The Duchess (of Malfi)

by Zinnie Harris

  He pushes her away.

  nothing.

  it’s you, you make me like this.

  it’s you it’s you it’s you

  Ferdinand leaves.

  The Duchess is left with the babies.

  Cariola and Antonio come back in.

  Silence and shock.

  Duchess I don’t know what to make of him –

  Antonio he must have had a key

  Cariola the side door isn’t locked –

  Duchess it’s like he has lost himself

  Antonio I shouldn’t have left you alone; I should have defended you

  Duchess it’s better that you didn’t

  Cariola I heard he doesn’t sleep any more

  Duchess more than lack of sleep has made this.

  She puts his knife down.

  you have to get away. None of us can stay here. But you especially

  pack a bag, go

  why is no one moving? Go!

  A knock is heard.

  Beat.

  you’ll have to go quickly.

  I know its not fair and we shouldn’t have to hide.

  Antonio leave the palace?

  Duchess it hasn’t occurred to my brother that I would marry my servant, but when he finds you –

  A second knock.

  Antonio goes.

  yes? Who is it?

  Bosola Bosola, madam.

  Duchess looks at Cariola.

  Duchess hide the children

  Cariola where?

  The Duchess shows her behind a curtain.

  Bosola comes in.

  Bosola your brother says to tell you he will be back with the Cardinal

  Duchess tonight?

  Bosola he told me to let no one sleep. I have to say he looked even wilder than usual

  Duchess Antonio, my steward, and master of our household

  has tricked me, all of us

  and tried to swindle me out of money

  Bosola Antonio?

  Duchess yes, you know I have always trusted him, well

  my brother and I had borrowed some money and

  and Antonio it seems has syphoned some away

  Bosola strange

  Duchess I know, that is what I thought because he is a good steward I always thought he was honest

  Bosola yes

  Duchess but here we find

  my brother’s bills at Naples are held against funds here –

  and neither can be paid

  Bosola are you sure?

  Duchess my brother just gave me the evidence

  we can’t prove it of course but –

  who else has access to my accounts but Antonio?

  call up our officers

  Bosola now?

  Duchess yes, I need to dismiss him and send him away

  Bosola this evening?

  Duchess yes, right now, I need to show my brothers that I can restore order. Or do you think I need to wait for the men, to handle this? I am the one that has been conned, so let me rip out the rascal.

  Bosola exits.

  Duchess alone for a second.

  Duchess oh good grief good grief.

  Antonio comes back.

  And Cariola brings the babies.

  you have got everything you need?

  where can you go?

  Antonio Delio is in Ancona this month

  Duchess I’ll send some money and jewels. Our safety is precarious, we mustn’t say much more. I’m going to accuse you of theft, it’s all I can do

  Antonio theft?

  Duchess fraud then, both

  Antonio but

  Duchess the officers are on their way. We don’t have time to argue. Take the twins, get them away too.

  Antonio the twins?

  Duchess yes, the twins have to go with you

  Antonio I can’t take them

  Duchess you have to. Cariola, get their stuff ready – and wait for him by the back door

  Antonio can you be parted from them?

  Duchess no, never. I can’t imagine it but it is better than seeing them harmed. Here, let me say goodbye, oh no, it’s worse to say goodbye

  Antonio I can’t do this

  Duchess you have to, here, this is or you, and this for our son and this for our –

  let me kiss you once more for that look came from a dying father, best of my life, don’t say it. Best of your life is ahead. Go. Take them to Cariola. I have to accuse you publicly

  no wait, not both. Take the boy but leave me the girl. no, take the girl and leave the boy, no, how can I chose?

  Antonio we will all be back together before long

  Duchess promise me that, and you must keep your word

  They kiss again.

  He gives her a twin.

  which is this?

  Antonio Isabella

  Duchess Isabella I will keep then. Take Nico with you. Cariola, are you there?

  Cariola yes

  Duchess get Nico to the back door with this stuff

  She hands both to Cariola.

  Duchess turns to Antonio.

  Duchess are you ready for this?

  get down on your knees

  wait

  She kisses him.

  Then she hits him.

  Antonio ow

  Duchess did that hurt?

  Antonio yes

  Duchess good

  Then hits him again.

  Antonio don’t do it like this

  Duchess I have to do it.

  Re-enter Bosola and officers.

  Antonio I beg you to reconsider –

  Duchess gentlemen

  let this man be an example to you all

  Antonio Duchess –

  Duchess he broke my trust and for that I am dismissing him. No payment, no reference, no handshake or goodbye.

  Antonio now that isn’t fair

  Duchess this isn’t a trial, you don’t get to speak

  Antonio not even to defend myself?

  Duchess not even that

  I am confiscating everything you have

  you will leave immediately

  Antonio I just think the way you are –

  Duchess so, sir, you have your pass to leave

  I am not sure what keeps you here

  Antonio you may see, gentlemen, she makes decisions hastily

  Duchess take him away

  Antonio is that it? Is that all the defence I get?

