Webster's "The Duchess of Malfi"

Paper Summary:

An analysis of the character of Bosola in Webster's "The Duchess of Malfi" contending that the character, like the play, is shrouded in uncertain mists of evil, ugliness, and depravity. The author looks at the experiences of the character and how the character changes throughout the play.

From the Paper:

"The Duchess of Malfi takes place in what Northrup Frye called a "sick and melancholy society" (Rabkin 119). Rupert Brook described Webster's characters as "writhing grubs in an immense night" (Rabkin 112). Evil, ugliness, and depravity rule. Beauty and goodness are doomed. In the beginning the character Bosola appears to fit right in, to be an unprincipled man with no conscience. Whether this is his real self, or whether he is an actor playing a part in order to survive in a polluted and perverted world, or whether he changes during the course of the action are some of the questions Webster enshrouds in the mist of this play. Finding clarity is the responsibility of each individual reader or viewer, as it was, in the end, up to Bosola to find his own way through the mist."

More papers on Webster's "The Duchess of Malfi":

• Analytical Essay # 68461 : "The Duchess of Malfi"
• Book Review # 117465 : "The Duchess of Malfi": A Cultural Materialist Approach"
• Analytical Essay # 33425 : "The Duchess of Malfi"
• Comparison Essay # 34840 : "Macbeth" and "The Duchess of Malfi"

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