Great men

There is an echo of the words "great men" in Duchess of Malfi. The Duchess' words at the end of act 3 summarizes how the notion of "great men" works in the play. She aks Bosola who is greatest. She tells him a story about how fish are values and ends, "So, to great men, the moral may be stretched: men oft are valued high when th' are most wretch'd." In the context of this play we are presented with men who hold varying levels of status and power but also different levels of character and integrity as well. The men in the highest offices, such as the Cardinal and Ferdinand, are the least great men in the play even though they are most commonly refered to as great men. Pescara, when talking about the Cardinal and the others says, "These factions amongst great men, they are like..." (3 . 3 . 35) "Great man" is echoed again in act 5. Bosola directly calls the Cardinal a great man. This repetition of great man helps enforce an idea in our head of great men who are in a position to fall from grace- which is exactly what happenes. In act 5 scene 5 Antonio speech echoes this theme without saying the words directly. In his speech before he dies he refers to "our quest for greatness." This ties Antonio to the words already in mind of "great man." And this is true, in the right sense of the words Antonio is a great man. In the last lines of the play this point is hammered home one last time when Delio says, "Nature doth nothing so great, for great men,/As when she's pleased to make them lords of truth:"