I haven't had much to say about this play, and feeling sick certainly hasn't helped matters.

But I do think that the character of Ferdinand deserves some attention. Ferdinand is a crazy kind of guy. He threatens his sister in Act 1, saying "This was my father's poniard. Do you see? I'd be loath to see't look rusty..." I can't imagine a creepier threat, what with all the sexual meanings behind those words. Not something a normal person says to their twin sister. And in Act 2, Ferdinand tells the Cardinal "I have this night digged up a mandrake", another indication of his madness. When reading 3.2, I kept wondering whether he would rape and/or kill her, and when it would happen.

But most important are the madmen in Act 4. There's a lawyer, a priest, a doctor, an "astrologian", a tailor, a gentleman-usher, a farmer, and a broker. Note how this list manages a fair approximation of Renaissance society, save for the lack of a noble man. Ferdinand perhaps?

In any event, I think Ferdie was pretty nutters at the start of the play, but by the end I'm almost confident that when the wind is south-southwest he knows a hawk from a handsaw. Why else would he attack the Cardinal before Bosola? He's going after the man who impelled him to violence!

That's a pretty pointless post, but I just can't seem to stay interested in this play. I feel like a strong argument could be made in favor of Ferdinand as the main character, since the activity of the play centers on his decisions and orders, but I'm not the one to make it.