Revenge tragedy is a sub-genre of tragedy, which is a type of drama that dramatizes the downfall of the protagonist. A common truism is that comedy starts with death and ends with a wedding, while tragedy starts with a wedding and ends with death—this is true of The Duchess of Malfi. While tragedy can take on many forms and subgenres, revenge tragedy explicitly traffics in the most visceral aspects of human nature. The genre was originated by first-century Roman statesman and dramatist, Lucius Seneca the Younger.

Common features of revenge tragedy are a quest for vengeance, acts of violence, and motifs of ghosts and madness. While all of these criteria apply to this play, Webster’s work is unique among revenge tragedies for subverting several of these criteria. For instance, rather than a heroic man pursuing revenge (as in Shakespeare’s Hamlet), Webster’s plays feature a heroic woman being unjustly subject to revenge by corrupt and power-hungry men.

Another key characteristic of the revenge tragedy is that they are often loosely based on real-life events. The Duchess of Malfi is based on the early 16th-century death of Giovanna d’Aragona, Duchess of Amalfi, who secretly married her household steward, Antonio Beccadelli.