The World is a Tedious Theater

Duchess: "I account this world a tedious theater,
For I do play a part in't 'gainst my will." (4.1.84-85)

This is another instance of a metatheatrical device where the characters in the play seem to realize that they are in fact in a play. The Duchess thinks of the world as a "tedious theater," which I'm sure many people in the audience can relate to, especially people at that time period (not including the aristocrats) who seemed to work strenuously for endless hours with few breaks from the cruel face of reality. These people, commoners, didn't have the same privileges we have now in choosing what to do with our lives; they were forced to work laboriously against their wills in order to survive, without a chance to actually live their own lives. These two short lines pretty much sum up the lives of most people living in England during the 17th century, and I'm sure that Webster realized that when he wrote it.