John Webster: Life and Background

Abstract

John Webster was very much a city man. He was born, educated, practised law and wrote his plays in the heart of London. This contact with life and work in the capital is reflected in his dramatic writings - but not directly. Webster’s particular power was drawn from his careful and wide reading and his sharp observations of life as it was lived around him. His law studies brought inevitable contact with the legal world of judges and lawyers, court officials and parliament. The background of his life in London together with his avid reading supplied a continuous source of inspiration. These experiences were subtly absorbed into his plays, so as to present a fresh, individual mode of dramatic writing. Neither of his two greatest plays, The White Devil or The Duchess of Malfi was sited in England. Though lavish and full of Italianate bravado and excess, they nevertheless remained close to London in terms of their comment on the current social, political and moral issues and in their theatrical style. The literary sources might be European letters, novels and essays, but inspiration for the plays was derived from Webster’s life in London. Every stage of his career contributed to his work as a playwright.