Summaries and Critical Commentary

Abstract

Antonio, steward to the Duchess of Malfi, is welcomed home after a visit to France where he admired the orderly government and absence of corruption. He expresses sympathy for Bosola, returned from a period of imprisonment in the galleys, who seeks to re-establish himself at court. But Bosola receives abrupt treatment from his former employer, the Cardinal, on whose behalf he had committed the murder that led to his prison sentence.