One thing that we mentioned in class was the fact that Bosola will do anything for money or for a higher status among the Duke and his brother, the Cardinal. This includes murder, as we see more than once throughout the course of the play; Bosola murders the Duchess, Cariola, and Antonio for mere favor. Then, as he comes to the realization that he is in fact a sinful (and somewhat vengeful) human being, he kills an unnamed servant, the Cardinal, and the Duke Ferdinand. He uses words as a tool to twist and confuse the thoughts of his victims; he is a slippery character. This slipperiness is made evident in the play with lines like "There are many ways that conduct to seeming/ Honor, and some of them very dirty ones", which was spoken by Bosola himself (5.2.291-292). It is peculiar that he recognizes that he has only gained honor by committing dishonorable deeds, but he continues to do so. This type of language is perhaps strongest in Act 4 Scene 2, when Bosola has a type of revelation regarding his behavior; he calls Ferdinand and the Cardinal "like the plague" and says that they have "hearts [like] rotten graves,/ Rotten, and rotting others", followed by him saying, "I stand like one/ That long hath ta'en a sweet and golden dream./ I am angry with myself, now that I wake" (296-301).
There is no doubt that Bosola is a monster- he is able to kill others for his own personal gain without flinching- but I think his most interesting character trait and perhaps what makes him most evil is that he recognizes that his behavior is wrong and still doesn't stop his own hand from murdering others. In the end and after his revelation, he still uses murder as a means to eliminate those that have abused him for so long: Ferdinand and the Cardinal. I would have never thought that Bosola was the play's protagonist, but after reading the play and seeing how Bosola's conscience is constantly being checked, I would argue that he is the protagonist, although he is mostly evil in his doings.
You claim that Bosola is the protagonist, yet I would argue that Bosola is the very antithesis of a tragic hero. In tragic tradition the hero is a morally upstanding individual, with human flaws, who through hubristic ambition unintentionally instigates their own downfall. In Act I Scene I Bosola announces "Say then my corruption grew out of horse dung. I am your creature." He is aware of his low position in society and acknowledges his own capacity for base cruelty, even dehumanising himself: This clearly demonstrates that Bosola has no such pride or ‘hubris’ from the very start of the play. In fact, it could be said that his lack of pride was the cause of his downfall. He is fully aware of the consequences of his actions, but nevertheless, with neither self-respect nor moral integrity, he executes them without hesitation. He condones his actions by finding himself not solely culpable but merely one cog in the mechanism of a corrupt society. The tragic hero struggles against their fate even if they cannot escape it, just as the Duchess has the "resistant spirit of a doomed woman"; Bosola's struggle does not equate to this cosmic conflict of an individual attempting to assert their own will against the universe, rather his struggle is purely emotional as he comes to terms with his own guilt. Whilst the Duchess’ struggle renews the audience’s faith in humanity and redeems her share of evil and corruption, Bosola’s guilt leads to a continuation of the senseless murder and destruction, and again he acts as an instrument in the descent to chaos. Whilst the Duchess rejects her brothers' controlling commands, Bosola is willing to accept whatever part may be laid out for him as soon as money is brought into the equation.
ReplyDeleteThe tragic hero seeks to find personal dignity and true identity, Bosola seeks only to satisfy his own needs and desires; the tragic hero is in conflict with the universe, Bosola is a bystander to his own cruelty as he carries out the actions prescribed for him by others. Therefore, Bosola cannot be classed as the protagonist of this play: the essential quality of a tragic hero is that they are human, by suggesting that Bosola could be such a character undermines the purpose of the tragic genre altogether.