The duchess came across as something of a tragic princess diana figure in this film and it was interesting to note that the character she played was in real life an ancestor of hers. The duchess falls in love with her steward, antonio. Lit entirely by candlelight, the production evokes a. Websters play is a tragedy about a forbidden love, more. The first quarto single printed copy of the duchess of malfi published in 1623 does not carefully distinguish between lines of poetry and prose. The duchess of malfi helen mirren the helen mirren. With peter bankole, richard bremmer, mark hadfield, maxwell hutcheon. The duchess of malfi was published in 1623, but the date of writing may have been as early as 1611. Enter ferdinand, duchess, cardinal, and cariola cardinal. About the play the duchess of malfi royal shakespeare. The duchess of malfi tv movie 1949 cast and crew credits, including actors, actresses, directors, writers and more. The virtuous duchess of malfi, a young widow, secretly marries her steward antonio, and is subsequently persecuted by her brothers. Websters verse is very irregular and not always easy to recognize.
It is based on a story in painters palace of pleasure, translated from the italian novelist, bandello. When their spy, bosola, discovers that the duchess has secretly married and carries antonios child, they exact a terrible and horrific revenge. Duchess of malfi online text with notes larry avis brown. This is why the duchess of malfi is a jacobean play, rather than an elizabethan play. John websters the duchess of malfi is a chilling tale of jealousy, madness, and murder. The globes production of the duchess of malfi is the first ever theatrical production to be filmed entirely by candlelight. The duchess of malfi, fiveact tragedy by english dramatist john webster, performed 1614 and published in 1623 written after william shakespeare had completed his final play, the duchess of malfi is regarded as the last great elizabethan tragedy. The duchess of malfi 2014 where to watch it streaming. It was released in september 2008 in the united kingdom. With irene worth, william devlin, david kingwood, david markham. The duchess of malfi 2014 full movie online free english. Directed by dominic dromgoole, with designs by jonathan fensom and music by claire van kampen, this unique production was created especially for the globes new indoor space, with 250 candles used for each performance. The duchess is a 2008 british drama film directed by saul dibb.
Full text of the duchess of malfi internet archive. The duchess of malfi 2014 full movie streaming online in hd720p video quality, the duchess of malfi 2014 full movie, where to download the duchess of malfi 2014 full movie. The duchess of malfi is a tragic, macabre play written by john webster in 1612. To come across a production of duchess of malfi is fortunate. Methinks, my lord, you should not desire to go to war in person. Duchess of malfi, and consider some possible reasons for the plays continued prominence in the twentyfirstcentury theatre repertoire. A summary of john websters the duchess of malfi a gory tale of revenge and dark humour. Bosola and castruccio, an old italian lord, enter in discussion about castruccios desire to be an eminent courtier, meaning that he wants to become both a courtier of high rank and a lawyer or judge. Duchess of malfi download duchess of malfi dvd stage. The plot the duchess of malfi royal shakespeare company. The duchess of malfi featuring gemma arterton and giles cooper is not currently available to stream, rent, or buy but you can add it to your want to see list for updates. With gemma arterton, archie bradfield, giles cooper, david dawson.
After the death of her first husband, a young and wealthy duchess secretly marries another man below her. Filmed as live stage production of websters jacobean tragedy. Figure 1 title page of the 1623 quarto version of the duchess of malfi. The duchess of malfi takes place in italy, mostly at the duchesss palace in malfi, in the sixteenth century. The duchess of malfi is one of the great jacobean plays, written by john webster in 1612, the tragedy of a powerful family rent by lust and betrayal. Free kindle book and epub digitized and proofread by project gutenberg. Find movie and film cast and crew information for the duchess of malfi 1972 james mactaggart on allmovie. Her brothers have prohibited her read full character analysis duke ferdinand is the brother of the cardinal and the twin brother of the duchess. Her brothers, ferdinand and the cardinal tell her not to remarry she was recently widowed. The duchess, a young widow and the ruler of the italian town of amalfi, is the intelligent, kind, virtuous sister of the cardinal and the twin of duke ferdinand. First performed by shakespeares company, the kings men, it displays the jacobean theatre tradition of stage. Duke ferdinand makes his first appearance, belittling his courtiers and enforcing them to do whatever pleases him.
