The Duchess of Malfi
Duchess of Malfi, The Author: John Webster
First Performance: c. 1613, London
Published: 1623
Genre: Trag. in 5 acts; blank verse and some prose
Setting: Malfi ( = Amalfi), Rome, Loretto, the countryside near Ancona, and Milan, 1504–13
Cast: 21m, 4f, extras
The malevolent brothers of the Duchess of Malfi, Ferdinand and the Cardinal, are anxious to prevent their widowed sister from remarrying. To this end they place the unscrupulous Bosola as a spy at her court. The Duchess has fallen in love with Antonio Bologna, her steward, and they marry secretly. Bosola later discovers that the Duchess is pregnant, and when her son is born, he informs the Duchess's brothers. Eventually she bears a further two children, and in order to avert suspicion from Antonio, she has him sent from the court ‘in...
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