
This fully re-edited, modernised play text is accompanied by insightful commentary notes, while its lively introduction explains why Webster's interests in complex female lead characters and questions of social tension related to sexuality, gender, race, and law and equity...


Adultery, intrigue, murder, revenge: the densely-packed plot of The White Devil touches on topics that are representative of the atmosphere of Jacobean tragedy. Part tragedy, part satire of a corrupt political world, the play explores the relations of the powerful to...

John Webster's The White Devil is a story of Passion and Revenge. "John Webster's first independent play, The White Devil, originally performed in 1612, centres on the beautiful Vittoria Corombona and her lover, Duke Brachiano, whose passionate,...


A compellingly dangerous and fascinating play with a comprehensive set of notes and criticism.

The Duchess of Malfi (originally published as The Tragedy of the Dutchesse of Malfy) 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,...

The White Devil is a revenge tragedy that debuted in 1612 by English playwright John Webster (1580-1634). A notorious failure when it premiered, Webster complained the play was acted in the dead of winter before an unreceptive audience. The play's complexity, sophistication,...

John Webster, (born c. 1580, London, Eng.--died c. 1632), English dramatist whose The White Devil (c. 1609-c. 1612) and The Duchess of Malfi (c. 1612/13, published 1623) are generally regarded as the paramount 17th-century English tragedies apart from those of Shakespeare. Little...

The White Devil is a revenge tragedy by English playwright John Webster (c.1580-c.1634). According to Webster's own preface to the 1612 Quarto Edition, "To the Reader", the play's first performance in that year was a notorious failure; he complained that the play was acted in...

"Woman to man is either a god or a wolf"

A compellingly dangerous and fascinating play with a comprehensive set of notes and criticism.


In this study of sexual and political intrigue, a fascinating but dangerous woman consents to the murder of her ineffectual husband. Her defence against the charge of adultery transforms the lurid tale of crime into high tragedy. A compellingly dangerous and fascinating play...




"The White Devil", by John Webster. John Webster was an English Jacobean dramatist (1580-1634).

In publishing this tragedy, I do but challenge myself that liberty, which other men have taken before me; not that I affect praise by it, for, nos h c novimus esse nihil, only since it was acted in so dull a time of winter, presented in so open and black a theatre, that it wanted...


This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the "public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely...



This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the "public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely...
