The Changeling

The narrowing passages and descent into the castle’s vault at the start of the act mirror Beatrice and De Flores’s suspenseful moral decline. The walls seem to close in around De Flores and Alonzo physically, just as they metaphorically close around Beatrice and De Flores. Use of irony and language enhance this effect, creating treacherous twists and turns. Alonzo’s gratitude for De Flores is an example of dramatic irony, as the audience knows De Flores’s helpful behavior is only leading to Alonzo’s murder. This creates tension and suspense as Alonzo walks into De Flores’s trap. Likewise, the audience knows De Flores expects a sexual reward for the murder, while Beatrice believes De Flores only wants monetary payment and will happily flee the country, making way for her happy marriage to Alsemero. This irony is heightened by language and asides. De Flores’s speeches are sexually charged, though they are often delivered only to the audience as an aside. Therefore, the innuendo goes unnoticed by Beatrice.

In Act II, leading up to the murder plot, De Flores tells the audience that if Beatrice leaves Alonzo for Alsemero, he’ll “put in for one; for if a woman / Fly from one point, from him she makes a husband, / She spreads and mounts then, like arithmetic” (2.2.60-62). De Flores assumes Beatrice will be sexually available after breaking her engagement, and therefore more likely to sleep with him. His hopes grow further when she asks him to murder Alonzo. He quickly agrees, remarking, “If you knew / How sweet it were to me to be employed / In any act of yours” (2.2.120-22), referring to both Beatrice’s request for the murder and his sexual expectation.

However, the innuendo is lost on Beatrice. This sets up their horrific exchange in Act III, Scene 4. The audience understands the miscommunication and is held in suspense while Beatrice navigates the exchange with growing confusion and fear. Beatrice comes to feel she’s “in a labyrinth” (3.4.71), akin to the dark and narrow castle passages, as well as the metaphorical dark path Beatrice has taken. Her involvement in murder becomes both a social and a moral fall. Although De Flores holds lower social rank than Beatrice, he views them as equals after the murder. De Flores calls Beatrice a “whore” (3.4.142) and mocks her for being modest when she’s “A woman dipped in blood” (3.4.126). These words conflate a moral and sexual loss of innocence and justifies, for the characters, De Flores’s sexual demands. Beatrice continues down the treacherous labyrinth and accepts De Flores’s demand, remarking: “Murder I see is followed by more sins” (3.4.163).

Grotesque comedy and theatrics punctuate the unfolding murder. For example, Beatrice’s disgust at seeing Alonzo’s severed finger is darkly comical. De Flores introduces the finger as a “token” for Beatrice “sent somewhat unwillingly” (3.4.26-27), subverting the idea of romantic tokens. Beatrice’s naive shock and cry of “What hast thou done?” (3.4.29) upon seeing the finger heightens the farce, since she’s the one who requested the murder. The subplot with Alibius’s asylum brings further comedic relief by presenting sane men feigning lunacy to vie for Isabella’s attention. Mental asylums were a popular entertainment attraction for the public well into the 1800s. In the play the asylum offers entertainment for the noble characters as well as the audience. The asylum patients sing and dance while kept in line by use of whips. The fact that Antonio and Franciscus submit themselves to such treatment to court Isabella further adds to the comedic effect. This also draws attention to the lunacy of romantic antics—including the darker events unfolding for Beatrice and De Flores, as their descent into sin defies sanity.