Summary
Summary The Duchess of Malfi Critical Interpretations
- Module
- Drama and poetry pre-1900
- Institution
- OCR
A collection of critical interpretations (A05) from various critics for "The Duchess of Malfi" by John Webster
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The Duchess of Malfi critical interpretations'At the end she is, she says, the Duchess of Malfi still, and with that title she negates her relationship with
Antonio: she becomes the woman carved in stone that Ferdinand wanted her to be' Elizabeth Oakes
'Antonio is modelled on the ideal of Christian gentility' P B Murray
'With all his many roles, Bosola is never permitted the luxury of being a self.' Muriel Bradbrook
'The Cardinal knows already that he is in hell' Muriel Bradbrook
Bosola is 'the most important unifying element' in the play Irving Ribner
'The Duchess...stands for ordinary humanity' Irving Ribner
'The radiant spirit of the Duchess cannot be killed.' P B Murray
‘Bosola, the chief instrument in the Duchess’ betrayal and subjection, also bears the strongest witness to
her virtues’ Muriel Bradbrook
The brothers are driven by a 'motiveless malignity' Christopher Hart
Julia is 'a foil to the Duchess' Muriel Bradbrook
‘The Cardinal’s cool, unemotional detachment is more terrifying than Ferdinand’s impassioned raving’ Lee
Bliss
‘Antonio can be no model of virtue: he too is like the equivocal Bosola’ Michael Neill
‘(The duchess) seeks private happiness at the expense of public stability. As a ruler she can no more be
lauded for the example she sets than her brothers’ Lee Bliss
Describes a malcontent as a “character divided within himself” and if the metaphorical ‘fountain’ of the
court hadn’t been poisoned then Bosola would have been allowed to thrive David Gunby
The Duchess abandons her duties of ‘body politic’ for those of her ‘body natural’ and for this she has to die
Jankowski
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