Character Analysis (OCR A-Level English Literature): Revision Notes

Character analysis

In Webster's The Duchess of Malfi, characters serve as powerful symbols representing key ideas and social debates of the time. Understanding each character individually is important, but it's equally valuable to explore how they compare and contrast with one another. This approach helps reveal Webster's critique of contemporary society, particularly around themes of power, corruption, class and gender.

When analysing characters in the play, consider these key elements:

• What social groups or themes each character represents
• How characters are initially established in the play
• Their actions, motivations and decisions
• What they say and think (through dialogue and soliloquies)
• How they interact with other characters
• What other characters say and think about them
• Their physical descriptions and how they conform to or challenge stereotypes
• The relationships and power dynamics between characters

Main characters

The Duchess

The Duchess is the play's protagonist and the character from whom the play takes its title. Interestingly, she remains nameless throughout, which emphasises her role as a symbol. Her character is based on the real historical figure Giovanna d'Aragona, who was murdered by her brothers for conducting a secret relationship.

Character overview:

Webster presents the Duchess as a young, beautiful and virtuous widow who holds a powerful position. Despite her high status, she demonstrates humility by choosing Antonio, her steward, as her husband. This choice surprises Bosola, who observes that she is idealistic rather than materialistic, valuing genuine love over wealth and status.

Victim of patriarchal control:

The Duchess becomes a victim of her cruel and powerful brothers: a Cardinal and a Duke. They seek to control her life and restrict her sexual autonomy. Through her suffering, Webster critiques both patriarchal oppression and the corrupted religious system that enables such control.

Pursuit of autonomy:

The Duchess represents a woman determined to live independently and make her own choices. She actively defies her brothers' demands in several ways:

• She refuses to remain a widow as they insist
• She chooses her own husband despite their opposition
• She refuses to deny her own desires and feelings
• She remains brave and resourceful in protecting her family

However, Webster ultimately presents her attempts at autonomy as futile, highlighting the impossibility of female independence within the corrupt social structure. The violent consequences she faces for choosing motherhood and marriage demonstrate the brutal price of defiance.

A doomed quest for freedom:

Although the Duchess chooses to live on her own terms, the tragic ending underscores Webster's pessimistic view. Both she and Antonio are murdered by her brothers, suggesting that personal agency and freedom are impossible within such a corrupted society.

The Duchess as tragic hero:

Webster crafts the Duchess as an effective tragic hero to enhance his criticism of corruption. She possesses many admirable qualities:

• Wit and humour in her interactions
• Humility and self-effacing nature
• Genuine love and devotion

However, she also displays flaws that contribute to her downfall:

• Self-absorption and vanity (being rude to her maid Cariola)
• Naivety about her brothers' capacity for cruelty
• Misplaced belief that Antonio's marriage to her rewards his virtue

Her tragic flaw:

The Duchess's naivety proves to be her fatal weakness. She trusts too easily, which leads to critical mistakes:

• She believes time will soften her brothers' anger
• She dismisses Antonio's concerns about their class difference
• She thinks Ferdinand has forgiven her remarriage
• She reveals her secret to Bosola, which directly leads to their capture

Contrast with her brothers:

Webster uses the Duchess to provide a stark contrast to the Cardinal and Ferdinand. Whilst they scheme and sin, she acts with integrity and dignity. This opposition is particularly evident when:

• Ferdinand attempts to drive her to madness through imprisonment, yet she remains resolute whilst he descends into insanity
• She accepts death bravely and philosophically, whilst Ferdinand's guilt destroys him

A sacrificial character:

The Duchess's death serves a greater purpose in the play's moral structure. She becomes the catalyst for Bosola's transformation, as her dignity and virtue soften his cynical attitude. Her sacrifice for love ultimately inspires others to question the corrupt system, even though it costs her life.

Duke Ferdinand

Ferdinand is the Duke of Calabria, brother to the Cardinal and twin brother to the Duchess. His character embodies Webster's critique of corrupt leadership and oppressive control mechanisms.

Corrupt leadership:

Ferdinand represents the dangers of power concentrated in morally bankrupt hands. His character reveals how:

• Desire for wealth and power overtakes familial love
• He refuses to pay Bosola properly, instead offering forgiveness for murder
• His priorities consistently favour personal gain over justice or compassion

Obsessive jealousy:

Ferdinand's treatment of his sister reveals an unhealthy obsession with controlling her sexuality and marriage. Webster depicts this through:

• His enjoyment of torturing the Duchess, revealing narcissistic and evil tendencies
• His refusal to show compassion despite Bosola's pleas, demonstrating sadism
• His elaborate and cruel schemes to punish his sister and her family

Emotional instability:

Ferdinand is portrayed as dangerously unstable, making him unpredictable and frightening. Evidence includes:

• Even the Cardinal is shocked by the brutal punishments Ferdinand proposes
• His bizarre schemes alternate between intimate cruelty and passionate outrage
• His psychological imbalance creates an atmosphere of constant threat

Master of deception:

Throughout the play, Ferdinand employs various deceptive tactics:

• Repeatedly lying to his sister about his intentions
• Secretly employing Bosola to spy on the Duchess
• Pretending to accept her choices whilst plotting revenge

Warped family honour:

Ferdinand's attitude towards family honour is deeply corrupted. Rather than protecting his sister, he:

• Chooses to murder both the Duchess and her husband
• Claims her children taint the family bloodline
• Prioritises his own desire to claim her inheritance

Punishment through madness:

Webster conveys themes of guilt and divine justice through Ferdinand's descent into lycanthropy, a disease where he believes he has become a wolf. His mad ravings about his guilty conscience ultimately lead Bosola to murder him, suggesting that Ferdinand's evil brings about his own destruction.

