The Duchess of Malfi (Summary)

 

The Duchess of Malfi Summary

Next Act 1, Scene 1

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.

Nine months later, the Duchess is pregnant with Antonio’s child. Bosola, still spying for Ferdinand, notes the signs of her pregnancy and plans to give her apricots as a test, because they are known to induce labor. The Duchess eats the apricots and goes into labor, creating chaos in her palace. To try to maintain the secret, Antonio and the Duchess give out a story that the Duchess has fallen ill with some disease. Antonio confronts Bosola to ask if the apricots were poisoned. Bosola denies the accusation, but after the confrontation he notices that Antonio ha accidentally dropped a piece of paper: it is a horoscope for a baby, which provides Bosola with concrete evidence that the Duchess had a child. He decides to send the paper in a letter to the Duchess’s brothers in Rome. When Ferdinand and the Cardinal learn that the Duchess has disobeyed them, they are infuriated, thinking their noble blood has been tainted (and Ferdinand seems also to be overwhelmed with anger by the idea that the Duchess has been having sex at all), but they decide to wait to find out who the father is before taking action.

A few years later, the Duchess has had two more of Antonio’s children. Ferdinand, who learned of the children from Bosola, decides to confront the Duchess in her bedchamber. Ferdinand sneaks in and frightens the Duchess, giving her a knife and suggesting that she kill herself. She admits that she is married, and he becomes enraged. He says that she has lost her reputation, and he swears that he will never see her again in his life. Antonio and the Duchess make a plan to flee: the Duchess announces that Antonio has been using his position to steel from her, and has been fired, as an excuse to get him out of Amalfi. After Bosola privately defends Antonio to the Duchess as being honorable and worthy, the Duchess confides in Bosola that Antonio is innocent and is in fact her husband. She plans to flee to join him.

Back in Rome, the Cardinal and Ferdinand find out from Bosola about the Duchess’s plan. The Cardinal then formally banishes the Duchess, Antonio, and their children. Ferdinand invites Antonio to reconcile, but Antonio believes this is a trap, so instead of accepting the invitation he flees with his eldest son to Milan. After he leaves, Bosola reenters in disguise and takes the Duchess and her other two children captive under orders from the brothers.

The brothers imprison the Duchess in her Amalfi palace. There, because Ferdinand has sworn never to see the Duchess, confronts her in the dark. He gives her his hand to hold, but then reveals that it is the hand of a dead man in order to convince her that Antonio is dead. He then plays a trick with silhouettes to convince the Duchess that her children are also dead, at which point the Duchess wants to die. Ferdinand reveals to Bosola that he plans to torture her by exposing her to madmen from the local insane asylum. While Bosola feels bad for the Duchess and dislikes that he is participating in her torture, he continues to obey the duke.

In her prison, the madmen confront the Duchess and Cariola. Bosola then enters, disguised as an old man, and he tells the Duchess that he’s going to kill her. The Duchess maintains her composure and is unafraid, but executioners enter and strangle her, her two children, and Cariola. Though Ferdinand has no pity for the children, he immediately begins to feel remorse when he sees the Duchess’s dead body. Ferdinand becomes maddened by guilt, and Bosola also acknowledges feeling a guilty conscience. Ferdinand then condemns Bosola for following his orders, and refuses to pay him for his work. After Ferdinand has departed, the Duchess wakes up, but only long enough for Bosola to tell her that her husband is still alive; she dies for real almost immediately after waking up.

Now in Milan, Antonio doesn’t yet know his wife’s fate. He decides to wager everything and confront the Cardinal in person in an attempt to defuse the situation. Ferdinand, meanwhile, has been diagnosed with lycanthropia (werewolf disease), and he begins acting like a madman, even attacking his shadow, clearly plagued by guilt. The Cardinal wants his involvement in the murder to remain secret, and he instructs Bosola to murder Antonio. A woman named Julia, with whom the Cardinal has been having an affair, becomes smitten with Bosola, and he convinces Julia to try and get a confession out of the Cardinal. Julia confronts the Cardinal and finds out his secret, so he forces her to kiss a poisoned book, thereby killing her. Bosola reveals to the Cardinal that he has overseen this murder and the Cardinal’s confession. He agrees to help the Cardinal in return for payment, but in fact this is a trick. He decides that he will do everything in his power to save Antonio and get revenge on the brothers.

In the Cardinal’s palace, the Cardinal tells all of his courtiers to stay away from his room, no matter what they hear, even if he tests them with screams and shouts. Bosola sneaks into the palace, and overhears that the Cardinal plans to kill him after he helps the Cardinal. Soon after, Antonio sneaks into the palace in his effort to find the Cardinal and end their quarrel. However, in the darkness, Bosola accidentally stabs Antonio, mistaking him for one of the brothers. Antonio lives just long enough for Bosola to inform him that the Duchess and two of their children have been murdered, at which point Antonio no longer wants to live. Bosola goes to find and kill the Cardinal, and when the Cardinal starts screaming for help, no one comes because of his instruction that they stay away. In the chaos, Bosola stabs the Cardinal twice. Ferdinand then enters, and, mistaking, his brother for the devil, stabs both the Cardinal and Bosola. Bosola then stabs Ferdinand, who uses his dying words to say that our deaths are caused by our own actions. While Bosola explains what happened, the Cardinal dies, and after Bosola makes a final speech, he dies as well. After all of the deaths, Delio enters with Antonio’s son, announces his intention to help the son to receive his proper inheritance, and ends the play.

Summary

The play begins at the Duchess of Malfi’s palace in Amalfi. Antonio, the Duchess’s steward, has just returned from the French court to Amalfi, where his friend and confidant Delio greets him. Delio asks what Antonio thought about his time in France, and Antonio responds that the French king is ruling well by ridding himself of flatterers and by treating his court like a fountain; good flows throughout the land when it is properly functioning, but if the fountain is poisoned near the head, death and disease flow to the country. The king is also surrounded by council and people who are unafraid to warn him and speak their minds.

Antonio changes the subject as he sees Bosola, a former employee of the Cardinal and known murderer, entering the room. Antonio then describes Bosola as a man who satirizes and speaks against the court, but only because he lacks the wealth and power to truly participate. After a few moments the Cardinal enters, and Delio and Antonio stand aside while the Cardinal and Bosola talk.

Bosola tries to talk to the Cardinal, but the Cardinal is extremely dismissive. Bosola believes he deserves better treatment, as he was formerly employed by the Cardinal and ended up serving a sentence in the galleys (forced labor whose severity is second only to the death sentence) while in his employment. The Cardinal dismisses Bosola and exits, and then Antonio and Delio approach.

Antonio asks Bosola what happened in the conversation, to which Bosola replies that the Cardinal and his brother are like plum trees rich with fruit, but only fed on by crows, magpies, and caterpillars. He says that he hopes to be one of their flatterers so that he can reap the benefits, advance his social status, and then leave. Bosola remarks that dogs and hawks get rewards after battle, but soldiers only get slings and crutches. He compares places in court to hospital beds and then exits.

Once Antonio and Delio are alone, Delio explains that Bosola is known to have served seven years in the galleys for a “notorious murder,” supposedly ordered by the Cardinal. Antonio says that it’s unfortunate that the Cardinal is ignoring Bosola, because he has heard that Bosola is very valiant. Bosola’s bad mood, Antonio says, will poison all of Bosola’s goodness, since, just as insufficient sleep hurts the body, idleness breeds unhappiness and bad behavior.

