With reference to Act 2, show how 'The White Devil' is psychologically rather than graphically horrific.

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With specific reference to act 2, how is the White Devil more psychologically, rather than graphically, horrific?

In act 2, playwright John Webster uses a framed narrative to portray the deaths of Isabella and Camillo, creating a psychological horror rather than a graphical one.

Through the use of a conjuror, Webster manages to show deaths via ‘sophistic tricks’ from the ‘nigromancer’. By using this character as another narrator, a certain distance is created between the audience and the actions on scene, allowing the minds of the audience to wander, questioning the events that led up to the murders, and perhaps whether the conjuror’s visions were accurate or not. In addition, Brachiano’s indifferent response to the death, calling it ‘excellent’ may make the audience horrified by his ignorance of the brutal murders. Further horror is present in the irony of Isabella’s demise as she ‘kisses…thrice’ the portrait of the very man who plotted to murder her, a tragic end to a character who seemed to be completely pure. Perhaps Webster uses this as a ‘shock tactic’, making a Catholic Jacobean audience question whether a higher power is really protecting them if they would allow the archetype of goodness die in such a manner. This thought would have resonated in the 17th century as new discoveries in sciences such as astronomy may have made many wonder whether ‘believers’ were actually any better than ‘non-believers’.

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Brachiano definitely has the qualities of a villainous ‘non-believer’ taken to a hyperbolic level, severing any ties with the chaste Isabella, referring to the man that married her as just a ‘dead shadow’ of himself. Such a strong characterization plays into the psyche of the audience; especially those with faith in religion, making them question whether worldly desires are worth the suffering they will have to face in Hell. Brachiano’s character, therefore, can be juxtaposed with Isabella’s, whose death showed the evil of society, but whose faith will lead her into heaven. This contrasting set of character force the ...

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