If Only It Would Have Been the Duchess's Tongue

"If thou do love him, cut out thine own tongue / Lest it bewray him" (I.ii.108-109)

After reading Titus Andronicus, these words of Ferdinand stand out more than any in Act III. Webster pays debt to Shakespeare as well as Shakespeare's source material for the cutting out of a woman's tongue (Seneca?), yet inverts the act. Instead of a male cutting out a female's tongue, taking away her ability to speak and thus protecting himself, the Duchess is advised to cut out her own tongue to protect her lover from discovery. Her verbal agency is in fact harmful in this situation; soon after this encounter Bosola tricks her into confessing her marriage to Antonio. Ferdinand's advice is extreme, but quickly proves itself as the Duchess leaks the secret she has been able to conceal for years.