Summary

This scene continues from the previous scene with the entrance of Castruccio, Silvio, Roderigo, and Grisolan, four courtiers to Duke Ferdinand, the Duchess’s brother. Delio notes that the hall is filling up with people, and Antonio replies that Duke Ferdinand is arriving. When he enters, Ferdinand asks who won the ring (a common game around court), and Silvio responds that it was Antonio. Ferdinand recognizes Antonio as being the Duchess’s steward, and instructs Silvio to give Antonio a jewel.

Ferdinand and his courtiers then begin discussing the merits and pitfalls of a leader going to war in person. Castruccio notes that it is fitting for a soldier to move up to become a prince, but not for a prince descend to be a soldier; better, he says, to lead in war through a deputy. Castruccio also notes that when a ruler is a soldier, the realm never has long-lasting peace. Ferdinand says he heard that Castruccio’s wife could endure fighting, and Castruccio reminds the Duke of a joke his wife made, which punned on a wounded soldier’s bandages resembling tents. Conversation is steered back to the best qualities of horses, and to Antonio and his horsemanship. The Cardinal and Duchess then enter.

The Duchess, on the other hand, he describes as noble and completely opposite from her siblings. Antonio says that her words are so full of rapture that when she stops speaking it makes one wish she didn’t think it was vain to talk for a long time. She has sweet looks, a sweet countenance, and she is extremely virtuous. Delio says that Antonio is complimenting her too much, but Antonio responds that she is so worthy that she darkens the past and lights the future. As Antonio finishes his praise, Cariola, the Duchess’s hand-maiden, then tells Antonio that he needs to attend to the Duchess in a half an hour, and Antonio and Delio leave.

After Antonio departs, Ferdinand tells the Duchess that he wants her to hire Bosola as the supervisor of her horses. She agrees to do it. Silvio announces that he is leaving for Milan, and everyone exits the stage but the Cardinal and Ferdinand. Once alone, the Cardinal tells Ferdinand to hire Bosola as a spy to observe the Duchess. The Cardinal explains why he was ignoring Bosola in the play’s opening scene; The Cardinal says that he doesn’t want to be seen involved with Bosola, since he doesn’t want to be implicated in the murder that Bosola committed while in his service or in the spying that Bosola will be hired to do. Ferdinand believes Antonio would be better to spy on the Duchess than Bosola, but the Cardinal assures him that Antonio is much too honest for the position. The Cardinal sees Bosola coming and exits.

Bosola asks Ferdinand why the Cardinal is avoiding him. Ferdinand replies that it’s possibly because the Cardinal suspects Bosola of some character flaw. Ferdinand adds that great men are distrustful, which prevents them from being deceived. Ferdinand then gives Bosola some money, prompting Bosola to ask whom he must kill. But Ferdinand tells Bosola that he’s overeager, and that he’s not being hired to kill yet. Instead, he is simply being paid to observe the Duchess and report back to Ferdinand. Ferdinand explains that the Duchess is a young widow, and the brothers do not want her to marry again. 

After receiving these instructions, Bosola says it seems like Ferdinand wants to turn him into an invisible devil-spy. Bosola comments that the payment would make Ferdinand a corrupter and him—Bosola—a traitor. He notes that if he agreed to the proposition he would go to hell for it. But Ferdinand tells Bosola about the horse master position that has been secured for him, and Bosola curses that this kindness will make him a villain. He wishes that he could refuse, but he knows it would be ungrateful to do so. Thus, he says, the devil glosses over sins and calls gracious whatever heaven calls vile.

Ferdinand instructs Bosola to be himself and to keep up his melancholy demeanor since it will make him seem envious but not ambitious, thereby granting him access to everyone’s private lodgings. Bosola says he will do as he has seen other men do: he’ll seem half asleep and not attentive while dreaming of cutting the lord’s throat. Since his new position makes him responsible for the Duchess’s horses, Bosola jokes that one could say his corruption grew out of horse dung. He agrees to be Ferdinand’s “creature” and then exits.

Summary

The Cardinal, the Duchess, and the Duchess’s hand-maiden Cariola enter and join Ferdinand. The Cardinal informs the Duchess that they are leaving, and then tells her that she must use her discretion. The Cardinal and Ferdinand then begin convincing and instructing the Duchess not to remarry. They say that she already knows “what man is” (i.e. she is not a virgin), and that she should not let anything sway or taint her high blood. Marrying twice, they say, is lecherous. The Duchess quips back that diamonds that pass through the most jewelers’ hands are most precious, but Ferdinand responds that by that example whores are precious.

The Duchess concedes that she’ll never marry again, but the Cardinal and Ferdinand continue telling her not to. The Cardinal says most widows promise not to marry, but usually that promise lasts no longer than the funeral sermon. Ferdinand continues that she currently lives in a high position, and that remarrying will poison her reputation. He tells her not to be cunning, since those whose faces contradict their hearts become witches and nurse the devil. Despite attempts to be secret and hypocritical, he counsels, her darkest actions and most private thoughts will come to light.

The Cardinal continues that the Duchess might want to get married privately or in secret, and Ferdinand adds that she might think that in doing so she is taking a good path because she is making her own way, but he says that secret weddings like these are “executed” rather than celebrated. After they conclude their speech, the Cardinal departs. The Duchess then comments to Ferdinand that the speech was so glib that it seems like they rehearsed it.

Ferdinand in response launches into an extremely uncomfortable speech in which he references his father’s dagger and says that women like the body part that’s similar to a boneless eel. The Duchess responds in shock, suggesting that she thinks her brother was using phallic imagery, but claims that he was simply talking about the tongue, which can be used to weave a tale that will convince women of anything. He calls her a “lusty widow” and then exits.

 

Once she is alone with Cariola, the Duchess asks if this speech should convince her to obey her brothers. She compares her situation to battle, and says that even amidst all this hate, she’ll take a dangerous venture, “wink,” and choose a husband. The Duchess tells Cariola that she is trusting her with her reputation, which is more important than her life. Cariola says both will be safe, since she will keep the secret and guard it like poison makers guard their poison from children. The Duchess then instructs Cariola to hide behind a tapestry while she talks to Antonio.

Antonio enters, and the Duchess tells him to start writing notes for her. She makes a pun on the word husband, and asks Antonio what the plans are for tomorrow. He responds by calling her his “beauteous excellence,” and she focuses on the word “beauteous” and thanks him. When Antonio says he’ll get her the financial figures for her estate tomorrow, the Duchess corrects him to say that she was actually talking about what the plans were in heaven, not tomorrow, and that she wants to make a will. She says that she wouldn’t need to if she had a husband, but since she doesn’t she’ll make Antonio the overseer of her will.

Antonio responds by saying that she should find a husband and give herself to him, and the two then make a joke about sheets and coupling. The Duchess comments that they are writing a strange will, but Antonio says it’s even stranger if she has no will to marry again. The Duchess then asks Antonio what he thinks of marriage and he responds that he thinks of it like people who reject the idea of purgatory; marriage contains within it heaven or hell, it can be good or bad, but it’s not its own entity or place.

The Duchess continues by asking him to expand on these thoughts and tell her what he feels about marriage. Antonio says that when his loneliness is making him sad, he often reasons that the only thing he loses by not marrying is the title of father and the small delights of watching his children play and ride on wooden horses. The Duchess notes that one of Antonio’s eyes is bloodshot and she offers him her ring, which she claims has healing and royal power. She notes that this is her wedding ring, which she vowed she would never give to anyone other than her second husband.

Antonio notes that the Duchess has just given him the ring, and she says that she did to help his eyesight. He responds that it has made him blind, because there is a little devil in the ring. To remove the devil, the Duchess makes a small “conjuration” and puts the ring on Antonio’s finger. He kneels, and she tells him that his head is built too low, and that to talk to him she needs to raise him up. He stands and responds that ambition is “a great man’s madness” and extremely dangerous. He seems to know what she is suggesting (raising up his status), but he says it’s foolish to take too extreme of a measure, like a cold man shoving his hands directly into a fire.

