simplified context

• Aristotle's Theory of Tragedy


  A tragedy is serious, has magnitude, is dramatic, only deals with one issue and feelings of pity and fear are central
• Censorship


  Madness ran in the royal-blood (Phillip of Spain's heir was strangled in prison) but Webster side-stepped political suspicion by setting his plays in Italy. An Italian venue provided a safe setting to explore politically unacceptable ideas that would have been dangerous if set in England
• Protestantism and The Virgin Queen

  Catholics were viewed as disloyal from the Virgin Queen's ascension, Mary Queen of Scots was suspected of treason and was executed in 1587. The Duchess' power and seemingly Protestant actions liken her to Elizabeth
• The White Devil (1612)

  Webster's first play which was not well-received initially. It has similarities to Malfi, however: both involve the supernatural, both focus on a heroine and both are tragedies.
• Stoicism


  Stoicism is the endurance of pain and hardship without complain or the expression of emotions. The Duchess is the most stoical character, she welcomes her death with dignity
• Hamlet


  Shakespeare and Webster were writing at a similar time and parallels can be drawn between Hamlet and Malfi. Familial deception is present in both plots and Bosola and Hamlet are both poisoned by their own melancholy. Bosola and Horatio represent scepticism
• Hysteria and the womb

  Hippocrates thought the womb was a free moving organ that moved around the body causing hysteria. It was characterised as a mental illness that caused paralysis, spasms and general pain. Ferdinand's attempts at making the Duchess insane link to this
• The Four Humours


  Renaissance doctors used the four humours as an explanation for human behaviour. Duchess = sanguine (excess of blood - full of life) Cardinal = phlegmatic (excess of phlegm - lack of emotion) Bosola = melancholic (excess of black bile - cynical) Ferdinand = choleric (excess of yellow bile - angry)
• Witches


  During the 16th and 17th centuries superstition was rife. It was a common belief that witches could hunt or even kill and so communities staged witch hunts. Any females who were old, physically disabled, suffered from a mental disorder, had an irritable personality or were widowed could be suspected of witchcraft. Legislation existed so that possession of herbs like mandrake or cannabis could result in execution by burning
• Bedlam and madness


  Bedlam was a hospital specialising in mental illness. Visitors would pay to see patients even without any relation to them. When public access ended in 1770 patient abuse began