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Summary The Duchess of Malfi: Act 3
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ALL important quotes from The Duchess of Malfi Act 3 in chronological order with DETAILED explanations and notes from an A* student! A comprehensive guide to everything you will need to know for your A Level English Literature exam :)

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  • May 26, 2022
  • May 26, 2022
  • 7
  • 2020/2021
  • Summary

Subjects

  • the duchess of malfi
  • english a level
  • john webster
  • quote analysis
  • english literature a level

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  • A/AS Level
  • OCR
  • English Literature
  • Drama and poetry pre-1900
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The Duchess of Malfi: Act 3

Act 3, scene 1
- Antonio suspects that Ferdinand knows that the Duchess has given birth to two
more children “Those houses that are haunted are most still, till the devil be up."

• Ferdinand has been unable to completely conceal his fury


- Antonio has heard that the public call the Duchess a “strumpet”, and assume that
he is growing richer “the left-hand way”, by stealing from the Duchess

• However, nobody suspects that Antonio and the Duchess are married, despite
all the clues

• This points to the rigidity of the class structure (people do not even imagine that
the Duchess would marry below her station)



- The Duchess deceives Ferdinand when he suggests she marry Count Malateste
• She tells him “When I choose a husband I will marry for your honour.”
• She pretends to take up the argument that marrying below her status will bring
dishonour to the family (although she has already done so)



- Ferdinand deceives the Duchess, he falsely promises to forgive her if she is
disobedient

• He tells her “my fixed love would strongly excuse, extenuate, nay deny faults,
were they apparent in you”

• The Duchess is comforted by this “Oh, blest comfort! This deadly air is
purged.”

• Dramatic irony, the audience knows F is lying and D should not be comforted


- Bosola posits a theory to Ferdinand “I do suspect there hath been some sorcery
used on the Duchess”

• He believes someone has used sorcery to make the Duchess fall for an
undeserving man


1

, • Bosola has a superstitious side to him, unsurprising following his use of
apricots to induce labour

• Ferdinand dismisses B’s explanation of sorcery, saying “The witchcraft lies in
her rank blood”

• F believes her faults are simply due to her bad nature, the double meaning of
“rank” can imply either disgust or a reference to her status



- Ferdinand’s request for the key to the Duchess’s bedchamber would have struck
Jacobean audiences as very inappropriate



- Bosola is unafraid to criticise Ferdinand
• B tells him “you grossly flatter yourself”
• Ferdinand thanks him for his honesty, and says that he is glad that Bosola is
not another of the “flatterers”



Act 3, scene 2
- We can see how Antonio and the Duchess’s romance has developed, they make
light-hearted jokes and conversation

• Cariola jokes that D tosses and turns while sleeping “she’s the sprawlingest
bedfellow”

• Antonio still wishes to stay in her bed “I shall like her the better for that”
• Antonio jokes that sleeping with D is work, he is a “labouring” man and
sleeping with her is a “task”, this is another light-hearted joke but it also
reminds us of his lower class and recalls the fact that he is technically her
steward



- Antonio tries to encourage Cariola to marry by using transformation imagery from
Ovid’s “Metamorphosis”

• He praises women who are sexually and romantically yielding to men, saying
that they are turned into “flowers, precious stones or eminent stars”

• He warns that women are punished for denying their lovers, giving the example
of “Daphne” who became a “fruitless bay tree”


2

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