Julia Character Analysis in The Duchess of Malfi

Julia is Castruccio’s wife and the Cardinal’s mistress. Julia is the play’s stereotypical fickle female, with constantly changing affections. Near the end of the play, she becomes enamored with Bosola, who then uses her to get the Cardinal to admit his involvement in the Duchess’s murder. When the Cardinal finds out that Julia betrayed him, he kills her by making her kiss a poison covered book, but not before Julia reveals that she betrayed him to Bosola.

Julia Quotes in The Duchess of Malfi

The The Duchess of Malfi quotes below are all either spoken by Julia or refer to Julia. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:

). Note: all page numbers and citation info for the quotes below refer to the Penguin Classics edition of The Duchess of Malfi published in 2015.

You may thank me, lady.
I have taken you off your melancholy perch,
Bore you upon my fist, and showed you game,
And let you fly at it. I pray thee, kiss me.
When thou wast with thy husband, thou wast watched
Like a tame elephant - still you are to thank me.

Related Characters: (speaker),

Page Number and Citation: 2.4.27-32

Explanation and Analysis:

O poor Antonio! Though nothing be so needful
To thy estate as pity, yet I find
Nothing so dangerous.
… How this man
Bears up in blood, seems fearless! Why, 'tis well:
Security some men call the suburbs of hell -
Only a dead wall between. Well, good Antonio,
I'll seek thee out, and all my care shall be
To put thee into safety from the reach
Of these most cruel biters that have got
Some of thy blood already. It may be
I'll join with thee in a most just revenge.

Related Characters: (speaker), , , ,

Related Symbols:

Page Number and Citation: 5.2.326-339

Explanation and Analysis:

Julia Character Timeline in The Duchess of Malfi

The timeline below shows where the character Julia appears in The Duchess of Malfi. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

This scene takes place in Rome and begins with the Cardinal and his mistress Julia entering. The Cardinal asks Julia what excuse she made up to come to Rome without... (full context)

Julia begins to cry, but the Cardinal says she’ll probably also cry to her husband that... (full context)

A servant then enters to announce that someone has come to see Julia, and that Castruccio, her husband, is now in Rome. Delio then enters, and Julia notes... (full context)

Once Pescara enters, Delio asks for one of Antonio’s citadels, but Pescara says no. Then Julia enters with a letter from the Cardinal asking Pescara to give the same citadel to... (full context)

...know that she is already dead. He tells Bosola not to worry about Ferdinand’s behavior. Julia briefly enters and asks the Cardinal if he is coming to supper. When he says... (full context)

Just then, Julia reenters holding a pistol. She threatens Bosola and accuses him of giving her a love... (full context)

...room, worrying to himself that Ferdinand in his insane state might talk about the murder. Julia asks the Cardinal what’s wrong, and he says nothing, but she continues to press. She... (full context)

The Cardinal asks if Julia can keep this dark secret, but she says that he is in trouble, because she... (full context)

...know how Bosola got into the wardrobe. Bosola responds that it was all because of Julia’s lust. The Cardinal then confesses that he is Bosola’s fellow murderer, and says that he... (full context)

...Cardinal says to himself that he was taking precautions to ensure privacy to deal with Julia’s body. He reveals that his conscience is plaguing him, and that he would pray if... (full context)

...life in general. Antonio dies, and Bosola asks the servant to take Antonio’s body to Julia’s lodging. He curses the tragic misunderstanding. (full context)

...by the brothers, as well as revenge for Antonio (who was murdered by mistake) and Julia (who was poisoned by the Cardinal). Finally, he says, he has taken revenge for himself,... (full context)