Examine the character of Bosola in Webster's The Duchess of Malfi. To what extent is he typical of the malcontent in a revenge tragedy?

The malcontent is a certain character type that emerges in Jacobean revenge tragedy. Examples include figures like Ford's Vasquez and Middleton and Rowley's De Flores. In 'The Duchess of Malfi', this is the character of Bosola. A malcontent can be identified by a number of traits. He is a discontented person; a rebel; disaffected, satirical and melancholic; bereaved or dispossessed and detached from an often corrupt society by his grievances; he has knowledge and intelligence …

…of courtly behaviour suggests his role as malcontent, so too do his private meditations of despair. He is constantly locked into a cycle of serving the powerful and corrupt but with knowledge of why he is told to conduct his services and what consequences these base activities have. However, at the same time he seems to have to have little trouble in working for both the Duchess and her brothers simultaneously despite conflicts of interest.