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The Duchess of Malfi

Downloads: Under 100
First published: 1623
Pages: 144

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2 h 58 min · 6 parts

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Introduction
4:24
Act 1
31:07
Act 2
29:33
Act 3
40:06
Act 4
32:31
Act 5
41:08

The Duchess of Malfi (1623) is a public domain work.

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About this book

John Webster's dark Jacobean tragedy follows a widowed duchess who secretly marries her steward Antonio, defying the brothers who insist she never wed again. Her twin, the unstable Duke Ferdinand, and their cold sibling the Cardinal set the malcontent spy Bosola to watch her, and once the marriage is discovered their revenge turns monstrous. Webster stages imprisonment, madness, and a cascade of murders with a poet's eye for cruelty and moral rot, giving Bosola one of the stage's most conflicted consciences. First performed around 1613 and printed in 1623, the play endures for its fierce heroine, its bleak vision of corrupt power, and lines that still chill. It stands among the summits of English Renaissance drama. A free PDF and EPUB edition is available.

About the author

John Webster

John Webster (c. 1580-c. 1634) was an English dramatist of the Jacobean era, remembered above all for two bleak revenge tragedies, The White Devil and The Duchess of Malfi. Little is known of his life, but his dark, quotable poetry secured his lasting reputation.

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