Character Analysis
The Duke also has an illegitimate son, who is pretty bitter about the way his status prevents him from inheriting the power that the other sons are in line for. While we totally feel for him about the fact that society's breaking his stride, it's hard to feel too sorry for him when he says he'd happily kill everyone else in his family to advance himself (1.2.35-37). Audience sympathy is not helped when he accepts an affair with his stepmother, saying he hates her but loves the chance to get revenge on his father for his illegitimate birth.