The text was adapted by Richard Henry Horne. The play remained current through the first part of the Restoration. Ultimately the Duchess is put to death for remarrying into a lower class. John Lowin played Bosola; William Ostler was Antonio. When Pescara leaves to visit an ill Ferdinand, Antonio decides to pay a night-time visit to the Cardinal. The echo repeats the last words of what Antonio and Delio speak, but is selective. Scene 4—The Cardinal's apartments in Milan: The Cardinal enters, trying to dissuade Pescara, Malateste, Roderigo and Grisolan from staying to keep watch over Ferdinand. He tells her that he has found a husband for her, the Count Malateste. Directed by Jack Landau, who had earlier staged a brief but well-reviewed White Devil, the production emphasised (and succeeded as) Grand Guignol. There are also minor roles including courtiers, servants, officers, a mistress, the Duchess’s children, executioners, etc. Ferdinand is angry to the point of shouting about his sister's "whorish" behaviour (he knows of the child, but not of the marriage), and the Cardinal struggles to control his brother's temperamental outburst. He is no stranger to murder himself, however, as he slays his own mistress by making her kiss a poisoned bible. The production was favourably reviewed by The Athenaeum; George Henry Lewes, however, registered disapproval of the play's violence and what he termed its shoddy construction: "Instead of 'holding the mirror up to nature,' this drama holds the mirror up to Madame Tussauds." Farewell, lusty widow" (1.1.247–250). [10] As a female in a position of power, she is expected to hold the throne and obey the patriarchal figures in the court, specifically her two brothers, the Cardinal and Ferdinand. It was first performed privately at the Blackfriars Theatre, then later to a larger audience at The Globe, in 1613–1614. In The Duchess of Malfi, Webster uses many of the techniques of the revenge play--a form that was starting to fall out of fashion at the time of the play’s first staging--but for different and usually more complex purpose.The structure of the play, though simpler than that used in Webster’s The White Devil, is still fairly unorthodox. The 1623 quarto is the only substantive version of the play in circulation today, and modern editions and productions are based on it. The Cardinal gambles, keeps the wife of one of his courtiers as a mistress, and fights duels. She refuses to be bullied, and once her brothers are out of sight, she proposes to Antonio by giving him her wedding ring. Antonio tells him to stay away from the Duchess since he doesn't trust Bosola. The issue of identity, of perception, is a major theme in The Duchess of Malfi with relation to the Duchess herself. Ferdinand is beyond reason at this point, and tells Bosola to go to Milan to find the real Antonio. The play briefly mentions a son who is the product of her first marriage and would therefore have a stronger claim to the duchy. In its totality, it reads: "Deadly accent. A 1935 production at the Embassy Theatre received similarly negative reviews; Ivor Brown noted that the audience left "rather with superior smiles than with emotional surrender." This production received excellent notices; it was transferred to London, where it won the London Drama Critic's Award for best play. She elopes with Antonio and bears him three children secretly. By mid-century, the play had fallen, with Webster, out of the repertory, where it stayed until the Romantic revival of Charles Lamb and William Hazlitt. Only their sister, the Duchess, earns the approval of everyone, a very pleasant and gracious woman. Samuel Pepys reports seeing the play several times; it was performed by the Duke of York's company under Thomas Betterton. He manages to relate the death of the Duchess and children to the dying Antonio, who is glad to be dying in sadness, now that life is pointless for him. In particular, the third scene is very significant because the premises for the plot's development are set in it. Print. The production featured Cathleen Nesbitt as the Duchess; Robert Farquharson played Ferdinand. When Bosola is brought in and made aware of this plan, he at first refuses, but ultimately is given no choice. In 2010, the production was staged for Stage on Screen[18] at the Greenwich Theatre, London. Ferdinand is particularly obsessed with the idea of inheriting the fortune to which his sister is entitled, because it would protect his social and financial status. Recording – (excerpts only) In 1952, read by, Recording – (full dramatisation) In 1969 by Caedmon starring. ... tags: death, jacobean-tragedy, murder, youth. The quarto title page announces that the play was performed at both the Globe Theatre and at Blackfriars; however, in tone and in some details of staging (particularly the use of special lighting effects) the play is clearly meant primarily for the indoor stage. Cariola is brought back, and after struggling fiercely, she too is strangled. Bosola does not believe the Duchess was justified in banishing Antonio, and tells her that Antonio is a good, honest man. That suits it best. The double cast lists included in the 1623 quarto suggest a revival around 1619. Though it begins as a love story it ends as a dreadful tragedy. Bosola then stabs the Cardinal, who dies. LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Duchess of Malfi, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work. Scene 3—A courtyard outside the same palace: Delio and Antonio are near the Duchess's tomb; as they talk, an echo from the tomb mirrors their conversation. “The Duchess of Malfi” is a macabre, tragic play, written by the English dramatist John Webster. Props would also have been minimal, with essentials like swords, pistols, and candles, and dummies. Because of this, the roles of women were played by apprentice boys or the younger men. In 1971, Clifford Williams directed the play for the Royal Shakespeare Company. She disregards this, as she is already married (still secretly of course) to Antonio. When he leaves, Antonio and Delio comment on his past offence, and how he will surely come to no good if he is kept in neglect. You may need to download version 2.0 now from the Chrome Web Store. Ferdinand, distracted, leaves him alone with the bodies. John Webster’s Jacobean tragedy centres on the widowed Duchess of Malfi (Joan Iyiola) marrying against her brothers’ wishes and below her station to the steward, Antonio (Paul Woodson). Thou art a dead thing. Genre: Tragedy Setting: Roman Catholic Italy: Amalfi, Rome, Loreto, and Milan Climax: The Duchess is killed / Antonio, Duke Ferdinand, the Cardinal, and Bosola all … The Cardinal and Ferdinand then turn their attention to their sister, urging her not to marry again, now that she is a widow, going so far as to threaten her with death, in Ferdinand's case. Antonio fears the wrath of the recently arrived Ferdinand, and Delio tells him the ordinary people think the Duchess is a whore. "Webster and the Social Tragedy.". Ferdinand and his men, leaving the Cardinal and Malateste to speak privately, are very harsh in their critique of Malateste, considering him too cowardly to fight in an upcoming battle. 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