Zusammenfassung der Ressource
Duchess of Malfi Context:
- The Real Duchess:
- Real Duchess of Malfi =
Giovanna d'Aragona.
- Her father's death left her under
the authority of her two brothers.
- Widowed 1489, making
her the Duchess of Amalfi
in her own right.
- Historical events of
Webster's play = 1508-13.
He sets them 1504.
- Defied her
brothers and
social expectations
by secretly
marrying her
servant.
- Painter's Duchess:
- Main influence for Webster.
- Found in Painter's
morality tales "The
Palace of Pleasure."
- Selectively adapted by
Webster.
- Condemns his Duchess for her sexual
desire.
- Characterisation of Duchess:
- Tragic heroine
destroyed by her
brothers.
- Champions
personal merit over
privilege.
- Sympathetic portrayal -
sanitises the Duchess'
expression of her sexual
desire.
- Webster affirms the Duchess' right to control
key aspects of her life due to the choice to
make Antonio's eldest son the heir of Malfi.
- Duchess and Bosola's betrayal are
symbolic of Jesus and Judas.
- Societal Context:
- Duchess seen to have transgressed the
Great Chain of Being - sacrilegious action.
- Class divisions = sacrosanct
because the social order
had been fixed by God with
the King firmly at the top.
- Proto-feminism:
- Webster handles the Duchess sympathetically.
- Play wasn't printed until
1623 - suggests it was a
comment on Arbella Stuart
in her favour.
- Depicts society as
clearly patriarchal
and misogynist.