Books by John Webster
The Duchess of Malfi (Dover Thrift Editions: Plays)
by John Webster
The evils of greed and ambition overwhelm love, innocence, and the bonds of kinship in this dark tragedy, first presented circa 1613. John Webster's great Jacobean drama focuses on a secret marriage that strikes the disastrous spark to an inferno of violence. When the Duchess of Malfi marries Antonio, a household steward, her two fiendishly jealous brothers ― hoping to inherit her title and estates ― plant a household spy whose treachery leads to a bloody and horrifying climax.
Often compared to Shakespeare in terms of his dynamic plots and poetic lyricism, Webster created radical, profoundly original works that feature shifting perspectives and thought-provoking challenges to conventional moral judgments. Required reading for courses in seventeenth-century English literature, this provocative masterpiece from the Golden Age of English drama will not only be welcomed by students and teachers of English literature but also a wide audience of general readers.
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The Duchess of Malfi, The White Devil, The Broken Heart and 'Tis Pity She's a Whore (Penguin Classics)
A new volume of the greatest revenge tragedies of the seventeenth-century stage
These four plays, written during the reigns of James I and Charles I, took revenge tragedy in dark and ambiguous new directions. In The Duchess of Malfi and The White Devil, John Webster explores power, sex, and corruption in the Italian court, creating two unforgettable anti-heroines. In The Broken Heart, John Ford questions the value of emotional repression as his characters attempt to subdue their desires and hatreds in ancient Greece. Finally, Ford's masterpiece 'Tis Pity She's a Whore explores the taboo themes of incest and forbidden love in a daring reworking of Romeo and Juliet.
For more than sixty-five years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,500 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.
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The White Devil (Arden Early Modern Drama)
by John Webster
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 the disempowered; the opportunities and constraints of women trying to survive in a male-dominated society; the complex distribution of social hierarchy by birth, wealth, gender, race; and the way the skills licensed by the theatre itself – including disguise and both the performance and interpretation of character – become crucial survival skills, in a world of hidden motives and concealed intentions. Now comprehensively re-edited, with an introduction that addresses issues of performance, cultural and historical context, and interpretation, exploring the dark energy that has impelled audiences and scholars to return to this play again and again across four centuries.
Arden Early Modern Drama editions offer the best in contemporary scholarship, providing a wealth of helpful and incisive commentary and guiding the reader to a deeper understanding and appreciation of the play.
This edition provides:
A clear and authoritative text
Detailed on-page commentary notes
A comprehensive, illustrated introduction to the play's historical, cultural and performance contexts
A bibliography of references and further reading
ARDEN EARLY MODERN DRAMA
General Editors: Suzanne Gossett, John Jowett and Gordon McMullan
Visit the Arden website at www.ardenshakespeare.com
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Four Revenge Tragedies: The Spanish Tragedy, The Revenger's Tragedy, 'Tis Pity She's A Whore and The White Devil (New Mermaids)
by John Webster, Thomas Kyd, John Ford
Francis Bacon described revenge as a 'kind of wild justice'. Then as now, early modern playwrights and their theatre-going public were fascinated by the anarchic energies that a desire for retribution unleashes. Rather than rehearsing familiar conventions, each of these plays presents a unique social and cultural milieu where dark fantasies of revenge are variously played out.
In Kyd's The Spanish Tragedy a grieving father seeks public justice for the murder of his son by envious princelings. When his attempts are thwarted he turns a court spectacle of murder into the 'real' thing. Blackly comic in its tone and style, The Revenger's Tragedy (anon.) presents vengeance as mimetic art, witty and cruel. Ford's 'Tis Pity She's a Whore represents an innovative re-working of the genre as a brother's love for his sister leads to his spectacular revenge on his rival, her husband, in a society in which brutal retaliation for perceived wrong is the norm. In Webster's The White Devil crimes of passion ignite revenge in the courts of the Italian city states.
This student edition contains fully annotated, modernized texts of each play together with an introduction discussing the dramatic and poetic style of each play, focusing on its action and play of ideas.
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Holy Scripture: A Dogmatic Sketch (Current Issues in Theology, Series Number 1)
by John Webster
John Webster argues that, whereas any understanding of scripture must be subject to appropriate textual and historical interrogation, it is also necessary to acknowledge the special character of scriptural writing. His book strongly reaffirms that the triune God is at the core of a scripture-based Christianity. Written with intellectual enthusiasm by a theologian who understands the currents of modern secular thought, the volume develops a constructive position on biblical authority.
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The Oxford Handbook of Systematic Theology (Oxford Handbooks)
by Kathryn Tanner, John Webster, Iain Torrance
The Oxford Handbook of Systematic Theology brings together a set of original and authoritative accounts of all the major areas of current research in Christian systematic theology, offering a thorough survey of the state of the discipline and of its prospects for those undertaking research and teaching in the field. The Handbook engages in a comprehensive examination of themes and approaches, guiding the reader through current debates and literatures in the context of the historical development of systematic theological reflection. Organized thematically, it treats in detail the full array of topics in systematic theology, as well as questions of its sources and norms, its relation to other theological and non-theological fields of enquiry, and some major trends in current work. Each chapter provides an analysis of research and debate on its topic. The focus is on doctrinal (rather than historical) questions, and on major (rather than ephemeral) debates. The aim is to stimulate readers to reach theological judgements on the basis of consideration of the range of opinion. Drawn from Europe, the U.K., and North America, the authors are all leading practitioners of the discipline. Readers will find expert guidance as well as creative suggestions about the future direction of the study of Christian doctrine.
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The Duchess of Malfi and Other Plays: The White Devil; The Duchess of Malfi; The Devil's Law-Case; A Cure for a Cuckold (Oxford World's Classics)
by John Webster
John Webster was a radically and creatively experimental dramatist. This volume offers his two great Jacobean tragedies, The White Devil and The Duchess of Malfi, together with his brilliant tragicomedy, The Devil's Law-Case, and the comedy written with William Rowley, A Cure for a Cuckold. The texts of the plays have been newly edited and are presented with modernized spelling and punctuation.
About the Series: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the broadest spectrum of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, voluminous notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.
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The Duchess of Malfi (New Mermaids)
by John Webster
A major revision of this classic revenge tragedy. The comprehensive introduction covers recent developments in criticism and key theatre productions, as well as relating the play to other early modern tragedies. The edition gives students and teachers a reliable, annotated text and a stimulating overview of the play's context, critical perspectives and an exploration of its stage history. An invaluable resource for study and performance.
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