Malcontented agents : from the novellas to Much Ado about Nothing and The Duchess of Malfi

Nigri, L

Abstract

Shakespeare’s Much Ado about Nothing (c.1598) and Webster’s The Duchess of Malfi (c. 1613) are two plays in which Matteo Bandello’s portrayal of evil agents in his novellas exert a constant, even if not immediately obvious, influence. Remote from each other chronologically and generically, Shakespeare’s comedy and Webster’s tragedy make common use of a distinctive character-type, which has an equivalent in the Bandello source: the melancholy, embittered, and vindictive outsider known at the time, as well as by modern critics, as the malcontent (Nigri, The Origin of Malcontent). Comparing how and to what purpose each dramatist duplicated, altered or expanded the figures he found in the source story provides an insight into his way of working and informs our understanding of the plays.

Citation

Nigri, L. (2018). Malcontented agents : from the novellas to Much Ado about Nothing and The Duchess of Malfi. ANQ: A Quarterly Journal of Short Articles, Notes and Reviews, 31(3), 176-181

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Apr 5, 2018
• Online Publication Date: Apr 16, 2018
• Publication Date: Apr 16, 2018
• Deposit Date: Apr 19, 2018
• Publicly Available Date: Oct 16, 2019
• Journal: ANQ: A Quarterly Journal of Short Articles, Notes and Reviews
• Print ISSN: 0895-769X
• Publisher: Routledge
• Volume: 31
• Issue: 3
• Pages: 176-181
• Publisher URL: https://dx.doi.org/10.1080/0895769X.2018.1462689