The Duchess of Malfi: Characters (OCR A Level English Literature)
Revision Note
The Duchess of Malfi: Characters
Webster uses his characters to symbolise various ideas prevalent in his society. He portrays how differences between characters reflect contemporary debates. Therefore it is very useful not only to learn about each character individually, but how they compare and contrast to other characters in the play.
Characters can be symbolic, representing certain ideas or ideals, so it is essential that you consider:
societal groups or themes represented by characters
how characters are established
how characters are presented via:
actions and motives
what they say and think
how they interact with others
what others say and think about them
their physical appearance or description
how far the characters conform to or subvert stereotypes
the relationships between characters
Below you will find detailed character profiles of:
Main characters
Other characters
The Duchess
The play’s protagonist, the eponymous yet nameless Duchess, is a character based on a real duchess, Giovanna d’Aragona, who was murdered by her brothers for conducting a secret affair
The Duchess is a young, beautiful, virtuous widow:
She has a powerful position but shows humility and chooses a steward as her husband
She surprises Bosola as she is idealistic and does not seek material wealth
Webster’s protagonist is the victim of her cruel and powerful brothers (a cardinal and a duke) who control her and limit her sexual identity
In this way, she represents a victim of a patriarchal and corrupted religious system
The Duchess represents a woman who is determined to live autonomously:
She defies her brothers’ demands that she remains a widow
She chooses her own husband
The Duchess is presented as defiant against her oppressors:
She refuses to obey her brothers or deny her own desires
She is brave, resourceful and proactive in her attempts to keep her family safe
However, Webster chooses to present her attempts as futile in order to criticise the status quo
As well as this, Webster portrays the violent consequences of the Duchess's choice to become a mother in defiance of her brothers’ wishes
Her desire for autonomy and personal agency within her society are presented as doomed:
Although she chooses to live on her own terms, ultimately, she and her husband are murdered by her brothers, a cardinal and a duke
The Duchess, a likeable heroine, is an effective tragic hero to present Webster’s criticism of corruption:
She is witty and humorous
She is humble and self-effacing
However, at times she is self-absorbed and vain:
She is rude to her maid
She believes Antonio’s marriage to her is a reward for his virtuous life
Her naive nature is her tragic flaw as she trusts too easily:
She tells Antonio time will temper her brothers’ reactions
She dismisses Antonio’s protests about their class difference
She believes Ferdinand has forgiven her for marrying again
She tells Bosola her secret, which leads to their capture
She provides an antithesis to her brothers’ conniving and sinful natures:
Webster presents her acting with integrity and dignity
When she is imprisoned and Ferdinand tries to drive her to insanity she is resolute, whereas Ferdinand goes mad
She accepts her death bravely and philosophically, whereas Ferdinand’s guilt leads to his death
The Duchess is portrayed as a sacrificial character:
She is the catalyst for Bosola’s repentance and potential salvation as his cynical attitude is softened by her actions
She sacrifices herself for love
Duke Ferdinand
Ferdinand is Duke of Calabria, brother of the Cardinal and the twin brother of the Duchess
He represents Webster’s ideas about corrupt leadership and oppressive control:
His desire for wealth and power supersede his love for his sister
He refuses to pay Bosola his wages and offers, instead, forgiveness for the murder committed on his orders
His jealousy towards his sister’s sexuality and marriage is depicted through a series of treacherous acts towards her and her family:
His enjoyment of her torture presents him as narcissistic and evil
His lack of compassion, despite Bosola’s pleas, shows his sadism
He is an emotional, impulsive and violent character:
Even the Cardinal is shocked by the list of brutal punishments he wishes to carry out on his sister and her family
He is psychologically unbalanced and unpredictable:
His bizarre and cruel schemes to punish his sister juxtapose intimate scenes and scenes of passionate outrage
He is a master of deception:
He lies to his sister repeatedly
He employs Bosola to spy on the Duchess
His character is dubious as he illustrates incestuous feelings for his sister:
Yet even this is shown as superficial as his priority remains to claim her inheritance
His attitude to family honour is presented as warped and corrupted:
He chooses to murder his sister and her husband
He suggests her children taint the family bloodline
His vengeful nature is punished as Webster conveys themes of guilt via Ferdinand’s illness:
The doctor suggests he has a disease called lycanthropy, which has him believing he is a wolf
His mad ranting about his guilty conscience ultimately leads Bosola to murder him
The Cardinal
The Cardinal is portrayed as a calculating and duplicitous religious figure:
He is thought to have bribed his way to his position
Webster tells audiences in the exposition, ironically via city gossip, that he is known to be distrustful and paranoid:
He relies on gossip and spies to manage the city
He is immediately presented as corrupt and treacherous:
Audiences are told that Bosola’s imprisonment in the “galleys” was a result of a murder committed on the Cardinal’s orders
This is confirmed later when the Cardinal refuses to compensate Bosola for his services
His character represents an individual who employs face-saving tactics to maintain a façade of virtue:
He pretends he does not know the Duchess has been murdered
He refuses to interact with any character who may expose his true nature
He is careful not to speak too wildly, unlike his brother Ferdinand
The Cardinal strongly opposes the Duchess remarrying, insisting she remain a widow:
His motive appears to be to ensure that her purity will guarantee the good reputation of the family
His snobbery and focus on appearances is manifested by his comment on "the royal blood” in Act II, Scene V
His ideals are presented as hypocritical when he engages in an affair with Julia, the wife of Lord Castruccio:
