Jacobean era - plays became full of bloodshed madness and death Let us look at some important parts of the play to understand how Webster shows a corrupt society Corrupt Rulers Brothers The two main villains of the play are the Duchess s brothers Ferdinand and the Cardinal They are both powerful men but they use their power for evil Ferdinand is the Duke of Calabria He is cruel proud and mentally unstable The Cardinal is a high-ranking churchman but he is not holy at all He is greedy and full of sin He has a secret affair with Julia Castruccio s wife Ferdinand and the Cardinal do not care about their sister s happiness They only care about her wealth They do not want the Duchess to marry again after her first husband dies Ferdinand even has an incestuous desire for the Duchess He is full of rage and jealousy when he learns that the Duchess has secretly married Antonio These two brothers set Bosola to spy on the Duchess Later they plan to take revenge on her Ferdinand has her imprisoned tortured and killed Ferdinand says I would have their bodies Burnt in a coal-pit This line shows his extreme cruelty and madness Corrupt Church Webster portrays a society in which even the church is corrupt The Cardinal is a high-ranking churchman but he is not holy at all He is a hypocrite and a murderer He uses religion as a mask to hide his evil actions The Cardinal has a mistress named Julia He kills Julia when she learns about his secrets The Cardinal uses the Bible to poison her He says Thy curiosity Hath undone thee thou'rt poisoned with that book The Cardinal uses the Bible as a murder weapon This act becomes a symbol of religious corruption The Church which should be pure and kind is full of sin in this play Spying Lies and Madness The society in The Duchess of Malfi is full of spying lying and madness Bosola a contract killer becomes a spy for the brothers He pretends to serve the Duchess but reports her actions to her brothers Bosola captures the Duchess and also participates in her torture Later he also accidentally kills the Duchess s husband Antonio Moreover the murder of the Duchess is so brutal that Ferdinand immediately feels remorse He says Cover her face mine eyes dazzle she died young His sense of guilt makes him mad End Full of Death and Darkness In this dark society there is greed lust cruelty and bloodshed everywhere The play ends with many deaths the Duchess Antonio Ferdinand the Cardinal Julia and Bosola Evil destroys almost everything This tragic ending shows that there is very little hope in this decadent society if there is any As Bosola says in his final moment O this gloomy world deep pit of darkness In conclusion The Duchess of Malfi powerfully exposes the corruption and moral decay of Jacobean society Through ruthless characters misuse of power and tragic events Webster presents a world where evil dominates and virtue dies The play is called decadent because it vividly portrays the decline of ethical values It shows the destructive consequences of unchecked ambition and corruption