The Duchess of Malfi: Act 1, Scene 3 Summary & Analysis

The Cardinal, the Duchess, and the Duchess’s hand-maiden Cariola enter and join Ferdinand. The Cardinal informs the Duchess that they are leaving, and then tells her that she must use her discretion. The Cardinal and Ferdinand then begin convincing and instructing the Duchess not to remarry. They say that she already knows “what man is” (i.e. she is not a virgin), and that she should not let anything sway or taint her high blood. Marrying twice, they say, is lecherous. The Duchess quips back that diamonds that pass through the most jewelers’ hands are most precious, but Ferdinand responds that by that example whores are precious.

The Duchess concedes that she’ll never marry again, but the Cardinal and Ferdinand continue telling her not to. The Cardinal says most widows promise not to marry, but usually that promise lasts no longer than the funeral sermon. Ferdinand continues that she currently lives in a high position, and that remarrying will poison her reputation. He tells her not to be cunning, since those whose faces contradict their hearts become witches and nurse the devil. Despite attempts to be secret and hypocritical, he counsels, her darkest actions and most private thoughts will come to light.

The Cardinal continues that the Duchess might want to get married privately or in secret, and Ferdinand adds that she might think that in doing so she is taking a good path because she is making her own way, but he says that secret weddings like these are “executed” rather than celebrated. After they conclude their speech, the Cardinal departs. The Duchess then comments to Ferdinand that the speech was so glib that it seems like they rehearsed it.

Ferdinand in response launches into an extremely uncomfortable speech in which he references his father’s dagger and says that women like the body part that’s similar to a boneless eel. The Duchess responds in shock, suggesting that she thinks her brother was using phallic imagery, but claims that he was simply talking about the tongue, which can be used to weave a tale that will convince women of anything. He calls her a “lusty widow” and then exits.

Once she is alone with Cariola, the Duchess asks if this speech should convince her to obey her brothers. She compares her situation to battle, and says that even amidst all this hate, she’ll take a dangerous venture, “wink,” and choose a husband. The Duchess tells Cariola that she is trusting her with her reputation, which is more important than her life. Cariola says both will be safe, since she will keep the secret and guard it like poison makers guard their poison from children. The Duchess then instructs Cariola to hide behind a tapestry while she talks to Antonio.

Antonio enters, and the Duchess tells him to start writing notes for her. She makes a pun on the word husband, and asks Antonio what the plans are for tomorrow. He responds by calling her his “beauteous excellence,” and she focuses on the word “beauteous” and thanks him. When Antonio says he’ll get her the financial figures for her estate tomorrow, the Duchess corrects him to say that she was actually talking about what the plans were in heaven, not tomorrow, and that she wants to make a will. She says that she wouldn’t need to if she had a husband, but since she doesn’t she’ll make Antonio the overseer of her will.

Antonio responds by saying that she should find a husband and give herself to him, and the two then make a joke about sheets and coupling. The Duchess comments that they are writing a strange will, but Antonio says it’s even stranger if she has no will to marry again. The Duchess then asks Antonio what he thinks of marriage and he responds that he thinks of it like people who reject the idea of purgatory; marriage contains within it heaven or hell, it can be good or bad, but it’s not its own entity or place.

The Duchess continues by asking him to expand on these thoughts and tell her what he feels about marriage. Antonio says that when his loneliness is making him sad, he often reasons that the only thing he loses by not marrying is the title of father and the small delights of watching his children play and ride on wooden horses. The Duchess notes that one of Antonio’s eyes is bloodshot and she offers him her ring, which she claims has healing and royal power. She notes that this is her wedding ring, which she vowed she would never give to anyone other than her second husband.

Antonio notes that the Duchess has just given him the ring, and she says that she did to help his eyesight. He responds that it has made him blind, because there is a little devil in the ring. To remove the devil, the Duchess makes a small “conjuration” and puts the ring on Antonio’s finger. He kneels, and she tells him that his head is built too low, and that to talk to him she needs to raise him up. He stands and responds that ambition is “a great man’s madness” and extremely dangerous. He seems to know what she is suggesting (raising up his status), but he says it’s foolish to take too extreme of a measure, like a cold man shoving his hands directly into a fire.

The Duchess makes a metaphor about breaking ground at a mine, where the discovery of the valuable underground resource represents her fortune that Antonio could have access to. He calls himself unworthy, but the Duchess says that he’s selling himself short. She says that his darkening of his own character is not like salesmen who use poor lighting to sell faulty products. She assures him that she speaks without flattery, and that he is a “complete man.” Antonio responds that if there weren’t a heaven or hell, he’d be honest and say that he has served virtue for a long time without reaping any benefits.

The Duchess responds that now Antonio will get the benefits of being virtuous. She then laments with frustration that those who are born great (noble) are forced to woo because no one dares to woo them, driving them to express their feelings in “riddles and in dreams” without being direct. Deciding to invert this frustration, she says pointedly that Antonio can go and brag that he has left her heartless, since her heart is in his chest, and that she hopes it will generate more love there. She notices him trembling and asks him to make his heart alive and not allow himself to fear more than he loves her. She tells him to be confident, and that she is “flesh and blood,” not an alabaster statue kneeling at her dead husband’s tomb. She cries out for him to wake up as a man, and without any ceremony she simply says that she’s a young widow hoping to claim him for her husband.

Antonio agrees, and the Duchess pays him for his service as her steward with a kiss. Antonio is worried about how the Cardinal and Ferdinand will react, but the Duchess reassures him that he should not think of them, since everything and everyone outside of their relationship should be pitied, not feared. Even if they find out, she coaxes, the passing of time will eventually ease their tempestuous reaction. Antonio seems to accept this response, as he simply says that he should have been the one speaking, wooing, and reassuring.

After the Duchess instructs Antonio to kneel, Cariola enters and surprises Antonio, but the Duchess reassures him that Cariola is her trusted counsel. She goes on to say that legally, marriage by simple agreement of both parties is “absolute marriage” and legally binding. They both kneel, and the Duchess calls out for heaven to bless their union that violence can never untie, and Antonio calls for their affections to be constantly moving. They finish their vows and the Duchess asks how the church could possibly make a marriage more quickly or more secure. She then declares that she is blind, so that Antonio can lead her by the hand to their marriage bed, where they’ll lie with a sword between them to stay chaste and share secrets. The newlyweds exit, and Cariola closes the scene by saying that she can’t tell if it’s the spirit of greatness or of woman that’s leading the Duchesss to act this way, but either way it shows madness and deserves pity.