Lecture 4

Duchess of Malfi

Structure

• tragedy, revenge tragedy

• commonplaces, aphorisms

• the problem of the Duchess

• time frames: time passing between acts

• ‘literary and dramatic genius directed towards chaos’ (T.S. Eliot)

Inga Stina Ewbank (1970) on form and content

[Webster’s work] seems to build on an continual shifting of perspective - a method that makes both the moral attitude and the artistic unity of his plays hard to define.

• moral attitude and unity of plays mirror each other

• how the play is written makes it difficult…

The court and the world

Insiders:

• Ferdinand (law)

• the Cardinal (church)

• the Duchess (power and blood)

Strangers:

• Antonio

• Bosola