The Duchess of Malfi

The Duchess of Malfi, five-act tragedy by English dramatist John Webster, performed 1613/14 and published in 1623.

The Duchess of Malfi tells the story of the spirited duchess and her love for her trustworthy steward Antonio. They marry secretly, despite the opposition of her two brothers, Ferdinand (the Duke of Calabria) and the Cardinal. Although she bears three children, she refuses to name the father. Eventually betrayed by Bosola, a spy, the duchess and her family flee but are intercepted; Antonio and the oldest child, a boy, escape. Ferdinand orders Bosola to strangle the duchess, her two younger children, and her maid and then goes mad with guilt. In typical fashion for revenge tragedy, the final act is one of carnage. All are killed except for the eldest son of the duchess and Antonio, who is named ruler of Malfi.

Webster’s The Duchess of Malfi is often regarded as the last great tragedy of the Elizabethan and Jacobean eras, second only to William Shakespeare’s. There is no evidence that Webster had read or seen the play that Spanish dramatist Lope de Vega had written about the duchess. Webster’s style is reliant on dense symbolic imagery. The duchess, by far the strongest character in the play, is a passionate noble woman who rejects her brothers’ demands for the sake of love. Unbroken by cruel treatment, she proclaims before her death, “I am Duchess of Malfi still.”