How does the Duchess of Malfi die?

In act 4, scene 2, imprisoned by Ferdinand, the Duchess of Malfi is first forced to watch madmen who are sent to her to howl and perform. Then Bosola comes and states that death is not such a terrible fate for the duchess, who lives in fear by day and sleeps less at night than a teething baby. He conveys that he has come to kill her by saying he will "make" her "tomb." He implies that he is doing so at the behest of her brothers, saying of the tombs of the great,

They are not carved
With their eyes fix'd upon the stars, but
As their minds were wholly bent upon the world,
The selfsame way they seem to turn their faces.

In other words, the two brothers are not concerned with how they might be offending God in having their sister murdered but in the worldly gain they will derive from it. He later makes the brothers' role explicit by saying the executioners are a "present from [her] princely brothers."

The executioners come in with cords with which to strangle the duchess and a coffin in which to remove her body. At this point, she accepts death calmly and says:

Pull, and pull strongly, for your able strength
Must pull down heaven upon me.
Yet stay, heaven gates are not so highly arch'd
As princes' palaces; they that enter there
Must go upon their knees.

Bosola tries to prepare the duchess for death by impressing on her the misery that her life is now and the escape that dying offers. She readily agrees with this and accepts with dignity what she can't change. In contrast to her quiet composure, the madmen she is forced to watch represent the insanity of a corrupt world and the madness in Ferdinand's fevered mind.

Discuss the hardships and tragic death of the Duchess in The Duchess of Malfi.

As you’re likely aware from having read or seen the play yourself, the Duchess of Malfi faces many hardships. Her sufferings don’t end until she is strangled to death by executioners in her own home.

You could discuss the Duchess’s hardships in the context of gender discrimination. You could talk about how the Duchess is a casualty of sexism. Remember, the Duchess is wealthy and powerful. Yet her affluence is little match for the bias of her brothers. Her brothers think they can tell her what to do. They think they can prohibit her from marrying.

You could argue that the Duchess shows a type of feminist spirit by going against the wishes of her brothers. By marrying Antonio, she demonstrates her independence and autonomy.

Of course, following her own wishes leads to more suffering. More so, the Duchess never really gets out from under the yoke of her scheming, plotting brothers. They keep tabs on her via Bosola.

Even in her own bedroom, the Duchess can’t be safe and free from hardship. When Ferdinand gets back from Rome, he sneaks into his sister’s bedroom and tries to get her to commit suicide.

Her brothers then imprison her in her own palace. They make her think her kids are dead. They make her endure the presence of four madmen. Finally, executioners enter and strangle her.

As the Duchess faces her final hardship, she is quite calm. She is not “afraid” of death. Though she has been the victim of numerous machinations and scams, she remains composed. Perhaps her equanimity is a sign of what a strong and tough person she is. She seems much more together than her brothers. They wind up killing each other. It’s as if the suffering and hardship that they inflicted on the Duchess comes back to inflict them.