georgie_mb's review against another edition
4.0
I haven’t read a play in a while, and I really gave myself a challenge with this one!!
Webster’s language is beautiful, and can be really funny at times. He can play with words so well, yet still get across what is happening, which I think some people can struggle with when reading Elizabethan and Jacobean plays.
I did sort of lose track near to the end (not sure if it was just me and I missed something) as some of the events and reasonings for people doing things didn’t make sense, but sometimes in plays like this it doesn’t always show a lot of lead up.
There are some great speeches in this, so I’ll be keeping this on my bookshelf if I want to try out a new monologue for my acting
Webster’s language is beautiful, and can be really funny at times. He can play with words so well, yet still get across what is happening, which I think some people can struggle with when reading Elizabethan and Jacobean plays.
I did sort of lose track near to the end (not sure if it was just me and I missed something) as some of the events and reasonings for people doing things didn’t make sense, but sometimes in plays like this it doesn’t always show a lot of lead up.
There are some great speeches in this, so I’ll be keeping this on my bookshelf if I want to try out a new monologue for my acting
damc's review against another edition
3.0
a bit convoluted and hard to follow (at least for a quick read). definitely better in performance.
capsandclauses's review against another edition
challenging
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Another university read. I actually really enjoyed this play - its discussion of whether fidelity is moral or immoral was really interesting, albeit very misogynistic.
I don't write full reviews of university reads, particularly plays, because I have to sit through lectures and tutorials on them and thus my thoughts regarding them are shaded by my inclass experience.
I don't write full reviews of university reads, particularly plays, because I have to sit through lectures and tutorials on them and thus my thoughts regarding them are shaded by my inclass experience.
erweatherburn's review against another edition
4.0
I spent a long time reading and studying this play, and with each second that I spent on it, I enjoyed it a little bit more. I say this because, when I first read this play through, I hated it. Then I read it again and I simply disliked it, and then I read it through slowly, analysing every page. It was only then that I really came to appreciate The White Devil for what it is: a work of art.
The story is a little odd, and it’s not quite up to the standards of Webster’s more popular play, The Duchess of Malfi, but the ideas behind it are incredible. There are so many intricate links between the character of this play, and so many societal inversions, such as the evil cardinal (a repeated trope from The Duchess of Malfi) and the titular white devil, whoever that may be.
It’s a little hard to follow at first, but it’s probably an easier read than some of Shakespeare’s plays; unfortunately, plays are one of the few things that don’t belong in a book-format. The Duchess of Malfi was made to be performed, so if you really want to experience this fantastic story, that’s probably the route you should take.
The story is a little odd, and it’s not quite up to the standards of Webster’s more popular play, The Duchess of Malfi, but the ideas behind it are incredible. There are so many intricate links between the character of this play, and so many societal inversions, such as the evil cardinal (a repeated trope from The Duchess of Malfi) and the titular white devil, whoever that may be.
It’s a little hard to follow at first, but it’s probably an easier read than some of Shakespeare’s plays; unfortunately, plays are one of the few things that don’t belong in a book-format. The Duchess of Malfi was made to be performed, so if you really want to experience this fantastic story, that’s probably the route you should take.
jackpeep's review against another edition
4.0
MONTICELSO: Your champion's gone.
VITTORIA: The wolf may prey the better.
I cannot believe I enjoyed this so much. It's trashy emo murder Shakespeare and I am LIVING FOR IT. Webster was also a beautiful writer. And some of the lines are still (painfully) pertinent today:
"This fellow by his apparel some men would judge a politician, but call his wit in question, you shall find it merely an ass in's foot-cloth."
VITTORIA: The wolf may prey the better.
I cannot believe I enjoyed this so much. It's trashy emo murder Shakespeare and I am LIVING FOR IT. Webster was also a beautiful writer. And some of the lines are still (painfully) pertinent today:
"This fellow by his apparel some men would judge a politician, but call his wit in question, you shall find it merely an ass in's foot-cloth."
oldswampy's review against another edition
4.0
Useful edition of an interesting early 17th-century play. Has more details about textual variants and some other things than many readers will find useful, but this can easily be ignored. Now in a second edition, though I read this (the first). Now looking forward to seeing it on stage.
paperbookmarks's review
3.0
Studying this for school and I found it really rather good. You can see a lot of comparison to 'The Duchess of Malfi' and its really interesting with regard to looking at human nature.
manoora95's review
3.0
A play that I had to read for english literature at school as part of the gothic unit. The plot was decent but not fantastic and Webster's writing left much to be desired. It certainly fit into the gothic genre due to it's strong motifs of murder, deceit and mystery but did not appeal to me in any other way.
minnahelena's review
2.0
Irritating amount of Shakespeare paraphrasing, but an enjoyably ridiculous Revenge Tragedy plot.
lnatal's review
2.0
From BBC Radio 3 - Drama on 3:
First performed in 1612, John Webster's revenge play is here set in a 1950s underworld of shifting alliances and sudden violence.
Adapted and directed by Marc Beeby
The wealthy Brachiano conceives a violent passion for the married Vittoria Corombona. Her brother Flamineo, Brachiano's secretary, plots to bring his sister and his master together, in the hope of advancing his own career. Their plans are impeded by the return to Rome of Isabella - Brachiano's wife, and sister to the powerful Francisco. Desperate for Vittoria, Brachiano arranges to have both Isabella and Vittoria's husband murdered. And in so doing makes an implacable enemy of the deadly Francisco...
The play was first performed in 1612, but this production sets the action in a murky underworld of the 1950s - a world that seeks to hide its shifting alliances, betrayals and sudden violence beneath a veneer of honor and respectability.
First performed in 1612, John Webster's revenge play is here set in a 1950s underworld of shifting alliances and sudden violence.
Adapted and directed by Marc Beeby
The wealthy Brachiano conceives a violent passion for the married Vittoria Corombona. Her brother Flamineo, Brachiano's secretary, plots to bring his sister and his master together, in the hope of advancing his own career. Their plans are impeded by the return to Rome of Isabella - Brachiano's wife, and sister to the powerful Francisco. Desperate for Vittoria, Brachiano arranges to have both Isabella and Vittoria's husband murdered. And in so doing makes an implacable enemy of the deadly Francisco...
The play was first performed in 1612, but this production sets the action in a murky underworld of the 1950s - a world that seeks to hide its shifting alliances, betrayals and sudden violence beneath a veneer of honor and respectability.
More...