The Duchess of Malfi

Abstract

Webster’s second tragedy repeats and reworks many of the situations, themes, characters, images and even individual lines from The White Devil. Once more we find ourselves in a sixteenth-century Italian court where the ruthlessness of great men and the corrupt authority of the Catholic church — a linkage vividly dramatised by the Cardinal’s exchange of his ecclesiastical robes for armour — combine to crush any possibilities of healthy or honest existence. Once more there is the close scrutiny of how men and women meet their deaths, as if only in their final extremity can their value be truly known. The similarities between the two plays are such that many critical generalisations about Webster fail to make any real distinction between his two masterpieces. Yet any analysis should begin by acknowledging the much greater emotional range of The Duchess of Malfi, a difference largely brought about by the introduction of a protagonist with whom the audience can more easily sympathise. The explosive cynicism and violence of The White Devil is still present but is now counterpointed with scenes of romantic and domestic intimacy, whose impact is deepened by their elegiac tone. The character of the Duchess brings the play much closer to commonly perceived norms of tragedy, whether Shakespearean or Aristotelian.