John Webster - Theatrical Language

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John Webster - Theatrical Language

* Action / Imagery / Characterisation - Use contrasts / parallels / paradoxes / inversions of the norm.

Her brothers = Her enemies / Husband who should provide strength merely takes courage.

* Conflict between appearance and reality - Bosola and his use of disguise. His invisible disguise of true nature, culminating his eventual conversion.

* Death of Duchess - Darkness of evil extinguishing light of good / Liberates her good soul from the prison of darkness into the eternity of the light.

* The White Devil - Themes repetitive / Corruption of Princely courts / Corruption of man / An indication of the different ways individuals face death.

* Complexity of meaning - Impossible to apprehend in a single reading / Images reflected through action (Combined impact of picture and verse)

* Emblematic techniques - Inga Stina Ewbank considered his dramatic art in terms of Renaissance perspective painting.

* Juxtaposition of opposites (Nightmare quality) - Appearance + reality / light + dark / love + death. Jaqueline Pearson credited Webster for being in sympathy with the dramatic experiments of his contemporaries.

* Jacobean cast lists - Precedence of men. Bosola - Commands more attention than the Duchess herself.

* Influenced by contemporaries - Themes and images inseparable from his sources.

* Bawdy Humour and Innuendo - Emphasizing the passionate nature of characters such as the Duchess.

* Characters as mouthpieces - Often Webster will use certain characters as a representation of his own thoughts and opinions. (Antonio)

* Natural imagery - This is used often to produce contrasts in characters. To Bosola Antonio is "a cedar planted by a spring". On the other hand, the Aragonian brothers are "plum trees that grow crooked"

* The play is written in unrhymed iambic pentameter (Five stresses and 10 syllables per line). This is normal for the blank verse of Renaissance dramas. Often Webster will break this convention for effect, e.g. To portray the imbalance of certain characters. The duchess breaks the meter by being too long, hence making a statement that she refuses to be constrained by conventions.

* The use of incest as a theme was common at the time. Whilst using this concept, Webster may have had other playwrights in mind, for instance Shakespeare. (Hamlet)
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* Ferdinand is used as a mouthpiece for the publics feelings about the role of women in society.

* Webster uses myth and legend in the form of Lycanthrope. This illness represents Ferdinand's fiery personality and animal instincts with reference to his sister.

* Bosola is a representation of the working class who witness the play in hopes of seeing a blood bath.

Jacobean Theatre - Historical Context

* Combination of several literary and philosophical conventions.

* Machiavellian ambition - Represented by Bosola and Ferdinand. Fascinated the English after the Prince ...

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