In what way is the eponymous figure in The Duchess of Malfi, a 'fully formed' character?

The most evident feature of the Duchess is her resistance to give in to her family’s attempts to constrain her: preventing her from wedding for a second time, which, as Schmiga points out[1], was well within her prerogative to do. The Duchess exclaims, ‘If all kindred / Lay in my way… I’d make them my low footsteps’[2]which is quite a considerable claim for someone whose brothers are so clear with their rejection of the marriage. This obstinacy against male preponderance adds a dimension to her character that is not often seen in Renaissance drama, adding to the idea that she is a ‘fully developed’ character. Not only does the Duchess take a stand against her brothers, but also opposing the restraints set against women in Jacobean England. As Kinney describes[3], it is not only frowned upon for a monarch to marry again, but even more so for a monarch to marry below her station, and, for that matter, for her to do the wooing. Therefore, the Duchess keeps the marriage very clandestine, and she shows no shame in her transgressions, brazenly mentioning to Cariola, ‘Let old wives report / I wink’d and chose a husband’[4]. However, this exemplifies how she does not reveal her full rationale behind her actions: the only remark of how she fell for Antonio is this, as if she just flippantly "chose a husband." Yet we know from Antonio’s speech at the opening of the play that he clearly thinks she is perfection, ‘Let all sweet ladies break their flattering glasses, / And dress themselves in her’. Apart from the mentioning of her bodily desires, ‘This is flesh and blood, sir, / 'Tis not the figure cut in alabaster’[5], there is not much reference to why she desires specifically Antonio as her husband. She could keep both her family and society content either by remaining a widow or remarrying a noble. If we were to know, via a soliloquy or private speech with Cariola, why and when the Duchess’s strong feelings developed the audience might understand the Duchess more intimately, but we are never informed . [1]Schmiga, 2015, pg. 42[2]Webster, 1.2.256[3]Kinney, pg. 639-640[4]Webster, 1.3.69-70[5]Webster, 1.3.386-7