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The White Devil John Webster

The White Devil By John Webster

The White Devil by John Webster


$11.99
Condition - Very Good
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Summary

The Italian Court is riddled with corruption in this classic Jacobean tragedy. In the Nick Hern Books Drama Classics series.

The White Devil Summary

The White Devil by John Webster

Drama Classics: The World's Great Plays at a Great Little Price

The Italian Court is riddled with corruption in this classic Jacobean tragedy.

The Duke Brascino is openly seducing a married woman, Vittoria, while plotting the murder of his own wife. Vittoria's brother Flamineo, a cold-blooded murderer, tries to exploit his position as Brascino's servant and pander. Finally Brascino's enemies, outraged by his perversions, seek a vicious revenge.

John Webster's play The White Devil was first performed at the Red Bull Theatre, London, by Queen Anne's Men in 1612.

This edition, in the Nick Hern Books Drama Classics series, is edited by J.R. Brown, with an introduction from Simon Trussler.

About John Webster

Born in c.1580, John Webster came from an evidently prosperous middle-class London family, his father a coachbuilder and wagonmaker with premises in Smithfield, just north-west of the City. The business was continued by John's brother Edward, and perhaps helped to subsidise Webster's playwriting career - for, by contrast with most professional dramatists, his output was scarcely sufficient to provide an adequate living. His law studies in the Middle Temple evidently incomplete, he is first heard of in the theatre from payments made to Dekker, Middleton and himself by the manager Philip Henslowe in 1602, and two years later he was entrusted with the task of fleshing out Marston's The Malcontent, a play written for a children's company, to meet the needs of the adult players. A number of satirical 'citizen comedies' of London life, written in collaboration, followed - then, around 1610, came his first known independent work, The Devil's Law Case, written in the then-fashionable form of a tragi-comedy. Two or three years later, the two great tragedies which have sustained his reputation in the theatre followed in quick succession: but whereas The White Devil received its first performance at the Red Bull, an open-air theatre of low repute, The Duchess of Malfi was performed by Shakespeare's old company, the King's Men, at their prestigious indoor house, the Blackfriars - and no doubt also at the second Globe, where the company still played in the summer months. Webster's later dramatic output was largely collaborative, with civic celebrations and occasional verse completing a modest canon. Beyond these bare facts we know little of his life - or even the exact date of his death, though his fellow playwright Thomas Heywood seems to refer to him as dead by 1634.

Additional information

GOR002898357
9781854593450
1854593455
The White Devil by John Webster
Used - Very Good
Paperback
Nick Hern Books
19960521
156
N/A
Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.
This is a used book - there is no escaping the fact it has been read by someone else and it will show signs of wear and previous use. Overall we expect it to be in very good condition, but if you are not entirely satisfied please get in touch with us

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