Table Of Content
The Duchess of Malfi
Continuum Renaissance Drama
Series Editors: Andrew Hiscock, University of Wales Bangor, UK, and
Lisa Hopkins, Sheffield Hallam University, UK
Continuum Renaissance Drama offers practical and accessible introduc-
tions to the critical and performative contexts of key Elizabethan and
Jacobean plays. Each guide introduces the text’s critical and perform-
ance history but also provides students with an invaluable insight into
the landscape of current scholarly research through a keynote essay on
the state of the art and newly commissioned essays of fresh research
from different critical perspectives.
A Midsummer Night’s Dream Edited by Regina Buccola
Doctor Faustus Edited by Sarah Munson Deats
King Lear Edited by Andrew Hiscock and Lisa Hopkins
1 Henry IV Edited by Stephen Longstaffe
’Tis Pity She’s a Whore Edited by Lisa Hopkins
Women Beware Women Edited by Andrew Hiscock
Volpone Edited by Matthew Steggle
THE DUCHESS OF
MALFI
A Critical Guide
Edited by Christina Luckyj
Continuum International Publishing Group
Th e Tower Building 80 Maiden Lane, Suite 704
11 York Road New York
London SE1 7NX NY 10038
www.continuumbooks.com
© Christina Luckyj and contributors 2011
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or
transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical,
including photocopying, recording, or any information storage or
retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publishers.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
EISBN 978–1–4411-1500–3
Library of Congress Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress.
Typeset by Newgen Imaging Systems Pvt Ltd, Chennai, India
Printed and bound in India
Contents
Acknowledgements vii
Series Introduction viii
Timeline ix
Introduction 1
Christina Luckyj
Chapter 1 The Critical Backstory 14
David Gunby
Chapter 2 The Duchess High and Low: A Performance
History of The Duchess of Malfi 42
Roberta Barker
Chapter 3 The State of the Art: Critical Approaches 2000–08 66
Dympna Callaghan
Chapter 4 Staging Secret Interiors: The Duchess of Malfi
as Inns of Court and Anticourt Drama 87
Curtis Perry and Melissa Walter
Chapter 5 The Duchess’s Marriage in Contemporary
Contexts 106
Leah S. Marcus
Chapter 6 ‘Can this be certain?’: The Duchess of
Malfi’s Secrets 119
Frances E. Dolan
vi CONTENTS
Chapter 7 ‘Greek is Turned Turk’: Catholic Nostalgia in
The Duchess of Malfi 136
Todd Borlik
Chapter 8 A Survey of Resources 153
Christy Desmet
Bibliography 175
Notes on Contributors 193
Index 196
Acknowledgements
I am grateful to Lisa Hopkins and Andrew Hiscock, general editors of
this series, for giving me the opportunity to edit this volume on a play
I wrote about many years ago – a play that continues to ‘haunt’ me as
much as the Duchess does Bosola. I also thank the staff at Continuum
for their patience with and understanding of my obligations as depart-
ment Chair, which invariably led to delays in the publication schedule.
Most of all, I want to express my gratitude to all the contributors to this
volume. Scattered across the globe, busy with their own commitments,
they nonetheless responded promptly and graciously to my requests
and suggestions. I can only conclude that they too are lovers of this
extraordinary, enigmatic and endlessly fascinating play. In particular,
Leah Marcus generously provided us with the proofs of her Arden edi-
tion of The Duchess of Malfi, published by the Arden Shakespeare, an
imprint of A&C Black Publishers Ltd. We all benefited from her work
on the text and from her Introduction, which overlaps slightly with her
contribution to this volume.
As always, my deepest thanks to Keith, Julia and Stefan Lawson:
‘All discord without this circumference / Is only to be pitied and not
feared’.
Series Introduction
The drama of Shakespeare and his contemporaries has remained at the
very heart of English curricula internationally and the pedagogic needs
surrounding this body of literature have grown increasingly complex as
more sophisticated resources become available to scholars, tutors and
students. This series aims to offer a clear picture of the critical and per-
formative contexts of a range of chosen texts. In addition, each volume
furnishes readers with invaluable insights into the landscape of current
scholarly research as well as including new pieces of research by leading
critics.
This series is designed to respond to the clearly identified needs of
scholars, tutors and students for volumes which will bridge the gap
between accounts of previous critical developments and performance
history and an acquaintance with new research initiatives related to the
chosen plays. Thus, our ambition is to offer innovative and challenging
Guides which will provide practical, accessible and thought-provoking
analyses of Renaissance drama. Each volume is organized according
to a progressive reading strategy involving introductory discussion,
critical review and cutting-edge scholarly debate. It has been an enor-
mous pleasure to work with so many dedicated scholars of Renaissance
drama and we are sure that this series will encourage you to read 400-
year-old playtexts with fresh eyes.
Andrew Hiscock and Lisa Hopkins
Timeline
1478: Birth of Giovanna d’Aragona.
1498: Giovanna rules as regent in the Duchy of Amalfi after her hus-
band’s death.
1510: Giovanna’s clandestine marriage to Antonio Bologna revealed.
1511: Giovanna and her two younger children imprisoned and presum-
ably killed.
1513: Antonio Bologna murdered by Daniele da Bozzolo.
1554–1573: The four volumes of Matteo Bandello’s Novelle published
(‘Il signor Antonio Bologna sposa la duchesse d’Amalfi’ being the
twenty-sixth in Part One).
1565: Belleforest, Histoires tragiques published (including ‘The
Unfortunate marriag e of Seigneur Antonio Bologna with the Duchess
of Malfi, and the piteous death of both’).
1567: William Painter, Palace of Pleasure published (‘The Infortunate
Mariage of a Gentleman, called Antonio Bologna, with the Duchesse of
Malfi, and the pitifull death of them bothe’, being the twenty-third novel).
1578/79: John Webster born to John Webster Sr. a wealthy London
coachmaker.
1598: John Webster (possibly the dramatist) admitted to the Middle
Temple, Inns of Court.
1602: Payment to Webster (with a team of collaborators including
Dekker, Heywood, Chettle, Munday, Middleton and Drayton) recorded
in Henslowe’s Diary for plays now lost.
