History & The Arts
John Webster, The Duchess of Malfi
...physical vigour and attractiveness: Happily with some strong-thighed bargeman; Or one o’th’woodyard that can quoit the sledge Or toss the bar; or else some lovely squire That carries coals up to her privy lodgings. (2.5.42–5) The lines register a fear of encroachment by men whose lower rank is compensated for by their superior masculinity. But what the verse chiefly...