Study Notes: John Webster - The Duchess of Malfi (Aspects of Dramatic Tragedy)
Hello! Welcome to your study guide on John Webster's dark and magnificent play, The Duchess of Malfi. This play is a cornerstone of Jacobean Tragedy. We are exploring it through the lens of dramatic tragedy, focusing on why its shocking violence and profound suffering move us, and how it fits the traditional tragic pattern.
Don't worry if this seems complicated at first! We will break down the key aspects of tragedy required by the syllabus into manageable chunks. Let’s dive into the corrupt world of 17th-century Italy!
1. Defining the Tragedy and Setting
The Type of Tragic Text (Jacobean Revenge Tragedy)
The Duchess of Malfi falls squarely into the genre of Jacobean Tragedy (named after the reign of King James I, 1603-1625). Specifically, it is a Revenge Tragedy, meaning the plot is driven by a cycle of vengeance, betrayal, and bloodshed.
- Contrast: Classical tragedy (like those from ancient Greece) often focuses solely on high-born public figures and the actions of the gods (Fate). Webster’s tragedy, while featuring a high-born figure (the Duchess), blends the public and the domestic.
- Public Tragedy: The Duchess is a ruling figure; her marriage affects the state and her lineage.
- Domestic Tragedy: The core conflict stems from her personal, secret decision to marry Antonio for love, breaking her brothers’ orders. This emphasis on private passion leading to public catastrophe is characteristic of Jacobean drama.
The Settings: Places and Times
The play is set primarily in Italy (Malfi, Rome, and Milan) during the Renaissance era. The setting is crucial because it acts as a metaphor:
- Italy as Corruption: For English Jacobean audiences, Catholic Italy was often viewed as a place of moral decay, Machiavellian politics, and excessive passion. This enhances the sense of tragedy.
- The Court: The play contrasts the outward luxury of the court with the inward moral sickness of the characters (especially Ferdinand and the Cardinal). This is a diseased world where virtue (the Duchess) cannot survive.
Quick Review: The type of tragedy is Jacobean/Revenge, blending public nobility with private passion. The setting (Italy) signals political and moral corruption.
2. The Tragic Heroine: The Duchess’s Journey
Flaws, Pride, and Folly (The Protagonist’s Choices)
The core of any tragedy involves the protagonist's path to ruin. The Duchess is a compelling tragic heroine because her downfall is caused not by malice, but by an excess of positive traits (love, courage) which, in her world, become fatal flaws.
- The Folly: Her decision to marry Antonio, her steward, is an act of folly (rash, imprudent action) in her society. She defies her brothers and marries far below her social rank.
- Moral Values: Her value system elevates individual happiness and genuine love above political duty, hierarchy, and aristocratic bloodline. This moral integrity sets her against the cold, cruel world of her brothers.
- Pride/Courage: She has the courage (which can be seen as pride, or hubris, in the classical sense) to assert, “I would wish It would be better done, but I cannot tell What horror it is, lies in the name of marriage.” She dares to claim sovereignty over her own life.
Blindness and Insight (The Discovery and Learning)
The tragic hero often moves from blindness (not understanding the severity of the threat) to profound insight just before death.
- Blindness: Initially, the Duchess underestimates her brothers' hatred and the lengths to which they will go. She trusts Bosola too much.
- Insight/Discovery: In Act IV, undergoing psychological torture, she achieves true moral clarity and dignity. When commanded to surrender her title, she famously declares: "I am Duchess of Malfi still." This moment is her greatest moral discovery—she retains her identity and moral standing, even as her body is about to be destroyed.
Memory Aid: Think of the Duchess’s journey using the acronym F.L.I.D. Folly (marrying Antonio) -> Love (her driving moral value) -> Insight (in Act IV) -> Death (tragic end).
Key Takeaway: The Duchess's tragedy stems from her valiant attempt to merge personal desire with public status in a world fundamentally opposed to freedom and love.
3. The Role of the Tragic Villains and Power Contest
Ferdinand and The Cardinal: Tragic Opponents
The brothers are the tragic villains whose destructive behaviour drives the plot. They are the antithesis of the Duchess’s virtue.
- Motive and Role: They seek to control the Duchess and her wealth/status. Ferdinand’s motive is intensely personal and bordering on incestuous obsession, while the Cardinal is cold, calculating, and politically ambitious. They engage in a direct contest of power with the heroine.
- Responsibility for Demise: They are directly responsible for the Duchess’s death, employing Bosola as their agent. Their malice makes the Duchess’s fate seem inevitable once her secret is discovered.
- The Villain’s Fall: A crucial tragic element is that the villains are often punished. The Cardinal dies by accident and treachery, and Ferdinand descends into lycanthropia (a delusion that he is a wolf), showing how their evil has consumed them completely.
Bosola: The Complex Opponent/Anti-Hero
Bosola is arguably the most complex character—an educated malcontent forced into the role of the instrument of revenge.
