The Duchess of Malfi By John Webster

More widely studied and more frequently performed than ever before, John Webster'sThe Duchess of Malfiis here presented in an improved, accessible and throughly up-to-date edition. Starting with the authoritative Revels Plays edition of 1964, John Russell Brown has augmented the notes and collations, and casts new light on Webster's dramatic dialogue and on the stage action. An entirely new introduction encompasses a stage history from its well-documented early performances right through to recent productions in the twenty first century. The bibliography has also been expanded.Students, actors, directors, academics and theatre-goers will find here a reappraisal of Webster's artistry in the greatest age of English theatre.

John Russell Brown is Professor of Theatre at Middlesex University and was recently Visiting Professor at Columbia University.

Preface * Introduction * The Author * The Play: Presentation * The Play: Contextes and Arguments * The Quarto Text of 1623 * Early performances * Theatre productions * Criticism and Scholarship * This Edition and its predecessors * THE DUCHESS OF MALFI * Appendices * I Reprint from Painter's Palace of Pleasure * II The Music * III Webster's Borrowing: an index * Bibliography * Index