In Act 1, Scene 1, Ferdinand and Antonio are introduced, and their innocuous conversation about jousting and horsemanship foreshadows the play’s future conflict. Antonio has recently won a jousting competition, and his success is the subject of much talk and speculation in the court. Upon his return, Ferdinand asks about the champion of the jousting tournament. Significantly, this is Ferdinand’s first piece of dialogue. He wants to know who has put his lance through the ring successfully, which leads him to the question:
Who took the ring oft’nest?
This is Ferdinand’s first dialogue, and though the subject matter of his question might not initially seem relevant to the play’s later conflict, the fact that the jousting champion is Antonio creates a situation of foreshadowing through pun. The man who “took the ring oft’nest” is Antonio Bologna, whose recent success has propelled him into good fortune and reputation within the court. However, the central conflict between these two men for the rest of the play will occur because of Antonio’s secret marriage to Ferdinand’s sister the Duchess. Therefore, Ferdinand’s first impression of Antonio is pertinent to their future conflict, as Antonio will steal the Duchess’s ring, thereby foiling Ferdinand’s attempt to keep her an unmarried virgin. Ferdinand’s initial question about Antonio will shape his perception of the man and grow into animosity as Antonio successfully captures another, more significant ring (that is, a wedding ring). This pun foreshadows that conflict, which will dominate the relationship between Antonio and Ferdinand for the rest of the play.
In Act 4, Scene 1, Ferdinand and Bosola play a trick on the Duchess that creates a moment of dramatic irony that ultimately leads to some foreshadowing. The Duchess is tricked into thinking that Antonio and her children have been killed, and she is devastated by the apparent loss of her family and spouse. However, the audience knows ahead of time that Antonio is still alive.
The tension of the moment, and the desperation of the Duchess’s response, is therefore affected by their knowledge of the deception at hand. As a result, the audience comes to feel a sense of desperation and helplessness; they cannot help the Duchess nor make her aware that she is being misled. This tension is heightened during a particular piece of the Duchess’s dialogue. After Bosola tries to comfort her, she responds:
That’s the greatest torture souls feel in hell:
In hell that they must live, and cannot die.
The severity of the Duchess’s response is an important part of the dramatic tension created in this scene. She expresses her wish to die because the idea of living without her family is torturous to her. The audience cannot experience the extent of her pain without the understanding that it is in vain. In fact, the Duchess’s family is still alive and her desire to die would carry her from them. The Duchess’s reaction to the supposed death of her husband and children also foreshadows, for the audience, how her brothers’ trickery will ultimately give the Duchess the power. Because she would rather die than live in the world without her family, she makes it impossible to take anything else from her.
In Act 5, Scene 4, the Cardinal tries to convince a group of men to leave and give up their watch over Ferdinand. He tells them that no matter what they hear, they must not enter the chamber in the night, even saying that he would pretend to be mad in order to test their obedience. The Cardinal’s insistence and position of great power ultimately convinces the men, but their vow foreshadows the violence to come. Malateste promises not to enter, saying:
If your throat were cutting, I’d not come at you, now I have protested against it.
Malateste’s promise foreshadows the Cardinal’s downfall. The Cardinal’s instructions, and his insistence that no one investigate no matter what they hear, sets up his own death. When, in the next scene, he is ambushed and calls for help, he has made the men outside swear that they will never do just the thing he now needs them to do. This instance of foreshadowing is significant because the audience can see the Cardinal’s ego and how it endangers him. He ends up in a vulnerable situation because of the vow he forces these men to make. The audience can see how it might cause him trouble, but the Cardinal’s inability to predict his own downfall is a significant part of his character. It contextualizes the violence to come, since the audience can predict, once the Cardinal is attacked, that he will die without the protection of his men who are standing just outside the door.