  Duchess yes, that is it.

  piss off.

  Antonio is taken off.

  The Duchess and Bosola watch him go.

  Bosola are you sure you acted wisely?

  Duchess what do the staff think of him?

  Bosola they like him, I think

  Duchess really? They don’t like anyone

  Bosola alright, they think he uses too much of the soap on his clothes

  Duchess oh?

  Bosola smells a little too much of perfume

  Duchess aha?

  Bosola yes, and sits a little too much in front of the fire

  Duchess right

  Bosola some say in fact he is a hermaphrodite

  Duchess I’ve heard enough.

  Bosola you didn’t ask me what I think

  I think Antonio is utterly straightforward. Honest.

  if there was a mix-up with funds, then there’ll be an explanation

  Duchess you think that?

  Bosola yes, the man no more would have robbed you than robbed his own mother.

  Duchess I’m glad you think that.

  Bosola you just banished him –

  Duchess oh yes, that.

  so I did.

  Antonio is my husband, we are married

  Bosola what?

  Duchess in secret, but it’s binding, we did it here

  Bosola here?

  Duchess yes in this room

  Bosola you married your servant?

  Duchess I liked him

  Bosola laughs.

  Bosola you marr
ied a man because you liked him?

  Duchess what’s wrong with that?

  Bosola I didn’t think your class ever did that –

  Duchess I have had two babies by him

  Bosola good grief

  Duchess I shouldn’t have told you. I’m not thinking

  Bosola I’ll wear it on the inside of my heart

  Duchess I am going to give you some money now, and some jewels

  I want you to follow him to Ancona

  Bosola why so far?

  Duchess we have to get him right away from here, my brothers know about the babies and are raging.

  in a few days I am going to follow him

  will you help me?

  Bosola here is my first thought, don’t just disappear

  Duchess no?

  Bosola it will look odd

  pretend you are going on a pilgrimage

  Duchess a pilgrimage?

  Bosola no one will question that.

  Duchess I’ve never been on a pilgrimage

  Bosola there is Our Lady of Loreto, very near Ancona, say you are going there

  Duchess to do what?

  Bosola pray

  Duchess oh

  Bosola arouse less suspicion

  Duchess good thinking

  Cariola

  Cariola appears.

  did you hear that? can you start to get ready for our journey

  Cariola can I say something?

  Duchess of course, go ahead

  Cariola this pilgrimage idea, I just think –

  Bosola what?

  Cariola I don’t like this poking around with religion

  feigning something, it feels a bit –

  Duchess a bit?

  Cariola sacrilegious

  Bosola sacrilegious?

  Cariola some of us actually believe in God

  Bosola you are a superstitious fool then

  Cariola I prefer to believe in God than the devil

  Bosola lucky you

  Duchess I tell you what, if we see a shrine on the way I will say a quick prayer

  thank you, Bosola, for your advice, I’m going to take it.

  I haven’t been on a pilgrimage, and maybe I should.

  She goes off.

  Cariola that was bad advice

  Bosola she needs a proper reason, she can’t just go

  Cariola you never think things through

  Bosola don’t I?

  Cariola I have been watching you for months

  you are rushed and sloppy.

  Bosola I thought I thought things too much?

  Cariola you think like a man, from the outside

  Bosola well, you think like a woman, changing one’s mind, and if the Duchess suddenly declares she is going on a pilgrimage, everyone will think how out of character and like a woman

  Cariola do you ever have a good word to say for women?

  Bosola I know where I am with men

  Cariola was there never a woman you liked?

  Bosola no.

  my mother?

  Cariola goes right up to him.

  Cariola not even her.

  Bosola why did you say that?

  Cariola because all light is gone from you

  He pulls her back.

  He kisses her roughly, she kisses him too.

  Bosola you know I am working for her brother.

  Cariola I suspected

  a spy?

  Bosola I’m telling you the truth now

  Cariola too late.

  He kisses her again.

  Bosola what is it you want?

  Cariola if there is a good man in there, give us a little while.

  don’t tell them anything until she is gone.

  and say she went to Germany for her pilgrimage, send them the wrong way –

  Bosola you’re trying to pull me in two

  Cariola that’s the devil then pulling at you. Make the right choice.

  She kisses him. More tender now.

  I almost wonder if we could have been something you and me.

  Cariola leaves.

  Bosola is alone.

  Bosola I am like the devil’s quilted anvil, the blows are never heard.

  I have to tell my master? That’s it. My job. For if I say she has gone to Germany and lie to him, then what am I? Nah. I have a code. I do what the master asks for. This is just some devilish torment, and the base quality of the spy perhaps. She shouldn’t have kissed me. I have a code.

  God, I can feel you now.

  loyalty is my arrow, it’s the only code I know.

  Behind him the walls start to drip with blood.

  Interval.