The Cardinal

The Cardinal serves as Webster's critique of religious corruption and hypocrisy. As a high-ranking Church official, his character reveals the gap between religious ideals and actual practice.

Calculating duplicity:

The Cardinal is presented as methodical and cunning rather than impulsive like Ferdinand. Key characteristics include:

• Thought to have bribed his way to his religious position
• Known through city gossip (ironically revealed in the exposition) as distrustful and paranoid
• Reliance on spies and gossip to maintain control

Immediate establishment of corruption:

Webster wastes no time revealing the Cardinal's true nature. From the beginning, audiences learn that:

• Bosola's imprisonment resulted from a murder committed on the Cardinal's orders
• The Cardinal later refuses to compensate Bosola for his criminal services
• This pattern establishes him as someone who uses others without remorse

Face-saving tactics:

The Cardinal represents individuals who maintain a virtuous façade whilst engaging in evil. He achieves this by:

• Pretending ignorance about the Duchess's murder
• Avoiding interaction with anyone who might expose his true character
• Speaking carefully and calculatedly, unlike his more volatile brother Ferdinand

Hypocritical ideals:

The Cardinal strongly opposes the Duchess's remarriage, insisting she remain a widow. His stated reasons include:

• Ensuring her purity to protect the family's reputation
• Maintaining the royal bloodline (as stated in Act II, Scene V)

However, these ideals are exposed as hypocritical through his affair with Julia, Lord Castruccio's wife. His treatment of Julia is exploitative and selfish, revealing his true character.

Blasphemous murder:

Webster explicitly illustrates the Cardinal's sinful nature through the murder of Julia. In a shocking scene:

• Though he is a high-ranking prince of the Church, he poisons the Bible
• He forces Julia to swear upon it by kissing it, which kills her
• This act represents the ultimate corruption of religious authority

Motive and punishment:

The Cardinal's primary motivation is suppressing evidence of previous crimes to protect his reputation. Webster punishes him through double betrayal: both Bosola and Ferdinand murder him. His brief display of conscience comes too little and too late, as he shows minimal compassion for his sister's murder, and his repentance arrives just as Bosola and Ferdinand fatally stab him.

Antonio Bologna

Antonio serves as the Duchess's steward and eventually her secret husband. His character illuminates Webster's critique of class prejudice and the limitations placed on virtue in a corrupt society.

Victim of class attitudes:

Antonio's position as steward places him in a lower social class than the Duchess. Webster uses this to explore:

• How marriage across class boundaries becomes the catalyst for tragedy
• The hypocrisy of a society that values birth over character
• The impossibility of social mobility in this rigid hierarchy

Virtuous and steadfast:

Antonio is consistently portrayed as morally upright. The Duchess considers him a complete man and chooses him as her husband based on his character. His virtue is demonstrated through:

• Genuine love for the Duchess (expressed to Delio in the opening scene)
• Respect and admiration for her qualities
• No desire to use marriage as a vehicle for social advancement

Dangerous naivety:

Despite his awareness of the risks, Antonio's naivety proves fatal. He:

• Chooses to marry the Duchess despite knowing the danger
• Cannot see through Bosola's deception
• Decides to confront the Cardinal despite warnings

This naivety reflects a broader theme about the vulnerability of goodness in a corrupt world.

Cynical view of love:

Through Antonio's fate, Webster presents a pessimistic perspective on love and marriage. Despite genuine love between Antonio and the Duchess, external pressures prove insurmountable. His character illustrates that virtue brings no protection in a corrupted society.

Irony and fate:

The Duchess tells Antonio that marriage to her rewards his virtue. This statement becomes deeply ironic, as marriage ultimately leads to his death. Webster reinforces this through:

• Antonio's son being born under a bad sign (an astrological omen)
• His superstitious beliefs proving to be a weakness
• His nosebleed (which he sees as a bad omen) leading him to leave behind an astrological note
• Bosola finding this note, which exposes Antonio's identity

Accidental death:

Antonio's accidental death in the final act suggests he is a victim of fate itself. This supports Webster's broader argument about the impossibility of virtue surviving in such a morally bankrupt environment.

Daniel de Bosola

Bosola is perhaps the most complex character in the play, embodying contradictions and serving multiple dramatic functions. He provides both dark humour and explores deeper psychological themes.