- He acts as a spy and murderer, directly affecting the Duchess’s fortune.
- He experiences genuine remorse (guilt and repentance) after executing the Duchess, leading him to turn against his masters in a quest for vengeance. His shift creates the final, chaotic slaughter of Act V.
Did you know? Ferdinand's madness is symptomatic of the play’s comment on the human condition—uncontrolled passion and cruelty destroy the mind itself.
4. Violence, Fate, and the World in Disorder
The Significance of Violence and Revenge
Jacobean tragedy is famous for its shocking and theatrical violence, which is far more than just gore; it is a profound dramatic device (Syllabus: Significance of violence and revenge).
- Psychological Violence: Before the Duchess is physically killed, she is subjected to extreme mental torture (presented with dead bodies, chained, confronted by madmen). This highlights the deliberate cruelty of her brothers.
- Physical Violence: The strangling of the Duchess and her children, followed by the bloody, chaotic final duel in Act V, shows how the characters’ choices move the world from order to disorder.
- Revenge Cycle: The play ends in an almost complete massacre (Ferdinand kills the Cardinal, Bosola kills Ferdinand, Bosola is killed). This demonstrates that revenge is self-consuming and offers no true restoration of order, only destruction.
The Presence of Fate
In Webster's world, fate is less about intervention by classical gods and more about human malice and bad fortune (random chance).
- Inevitability: The Duchess’s end feels inevitable partly because her brothers are so powerful and determined. Once Ferdinand decides she must die, her demise is virtually guaranteed.
- The Wheel of Fortune: Characters often discuss ‘Fortune’ as an unpredictable, often cruel force that raises people up only to cast them down. This sense of a capricious universe reinforces the hopelessness and tragedy of the human condition.
Analogy: Imagine the Duchess is driving a high-performance car (her status and passion). Her brothers have set up relentless, highly motivated roadblocks (villainy). While she could have chosen a different route (marrying a suitable nobleman), the violence she encounters is due to the man-made traps (the brothers), not simply a cosmic accident (fate).
5. Structure, Language, and Audience Effect
The Structural Pattern of the Text
The play follows the classic tragic structure, moving from happiness to catastrophe:
- Prosperity and Happiness (Acts I and II): The Duchess marries Antonio secretly and enjoys initial marital bliss, moving from outward order.
- Complication (Act III): The secret is discovered. The protagonists flee; the brothers begin their vengeful plot.
- Climax to Catastrophe (Act IV): This is the heart of the tragedy. It is the point of maximum suffering for the Duchess (psychological torture and death). The play moves from stability to utter disorder.
- Resolution (Act V): The chaos is completed by the cycle of revenge. Although many principal characters die (a bloody resolution), there is a suggestion of a political return to order when the Duchess’s surviving son is installed, but this sense of closure is tainted by the preceding horror.
Dramatic Language to Heighten Tragedy
Webster uses language masterfully to enhance the tragic mood (Syllabus: The way that dramatic language is used to heighten the tragedy).
- Verse vs. Prose: The Duchess speaks mostly in blank verse (unrhymed iambic pentameter), especially when expressing deep emotion or moral insight, elevating her stature. Bosola, the cynical observer, often speaks in prose, offering dark, satirical commentary on the corrupt world.
- Imagery of Decay: The language is saturated with images of disease, corruption, death, and darkness (e.g., comparing the court to a "standing pond" that breeds corruption). This reinforces the inevitability of the tragic end.
Affecting the Audience (Pity and Fear)
Ultimately, tragedy must affect the audience deeply (Syllabus: How the tragedy ultimately affects the audience).
- Pity: We feel pity for the Duchess because she is virtuous, brave, and suffers unjustly. Her suffering is disproportionate to her 'crime' (marrying for love).
- Fear: We feel fear because the play shows the terrifying extent of unchecked aristocratic power and human cruelty. It provides a commentary on the real world of Jacobean politics.
- Understanding the Human Condition: By watching the Duchess maintain her dignity in the face of absolute horror, we gain an understanding of the profound strength (and fragility) of the human spirit.
Quick Review: The structure moves swiftly from secret happiness to total disorder. Webster uses verse for dignity and prose for cynicism. The audience is moved by pity for the victim and fear of the villains’ power.
Summary of Key Tragic Aspects in The Duchess of Malfi
Keep these three central conflicts in mind when analysing a passage:
Conflict 1: Love vs. Power
The Duchess sacrifices her political power and safety for domestic happiness (love). Her brothers sacrifice all moral values for absolute control (power).
Conflict 2: Order vs. Disorder
The play charts the descent from a seemingly ordered aristocratic court into psychological torment, madness, and mass murder (disorder).
Conflict 3: Virtue vs. Corruption
The Duchess embodies true virtue and moral integrity, contrasting sharply with the political and moral decay represented by her brothers and the Italian court.