"Bloody Fool"

Webster not only uses a literal echo in Act V which is interpreted as the haunting of the Duchess who was executed in Act IV, but also a foreshadowing “echo” through his verse, words, actions, and language of other central characters. Through careful analysis of the actions and words of characters such as the Duchess and Ferdinand, readers understand their morals and values to be on different sides of a spectrum. The Duchess represents light and strength through her noble death, whereas Ferdinand represents darkness and corruption through his incestuous desires for his sister as well as the actions he takes to deal with those desires. Instead of representing either light or dark, Bosola is a character that seems to be caught and in the middle of moral goodness and badness, and through the verse Webster writes, readers are shown a forewarning of the fate for the torn Bosola.

In IV right after the execution of the Duchess, Bosola and Ferdinand have an argument on how Bosola’s “services” are to be paid but instead Ferdinand accuses him for murdering the Duchess and offers him nothing. Bosola challenges and says that it was by Ferdinand’s authority that he went through with the murder of the Duchess, at which time Ferdinand replies, “…Where shalt thou find this judgment registered unless in hell? See, like a bloody fool, Th’ hast forfeited thy life, and thou shalt die for ‘t” (Act IV, lines 302-304, scene ii). This particular statement rings truth in the end of Act V when Bosola does indeed die. What is even more interesting are the words Webster uses for Ferdinand’s speech in this scene like “forfeited” and “fool.” After the Duchess dies and Bosola realizes the dishonesty of his ways and long after he can even be considered a hero, he promises to “join with thee [Antonio] in a most just revenge (Act V, line 342, scene iii) and therefore does really in a sense “forfeit” his life to gain revenge for the death of the Duchess. Ferdinand does in a way prophesize Bosola’s death, but instead of dying like a “bloody fool” as Ferdinand suggests, Bosola claims right before he dies, “It may be pain , but no harm to me to die in so good a quarrel” (Act V, lines 99-100, scene v). The prophecy of Bosola’s death is interesting and ironic because it is Ferdinand who dies a “bloody fool” and also as a consequence of the execution of the Duchess. It is by way of the Duchess’ death that Bosola slowly meets his death. It is also through Ferdinand’s manipulation and deceit towards Bolosa right after the Duchess is killed, that foreshadows truth through verse by prophesying Bosola’s death in Act V.