Malcontent and fool:

In some ways, Bosola functions like a jester or fool, delivering witty asides and speaking eloquently with cynical observations. He is classified as a malcontent: a character whose pessimistic attitude represents his own oppression and sense of powerlessness. This character type commonly appears in revenge tragedies.

Villainous manipulator:

Despite his fool-like qualities, Bosola actively participates as a central villain. He:

• Is planted by Ferdinand as the Duchess's stable master
• Accepts money to spy on her and report her activities
• Carries out torture on Ferdinand's behalf
• Brutally murders the Duchess, her children and servants
• Eventually stabs both Ferdinand and the Cardinal

Early characterisation:

Antonio establishes Bosola's character in the exposition as melancholy and cynical. Antonio observes:

• Bosola's dialogue reveals bitterness towards corrupted power
• His bad attitude will poison any goodness (foreshadowing his moral decline)

Desire for power:

Bosola's fatal weakness is his desire for social advancement. Despite past betrayals, he:

• Returns to work with the Cardinal who previously had him imprisoned for murder
• Accepts money for services, presenting him as mercenary
• Cannot resolve his own sense of powerlessness

This inability to escape his low status becomes the catalyst for his participation in Ferdinand's evil schemes.

Cruel manipulations:

Although Bosola occasionally shows compassion, his treatment of the Duchess is calculating and cruel:

• He gives her apricots to induce labour (a manipulation to discover her pregnancy)
• He betrays her by revealing whom she married, despite praising Antonio as virtuous
• This treachery is especially shocking because he earlier praised the Duchess for her humility in marrying beneath her class

Malcontent characteristics:

Bosola's speeches and asides reveal he understands the difference between virtue and sin. His positive assessment of both the Duchess and Antonio, combined with his knowledge of court corruption, makes him particularly nihilistic. He sees the truth but feels powerless to act differently.

Misogynistic nature:

Webster explicitly illustrates Bosola's bitter nature through misogyny. In two scenes, he:

• Insults an old woman with degrading comments
• Makes accusations about witchcraft and loose morals
• Mocks her appearance

These moments reveal the depth of his cynicism and damaged character.

Transformation and failed redemption:

After the Duchess's murder, Bosola becomes a vehicle for revenge against Ferdinand and the Cardinal. However, his transformation is incomplete:

• His impulsive desire for revenge leads him to kill Antonio by accident
• His own death serves as punishment for failing in his final attempt at redemption
• Despite his change of heart, he cannot escape the consequences of his earlier actions

Other characters

Delio

Delio functions primarily as Antonio's friend and confidant. His character serves to help the audience understand Antonio's thoughts and dilemmas.

Supporting role:

Delio's characterisation centres on aiding understanding:

• He speaks with Antonio about the secret marriage
• He offers advice during Antonio's difficulties
• He listens and responds, allowing Antonio to voice his concerns

Loyal friend:

Throughout the play, Delio demonstrates loyalty by:

• Accompanying Antonio to the Cardinal's court
• Actively attempting to help his friend

However, his inability to save Antonio suggests a certain passivity or powerlessness in the face of greater forces.

Unconventional conclusion:

In the final scene, Delio is asked to care for Antonio and the Duchess's surviving son. Significantly, he delivers the closing lines. This breaks convention, as typically a minority character would not conclude a tragedy. His final speech suggests that:

• Honesty and integrity can immortalise individuals
• These qualities endure in a way that dishonesty cannot
• There remains some hope for virtue, even after tragedy

Cariola, the maid

Cariola serves as the Duchess's maid and loyal confidant. Her character explores themes of loyalty and the consequences of association with power.

Devoted servant:

Cariola demonstrates unwavering loyalty:

• She witnesses the Duchess's secret marriage to Antonio
• She keeps the Duchess's secrets throughout the play
• She fights to save the Duchess's life

Unrewarded loyalty:

Despite her devotion, Cariola's loyalty brings no reward. She becomes a victim of circumstance, murdered simply for her connection to the Duchess. This reinforces Webster's theme that goodness and loyalty offer no protection in a corrupt world.

Mistreatment:

Interestingly, the Duchess appears insulting and dismissive towards Cariola at times, yet Cariola's loyalty never wavers. This complexity adds depth to both characters and highlights the unfairness of Cariola's fate.

Julia

Julia is Lord Castruccio's wife who becomes the Cardinal's mistress. Her character represents vulnerability and the exploitation of women by powerful men.

Fickle nature:

Webster presents Julia as changeable, falling in love first with the Cardinal and then with Bosola. This characterisation may reflect attitudes of the time towards women's fickleness, or it may suggest her desperate search for protection in a dangerous world.

Exploitation and betrayal:

Julia's vulnerability leads to her downfall. She is exploited by:

• The Cardinal, who uses her for his pleasure
• Bosola, who manipulates her to get close to the Cardinal
• Both men ultimately betray her, with the Cardinal murdering her

Her death emphasises the dangers women face when involved with corrupt powerful men, and reinforces the play's themes about the victimisation of women in patriarchal society.