The Duchess makes a metaphor about breaking ground at a mine, where the discovery of the valuable underground resource represents her fortune that Antonio could have access to. He calls himself unworthy, but the Duchess says that he’s selling himself short. She says that his darkening of his own character is not like salesmen who use poor lighting to sell faulty products. She assures him that she speaks without flattery, and that he is a “complete man.” Antonio responds that if there weren’t a heaven or hell, he’d be honest and say that he has served virtue for a long time without reaping any benefits.

The Duchess responds that now Antonio will get the benefits of being virtuous. She then laments with frustration that those who are born great (noble) are forced to woo because no one dares to woo them, driving them to express their feelings in “riddles and in dreams” without being direct. Deciding to invert this frustration, she says pointedly that Antonio can go and brag that he has left her heartless, since her heart is in his chest, and that she hopes it will generate more love there. She notices him trembling and asks him to make his heart alive and not allow himself to fear more than he loves her. She tells him to be confident, and that she is “flesh and blood,” not an alabaster statue kneeling at her dead husband’s tomb. She cries out for him to wake up as a man, and without any ceremony she simply says that she’s a young widow hoping to claim him for her husband.

After the Duchess instructs Antonio to kneel, Cariola enters and surprises Antonio, but the Duchess reassures him that Cariola is her trusted counsel. She goes on to say that legally, marriage by simple agreement of both parties is “absolute marriage” and legally binding. They both kneel, and the Duchess calls out for heaven to bless their union that violence can never untie, and Antonio calls for their affections to be constantly moving. They finish their vows and the Duchess asks how the church could possibly make a marriage more quickly or more secure. She then declares that she is blind, so that Antonio can lead her by the hand to their marriage bed, where they’ll lie with a sword between them to stay chaste and share secrets. The newlyweds exit, and Cariola closes the scene by saying that she can’t tell if it’s the spirit of greatness or of woman that’s leading the Duchesss to act this way, but either way it shows madness and deserves pity.

Summary

It is nine months after the events of Act 1. Bosola and Castruccio, an old Italian lord, enter in discussion about Castruccio’s desire to be an “eminent courtier,” meaning that he wants to become both a courtier of high rank and a lawyer or judge. Bosola makes fun of Castruccio’s appearance, and he says that Castruccio would be a ridiculous and absurd judge. He gives Castruccio advice about what to do in this hypothetical role as a judge, and he tells him a trick to know if he is well liked or not: pretend that he’s dying and see how the common people react.

At this point in the conversation an Old Lady enters, and Bosola asks her if she has “come from painting” (painting her face by putting on makeup). He goes on to talk about a woman from France who tried the cosmetic technique of flaying her face to get rid of smallpox, which Bosola compares to scraping the side of a ship. The Old Lady jokes that it seems like Bosola is well acquainted with her closet (a private room), and he launches into a speech in which he says her closet must be filled with items used for witchcraft, and that he’d rather eat a plague-ridden pigeon than kiss a woman who was fasting.

Bosola continues on, saying that physicians grow wealthy by profiting on older people. He then begins speaking in verse, ruminating on the outward appearances of man. He says that we call it ominous when we see anything resembling humans in other animals, but in our own bodies we have diseases that are named for animals. Even though we are covered in a rotten and dead body, we try to hide it with medicine and cosmetics in fear of our doctors burying us. He closes the tirade with a joke about syphilis.

Castruccio and the Old Lady exit, and Bosola transitions to his other work. He notes that the Duchess has ben sick and she wears loose dresses that are out of fashion. He is suspicious, and has a trick to discover what is going on: he has brought apricots, which were believed to be labor inducing.

On the other side of the stage, Delio and Antonio enter into a discussion about the secret marriage, revealing that Antonio has confided in Delio. They meet Bosola and, since he’s always melancholy and contemplative, they joke and ask him if he’s trying to become wise. Bosola then compares wisdom to a skin disease running all over a body. Simplicity, he says makes happiness, and even the slightest wisdom produces folly, so he wants to remain simple. Antonio responds that he doesn’t understand Bosola, since he always appears so melancholy.

Bosola responds that he needs to remain in his station, since it is dangerous to reach higher. Antonio says that Bosola might look to heaven, but it seems like a devil is blocking his view. Bosola then talks about Antonio’s rank, which seems on the rise since he is the Duchess’s steward, and Bosola says that royal men are made of the same substance as regular people; they are moved by the same passions and think with the same reason.

At this point, the Duchess and her ladies enter. She asks for Antonio’s arm and, since she is out of breath, she asks if she is growing fat. She then asks Bosola to provide her a horse like the one the Duchess of Florence had. Bosola notes that she used such a litter when she was pregnant, and the Duchess agrees, before complaining that she is suffering from “the mother,” which means heartburn. In an aside, Bosola comments on the clear second meaning of the Duchess’ complaint.

Antonio and the Duchess talk about traditions of wearing hats or not in court, comparing the Italian courts to the kingdom in France. Bosola then offers the Duchess the apricots. In another aside, he notes how greedily she eats them. She says that they are good, but soon after she comments that the fruit and the stomach are not her friends, as they are swelling her. Bosola gives a clever aside, saying she is too swelled already. She breaks into a cold sweat, and she heads for her chamber fearing that her pregnancy will be discovered. Everyone then exits in a scramble leaving only Antonio and Delio.

Alone on stage with Delio, Antonio fears that the Duchess has fallen into labor with no time to get her out of Amalfi in order to keep the pregnancy a secret. Delio suggests a way to preserve the secret. He says that to keep people away, they can say that Bosola poisoned the apricots and caused the Duchess to fall ill, but Antonio responds that this will bring doctors around. Delio says that in that case, they can say that she used her own remedy. Lost in confusion, Antonio and Delio exit.

Summary

Bosola enters. He says that there is now no question that the Duchess is pregnant. The Old Lady enters, and Bosola starts making fun of her again, this time commenting on the stereotype that women are vain. She exits, and Antonio, Delio, Roderigo, and Grisolan enter.

Antonio instructs them to shut the gates and call all of the officers. Everyone is in such chaos that while Bosola privately wonders if the apricots were in fact somehow poisoned without his knowledge. A servant reveals that a Swiss guard had entered the Duchess’s bedchamber and robbed her. In response to this robbery, Antonio says that the Duchess wants each officer to be locked in his chamber and have the keys to their chests given to her. He says that she is very sick.

After everyone else exits, Delio asks Antonio how the Duchess is doing. Antonio responds that she’s experiencing pain and fear, and he sends Delio to Rome. Antonio says he fears he’s in danger, but Delio reassures him that this perceived danger is just the shadow of his fear, not a true threat. Delio comments that humans are very superstitious, and he blesses Antonio as a father. Delio then exits as Cariola enters and informs Antonio that he has had a son. Antonio decides to cast his son’s horoscope right away.

Summary

Bosola enters in the dark with a lantern, saying that he has heard a woman shrieking from what seemed like the Duchess’s room. He notes that confining all of the courtiers to their separate rooms was most likely a strategy to stop them from figuring out what’s going on, and he decides to spy to get more information to report.

Just then, Antonio enters with a candle and a sword drawn. Having heard a noise, he asks “who’s there?” Bosola responds that Antonio doesn’t need to be afraid, and he reveals himself. In an aside, Antonio calls Bosola a mole undermining him. He then asks if Bosola has heard a noise, and Bosola pretends that he did not hear one. Antonio claims that he has been calculating the loss from the robbery, but he puns on what he has really been doing: casting the horoscope of his newborn son.

