5. Would you agree that the Duchess dies a social death long before she is actually executed in Act 4? Support your answer with references to key episodes/events in the play.

The characters in The Duchess of Malfi are deeply concerned about reputation and legacy. Ferdinand and the Cardinal are obsessed with the Duchess’s reputation, and how it affects their own. When they warn her not to be a “lusty widow” (1.1.331) before leaving her alone in Malfi, they are driven by a fear that her behavior will “poison” her “fame” (1.1.299). Later, when they discover that she has had a child, it is partially the tainting of their “royal blood” (2.5.22) that concerns them. Ferdinand tells the Duchess that, having parted from her good reputation, he will never see her, his twin sister, again. The Duchess hence dies a sort of death well before she is executed in Act 4. She is shunned and alienated by men who use the Duchess's sexuality as a weapon against her.

The characters in The Duchess of Malfi are deeply concerned about reputation and legacy. Ferdinand and the Cardinal are obsessed with the Duchess’s reputation, and how it affects their own. When they warn her not to be a “lusty widow” (1.1.331) before leaving her alone in Malfi, they are driven by a fear that her behavior will “poison” her “fame” (1.1.299). Later, when they discover that she has had a child, it is partially the tainting of their “royal blood” (2.5.22) that concerns them. Ferdinand tells the Duchess that, having parted from her good reputation, he will never see her, his twin sister, again. The Duchess hence dies a sort of death well before she is executed in Act 4. She is shunned and alienated by men who use the Duchess's sexuality as a weapon against her.

So yes, I would agree.