Three Revenge Tragedies

Three masterpieces of Jacobean drama, dwelling on death, decay, and the end of the reign of Elizabeth I

Gamini Salgado has also edited Three Restoration Comedies for Penguin Classics. 
 
 
Gamini Salgado has also edited Three Restoration Comedies for Penguin Classics.

Following the end of Queen Elizabeth's reign in the early seventeenth century, the new court of King James was beset by political instability and moral corruption. This atmosphere provided fertile ground for the dramatists of the age, whose plays explore the ways in which social decadence and the abuse of power breed resentment and lead inexorably to violence and bloody retribution. In Tourneur's The Revenger's Tragedy, the debauched son of an Italian Duke attempts to rape the virtuous Gloriana - a veiled reference to Elizabeth I. Webster's The White Devil depicts a sinister world of intrigue and murderous infidelity, while The Changeling, perhaps Middleton's supreme achievement, powerfully portrays a woman bringing about her own unwitting destruction. All three are masterpieces of brooding intensity, dominated by images of decay, disillusionment and death.

Three Plays

The plays of Jacobean dramatist John Webster are masterpieces of early seventeenth-century English theatre. &lsquo;The White Devil&rsquo; depicts a dark, sinister world of duplicity, intrigue and murderous infidelity, while &lsquo;The Duchess of Malfi&rsquo; tells the macabre story of a woman who marries beneath herself and sets in motion a terrible cycle of violence. Unlike these revenge tragedies, &lsquo;The Devil&rsquo;s Law-Case&rsquo; asserts social order in a plot filled with twists of fate. Written at a time when the court of King James was rife with instability and corruption, Webster&rsquo;s disturbing plays reflect this abuse of power and are known for their horrific vision of humanity &ndash; yet they are also some of the most rich, sophisticated dramas ever composed.

John Webster

John Ford

Jane Kingsley-Smith

Revenge, hatred, villainy, incest, and murder upon murder are their constant themes . . . and they handle these horrors with little or no moral purpose, save that of exciting and amusing the audience . . . We should call him a madman who allowed his daughters or his servants to see such representations

John Webster

Praise for The Duchess of Malfi, The White Devil, The Broken Heart and 'Tis Pity She's a Whore

Revenge, hatred, villainy, incest, and murder upon murder are their constant themes . . . and they handle these horrors with little or no moral purpose, save that of exciting and amusing the audience . . . We should ...

Books by John Webster

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