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In The Duchess of Malfi, John Webster reworked the idea of a female tragic protagonist explored in his earlier and less well-received play The White Devil. In the play, which is still much performed today, Webster addresses questions of court corruption, political scandal and the most important issue of the status of women in Jacobean England. This well chosen selection of essays looks at many of the issues that are raised by The Duchess of Malfi, including marriage and morality, sexual politics and female sexuality, providing thought-provoking analyses of this quintessential Jacobean tragedy.
List of contents
Acknowledgements.- General Editors' Preface.- Introduction; D. Callaghan.- The Duchess of Malfi: Tyranny and Spectacle in Jacobean Drama; K. S. Coddon.- 'Neither Maid, Widow, nor Wife': Rhetoric of the Woman Controversy in The Duchess of Malfi; C. Desmet.- Death on Stage, Death of the Stage: The Antitheatricality of The Duchess of Malfi; A. Henderson.- Defining/Confining the Duchess: Negotiating the Female Body in John Webster's The Duchess of Malfi; T. A. Janowski.- Drama and Sexual Politics: The Case of Webster's Duchess; K. McLuskie.- The Heroics of Marriage in Renaissance Tragedy; M. B. Rose.- Dominance of the Typical and The Duchess of Malfi; S. Wells.- Sexual and Social Mobility in The Duchess of Malfi; F. Whigham.- The Moral Design of The Duchess of Malfi; R. S. White.- Further Reading.- Notes on Contributors.- Index.
