The representation of gender in The Duchess of Malfi is very interesting, not least in how it subverts traditionally assigned gender roles. Right from the outset, Webster makes it abundantly clear just how little regard contemporary Italian society has for women, even aristocratic ladies like the Duchess herself. Her deeply unpleasant brother Ferdinand epitomizes the general level of misogyny when he openly declares

What cannot a neat knave with a smooth tale; Make a woman believe?

In other words, Ferdinand believes that any woman can be charmed by a smooth-talking rogue. Furthermore, Ferdinand expresses the attitude of many in his society when he tells the Duchess

thou art but a bare name, and no essential thing.

What he means by this is that women have no identity of their own; they are nothing more than the subjects of their fathers, husbands, and brothers. Their identities, like their names, are owned by other people.

Despite the stifling air of misogyny, the Duchess is able to confound expectations of how a woman—especially a noblewoman—should behave in society. Notoriously, she invites scandal by proposing marriage to an astonished Antonio, completely reversing the established convention. In turn, the proposal, and the marriage to which it leads, acts to undermine the traditional role of the husband. As the Duchess' marriage to Antonio takes place in secret, Antonio cannot act the part of her husband in public. He must remain in a subordinate position in the capacity of a humble steward. At the same time, this clandestine arrangement causes problems for the Duchess. As Antonio cannot be publicly acknowledged as the Duchess' husband, he is unable to protect her from her wicked, devious brothers.

The main character, the Duchess, is shown to contravene gender roles in this play. She is shown to be a strong and wilful woman who acts independently of societal and familial expectations. Women of that time were expected to be submissive and dutiful to men, particularly in such an important business as marriage. Instead, the Duchess marries a man entirely of her own choice and one of lower social standing, an act which appears unforgivable in the eyes of her brothers. They set out to punish her for transgessing gender roles and thus let loose an orgy of destruction which envelops themselves also.