The Duchess of Malfi by John Webster

One of my reading goals this year is to read Shakespeare’s contemporaries. I want to get a sense of what the theatre scene was like during that time. The first play I tried was The Duchess of Malfi by John Webster. If you watched ‘Shakespeare in Love’, you might remember it features John Webster as a boy. In history, Webster was born about 15 years after Shakespeare. The Duchess of Malfi was written and performed around 1613. Shakespeare’s last three plays: The Tempest, Henry VIII and The Two Noble Kinsmen were written about the same time.

Unlike most of Shakespeare’s plays, I had no idea what The Duchess of Malfi was about. I had no expectations. I watched the filmed stage production in Globe’s candlelit Wanamaker Playhouse. It’s an excellent intense dark story. It worked perfectly in the small candlelit theatre.

To not spoil the play, I’ll stop at Act 3. Briefly, the play begins as a love story, when the Duchess marries beneath her class against her brothers’ wishes, and ends as the brothers destroy everything.

The Duchess

I loved many things about this play, but I’ll focus on just one thing in this post: the Duchess as a character. I was surprised to see such a strong and three-dimensional female protagonist. I think even among Shakespeare’s collection of tragic female protagonists, I don’t know many that have shown so many aspects of their character.

Starting with Act 1 and the order Webster introduces the characters. The first two characters we see are Delio, a friend and confidant of Antonio; and Antonio, the Duchess’ chief steward, who later becomes her husband. We watched the first few scenes through their eyes as they stood in the background and gave us a running commentary on other characters as they came on stage. So the next to appear is Bosola, a man who does a lot of dirty work in the dark. He did years of hard labour as the punishment for a notorious murder that was ordered by the Cardinal, but strangely Antonio considered him a good and valiant man. Then we see the Cardinal, one of the Duchess’ brothers, Ferdinand, the other brother of the Duchess. Antonio did not have anything good to say about either of them. We are introduced to the Duchess last and Antonio is full of praise.

ANTONIO
But for their sister, the right noble duchess,
You never fixed your eye on three fair medals
Cast in one figure, of so different temper.
For her discourse, it is so full of rapture,
You only will begin then to be sorry
When she doth end her speech, and wish, in wonder,
She held it less vainglory to talk much,
Than your penance to hear her: whilst she speaks,
She throws upon a man so sweet a look
That it were able to raise one to a galliard.
That lay in a dead palsy, and to dote
On that sweet countenance; but in that look
There speaketh so divine a continence
As cuts off all lascivious and vain hope.
Her days are practised in such noble virtue,
That sure her nights, nay, more, her very sleeps,
Are more in heaven than other ladies’ shrifts.
Let all sweet ladies break their flattering glasses,
And dress themselves in her. (Act 1 Scene 2)

The Duchess was a beautiful young widow. The first priority on the brothers’ mind was that she didn’t marry again. As soon as they left her alone, we immediately hear that their warnings were not against nothing, she did have someone in mind and she would not obey her brothers.

DUCHESS
Shall this move me? If all my royal kindred
Lay in my way unto this marriage,
I’d make them my low footsteps; and even now,
Even in this hate, as men in some great battles,
By apprehending danger, have achieved
Almost impossible actions (I have heard soldiers say so),
So I through frights and threatenings will assay
This dangerous venture. Let old wives report
I winked and chose a husband. Cariola,
To thy known secrecy I have given up
More than my life—my fame. (Act 1 Scene 3)

She has made up her mind. She will not be persuaded by her brothers and submit to their wishes and orders. She knows it’s going to be dangerous and impossibly difficult – she compares it to a battle. She knows it’s going to be gossiped among old wives, and it might cost her reputation, not just because it’s against the wishes of her brothers, but that she has chosen someone who’s below her in rank, Antonio, a steward who manages her household. She has a strong will and as we will see, she acts on her wishes. She immediately in the same scene proposed to Antonio and jokingly complained about having to do the proposing herself.

DUCHESS
The misery of us that are born great!
We are forced to woo, because none dare woo us;
And as a tyrant doubles with his words,
And fearfully equivocates, so we
Are forced to express our violent passions
In riddles and in dreams, and leave the path
Of simple virtue, which was never made
To seem the thing it is not. Go, go brag
You have left me heartless; mine is in your bosom:
I hope ’twill multiply love there. You do tremble:
Make not your heart so dead a piece of flesh,
To fear more than to love me. Sir, be confident:
What is ‘t distracts you? This is flesh and blood, sir;
‘Tis not the figure cut in alabaster
Kneels at my husband’s tomb. Awake, awake, man!
I do here put off all vain ceremony,
And only do appear to you a young widow
That claims you for her husband, and, like a widow,
I use but half a blush in ‘t.

Antonio loved her but because he was socially lower than her, and he was a very honest man and didn’t think himself worthy and didn’t think of climbing the social ladder this way – very opposite to Malvolio – he couldn’t believe this was happening. She had to encourage him, do not tremble, love me, be confident, I’m made of flesh and blood, I claim you for my husband. What a thing to say! She hasn’t got anyone to do the matchmaking on her behalf. Her male relatives are all against it. So what of it? She’ll manage everything herself, from the proposal to the marriage ceremony there and then and off they go to bed. She has a strong will and she’s fiercely independent.

Antonio is simple and kind. He might be a capable and faithful manager of the household but he’s quite helpless throughout the play, especially in emergencies. I imagine him as one of those who keeps every appointment in a diary and every expense in spreadsheets and is terrible at coping with anything unexpected.

