How Does John Webster Create a World of Secrecy in the Duchess of Malfi?

How does Webster create a world of secrecy and intrigue in "The Duchess of Malfi"?

At every level, The Duchess of Malfi is defined by deception and secrecy, which creates a world which ultimately implodes on itself and leads to tragedy. The Duchess Of Malfi is famous for its remarkable secrets: a clandestine marriage concealed even from a resident spy; three pregnancies whose paternity remains unknown to most members of the household; and, more generally, obscured secrets. By exploring these ideas, Webster is able to develop a world that hides secrets from the characters, but also for the audiences of the English Renaissance theatre.

        While the play marks what happens between the Duchess and Antonio as deeply interesting to the audience, as well as to Ferdinand and to a lesser extent the cardinal, their relationship is a secret rather than private. The clandestine nature of the marriage is unacceptable to their contemporaries because although it is legal, it is portrayed by Webster as a problem and a source of conflict due to its secretive and private nature. From the text, this is backed when Cariola can be seen to "withdraw behind the arras," during the marriage scene. By removing herself away from Antonio and the Duchess, Cariola metatheatrically acts as a symbol for the audience; she, much like those watching the play are the ones spying in on the marriage. This creates a world of secrecy not only in the paradox of the play, but also for watchers and readers of the play. This idea that their secret marriage is a source of conflict is again backed up by the actions of Cariola, who, at the end of Act I, is left alone on stage. By leaving Cariola on stage alone directly after the marriage, Webster is able to highlight her fear and anxiety of the situation, and thus shows that the clandestine marriage may implode inwards on itself.  Critic Dympna Callaghan describes their marriage as "perpetually clandestine." I would agree with this statement as the marriage of Antonio and the Duchess, for the most part, remains enigmatic. Although the audience of the time would have been aware of the fact that the Duchess and Antonio are married, the couple's experience of or feelings about their marriage remain almost unknowable to viewers and readers, as they are to the Duchess' dangerous brothers. Thus, The Duchess of Malfi draws our attention to the ways in which all intimate relationships are, to some extent, clandestine; mysteries to their partners as well as outsiders. Contextually, a secret marriage was regarded as evil, partly because it flouted parental authority, partly because it was keeping from the state, and partly because a marriage might not receive religious sanction; their marriage was conducted in defiance of the church. Also, Ferdinand insists he is entitled to know of his sister's sexual conduct and that it cannot be kept from him. As he warns her, "Your darkest actions - nay, your privatest thoughts, / Will come to light." Thus, he wants her dark actions (the marriage) and her private thoughts to be revealed to him, but not to others. Even when Ferdinand spies on the Duchess talking to Antonio at bedtime, he fails to ascertain Antonio's identity, thus further highlighting the secretive and deceptive nature of the marriage. Webster uses the light in this scene to achieve this, describing the setting as "dark." The connotations that darkness has to obscurity and secrets thus helps to portray the idea that the relationship between Antonio and the Duchess is clandestine.

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