John Webster’s The Duchess of Malfi is a dramatization of the unsanctioned
marriage and disappearance of an Italian Duchess approximately one hundred years
before the play’s 1613 performance in England. Although Webster had numerous
sources for his production, he made significant modifications in his version of the story
that are reflective of anxieties surrounding the cultural, economic, and political changes
in seventeenth-century England. In particular, the playwright augmented the marriage
scene between the Duchess and her steward – Antonio – which had been overlooked in
other accounts of the Duchess’s life. Through Webster’s treatment, the Duchess and
Antonio invoke growing trends in Protestant philosophy that emphasize companionate
marriage over the arrangement of financially motivated nuptials. Furthermore, the
loosening of restrictions for gaining entrance into the gentry because of King James’s
lenient view of preferment led to aristocratic anxiety regarding position. The relaxed
standards for preferment combined with the changing perspectives on marriage are
reflected in the play, particularly by the Duchess’s bold marriage to her steward and her
subversion of both her family and the church’s authority over her. The consequences of
the Duchess’s independence and her violation of cultural taboos are brought about by her
brothers’ vengeful punishment and execution of her. While the historical record does not
recount the Duchess’s fate, Webster’s presentation of the highly ceremonialized
emotional torture of the Duchess prior to her murder underscores the social instability
brought about by the irregular marriage. Finally, the fact that the son of Antonio and the
Duchess ascends to the duchy at the conclusion of the play is another significant
alteration by Webster as it reflects the new order that the social changes have established