The Duchess hid the fact that she was pregnant until she gave birth to a son. Her brothers heard of it and were not pleased, especially Ferdinand, he was mad with fury. My understanding is they didn’t know she was married. Ferdinand in his frenzy imagined her “in the shameful act of sin”.

CARDINAL
With whom?

FERDINAND
Haply with some strong-thighed bargeman,
Or one o’ th’ wood-yard that can quoit the sledge
Or toss the bar, or else some lovely squire
That carries coal up to her privy lodgings.

The Cardinal’s concern was their royal blood be tainted. But Ferdinand’s reaction is really wild. The brief notes in the Norton Anthology mention ‘incestuous desire’ and the Globe production interprets it that way as well. Ferdinand did seem quite obsessed with his sister.

Time passed. Ferdinand came to the court where the Duchess lived. She had given birth to two more children by now. We now see a different aspect of her character – She is naive and trusting, she can’t read people’s true character, and that’s very unwise and leads to deadly consequences.

She mentioned to Ferdinand a scandalous report touching her honour. He wouldn’t even hear of it – I won’t believe it, even if it was true, I trust you to deal with it. He shut down the conversation immediately and she was satisfied.

DUCHESS
O blessed comfort! This deadly air is purged.

She believed that was it! Her brothers didn’t mind and that was the end of her giving birth to three children without a husband. She didn’t know her brothers at all! And she would soon find out.

Before the confrontation between Ferdinand and the Duchess, Webster cleverly shows us a calm and sweet domestic scene, where the Duchess was getting ready for bed. The Duchess, Ferdinand and Cariola the waiting gentlewoman had the most common and cosy conversation.

DUCHESS
Bring me the casket hither, and the glass.
You get no lodging here tonight, my lord.

ANTONIO
Indeed, I must persuade one.

DUCHESS
Very good: I hope in time ’twill grow into a custom,
That noblemen shall come with cap and knee
To purchase a night’s lodging of their wives.

ANTONIO
I must lie here.

DUCHESS
Must! You are a lord of misrule.

ANTONIO
Indeed, my rule is only in the night.

DUCHESS
To what use will you put me?

ANTONIO
We’ll sleep together.

DUCHESS
Alas, what pleasure can two lovers find in sleep?

CARIOLA
My lord, I lie with her often, and I know
She’ll much disquiet you.

ANTONIO
See, you are complained of.

CARIOLA
For she’s the sprawling’st bedfellow.

There’s a loving couple and a friendship with Cariola. The Duchess is still the one in charge. Antonio is socially inferior and he’s not the dominant one in marriage either. His rule is only in the night. But their conversation is lighthearted and tender. We don’t see the ruling Duchess here, we see a woman in love and growing old. She said, “Doth not the colour of my hair begin to change? When I wax gray, I shall have all the court powder their hair with arras, to be like me.” Webster shows us something good and beautiful so he can tear it apart later on and shock us more effectively.

Then Ferdinand got into the Duchess’ room with a stolen key, probably hoping to catch her with a strong-thighed bargeman in bed but she was just combing her hair. He accused her and she said there’s no shame, I am married though not the type of man you’d choose. Since I’m married already it’s too late for you to do anything about it, would you like to be introduced to my husband and we can live in peace? He said, no way, don’t even dream of it.

FERDINAND
Whate’er thou art that hast enjoyed my sister,
For I am sure thou hear’st me, for thine own sake
Let me not know thee. I came hither prepared
To work thy discovery; yet am now persuaded
It would beget such violent effects
As would damn us both. I would not for ten millions
I had beheld thee: therefore use all means
I never may have knowledge of thy name;
Enjoy thy lust still, and a wretched life,
On that condition.

His concern was not her good reputation because he was not satisfied to know that she was married and her children were legitimate. He just couldn’t bear the idea that someone “enjoyed my sister”. If he found out who it was, he’d kill him. Ferdinand left her and she immediately decided the next step within seconds. It’s super intense. She was convinced that sooner or later Ferdinand would find out her husband was Antonio, and Antonio would be in mortal danger now she had seen how unreasonable and wild her brother was. She decided to send him away. Not only to send him away, but she made up a charge against him so to make the dismissal unsuspicious. That charge also explained why her brother left in such a state to Bosola and all who had seen him.

She reacted impossibly quickly and decisively. Imagine the stamina to raise the whole house in the middle of the night, to publicly accuse someone with a watertight lie, minutes after the intense confrontation and death threats from her brother, and watch your husband leave on a long journey without saying goodbye. How strong a heart and mind it requires!

After everyone left. She asked Bosola’s opinion on her steward whom she just dismissed. Bosola was an extremely intelligent man. He sniffed something unusual about this. So he said, Antonio was the best steward you’d ever get, you were wrong to send him away, and many other nice things about him. Maybe the strain on her nerves was too much. Or maybe she just loved hearing people praise her husband and she was proud of him. The Duchess abruptly confessed, “this good one that you speak of is my husband.” Cariola was suspicious but the Duchess was not at all. She believed him and told him Antonio was her husband. That was her downfall. She lost a round of the game and it cost them all their lives.

We’re at Act 3 Scene 3 at this point and I shall stop here and not spoil the ending for you. It’s a fantastic story. If you’re used to Shakespeare’s kind of tragedy, Act 4 and 5 lean towards the shockingly gory end of the spectrum. Think Titus Andronicus. The candlelit theatre was superb for this play and worked to great effect. There was one scene where the whole theatre was plunged into pitch darkness. We could hear the actors talking and breathing and I could really feel the panic and confusion. Then something really shocking was suddenly revealed in a tower of burning candles. It was fabulous.

I hope you like it if you ever get to watch The Duchess of Malfi!