Who is the character Julia in The Duchess of Malfi?

Julia is the aging courtier Castruccio's wife and the Cardinal's mistress. Her character is more or less one-dimensional. It is summed up at the end when Bosola calls her the "lustful" Julia.

Julia likes men, and when we first meet her, the Cardinal is annoyed that her elderly husband is returning to court. The Cardinal tells her she should be grateful to him for offering her the sex he says her husband can't give her. He says Castruccio keeps her like an "elephant," well fed and kissed, but that he can only tantalize her by strumming the "lute" of her body without being able to play it, an allusion to the elderly man's impotence.

Delio comes in and offers her gold to resume his affair with her, while, later, when Julia sees Bosola, she is attracted to his "form." She boldly and quickly approaches him with the idea of an affair and tells him that if he hides in her closet the next day, he will overhear secrets when the Cardinal comes.

Julia, however, is over her head in trying to double-cross someone as ruthless as the Cardinal. He reveals to her his role in having the duchess murdered, only because he has already decided to kill her, which he does by having her kiss a poisoned Bible.

Julia essentially has two roles in the play: In the first, she is a foil or opposite to the sexually constant, faithful duchess, who represents pure womanhood. Julia, in contrast, is a symbol of the false and corrupt court, willing to betray her husband, lie, and offer sexual favors for her own pleasure and gain. Webster is not overly condemnatory of her: after all, her behavior pales in contrast to that of Ferdinand and the Cardinal.

Second, she helps to illustrate the theme of reciprocity located in the term "gratitude." As far as the duke and Cardinal are concerned, everyone of a lower class is supposed to have gratitude towards them, but they feel no compulsion to return the favor, a fatal flaw of arrogance that becomes their downfall in a world that has become wholly transactional.

Who is the central character in The Duchess of Malfi?

The Duchess of Malfi centers around the titular duchess, a courageous and intelligent young widow who goes against the gender norms of her time. In the period of the story, a woman with political power was an anomaly. The idea of such a woman also possessing a private life was seen as dangerous and unnatural, since women were supposed to be subservient to their husbands. The duchess ends up marrying her steward in secret, breaking several social rules in the process.

The tragedy of the duchess comes not so much from a fatal flaw but from the attempt to reconcile political power with a fulfilling private life. She is in love with her husband and bears him several children, but this is seen as a crime by her brothers, who wish to own her estate and her body. Their retaliation is swift, leading to the murder of both the duchess and her family.

However, the duchess remains a heroic character, facing death with bravery and a firm sense of who she is. While she does not seek vengeance like the usual revenge tragedy protagonist (indeed, she dies at the start of act 5, leaving the spy Bosola to avenge the wrongs done to her), she is a prime example of a tragic hero.