This essay explores the way that the social interactions of the classroom play a role in shaping sign production. It examines the talk of one second year Advanced Level English literature class in North London during their study of John Webster's "The Duchess of Malfi" through the lens of Volosinov's theories of language. It seeks to locate these emergent discourses within wider socio-political frameworks concerning gender, race and power. By assessing the semiotic significance of Webster's Duchess and more contemporary figures such as Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, in these discourses, it suggests that the process of negotiation in this classroom is characterised by acts of transgression.