Bosola asks if the loss was significant, but Antonio responds that it’s none of his business and questions why he’s out of his room when all men were ordered to their private lodgings. Bosola claims that he is out because he was praying. Antonio then questions whether the apricots Bosola gave the Duchess earlier in the day were poisoned. Bosola denies the accusation of poisoning, but Antonio says that some jewels were stolen and that Bosola is the number one suspect. The two men curse each other, but as they argue Antonio’s nose starts bleeding. In an aside, he notes that superstitious people would think that was a bad omen, but he calls it mere chance that his handkerchief is now “drowned in blood.” Antonio tells Bosola that he is forbidden to even go near the Duchess until Bosola is able to clear his name, and then Antonio exits.

Bosola then notices that Antonio dropped a piece of paper, on which he finds written the nativity horoscope that Antonio had just calculated. Bosola realizes he has the information he needs—he knows why the men have all been sent to their rooms. He suspects that he will be formally accused of poisoning the Duchess, but says he’ll laugh at the charge. He remembers that Castruccio is heading to Rome the next day and he decides to have Castruccio carry the horoscope in a letter to Ferdinand and the Cardinal.

Summary

This scene takes place in Rome and begins with the Cardinal and his mistress Julia entering. The Cardinal asks Julia what excuse she made up to come to Rome without her husband, Castruccio, and she says that she told him she was going to visit a hermit. She worries that the Cardinal will be false to her, but he tells her not to torture herself with such fears, which are generated by her own guilt at being inconstant to her husband. The Cardinal jokes that men are more constant than women, and says one would have to look at the moon through a telescope to find a constant woman. 

Julia begins to cry, but the Cardinal says she’ll probably also cry to her husband that she loves only him. When she threatens to go home, the Cardinal says he has gotten rid of her melancholy, speaking figuratively of himself as a tamer and Julia as a falcon. Julia says that the Cardinal acted as if he was sick when he wooed her. Someone knocks at the door, and the Cardinal reassures her that his affections for her are strong. He then exits so as not to be found out in his affair.

A servant then enters to announce that someone has come to see Julia, and that Castruccio, her husband, is now in Rome. Delio then enters, and Julia notes in an aside that Delio was a former suitor of hers. He asks if she’s been staying there, but she assures him that cardinals do not keep lodging for ladies. Delio says that he’s not there on behalf of her husband and proceeds to make a joke about Castruccio. He then offers her money, and they begin flirting through Delio trying to convince Julia to accept money and Julia refusing it. Then the servant reenters and says that Castruccio has come with a letter to Ferdinand that put him out of his wits. Julia says that she’ll go to see her husband, and she leaves. Alone on stage, Delio says that he fears that Antonio’s secret has been found out, and he laments the unfortunate situation.

Summary

Ferdinand and the Cardinal enter with the letter, and Ferdinand says he has dug up a mandrake, which is known as being both an aphrodisiac and a poison. Ferdinand says he is growing mad and he shows the Cardinal the letter, saying that their sister is damned, and that she has “grown a notorious strumpet.” Ferdinand becomes increasingly enraged, threatening to make her bleeding heart a sponge. When the Cardinal asks why he’s getting so upset, Ferdinand continues in his rage, saying he wishes he could be the one to “root up her goodly forests” and “lay her general territory as waste.”

The Cardinal asks if their royal blood will be tainted, wondering who the father of the Duchess’s child might be, and Ferdinand says they must use drastic measures “to purge infected blood.” He says that he’ll have the Duchess cut to pieces, and the Cardinal curses nature for placing women’s hearts on their left side (which supposedly made them sinister). Ferdinand curses men for being so foolish as to trust women and he describes the Duchess as a laughing hyena. Ferdinand asks his brother to talk to him before his imagination leads him to see her in the act of sin.

Ferdinand starts imagining who the Duchess’s lover might be. When the Cardinal tries to calm him, Ferdinand says that it’s “not your whore’s milk that shall quench my wild fire, / But your whore’s blood!” The Cardinal says that this rage is much too loud, and that it is deforming Ferdinand and making him beastly.

Ferdinand then calms down and says he will study calmness and practice seeming calm even though he is still enraged. He says he could kill the Duchess now by killing himself or the Cardinal, since he thinks that the Duchess’ disobedience is heaven’s revenge on the brothers for their sins. Ferdinand, still overcome with rage, promises such a horrible and gruesome vengeance against the Duchess that the Cardinal threatens to leave. But Ferdinand says that he’ll calm down, and that, until he knows who is sleeping with the Duchess, he’ll do nothing.

Summary

In Amalfi, some years later, Antonio greets Delio, who has been away from court for some time. He informs Delio that he and the Duchess have had two more children. Delio asks if this news has reached the Cardinal, and Antonio responds that he fears it has, as Ferdinand has been acting strangely. The common people say that the Duchess is a “strumpet,” and they assume that Antonio has been getting rich dishonestly by stealing from the Duchess. They never even imagine that the two are married.

Ferdinand, the Duchess, and Bosola then enter, and Ferdinand says that he’s going to bed. He suggests to the Duchess that she marry Count Malateste, but she says that he’s insufficient, and that if she marries again it will be for Ferdinand’s honor. The Duke tries to talk to Antonio, but the Duchess cuts him off, telling him that she wants to talk about the rumors that have been circulating about her honor. Ferdinand says he doesn’t want to hear it, but he assures her that even if the rumors were true, he would forgive her. She gives an aside of relief and then exits along with Antonio and Delio.

Now alone, Ferdinand asks Bosola what new information he has. Bosola says that it’s rumored that the Duchess has had three bastards, but it’s unknown who the father is. Bosola suspects that someone has used sorcery to make the Duchess fall in love with them. Ferdinand asks if Bosola really believes in such potions, and Bosala says that he certainly does. Ferdinand dismisses these tricks as either lies or poisons that drive people insane. The only witchcraft, he says, is in the Duchess’s “rank blood.”

After dismissing Bosola’s beliefs about potions, Ferdinand asks for a key to the Duchess’s bedchamber. Bosola asks Ferdinand what he intends to do with the key and then attempts to guess, but unsuccessfully. Ferdinand tells Bosola not even to try to figure it out, and he declares himself impossible to understand.

Summary

In the Duchess’s bedchamber, the Duchess warns Antonio that he cannot stay with her tonight. He responds that he will try to persuade her. In a series of quick lines, he says that he must sleep there, but she denies him. She asks to what use he’ll put her, and he says they’ll sleep together. She responds by asking what pleasure lovers can find in sleep, and Cariola jokes that the Duchess tosses and turns in the night, but Antonio says that he’ll like her better for it.

Cariola then asks Antonio why he always rises so early when he sleeps with the Duchess, to which he responds that working men count the clock and are happy when the job’s done, implying that sleeping with the Duchess is work. She shuts him up with a kiss, and then another, and Antonio asks if Cariola will ever marry. Cariola says that she will not, which launches Antonio into a speech in which he tells her to forego single life. He says that they can read how Daphne fled and was turned into a “fruitless bay-tree,” Syrinx turned into a reed, and Anaxarete turned into marble. Women who married or were kind to their lovers, on the other hand, turned into olives, pomegranates, mulberry, flowers, precious stones, and stars.

Cariola dismisses Antonio’s poetry, and then she asks him, between a wise man, a rich man, and a handsome one, which she should choose. Antonio says that it is a difficult question, referencing Paris’s choice between goddesses that led to the Trojan War. He then asks the ladies why “hard-favored women” often keep “worse-favored” women as attendants and servants instead of pretty ones. The Duchess responds with a simple analogy, saying that bad painters never desire to have their shops next door to excellent painters. Antonio and Cariola then depart for a few moments.