His treatment of Julia, the mistress, is exploitative and selfish
Webster explicitly illustrates his sinful and blasphemous nature when he uses the Bible to murder Julia:
Though he is a high-ranking "prince” of the Church, he poisons the Bible
He forces Julia to swear on it by kissing it, which kills her
His motive for all evil misdeeds is to suppress previous crimes and ensure his reputation remains intact
Webster punishes the Cardinal for his sins with a double betrayal:
Both Bosola and Ferdinand murder him
His brief display of having a conscience is portrayed as too little and too late:
He shows little compassion for the murder of his sister and her family
His repentance comes just as Bosola and Ferdinand fatally stab him
Antonio Bologna
Antonio is presented as a victim of hypocritical attitudes to class and power:
His position as the Duchess's steward places him in a lower class
His marriage to her, a high-ranking Duchess, is the catalyst for the play’s conflict and his own death
Webster portrays him as a virtuous and steadfast individual:
The Duchess considers him to be a “complete” man and chooses him as her husband
His love for the Duchess is presented as genuine:
In the initial scene he expresses his respect and admiration of her to Delio
He does not view his marriage as a vehicle for social mobility
However, his naivety leads to his death:
He is aware that his status will cause problems, yet he chooses to marry the Duchess regardless of the danger
He is unable to see through Bosola
He decides to confront the Cardinal despite warnings
Webster presents a cynical view on love and marriage through his characterisation:
Despite the genuine love between he and the Duchess he is unable to withstand external pressures
His character conveys Webster’s ideas regarding the rewards of virtue in a corrupted society:
The Duchess tells Antonio that marriage to her is a reward for his virtue
This is ironic as it ultimately leads to his death
His accidental death in the final act suggests he is the victim of his own fate, an idea he illustrates himself when his son is born under a “bad sign”
His superstitious beliefs are portrayed as a weakness:
His response to his nosebleed (believing it a bad omen) leads to his exposure as he leaves behind a note, which Bosola finds
The note itself is an astrological detailing of his son’s birth date and destiny
Daniel de Bosola
Daniel de Bosola is a complex character who conveys much of the play’s humour as well as darker, psychological themes
In some ways he is similar to a jester or a fool as he delivers witty asides and speaks eloquently and cynically:
He is known as a malcontent, a character whose pessimistic attitude represents his own oppression, often used in revenge tragedy
However, his active participation as a central character in the play presents him as a villainous and dynamic manipulator:
Planted by Duke Ferdinand as the stable master for the Duchess, he is easily persuaded by money to spy on her and report back on her actions
In the exposition, Antonio tells audiences he is a melancholy and cynical character:
His dialogue portrays him as bitter towards corrupted power
His bad attitude, though, will “poison any goodness”, according to Antonio, who foreshadows his decline in the first scene
His desire for social power is presented as his weakness:
The Cardinal’s betrayal and imprisonment in the “galleys” for murdering a man on his command does not hinder him from engaging with him again
His acceptance of money for his services present him as mercenary
His inability to resolve his own sense of powerlessness is presented as the catalyst for his complicity in all of Ferdinand’s evil schemes:
He carries out torture on Ferdinand’s behalf
He brutally murders the Duchess, her children and a servant, before stabbing Ferdinand and the Cardinal
Although he shows compassion at times, his cunning manipulations of the Duchess are cruel:
He gives her apricots to induce labour
The audience is shocked when he betrays the Duchess:
He tells her brothers whom she has married after praising Antonio as a virtuous man
This is especially treacherous as earlier he praises the Duchess for her humility and for marrying beneath her class
He is presented as a malcontent:
His speeches and asides suggest he understands the difference between virtue and sin
His positive appraisal of the Duchess and Antonio, as well as his knowledge of the corruption within the court, makes him particularly nihilistic in nature
His misogynistic characterisation is explicitly illustrated in order to portray his bitter nature:
He insults an old woman in two scenes
He degrades her with comments about witchcraft, loose morals and her appearance
After the Duchess is murdered, Bosola becomes a vehicle for revenge against Ferdinand and the Cardinal:
However, his impulsive desire for revenge leads him to kill Antonio by accident
His own death is dealt as punishment, perhaps, for failing in his final attempt at redemption
Other characters
Delio
Delio is Antonio’s friend and confidant, whose characterisation serves to aid an audience’s understanding of Antonio:
He speaks with Antonio about his secret marriage, his dilemma, and offers him advice
He is a loyal friend to Antonio and actively tries to help him throughout the play:
He accompanies him to the Cardinal’s court:
However, he is unable to save his friend, suggesting his passivity
He is asked to take care of Antonio and the Duchess's son in the final scene
He delivers the final lines, which varies from convention in that a minority character closes the play and concludes its themes:
He suggests that honesty and integrity can immortalise man in a way that dishonesty does not
Cariola, the maid
Cariola is the Duchess's maid and loyal confidant:
She is witness to the Duchess's marriage to Antonio
She keeps the Duchess's secrets throughout the play
Cariola’s loyalty, however, is not rewarded as she becomes a victim of circumstance
The Duchess, it appears, is insulting and dismissive of her maid, yet Cariola fights to save her life and is murdered for her connection to the Duchess
Julia
Julia is Lord Castruccio’s wife and the Cardinal’s mistress
She is presented as a fickle character who falls in love with the Cardinal and then Bosola
Her vulnerability as a result of her associations with evil men is presented as her downfall
She is exploited by both the Cardinal and Bosola:
Bosola uses her to get close to the Cardinal
The Cardinal betrays and murders her
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