The Duchess of Malfi by John Webster. The Duchess of Malfi is a macabre, tragic play written by the English dramatist John Webster in 1612-13. It was first performed privately at the Blackfriars Theatre, then later to a larger audience at The Globe, in 1613-14. Published in 1623, the play is loosely based on events that occurred between about 1508 and 1513. The Duchess was Giovanna d'Aragona, Duchess of Amalfi (d. 1511), whose father, Enrico d'Aragona, Marquis of Gerace, was an illegitimate son of Ferdinand I of Naples. As in the play, she secretly married Antonio Beccadelli di Bologna after the death of her first husband Alfonso I Piccolomini, Duke of Amalfi.