As the Duchess talks to herself, Ferdinand enters behind her. She turns to see him and, terrified, wonders aloud if she will live or die. Ferdinand tells her to die and hands her a knife. He asks where her virtue has gone, and curses the imperfection of human reason, which frustratingly allows us to foresee bad things, but not prevent them. He tells her she is moving past all boundaries of shame, but she interrupts to deny any shame and explain that she is married. She asks if he’d like to see her husband, but Ferdinand says he would do so only if he could change eyes with a basilisk.

Ferdinand then proceeds to curse the Duchess, calling her a screech owl, and he says that he doesn’t want to know anything else because he’s afraid it will cause him to act in extreme violence, thereby damning them both. He says that if she wants her husband to grow old, then she had better not let the sun shine on him.

Ferdinand accuses the Duchess of disrespecting her dead first husband. The Duchess responds that Ferdinand is being too strict, since as a married woman her reputation is safe. He responds with an anecdote about reputation that implies that, once reputation is gone, it can never be regained. He says that her reputation is gone, and that he’ll never see her again. She asks why she, alone out of all the princesses in the world, should be locked up and unable to marry, but he just reaffirms that he’ll never see her again and exits.

Ferdinand leaves, and immediately afterwards Antonio reenters with a pistol and with Cariola. Antonio says that he saw Ferdinand (hence the pistol), and, wondering how Ferdinand got to the Duchess’s chamber, he accuses Cariola of betraying them. Cariola, however, claims innocence. The Duchess shows them the knife given to her by Ferdinand, and they surmise that he wanted her to kill herself. At this point Bosola knocks, and Antonio leaves again so as not to be discovered as the Duchess’s lover.

Bosola enters and says that Ferdinand has rushed off to Rome. But he also reveals that before Ferdinand left, he had said that the Duchess was “undone.” Bosola asks what has happened. The Duchess makes up a lie: that Antonio has used his position to steal from her and in doing so has placed Ferdinand in a precarious position with Neapolitan moneylenders. Bosola exits. When Antonio re-enters, the Duchess tells him that he must leave and go to the town of Ancona, where she’ll send her money and follow as soon as she’s able. She also lets him know that she will accuse him of a fake crime.

Bosola reenters with some officers and the Duchess pretends to accuse Antonio of losing her money and stealing from her. She tells the men to let Antonio go, since she wants to fire him but doesn’t want the information to get out. He curses the inconstancy of service, and after the Duchess says she’s confiscating the remainder of his accounts, he exits. The Duchess asks for opinions about Antonio, and the officers make some quips before she dismisses them.

The Duchess then asks Bosola for his opinion. He says that she’ll probably never have a servant as good as Antonio, whom he pities. She responds in confusion, saying that Antonio stole from her, but Bosola says that Antonio was honest and faithful, and that he deserved a better fortune because he was so virtuous. After Bosola’s lengthy praise of Antonio, the Duchess bursts out that it’s like music to her, since Antonio is her husband.

Upon finding this out, Bosola questions aloud if he is dreaming, wondering if, in this time, someone could truly marry a man just for his merit. When he finds out that the Duchess has had three children by Antonio, he launches into a speech praising her for demonstrating that benefits can still fall on people based on merit. The Duchess then tells Bosola to take her money and follow Antonio to Ancona, where she hopes to follow in a few days by faking a pilgrimage. Cariola interjects that she’d prefer it if the Duchess didn’t jest with religion, but the Duchess calls her a superstitious fool and moves forward with the plan.

After the ladies exit, Bosola is left alone to lament that he is a spy. Every profession, he says, has its benefit—at least his status and income will be improved after he reports this information.

Summary

In the Cardinal’s residence in Rome, the Cardinal and a Roman courtier named Malateste discuss war and the French king. Meanwhile, on the other side of the stage, Ferdinand, Delio, Silvio, and Pescara, a soldier and courtier, discuss Malateste, who they say is a terrible soldier. Bosola then enters and whispers to the Cardinal and Ferdinand, while Pescara, Silvo, and Delio wonder what’s happening. Delio notes that Bosola is a “fantastical scholar,” meaning that he studies esoteric details like the symmetry of Caesar’s nose. Pescara remarks on how furious Ferdinand looks and how he laughs like a deadly cannon.

Focus shifts to the conversation between Ferdinand, the Cardinal, and Bosola. The Cardinal says that the Duchess is using religion as her cover to flee with her children and Antonio, which Ferdinand says damns her. Ferdinand notes that, since her intentions are not purely religious and are meant to cover up her dishonorable second marriage, the more pure she tries to seem the fouler she truly is. The Cardinal says he’ll get the state of Ancona to banish the Duchess and her family, and Ferdinand says that he won’t attend the banishment ceremony. He instructs Bosola to write to the Duchess’s child from her first husband, and he curses Antonio before the scene ends.

Summary

This scene takes place at a shrine to which the Duchess fled under the pretense of a religious pilgrimage. Two Pilgrims comment that the Cardinal is apparently going to “resign his cardinal’s hat” at the shrine. The Duchess, who is soon to arrive at the same shrine, is expected to pray publicly in fulfillment of her vowed pilgrimage. After the pilgrims say they expect the ceremony to be excellent, the play breaks into dumb show, meaning that the actors silently act out a scene while music plays in the background. During the dumb show, the Cardinal is dressed and presented as a soldier. Then Antonio, the Duchess, and their children all pray and present themselves at the shrine. The Cardinal removes the Duchess’s wedding ring and formally banishes her and her entire family from Ancona.

After the dumb show, the Pilgrims wonder why the Cardinal is being so cruel to the Duchess. They repeat the information that she has been banished, and wonder how the state has the right to do such a thing. They believe that the Pope has interceded at the behest of the Cardinal, which they think is unjust, and they note that the Cardinal went so far as to take the Duchess’s wedding ring off her finger. The pilgrims use a metaphor about a man sinking in a well under his own weight, suggesting that the hardship and injustice that befalls a person is punishment for his or her own misdeeds.

Summary

Near the shrine, Antonio, the Duchess, their children, Cariola, and a few servants have been banished from Ancona. Antonio notes that their group has been vastly reduced in size, since most of the staff have found other opportunities since the banishment. The Duchess says that she had a strange dream that she wore her coronet of state, but the diamonds were changed to pearls. Antonio interprets the dream, saying that he believes the pearls signify tears, which suggests that the Duchess will soon be forced to weep.

Bosola then enters with a letter from Ferdinand that is supposedly “all love and safety.” But the Duchess immediately calls Bosola out for describing the letter in this way, saying that it’s just a calm before the storm, and that false hearts speak kindly to those that they are about to hurt. Though the letter asks for a meeting with Antonio, both the Duchess and Antonio assume that Ferdinand actually wants Antonio dead. Antonio thus refuses the invitation; he will not see the Duke and the Cardinal until he’s certain that they are placated and will not harm him.

Bosola exits, and the Duchess says that she is afraid there will be an ambush. She tells Antonio to take their eldest son to Milan, using an expression equivalent to “let’s not have all our eggs in one basket.” She says that she isn’t sure what’s worse, seeing Antonio dead or parting with him, and she bids her son farewell, saying that he’s happier for not understanding what’s happening, since wit just brings a truer understanding of sorrow. Antonio tells her not to weep, as heaven fashioned them out of nothing, and they are moving towards an eventual reunion in heaven. The Duchess notes that his speech sounds like that of a father on his deathbed, and Antonio and their son exit.

