The reputation of Webster and Ford is based on a handful of tragedies which display extreme situations and emotional intensity. Productions since 1945 have helped to vindicate the enthusiastic judgement of 19th-century Romantic critics and demonstrated that these plays retain their capacity to disturb audiences, arousing strong responses of both horror and pity. The author outlines the careers of both dramatists and illuminates the Jacobean and Caroline theatre contexts. It includes a detailed analysis of six plays, emphasizing their emotional power and theatrical effectiveness, and makes frequent references to modern performances. The plays considered include The White Devil, The Duchess of Malfi and 'Tis Pity She's a Whore.

The reputation of Webster and Ford is based on a handful of tragedies which display extreme situations and emotional intensity. Productions since 1945 have helped to vindicate the enthusiastic judgement of 19th-century Romantic critics and demonstrated that these plays retain their capacity to disturb audiences, arousing strong responses of both horror and pity. The author outlines the careers of both dramatists and illuminates the Jacobean and Caroline theatre contexts. It includes a detailed analysis of six plays, emphasizing their emotional power and theatrical effectiveness, and makes frequent references to modern performances. The plays considered include The White Devil, The Duchess of Malfi and 'Tis Pity She's a Whore.

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.

The last decade has seen a revival of interest in John Ford and especially 'Tis Pity She's a Whore, his tragedy of religious scepticism, incestuous love, and revenge. This text in particular has provided a focus for scholarship as well as being the subject of a number of major theatrical productions. Simon Barker guides the reader through the full range of previous interpretations of the play; moving from an overview of traditional readings he goes on to enlarge upon new questions that have arisen as a consequence of critical and cultural theory.