John Webster

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John Webster (* around 1579 in London ; † around 1634 ibid) was an English playwright .

Life

John Webster was the son of a wealthy coach and wagon maker. He grew up sheltered and attended Merchant Taylor's School in London . In 1597 he graduated from Middle Temple with a law degree . This is probably the reason for the many court scenes in his works. From 1602 Webster worked with Thomas Dekker , John Ford and Michael Drayton on various plays. Webster's active phase began around 1604.

His tragedies The White Devil (1612) and The Duchess of Malfi (1613, published 1623) are often considered masterpieces of the early 17th century English . Webster also wrote the comedy The Devil's Case , which appeared in 1623.

The two great tragedies

Webster's two main works, which are often on the game boards in England, are based on Italian sources. The White Devil takes place in a dark, claustrophobic atmosphere full of violence and cruelty. The play is about the young Italian Vittoria, who, together with her lover, murders her suspicious husband and comes before a corrupt court. Webster does not portray her as a perfidious murderer, but as a complex character. The perpetrator and the victim are equally wicked; Kindness appears more like weakness than virtue. To face death courageously is seen as the only virtue that remains in man. The premiere at the Red Bull Theater was a failure: it was considered too unusual and intellectual for the audience of this open-air theater, who are used to simple entertainment.

In The Duchess of Malfi , the heroine is not a perpetrator, but a victim. Nevertheless, Webster turns a strong woman into a heroine here too - unusual for his time: she is braver than her villainous brothers and stoically faces death. Again, it is about cruelty, corruption and madness, but good and bad are more clearly separated and the characterization of the characters is almost similar to psychological studies. The play was likely performed in front of a more educated audience at the Blackfriars Theater , where the interior space, lighting, and musical interludes between acts made it more effective.

Among the playwrights of his time, Webster is considered to be the one with the darkest view of man. Nobel laureate in literature TS Eliot says that Webster "was obsessed with death and saw the skull under the skin." The works had disappeared from the repertoire in the 18th and 19th centuries, but were rediscovered in the 20th century as brilliant pieces with poetic quality and dark themes - probably because their desperate main characters were only understood again after the horrors of the world wars.

Works (selection)

  • The Malcontent (The Dissatisfied), 1604
  • Westward Ho! (To the west!), 1605
  • Eastward Ho! (To the east!), 1605
  • Northward Ho! (To the north!), 1605
  • The white devil , 1612
  • The Duchess of Malfi (The Duchess of Amalfi), 1623
  • Appius and Virginia , undated

literature

  • PB Murray: A Study of John Webster , 1969
  • R. Berry: The Art of John Webster , 1972
  • CR Forker: Skull beneath the skin , 1986

Web links

Wikiquote: John Webster  - Quotes
personal data
SURNAME Webster, John
BRIEF DESCRIPTION English playwright
DATE OF BIRTH around 1579
PLACE OF BIRTH London
DATE OF DEATH around 1634
Place of death London