As soon as Antonio leaves, the dejected Duchess finds herself facing a disguised Bosola and several troops. Bosola says that she is not to see her husband anymore, and she questions who he is to act like a god. He responds that he is taking her to her palace, not a prison. The Duchess says that Charon’s boat brings the dead across the river Styx into Hades and brings no one back, which implies that she knows that she will never leave the palace again. Though Bosola claims that her brothers want to keep her safe, she does not trust them. Bosola asks about her children, to which the Duchess replies that if she were a man, she’d beat Bosola’s mask into his face.

When Bosola tells the Duchess to forget Antonio because of his low birth, she responds by telling an story about a salmon that swims into the sea and meets a dogfish, who asks the salmon why it is so bold as to enter the esteemed waters of the ocean, since salmon only live in shallow rivers with shrimps. The salmon responds first with thanks that both of them have not been captured by fishermen, and says that their value cannot truly be known until they’re caught and sold in the market; the salmon’s price might be higher than the dogfish’s, even though that just makes the salmon closer to being eaten. The moral of the story, the Duchesss says, is that men are often valued when they are most wretched. After her speech, she agrees to go with Bosola (though she doesn’t really have a choice).

Summary

In Amalfi, Ferdinand asks Bosola how the Duchess is bearing herself during her imprisonment. Bosola responds that she is doing it so nobly as to give majesty to adversity. Bosola seems to pity her. Ferdinand expresses frustration with himself since he is not making her more miserable, and he instructs Bosola to tell the Duchess his message. Ferdinand then exits.

The Duchess enters, and Bosola greets her kindly, to which she responds that he is wrapping poison in gold and sugar. Bosola relays Ferdinand’s message: Ferdinand is going to visit her, but since Ferdinand vowed never to see her again, he’ll come at night. She is therefore not to use any candles or torches in her chamber so that he won’t be able to see her. When he visits, he’ll kiss her hand and they will reconcile.

The two of them put out the lights, and Ferdinand enters. He comments that the darkness suits her well. The Duchess asks for his pardon, and he says that he grants it, since it is the most honorable revenge to pardon when he could kill. Then he calls her children bastards and her a slut, and puts a hand into hers. She kisses it, thinking the hand is Ferdinand’s, but soon comments that his hand seems very cold and unhealthy. Ferdinand then asks for the lights to come on, but quickly exits before they come on. In the light, the Duchess sees that she has been holding a dead man’s hand.

Suddenly a curtain is illuminated, upon which appear the silhouettes of Antonio and their children, looking as if they were dead. Bosola states that the hand came from Antonio, that her family members are all dead, and that she should stop grieving for that which she can never recover. The Duchess replies that this knowledge consumes her like a disease, and she asks to be tied to the dead body so she can freeze to death. Bosola says she must live, to which the Duchess replies that living when you want to die is the greatest torture souls feel in hell. He reminds her that she is a Christian, which prompts her to say that she’ll starve herself to death.

 

Bosola tries to comfort her, saying that things get better when they are at their worst, but she equates this to a kind of torture and says again that she wants to die, calling the world a “tedious theater” in which she plays a part against her will. A servant enters and wishes her long life. She curses him for it, before going on to curse the stars, the seasons, and the whole world. She calls for plague and disease to consume families, and for those families to be remembered only for the bad things they have done while heaven punishes them. She concludes by saying that she longs to bleed, and it would be a mercy to die quickly.

The Duchess then leaves the room (though probably not the palace, as she’s imprisoned), and Ferdinand reenters, excited that she finally seems to be experiencing despair. Bosola urges Ferdinand to cease his cruelty, but Ferdinand yells “Damn her!” and says that her body was once worth more than her soul, back when her blood was pure. He then outlines a plan to relocate a group of madmen from the asylum and lodge them next-door to the Duchess. The plan is that their mad howling will torture her by preventing her from sleeping. Bosola tries to refuse to see the Duchess again, but Ferdinand says that Bosola must. Bosola replies that he will only ever visit her when in disguise. Ferdinand responds that Bosola’s pity doesn’t suit him well, and then begins to plan his revenge on Antonio, who he knows is in Milan.

Summary

In the Amalfi palace, the Duchess and Cariola hear a horrible noise offstage. Cariola says that it’s the cohort of madmen that Ferdinand relocated from the asylum to torture the Duchess and keep her sleepless. The Duchess replies that the madmen’s noise and nonsense actually keep her distracted, while silence and reason drive her insane. She then asks Cariola to tell her a tragic tale to make her own grief seem smaller. She comments that, like a bird in a cage, she will not live long. The Duchess says she wishes it were possible to commune with the dead so that she could learn from them. She says it’s a miracle that she hasn’t gone insane yet, but she acknowledges that she is becoming more comfortable with her suffering.

A servant then enters and informs them that Ferdinand is sending in the madmen as a sort of cure to treat her melancholy. The servant describes some of the madmen who will enter, including a mad lawyer, a secular priest, a doctor, an astrologer and a crazed English tailor. The madmen enter, sing a song, take turns speaking nonsense, and do a dance. Then Bosola enters, disguised as an old man, and the madmen and the servant exit.

Bosola says that he has come to make the Duchess’s tomb. She asks if he thinks that she is sick, and he responds that he does, and that it’s all the more dangerous since the disease is unfelt and therefore undetectable to her. She asks if he knows her, and he responds that she is a mummy. He launches into a speech about the fragility of flesh and he likens the body to a prison of the soul. She asks if she is his duchess, and he responds that she’s a great woman and that her hairs are going gray early. He tells her that she loses sleep because of her debauchery.

At this point, the Duchess proclaims that she is still the Duchess of Malfi. She calls Bosola plain (though she doesn’t know his identity), and he responds that he’s simply a tomb maker there to flatter the dead. She asks what the tomb will be made of and how the dead are prepared in the tombs before asking him why he has really come. He says that he’ll explain, and as he says it Executioners enter with a coffin, cords, and a bell. Bosola tells the Duchess that the executioners are a present from her brothers, and that she is going to die.

In the face of this horror, she says that she has obedience in her blood and explains that death does not frighten her. Bosola rings the bell, and then gives a rhyming speech to prepare the Duchess for death. Cariola starts yelling for help, but the Duchess knows that it is hopeless and, as executioners force Cariola out, the Duchess asks Cariola to look after her children. The Duchess says she’s not afraid of death since she’ll meet such good company in the next world. Bosola replies that the cord should terrify her, but she says that it doesn’t matter how she dies, since there are thousands of ways to die. She asks her killers to tell her brothers that death is the best gift that they can give her, and she asks them to give her body to her women once she is dead. Once one executioner agrees, she tells him to pull strongly. The Duchess kneels and calls out for violent death to serve as a stupefying drug and put her to sleep. The executioners then strangle her.

Bosola instructs some of the executioners to go and strangle the children. Cariola is brought by other executioners back into the room, and she begins begging for her life. She says that she can’t die yet, since she hasn’t had a judicial hearing, but Bosola ignores this. She pleads that she is engaged, but an executioner says that the noose will be her wedding ring. She tells them that if she dies now she’ll be damned since she hasn’t been to confession for two years, and she even says that she’s pregnant, but they strangle her anyway and exit with her body.

Ferdinand enters and asks if the Duchess is dead, to which Bosola responds that she is. Bosola asks what the children have done to deserve this fate, but Ferdinand says the death of young wolves is not to be pitied. He stares at the Duchess’s body, and Bosola asks if this causes him to weep, since, while other sins speak, “murder shrieks out” and “blood flies upwards” to heaven. Ferdinand says that she died young, but Bosola says he thinks she suffered for too long and covers her face.