  Act Three

  The Duchess is in a makeshift cell. There is nothing in it except a chair.

  Ferdinand is outside and observing her.

  The Cardinal comes in to speak to Ferdinand.

  Cardinal how is she?

  Ferdinand as you would expect –

  Cardinal still sick?

  Ferdinand not sick

  Cardinal sick of the soul, the soul, you said she was sick of the soul

  Ferdinand she is sick of the soul

  Cardinal that is why she is here in this hospital you have made for her.

  Ferdinand yes yes, sick of the soul, yes

  Beat.

  Cardinal because if she isn’t sick, we have just –

  Ferdinand she is sick

  They look at her in the prison they have made.

  tell me how to resolve it quicker?

  Cardinal I don’t know but four years –

  Ferdinand what do you suggest – she cannot go if she is not cured? For then we have achieved nothing. And that is worse. What will she say about this?

  Cardinal put the light on

  He looks through the glass at the Duchess.

  good grief

  Beat.

  Ferdinand go back to your mass, and forget it, I will solve her. She must be near to her breaking point now

  Cardinal surely. You need to sort this.

  Bosola goes in to see the Duchess.

  Bosola all comfort to you

  Duchess comfort?

  Bosola I just meant –

  Duchess what, this my comfort? A chair. Not even a window. A trough of water to wash myself and my life dripping by.

  Bosola your brother is outside

  Duchess to do what?

  Bosola to speak with you.

  Duchess oh, he wants to talk now?

  Bosola he asked me to put the lights on low so he doesn’t have to look at you

  Duchess because I am disgusting?

  Bosola I am just telling you what he said –

  The lights dim.

  Duchess okay. Okay. Here I am. Disgusting me.

  are you in the room? Are you a shadow?

  I must still smell, even more since I have been here.

  Ferdinand so soon we get to your grievance?

  Duchess you can’t keep me prisoner for ever

  Ferdinand madam, this is a place of healing, I told you, we hope to cure your mania

  Duchess someone will find out, I must have been missed

  Ferdinand your pilgrimage idea was a good one, everyone thinks you went away and stayed there.

  Duchess for all these years?

  Ferdinand anyway, you aren’t held captive. You’re your own guest, have you never been to your own basement?

  Duchess what?

  The Duchess looks around.

  Ferdinand we made a few adjustments but you are your own host

  Duchess oh hell

  Ferdinand I see we have much work to do. How can you call hell like that?

  Duchess even in this dark room several floors beneath my own palace, I can call hell.

  Ferdinand we don’t blame you, we think you are faultless. Just so you know.

  your sex was the source of evil, Satan brought you to your crime

  Duchess what crime?

  Ferdinand adultery, wh
at crime?!

  Duchess we were married, I LOVED HIM

  Ferdinand tcch, that word. I see you are still confused

  Duchess let me see you

  I want to see if there is any trace of you left

  Ferdinand will I give you my hand? let you kiss it

  Duchess I would rather gnaw at it than kiss it.

  Ferdinand here. Bite it then.

  Duchess put the lights on, let me see your face

  Ferdinand you want the lights?

  Duchess yes, I want the lights, what is going on?

  The lights come on.

  Ferdinand has gone.

  A bit of video comes on to the screen behind her. The film is of Antonio and Nico, now aged three or four, standing against a wall.

  Duchess Antonio – and there Nico. Nico, darling –

  Suddenly we see them being shot with bullets and falling down dead.

  oh God

  oh God, no?

  Ferdinand talks to her through the speaker system in the cell. He drops down a microphone.

  Ferdinand you’ve come to your senses. There is no point holding out for him.

  whether you loved him or not, it’s just us now.

  She doesn’t answer. Sits on her chair.

  The image goes.

  I said, have you had enough?

  She doesn’t answer.

  Then it comes back, playing on a loop.

  Duchess yes. Stop please, I have had enough.

  Ferdinand sorry. Louder?

  Duchess yes enough.

  Ferdinand take away the image, it has done its job

  The Cardinal speaks to Ferdinand.

  Cardinal how is the patient?

  Ferdinand breaking

  Cardinal not broken?

  Ferdinand I’ll go harder, if that is what you want.

  A bell rings.

  Ferdinand puts down a cassette recorder.

  Duchess what is this now?

  He doesn’t answer.

  Ferdinand?

  He presses play.

  no, not Isabella

  Ferdinand you don’t like the sound of your own cub?

  Duchess where is she?

  Suddenly it snaps off.

  Ferdinand just say you are guilty, you accept your crime

  Duchess please, brother –

  Ferdinand would you like me to play another one, this is the one where Isabella cries all the harder? Oh and here I have one where she is playing with something that burns her fingers –

  A bell rings.

  Duchess you are ill, brother

  these are not the actions of a well person

  More sound and images are thrown at her.

  Ferdinand, where are you?

  A bell rings.

  Cariola comes in.

  She brings the Duchess a glass of water.