Discuss the theme of the household and/or domesticity in The Duchess of Malfi

There is much critical debate as to whether this play is a revenge tragedy or a domestic one, with most critics arriving at the conclusion, due to the play’s violent nature and emphasis on state action, that it is the former. Catherine Richardson identifies the “two different families in tension with one another: the one into which she was born and the one into which she chooses to marry…But the latter has no place in a system of analogies between different kinds of patriarchal rule, because it must remain a secret community.” The notion of contrasting tensions - the private family and the Duchess’ familial ties with the state - forms the foundation for my argument that, in fact, The Duchess of Malfi can be viewed as a domestic tragedy. It represents the conflict between a “private space” (i.e. domesticity) and the workings of the state (from which stem the ingredients which render the play a revenge tragedy also). The notion of domesticity within the play becomes an attempt at escape or release for the Duchess, and, within an equally “private” setting (when she is imprisoned), her domesticity is used against her to finally destroy her character (when the wax-work figures of her dead husband and children are revealed to her). // One particular moment in they play which signifies the power of the “household” or “domestic space” is highlighted by situating the scene outside, rather than inside, the establishment. During the scene where Bosola strives to discover whether the Duchess is in labour or not, he declares, “I must have part of it / My intelligence will freeze else”. Yet in spite of this desperation, she is protected from his dangerous inquisitiveness by her household. Antonio retorts “Sir, this door you pass not…the great are like the base, nay, they are the same, when they seek shameful ways, to avoid shame.” The final couplet here is the first indication that the notion of a household, or “domestic setting”, will expose the weaknesses of the establishment throughout the play. The “domestic setting”, in effect, becomes a foil to reveal the corrupt authority reigning over the dynasty. Richardson writes: “the connection between extreme physical and emotional violence and the small, bounded spaces of the house that generates much of the tension and power of Jacobean tragedies.” This becomes incredibly evident here, where a threat to the Duchess’ domesticity is posed; paradoxically the household protects her, but it is the household itself which incriminates her in the eyes of the state. Therefore the household as a setting cannot be seen as solely representing a place of solace, nor can it be seen from a purely negative perspective. By being an object of question, it does, however, serve to illuminate the political weaknesses of the state. // Furthermore, the concept of a “household” affords an alternative definition. The Oxford English Dictionary makes a distinction between a household as a “unit” or “a domestic establishment” and a household, traditionally in a royal sense, as being representative of lineage. Perhaps the most obvious example of “household” used in this way is in William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet: “Two households, both alike in dignity”. Here the “households” represent the Capulets and the Montagues; in Webster’s play, as Ariane Balizet writes, “the purity of the familial bloodline is in question, and…anxieties of bloodline are resolved through spectacular—and exceptionally bloody—murder.” On discovering the Duchess’ secret marriage to Antonio, the Cardinal states, “Shall our blood, our royal blood…be thus attainted?” The lexis implied by Ferdinand’s violent words in this scene imply that the Duchess’ blood must be purged from any impurity. The irony is, however, that this discussion reveals the warped and deluded psychologies of both the Cardinal and Ferdinand, who, not only can accept this change within their “household”, but react psychopathically to it (Ferdinand especially). Thus the notion of a “household” becomes a catalyst for revealing the corruption inherent within the authority in the play.