The Duchess of Malfi
Duchess of Malfi, The (The Tragedy of the Dutchesse of Malfy),by Webster , written 1612/13 , printed 1623 . The story is taken from one of Bandello 's novelle, through Painter's Palace of Pleasure , and also shows the influence of Sidney's Arcadia .
The duchess, a high-spirited and high-minded widow, reveals her love for the honest Antonio, steward at her court, and secretly marries him, despite the warnings of her brothers, Ferdinand, duke of Calabria, and the Cardinal, and immediately after informing them that she has no intention of remarrying. Their resistance appears to be induced by consideration for their high blood, and by, as Ferdinand later asserts, a desire to inherit her property; there is also a strong suggestion of Ferdinand's repressed incestuous desire for her. The brothers place in her employment as a spy the cynical ex-galley-slave Bosola, who betrays her to them; she and Antonio...
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