Very little is known about the life of John Webster, including the most basic biographical facts. Scholars assume that he lived from about 1580 to 1634. He was active during a time called the Jacobean period. A contemporary of William Shakespeare, Webster was the author of two famous plays: The White Devil and The Duchess of Malfi. The dramatic technique and style of the two plays suggest that Webster’s two great tragedies were written around the same time, between 1608 and 1613. Both are revenge dramas. Deeds are monstrous and the motives spring from overpowering passions. Pathos is absent, compassion unknown. Revulsion is not an uncommon response.
Webster was a major dramatist of the Jacobean period (1603–25), which was named after King James I. The differences between the early Jacobean and the preceding Elizabethan periods are minor. Although the dynasty changed, there was no distinct stylistic transition. Jacobean literature is often darkly questioning. William Shakespeare’s greatest tragedies were written between about 1601 and 1607. Other Jacobean dramatic playwrights became preoccupied with the problem of evil: the plays of John Webster, John Marston, Thomas Middleton, and George Chapman induce all the terror of tragedy. The White Devil and The Duchess of Malfi exemplify Jacobean tragedy’s obsession with the idea of moral corruption. Often horrifically violent, these pieces display a generally cynical and pessimistic outlook on life.
Sources:
Scott-Kilvert, I. (1979). British writers. New York: Scribner.
Stapleton, M. (1983). The Cambridge guide to English literature. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/298978/Jacobean-age
http://www.dramaonlinelibrary.com/periods/jacobean-iid-2346