25. prevail
    use persuasion successfully
    You have prevail'd with me
    Beyond my strongest thoughts; I would not now
    Find you inconstant.
  26. constancy
    faithfulness and dependability in personal attachments
    You fear
    My constancy, because you have approv'd
    Those giddy and wild turnings in yourself.
  27. malleable
    capable of being shaped or bent
    Sooth, generally for women,
    A man might strive to make glass malleable,
    Ere he should make them fixed.
  28. commendation
    a message expressing a favorable opinion
    I have brought you no commendations from your husband,
    For I know none by him.
  29. wield
    handle effectively
    Thus ignorance, when it hath purchas'd honour,
    It cannot wield it.
  30. rage
    a feeling of intense anger
    How idly shows this rage, which carries you,
    As men convey'd by witches through the air,
    On violent whirlwinds!
  31. intemperate
    excessive in behavior
    This intemperate noise
    Fitly resembles deaf men's shrill discourse,
    Who talk aloud, thinking all other men
    To have their imperfection.
  32. chide
    scold or reprimand severely or angrily
    There is not in nature
    A thing that makes man so deform'd, so beastly,
    As doth intemperate anger. Chide yourself.
  33. vex
    disturb the peace of mind of
    You have divers men who never yet express'd
    Their strong desire of rest but by unrest,
    By vexing of themselves.
  34. revenge
    take action in return for a perceived wrong
    I could kill her now,
    In you, or in myself; for I do think
    It is some sin in us heaven doth revenge
    By her.
  35. eclipse
    the phenomenon when one celestial body obscures another
    Till I know who loves my sister, I'll not stir:
    That known, I'll find scorpions to string my whips,
    And fix her in a general eclipse.
Created on Mon Apr 10 15:10:06 EDT 2017 (updated Tue Apr 09 13:12:38 EDT 2019)

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