Ferdinand then reveals that he and the Duchess were twins, and he asks Bosola to uncover her face. He asks why Bosola didn’t pity the Duchess and disobey him, saying that if Bosola had disobeyed he might have prevented this revenge from happening. Ferdinand confesses that he had hoped that the Duchess wouldn’t marry so that he could inherit her wealth, and he adds that Bosola is like a good actor cursed to play a villain in a tragedy. Bosola asks for payment, and Ferdinand says that he’ll pay him with a pardon, since technically the death was ordered extra-judicially and is therefore a murder. Ferdinand threateningly tells Bosola that Bosola will die for this crime, and when Bosola asks who will reveal it, Ferdinand responds that wolves will find the Duchess’s grave and dig her up to reveal the murder.

Bosola demands his payment, but Ferdinand rebuffs Bosola’s request and tells him to get out of his sight. Bosola says that Ferdinand and his brother have rotten hearts, and that they are truly brothers since treason, like the plague, runs in the blood. Bosola says that he feels like he has woken up from a dream and is now angry at himself for serving the Duke even though he hated what he was doing. Bosola says he only obeyed because he believed his duty to the Duke was greater than his guilt and his desire not to do the evil acts. The Duke admits it was an act of darkness, and exits.

Bosola reflects that if he had the opportunity to do everything again, he wouldn’t trade peace of conscience for all of the wealth in Europe. He then notices that the Duchess is stirring, and he calls on her soul to return and lead his to hell. For a moment, she wakes up and says “Antonio?” Bosola tells her that her husband is in fact alive, explaining briefly that the dead bodies she saw were tricks. The Duchess cries “mercy” and then dies for real.

Bosola cries over her death, exhibiting what he calls “manly sorrow,” and he notes that he wishes that he had allowed these emotions to sway him when she was still alive. He decides to carry out her last will by bringing her body to the women like she requested. Afterwards, he says, he’ll head to Milan.

Summary

In Milan, Antonio asks Delio what his chances of reconciling with the brothers are. Delio says it’s unlikely, as the brothers’ kind letters promising safe passage seem likely to be nothing more than traps. Delio notes that The Marquis of Pescara has been prompted to seize much of Antonio’s lands, and he argues that if the Cardinal and Ferdinand are depriving Antonio of his means of life – his property and wealth – they probably don’t have good intentions for his actual life either. Pescara approaches, and Antonio hides so that Delio can confirm that Antonio’s land is up for grabs.

Once Pescara enters, Delio asks for one of Antonio’s citadels, but Pescara says no. Then Julia enters with a letter from the Cardinal asking Pescara to give the same citadel to Julia. Pescara gives it to her and she exits, prompting Delio to ask why he was denied. Pescara responds that Antonio’s land was taken illegally by the Cardinal’s force. He says he didn’t want to give property so unjustly obtained to a friend, and that he’s glad that this tainted land is going to such a bad person. Pescara tells Delio that if he asks for noble things, Pescara will be happy to oblige him. Ferdinand is apparently sick with a frenzy, Pescara notes as he departs.

Antonio comes out from hiding and calls Pescara noble. Then he says that he plans to “venture all my fortune,” (which, in fact, is now nothing more than his life) that very night. He has gained access to the Cardinal’s private chamber (just as Ferdinand did earlier to the Duchess), and he will go undisguised and with love, and in doing so try to draw “the poison out of” the Cardinal and reconcile with the brothers. If he fails, he says, it’s better to fall once than to always be falling.

Summary

In the Cardinal and Ferdinand’s palace in Milan Pescara and a Doctor discuss the condition of the Duke. The doctor says that Ferdinand has the disease lycanthropia, which causes people to imagine that they are transformed into wolves and to dig up dead bodies at night. Ferdinand has apparently been seen with a dead man’s leg over his shoulder, howling and saying he was a wolf. Ferdinand apparently also said that the only difference between himself and a wolf was that his hair was on the inside instead of the outside, and that the people who spotted him should cut him up to see that he was telling the truth. Despite this, the doctor claims that the Duke seems to have recovered.

However, the Doctor says that there is reason to anticipate a relapse. Therefore, he wants to try to cure Ferdinand of his madness altogether. Ferdinand, Malateste, the Cardinal, and Bosola then enter. Ferdinand begins acting insane, asking to be left alone and attacking his own shadow, which he says he hopes to carry to hell as a bribe. The Doctor confronts Ferdinand and asks him if he’s insane. The doctor says he will try “mad tricks” to heal Ferdinand, by which the doctor means he’ll act insane, too. Ferdinand says he’s afraid of the doctor and starts undressing, at which point the Cardinal restrains him. The doctor then instructs the Cardinal to let the Duke go, since he believes the Duke is afraid of him and will now act calmly. However, once the Cardinal lets Ferdinand go, Ferdinand attacks the doctor and leaves the room. The doctor then concedes that the cures weren’t exactly working.

Standing aside from this spectacle, Bosola comments that a fatal judgment has fallen on Ferdinand. Meanwhile, Pescara asks the Cardinal if he knows what has caused Ferdinand’s outburst. The Cardinal lies and tells a story that an old woman who was murdered by her nephews haunted the Duke and sent him into this frenzy. Bosola then steps forward and says that he wants to talk to the Cardinal; everyone else exits.

The Cardinal says in an aside that he doesn’t want Bosola to know that he was an accessory to the Duchess’s murder. The Cardinal then asks Bosola how the Duchess is doing, pretending not to know that she is already dead. He tells Bosola not to worry about Ferdinand’s behavior. Julia briefly enters and asks the Cardinal if he is coming to supper. When he says that he’s busy, she departs, while remarking to herself how handsome Bosola is.

The Cardinal then says that he has found the perfect man for the Duchess to marry, but he says that in order to make the match Bosola must first find Antonio and kill him. Bosola asks how he will find Antonio, to which the Cardinal responds that Bosola should follow Delio and possibly bribe him if necessary. After Bosola agrees, the Cardinal exits. Bosola then comments to himself that the Cardinal has nothing but murder in his eyes. Bosola notes that the Cardinal is pretending not to know about the Duchess’s death and he says he’ll have to be similarly cunning

Just then, Julia reenters holding a pistol. She threatens Bosola and accuses him of giving her a love potion, as this is the only explanation she can think of for falling in love with him so quickly. He disarms her by embracing her and taking her gun, and she begins flattering him. Bosola says that he doesn’t have the skills to flatter women, but she says that ignorance in courtship (i.e., the inability to smooth-talk) won’t be a problem if his affections are genuine. He tells Julia that she is beautiful, and then realizes in an aside that he can use her against the Cardinal. He asks her if the Cardinal would be angry if he saw them together. She replies that the Cardinal would call her a wanton but would not get angry with Bosola. She tells Bosola to ask her to do something right away so that she can show him that she loves him, and he takes this opportunity to ask her to find out why the Cardinal has been melancholy lately. She agrees to be his spy, and has him hide inside a wardrobe.

The Cardinal then reenters the room, worrying to himself that Ferdinand in his insane state might talk about the murder. Julia asks the Cardinal what’s wrong, and he says nothing, but she continues to press. She asks why she can’t know his secrets, saying that she’s different than all of his flatterers. He tries to explain by having her imagine that he has committed some secret deed that he didn’t want anyone to know about, but she replies that the two of them have committed and concealed their adultery. He says that learning the secret will bring about her ruin and will act like a poison in her, but she continues to press until he tells her that the Duchess and two of her children have been strangled.

