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A review by ridgewaygirl
The Duchess of Malfi by John Webster
3.0
When the Duchess of Malfi is widowed, her two brothers are insistent that she not remarry, leaving her fortune intact for them. She remarries, but in secret, to a commoner, and they keep their secret long enough for her to bear three children. Eventually, though, they are betrayed, and by a trusted friend, the desperately ambitious Bosola. The play reminded me of Othello, being similar in the sheer quantity of murders and in increasingly overwrought behavior of everyone involved.
This was a surprisingly easy play to read. The play jumps forwards in time without explanation and the character development is minimal, but it's certainly entertaining.
This was a surprisingly easy play to read. The play jumps forwards in time without explanation and the character development is minimal, but it's certainly entertaining.