The Duchess of Malfi
1999
In the corrupt courts of Renaissance Italy, a young widow dares to love again. The Duchess of Malfi, one of the most electrifying female roles in English theatre, defies her powerful brothers by secretly marrying Antonio, a man beneath her station. What begins as a passionate romance curdles into unbearable tension as her brothers Ferdinand and the Cardinal discover the truth and unleash a campaign of psychological terror and murder. John Webster's masterpiece builds from tenderness to atrocity, wrapping the audience in a world where corruption is absolute and anyone can be destroyed. The haunted killer Bosola drifts through the action like a conscience with no home, and the famous scenes of the masque, the wax figures, and the Duchess's final moments remain unparalleled in their fusion of horror and poetry. This is revenge tragedy at its most savage and most beautiful: a play that asks what remains when family becomes weaponized against love. It has survived four centuries because it still cuts.
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“Cover her face; mine eyes dazzle. She died young.””
— John Webster
“Whether we fall by ambition, blood or lustLike diamonds, we are cut with our own dust””
— John Webster
“I account this world a tedious theater,For I do play a part in 't 'gainst my will.””
— John Webster
“Ambition, madam, is a great man's madness.””
— John Webster
“Whether we fall by ambition, blood, or lust, like diamonds we are cut with our own dust.””
— John Webster
“Do you not weep? Other sins only speak, murder shreaks out:The element of water moistens the earth,But blood flies upwards and bedews the heavens.””
— John Webster
“I know death hath ten thousand several doorsFor men to take their exits; and 'tis foundThey go on such strange geometrical hinges,You may open them both ways: any way, for heaven-sake””
— John Webster
“Heaven-gates are not so highly arched As princes' palaces; they that enter there Must go upon their knees.””
— John Webster
“The weakest arm is strong enough that strikes with the sword of justice.””
— John Webster
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Webster, John. The Duchess of Malfi. Lex, lex-books.com/book/the-duchess-of-malfi-dc1d040e-1a0d-4389-9cfa-877f2ba6527c.Webster, J. (1999). The Duchess of Malfi. Lex. https://lex-books.com/book/the-duchess-of-malfi-dc1d040e-1a0d-4389-9cfa-877f2ba6527cWebster, John. The Duchess of Malfi. Lex. https://lex-books.com/book/the-duchess-of-malfi-dc1d040e-1a0d-4389-9cfa-877f2ba6527c.