The Cardinal asks if Julia can keep this dark secret, but she says that he is in trouble, because she actually cannot keep it. He asks her to swear upon and kiss a book to show she will keep the secret. Once she does it, he announces that her curiosity has killed her, as he poisoned the book because he knew she couldn’t keep the secret. Bosola hastily emerges from the wardrobe in an attempt to stop the Cardinal, but too late. Julia says that she forgives the Cardinal for the “justice” he has done to her, because even as he did it she was betraying him to Bosola. She then dies.

Bosola jumps out of the wardrobe and says that he has come to the Cardinal to try to collect payment for his service, since Ferdinand in his crazed state will not pay. The Cardinal threatens to hack Bosola to pieces and demands to know how Bosola got into the wardrobe. Bosola responds that it was all because of Julia’s lust. The Cardinal then confesses that he is Bosola’s fellow murderer, and says that he has wealth and other honors in store for Bosola. Bosola responds that there are many ways to get what seems like honor and some of them are horrible. The Cardinal tells Bosola to give up his melancholy air, and asks if Bosola will kill Antonio. Bosola says he will. The Cardinal then gives Bosola the master key to his lodgings and tells him to come that night to help remove Julia’s body.

After the Cardinal exits, Bosola cries out that he pities Antonio. He ultimately decides to seek Antonio out and try to get him away from the brothers who have already spilled some of Antonio’s blood (in the form of Antonion’s family); Bosola even says that he might join Antonio in seeking revenge. Bosola comments that he thinks the Duchess is still haunting him, but quickly decides that in fact it is just his remorse.

Summary

Antonio and Delio are outside of the Cardinal’s window at his palace in Milan. Unbeknownst to Antonio and Delio, they are very nearby the Duchess’s grave, which is evidently right outside the palace. Delio notes that the location has an echo; throughout the scene, the “echoes” are words coming from the Duchess’s grave (probably an actor offstage or beneath a trap door). Antonio says that he loves the ancient ruins. He is reflecting on the history and the bodies that lie there when some of his words begin to echo, particularly his words about death.

Antonio notes that the echo sounds like his wife’s voice, to which the echo says “aye, wife’s voice.” The echo seems to discourage him from going to see the Cardinal and tells him to be mindful of his safety, and it goes as far as predicting that Antonio will die. The echo also says that Antonio will never see the Duchess again, since he’s risking his life by going to see the Cardinal. Though Antonio doesn’t know it yet, here the echo is also implying that the Duchess is dead. Antonito resolves to take the risk of death and meet with the Cardinal. Delio says that he’ll take care of Antonio’s eldest son and come in as backup if needed.

Summary

In the Cardinal’s palace, the Cardinal tells Pescara, Malateste, Roderigo, and Grisolan to leave the sick Ferdinand alone that night. The Cardinal emphasizes that they must promise not to come into the Cardinal’s room, even if someone calls for them, and he says that he might even test them and pretend to be in danger. They swear they will not come. After they exit, the Cardinal says to himself that he was taking precautions to ensure privacy to deal with Julia’s body. He reveals that his conscience is plaguing him, and that he would pray if the devil weren’t stopping him. Meanwhile, Bosola enters, unseen by the Cardinal. Bosola then overhears the Cardinal say that when Bosola has fulfilled his service, he will be killed.

Ferdinand then enters, saying that “strangling is a very quiet death.” Ferdinand continues talking to himself as Bosola hides. Now Antonio and a servant enter, and Antonio says that he hopes to find “him” at his prayers; Antonio is saying that he hopes he can find the Cardinal while he’s praying because that will be the best time to make peace with him. In the darkness, however, Bosola thinks that Antonio is the Cardinal and Bosola stabs him. Antonio cries that the long plea he had planned to reconcile with the Cardinal has been ended in a minute. When the servant returns with a lantern, Bosola realizes his mistake. Bosola, distraught, says that he would have sacrificed his own life for Antonio’s if he could have. He says that he wants to tell Antonio about the Duchess and their children before Antonio dies, and Antonio cuts him off to say that their names are kindling life in him. But Bosola continues on to say that they have been murdered.

This horrible news prompts Antonio to say that he’s glad he’s dying, since he no longer has any use for his life. He reflects on the pleasures of life, which he says have only prepared him for rest and death. Antonio doesn’t try to unravel the mistake and confusion that lead to his death. He simply asks for Bosola to give his regards to Delio, and to tell his oldest son to “fly the courts of princes,” which either means that he should escape the Duke and Cardinal, or leave the Italian court and courtly life in general. Antonio dies, and Bosola asks the servant to take Antonio’s body to Julia’s lodging. He curses the tragic misunderstanding.

Summary

The Cardinal is in his chambers, holding a book and questioning what hell is like from a scholarly perspective. As he laments the pains of a guilty conscience, Bosola and the Servant enter with Antonio’s body. The Cardinal comments that Bosola looks terrible, somehow both determined and fearful. Bosola responds that he has come to kill the Cardinal and draws his sword. The Cardinal begins to howl and yell, and he offers to pay Bosola, but Bosola refuses. Then the Cardinal tries to call the courtiers again; upstairs in the palace, the courtiers hear the Cardinal’s cries. Most of the courtiers decide to follow the Cardinal’s orders and not intervene, but Pescara finally decides that the Cardinal doesn’t sound like he’s joking, and goes to investigate.

Bosola kills the servant to make sure no one will unlock the door to the Cardinal’s room. He then admits to the Cardinal that he slayed Antonio by mistake. Bosola stabs the Cardinal twice, at which point Ferdinand enters after hearing the commotion. The Cardinal asks his brother for help, but Ferdinand mistakes him for the devil, and he stabs both the Cardinal and Bosola. The Cardinal cries out that sorrow is “the eldest child of sin.” Ferdinand says that Caesar had a better fortune then Pompey, since Caesar died in prosperity while Pompey died in disgrace. He says that the Cardinal and Bosola are now splendid men since they’re and dying in the field of battle. He concludes by saying that pain is nothing, and that often one small pain is taken away by the apprehension of a greater one. After Ferdinand states this philosophy on pain, Bosola takes the opportunity for revenge and fatally stabs Ferdinand.

Ferdinand, gravely wounded, says that the world is a no better than a dog kennel, and he says that he’ll ignore his reputation and hope for “high pleasures beyond death” (i.e. that he will go to heaven). He then cries out for the Duchess, and says “whether we fall by ambition, blood, or lust, / Like diamonds we are cut with our own dust,” and dies. Bosola says that he is himself on the verge of death just as Pescara, Malateste, Roderigo, and Grisolan enter and ask what’s going on. Bosola explains that he has taken revenge for the Duchess of Malfi, who was murdered by the brothers, as well as revenge for Antonio (who was murdered by mistake) and Julia (who was poisoned by the Cardinal). Finally, he says, he has taken revenge for himself, who was an actor involved with everything, but against his better nature. The Cardinal explains that Ferdinand wounded them, then prays that they never think of him (the Cardinal) again, and dies.

Pescara comments on how the Cardinal prevented his own rescue, and Malateste calls Bosola a “wretched thing of blood” and asks how Antonio died. Bosola says Antonio died “in a mist,” as a way of describing the confusion of that moment, then says he has often seen mistakes such as Antonio’s death in plays. Bosola cries out that he is dying, and laments the state of the world he will leave behind. Before dying, he says, “let worthy minds ne’er stagger in distrust / To suffer death or shame for what is just: / Mine is another voyage.”

Delio then enters, too late, with Antonio’s eldest son and heir. Delio says that he was prepared beforehand for what happened, and he hopes to get the young boy his inheritance. He hopes, too, that the famous, powerful brothers and their horrible deeds are forgotten like footprints in melting snow. Delio ends the play by remarking that he has always believed that nature best serves great men only when it makes them “lords of truth.” He then says that integrity is the best friend of reputation, as it has the noble power to outlast even death.