Both Webster in "The Duchess of Malfi", a Jacobean revenge tragedy, and Williams in "A Streetcar Named Desire ", a modern-domestic tragedy, uses entrapment as a focal point for major dramatic moments. The playwrights mainly focus on the physical and psychological entrapment of women due to the patriarchal attitudes of their respective society. However, the harm men suffer from patriarchy is also explored, although, interestingly, seemingly more so in “Malfi” than in “Tram.” Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original EssayBoth plays use men's speech to convey that the female characters are threatened by dangerous patriarchal ideology that will essentially trap and destroy them. In Act 1, Webster uses the verbal exchange between the Duchess and her brothers to immediately highlight the ongoing battle regarding the right to marry and the Duchess's social status: "You are a widow." This paternalistic register assumes that the Duchess's identity is not linked to her good virtues, but to her social category and the men around her, so she should act accordingly. Described through Ferdinand, this attitude traps the Duchess, preventing her from exploring ideas of her own, such as remarriage. One can imagine the bitter spitting of these monosyllables in a Jacobean production of the play, probably reflecting the public's terror of widows. This fear – so intense that widows were often excluded from social circles – manifested itself in the threat of an economically independent woman with prior sexual experience, who, lacking the authority of a rational male, was in danger of becoming sexually rampant. Webster conveys the Duchess' resentment of these attitudes in Act 4: "The robin and the nightingale/ Never live long in cages." In addition to accentuating the Duchess's discontent with her physical entrapment, this metaphor serves above all to highlight the oppression of her "noble" spirit - which is symbolized by the animalistic images of a "robin" and a "nightingale" - birds that they suggest joy and liberation. In addition to highlighting the Duchess' anger at her imprisonment, the color "red" is used by Webster as a prolepsis to the danger and tragic outcome of the play, thus trapping her in her fate, as this outcome includes her own death. Due to the play's status as a revenge tragedy, this catastrophe is made inevitable from the start; just as happens in plays like "Oedipus" and "Romeo and Juliet", where even the tragic protagonists suffer due to their hamartia. The Duchess's death leads to final entrapment: she is ossified into the "monument she insisted she was not" (Christina Luckyj). The ghost of herself fossilizes in a silent and mystical "monument" whose ruins are "never to be pitied". This may relate to Freud's “Madonna-whore complex,” which suggests that men see women as holy “Madonnas” or as degraded “whores.” Despite the Duchess's stoic efforts to be seen as more than just a sacred idol ("this is flesh and blood, sir"), her death traps her in a "gallery" much like the numerous Madonna statues found around for Rome. Interestingly, Blanche is also ultimately trapped and destroyed by imperative patriarchal attitudes, yet these do not degenerate into a physical but a metaphorical death. Williams also uses male characters' speech tohighlight the patriarchal domination of family relationships, an attitude that seeks to ensnare female characters: “Let me enlighten you on a point or two, darling.” Not only does this statement demonstrate Stanley's arrogant nature, but the offhanded "child" remark infantilizes Stella, implying the belief that she is completely dependent on him for basic human needs such as food and a "regular allowance." Stella is trapped by this manipulation, as her desires to become independent are quickly repressed by Stanley's violence. In the 1951 film adaptation, this offensive stance is amplified by Marlon Brando, who contorts his facial muscles to highlight Stanley's primal passion: "STELL-AHHHHH." This exclamation demonstrates Stella's entrapment in her marital relationship, due to the threat of uncontrolled physical violence if she dares to attempt escape. Describing the proper noun, the adjective “skybreaker” illustrates Stanley's ability to corrupt anything of value (heaven), thus, trapping Stella from freedom simultaneously traps her from one last possible opportunity for happiness. Despite this complete authority over his wife, Stanley's lust for supremacy has not yet been quenched. Williams represents Stanley's entrapment of Blanche through his desire for control in scene 8: "Every man is a king!" And I'm king around here.' Quoted directly from corrupt Senator Huey Long, this statement illustrates the growing conflict between the emerging working class and the declining wealthy class, whose luxurious wealth had been built on the backs of slaves. This friction ultimately traps Blanche, whose frivolous Southern opinions are not tolerated in New Orleans, so she must learn to take a less archaic approach to life. The Duchess is another character whose high status offends others, who trap her through retaliation. However, while Stanley benefits from this revenge, the culprits of "Malfi" suffer punishment. Both works use the motif of light to illustrate how morally good characters are trapped in the corrupt worlds in which they live. In act 4 of "Malfi", Webster uses the close proxemics of the prison to create a proto-Gothic atmosphere, which juxtaposes the "pure" spirit of the Duchess: "You were too much in the light." But nothing more." This monosyllabic phrase accurately portrays the malevolent nature of Ferdinand, whose suffocating attitudes ultimately trap the Duchess, ultimately leading to her execution. In this way, the deprivation of light during this scene is an ironic prolepsis to final catastrophe, in which the darkness completely swallows his metaphorical "light". This play with lighting effects would have been particularly impressive during the Jacobean productions of "Malfi" held at the "Blackfriars Theatre". , the stage at Blackfriars was lit by beeswax candles and sunlight was often blocked from the theater by dark curtains, allowing the discontent of characters such as Ferdinand to mirror the dim physical light due to Ferdinand's frequent associations with darkness; the correlation between his character and a more ferocious light, fire, seems surprising: "we must now use not balm, but fire" "to fuel a fire as great as my revenge". These allusions illustrate Ferdinand's entrapment behind his lecherous fury, which prevents him from noticing his sister's true virtues. Critics have argued that both of the twins' associations with light reveal distinct similarities between the two (stubbornness, thirst to remain relevant in society, etc...), which perhaps catalyzes their eventual degradation,..