The duchess of malfi

The Duchess of Malfi takes place in Roman Catholic Italy, which English audiences at the time when the play was written would have associated with corruption. It begins in the palace of the Duchess a young widow and the ruler of the Italian town of Amalfi. Her steward, Antonio, has just returned from a visit to the French court, and Bosola, a murderer and former employee of her brother, the Cardinal, has just returned from his punishment. Soon Duke Ferdinand, the Duchess’s other brother, enters with his whole retinue. In a private conversation with his friend Delio, Antonio reveals that though the Cardinal and Duke appear good, they are in fact jealous, conniving, and despicable. He adds that though her brothers are horrible, the Duchess is noble, temperate, beautiful, and intelligent.

Even though the Duchess is still young and beautiful, her brothers do not want her to remarry. They hope to both preserve their honor by ensuring for ongoing sexual purity, and to eventually inherit her fortune by forcing her to remain a widow. In order to make sure they have their way, Ferdinand gets Bosola a position on the Duchess’s estate and hires him to be his spy. Bosola doesn’t want to be a spy, but he feels that it’s his duty to obey the duke, even if doing so makes him corrupt. Ferdinand and the Cardinal then confront the Duchess with a rehearsed speech instructing her not to remarry. She agrees not to, but as soon as her brothers leave, she tells her maid Cariola that she will marry in secret. The Duchess then woos Antonio, inverting the traditional male and female roles in courtship. The two marry in secret.