And Suddenly There's Lycanthropy: John Webster's The Duchess of Malfi

I've made it through the first book on my summer reading challenge! So we're starting posts with John Webster's The Duchess of Malfi.

Webster's play was written and performed in the early 1610s. Believed to be based on true events, the story's manipulation of the tragic form has ensured it a place among the most important of early modern English plays.

Title page for John Webster's The Duchess of Malfi

The story follows the newly widowed Duchess of Malfi and her two brothers, Ferdinand and the Cardinal. After her brothers tell her not to remarry, the Duchess defies them, confessing her love for her steward, Antonio. The two marry in secret, an act known only to the Duchess' maid, Cariola. The brothers don't trust her, though, and so they hire a servant, Bosola, to spy on her for them. Time passes, and Bosola suspects the Duchess is pregnant. He comes up with a plan to feed her apricots, which make her ill, but doesn't prove his suspicion. It is only after Antonio drops the horoscope for the Duchess' new baby boy that he is proven right. He immediately tells the brothers, who are (not surprisingly) displeased - especially because they think the child is illegitimate. More time passes, and the Duchess and Antonio have two more children. At this point, her brothers are furious. Ferdinand makes a surprise visit, hides himself in his sister's room to find out the identity of her lover, and then jumps out and hands the Duchess a knife, advising her to kill herself. Bosola tricks the Duchess into revealing who her husband is and where he has gone, and immediately tells Ferdinand. The brothers banish the couple, removing their wedding rings. The Duchess and her two youngest return to Malfi, and Antonio and their eldest son flee to Milan. Ferdinand then convinces the Duchess that her husband and son are dead (they're not, though), and tries to drive her insane. When that fails, he orders her executed. Bosola, finally catching on to the fact that these brothers are not exactly the best of guys, tries to plead for the Duchess' life, but she, her maid, and her two children are all strangled. Determined that Antonio and his son should survive, Bosola promises to prevent their deaths. Meanwhile, Ferdinand has fallen victim to lycanthropy, and the Cardinal (who's been having some rather sleazy dealings on the side with a married woman) fears that he will reveal their joint decision to murder their sister. Learning that the Cardinal intends to murder Antonio, Bosola accepts the contract while planning to murder the brothers instead. While hiding in wait for the Cardinal, Bosola accidentally stabs Antonio, who had decided to come wreck his own form of vengeance on the Cardinal. Discovering his mistake, Bosola then manages to stab the Cardinal; this act wakes Ferdinand from his madness, and he and Bosola stab each other. Everyone dies (but not before Bosola tells the story of what happened), and Antonio's friend, Delio, promises to raise the couple's remaining child.

I was drawn to this play, not only because I hadn't read it, but because I've read very few early modern playwrights outside of Shakespeare. I did read John Ford's 'Tis Pity She's a Whore in undergrad, and actually really liked it. When I was preparing for the English GRE Subject Test this spring, The Duchess of Malfi appeared on several reading lists as a popular choice for questions. Clearly, I didn't manage to read this before the exam, but I'm glad that I did.

This play clearly follows in the vein of other Elizabethan and Jacobean tragedies. Everyone dies (like Hamlet or Titus Andronicus), there's a healthy implication of incestuous feelings (a la 'Tis Pity She's a Whore), and plenty of violence and bloodshed. But what makes it stand out for me is the sudden appearance of lycanthropy. In Act V, one of the characters asks the doctor attending Ferdinand what ails him, and his response is, "A very pestilent disease, my lord, / They call it lycanthropia" (5.2.5-6). But this doesn't necessarily mean what we associate with the term today; instead, Ferdinand merely believes himself to be a wolf, and was found one night holding part of a corpse. Of all the twists that I was expecting, a werewolf was not one of them.

Ultimately, I enjoyed reading this play. It has some really great quotes, interesting characters, and intense moments. There was just enough confusion for me, though, to make it difficult to follow.

Overall rating: 8.5/10 stars
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