What Is The Difference Between Othello And The White Devil

It is common for playwrights to incorporate elements from some of the best writer and most successful works into their own creations. The White Devil is a play that is inherently a combination of elements from other plays from the renaissance era. Webster borrows so many elements from other plays that readings of his very own play almost immediately call for a compare and contrast situation. This borrowing is most commonly seen with other authors using hints of Shakespeare in their own work. It is easy to see hints of Othello in The White Devil, although Webster’s work is not nearly as successful as Shakespeare ever was. As theses plays are both revenge tragedies, their plots revolve around seeking vengeance. The display of revenge in Othello
This play takes place in a completely corrupt world where there is no loyalty. The revenge that takes place is almost too predictable because of this. The characters are inconsistent and the lack unreliability of them causes the motives for revenge to come out of nowhere. It uses many revenge tragedy tropes, including a secret murder of a harmless person, a ghostly visitation, feigned madness, and a devastating final scene that leaves most of the cast dead. Relying too much on these tropes, there is no suspense in enacting revenge. Revenge should be undetected in order to be successful in a revenge play, as it is in Othello. The audience of the play, made up of those reading it, can’t predict Othello’s character giving into Iago’s nature although they can see through Iago’s intentions. There is absolutely no element of suspense within Webster’s work. If there is a time when an account of revenge is enacted without prediction, it comes with no justification due to the corrupt nature of the play, such as Flamineo killing Marcello, his own brother, right in front of their mother. The overall lack of excitement in revenge that makes The White Devil unsuccessful doesn’t necessarily come as a shock. In the play revenge is cyclical and foreshadowed. For instance, Isabella is killed by Doctor Julio and his assistant Christophero, who poison the lips of the portrait that she kisses each night. In turn, Brachiano is killed through a poisoned mouthpiece. Both victims appear as ghosts to their avengers Francisco and Flamineo, suggesting that revenge is triggered from beyond the