John Webster, The Duchess of Malfi Quotes

“the role was originally played by Richard Burbage, the great tragic actor of the King’s Men who had created the roles of Shakespeare’s tragic heroes Hamlet, King Lear and Othello. That Burbage played Ferdinand as well suggests that the character was seen as the principal male role in the first productions of the play.”
― Open University, John Webster, The Duchess of Malfi

“the play, while staging a cross-class marriage, never loses sight of the class differences of the couple and the way this skews traditional gender roles. The Duchess may marry the steward she admires as ‘a complete man’ (1.1.439), but she remains very much an aristocrat. This brings”
― Open University, John Webster, The Duchess of Malfi

“Like Desdemona in Shakespeare’s Othello, she chooses for herself rather than deferring to the wishes of her male relations.”
― Open University, John Webster, The Duchess of Malfi