It is based on amanda foremans biography of the late 18thcentury english aristocrat georgiana cavendish, duchess of devonshire. In john websters play, the duchess of malfi, the plot line revolves around a duchess and her two brothers. Before leaving the duchess, ferdinand engages bosola, previously used by the cardinal as. The duchess 2008 stream and watch online moviefone. Antonio, the manager of her household, has just returned from france. Tickets for many performances of the duchess of malfi are now limited or sold out. The duchess of malfi globe player shakespeares globe.
When the widowed duchess helen mirren marries her steward antonio, the choice challenges the accepted social order and established lines of power. This webtext does not attempt to make these fine distinctions. With esme percy, catherine lacey, john laurie, stephen haggard. The widowed duchess of malfi longs to marry her lover, the steward antonio. The duchess of malfi 2014 tv movie cast 11 gemma arterton. The duchess of malfi is a popular choice as a set text, despite or perhaps because of the violence and horror of its later scenes. Luminariums john webster page this is a site with links to all of websters work even the bad stuff, a nice big page for criticism, and a biography detailing what very little we know about webster. The duchess of malfi 2014 directed by dominic dromgoole. Remarkable for its inventive and grotesque violence, yet full of dark humour, this violent revenge tragedy asks how anyone can survive in a world where masculinity has become toxic. The duchess is a young widow whose two brothers, ferdinand and the cardinal, are visiting her from rome at the plays start. John websters bloody jacobean tragedy exposes the decadence of the italian court. The duchess of malfi characters from litcharts the. Henry iv, part 1 henry iv, part 2 henry v henry vi, part 1 henry vi, part 2 henry vi, part 3 henry viii richard ii new writing.
In an attempt to prevent the fiercely independent duchess from marrying the man she loves, her corrupt brothers go on a disturbing quest to destroy her. Librivox recording of the duchess of malfi, by john webster. John webster, the duchess of malfi open university. The duchess of malfi 1972 james mactaggart cast and.
From the blackfriars theatre in london, andrew marr presents a unique television premiere a new production of john websters bloody revenge tragedy the duchess of malfi performed in a perfect recreation of an early jacobean theatre. Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools. Released september 19th, 2008, the duchess stars keira knightley, ralph fiennes, charlotte rampling, dominic cooper the pg movie has a runtime of about 1 hr 49 min, and received a score of 62. The duchess of malfi is a very twisted and complicated story where the characters are not as they seem. The duchess of malfi was written by john webster in 1612 and published in 1623, twenty years after queen elizabeth is death, when england had a new king, james i. But her rancorous brothers, ferdinand and the cardinal, are implacably opposed to the match. The film received the academy award for best costume design at the 81st ceremony in 2009. The duchess of malfi study guide contains a biography of john webster, literature essays, a complete etext, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.
The duchess of malfi was first performed in 16 or 1614 by the kings men, the acting company to which shakespeare belonged. Lit entirely by candlelight, the production evokes a murky. When shall we leave this sportive action, and fall to action indeed. The duchess of malfi 2002 rotten tomatoes movie trailers. Bosola makes fun of castruccios appearance, and he says that castruccio would be a ridiculous and absurd judge. The duchess of malfi fixates on the relationship between prince and servant, and presents us with multiple versions of that relationship, ranging from the good the duchess to antonio to the bad bosola to the duchess to the ugly ferdinand to bosola. View description figure 1 title page of the 1623 quarto version of the duchess of malfi. Generally considered to be the masterpiece of jacobean playwright john webster, it was first produced in around 16. It was first performed privately at the blackfriars theatre, then later to a larger audience at the globe, in 161614 published in 1623, the play is loosely based on events that occurred between 1508 and 15.
One of the most significant parts of the story line is that the characters that appear to be the villains are not actually the villains. The duchess of malfi does indeed have plenty of blood, but this is nothing unusual in renaissance tragedies. The duchess is an enthralling film and should appeal to a wide range of viewers and not just those into costume dramas. Duchess is a favourite of mine, and i was sorry to miss the greenwich theatre production earlier this year.
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