{"product_id":"2940015117783","title":"The Duchess of Malfi (With Extensive Notes and Glossary)","description":"The Duchess of Malfi (originally published as The Tragedy of the Dutchesse of Malfy) is a macabre, tragic play written by the English dramatist John Webster in 1612–13. It was first performed privately at the Blackfriars Theatre, then before a more general audience at The Globe, in 1613-14. Published in 1623, the play is loosely based on events that occurred between about 1508 and 1513, recounted in William Painter's The Palace of Pleasure (1567). The Duchess was Giovanna d'Aragona, whose father, Arrigo d'Aragona, Marquis of Gerace, was an illegitimate son of Ferdinand I of Naples. Her husbands were Alfonso Piccolomini, Duke of Amalfi, and (as in the play) Antonio Bologna.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe play begins as a love story, with a Duchess who marries beneath her class, and ends as a nightmarish tragedy as her two brothers exact their revenge, destroying themselves in the process.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eJacobean drama continued the trend of stage violence and horror set by Elizabethan tragedy, under the influence of Seneca, and there is a great deal of all that in the later scenes of the play. The complexity of some of its characters, particularly Bosola and the Duchess, plus Webster's poetic language, ensure the play is often considered among the greatest tragedies of English renaissance drama.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe play is set in the court of Malfi (Amalfi), Italy 1504 to 1510. The recently widowed Duchess falls in love with Antonio, a lowly steward, but her brothers, not wishing her to share their inheritance, forbid her from remarrying. She marries Antonio in secret and bears him several children. The macabre story continues from here with heavy involvement from the Duchess' lunatic and incestuously obsessed brother Ferdinand.","brand":"Balefire Publishing","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47180093292784,"sku":"2940015117783","price":0.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940015117783_p0.jpg?v=1763619102","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940015117783","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}