School Book: The White Devil

I read The White Devil over a week ago, but I guess I forgot to write about it.

I liked The White Devil a lot more than The Revenger's Tragedy. I think this was partially because The White Devil wasn't built up as much as The Revenger's Tragedy was. It was also a lot easier to figure out what was happening. It also had a lot more happening much quicker than The Revenger's Tragedy.

The White Devil is the story, rather loosely based on the real-life figure, of Vittoria Corombona. Vittoria is married to Camillo, but her brother panders her to his lord, the Duke of Brachiano. They fall in love with each other, and hatch a plot to kill off their spouses so that they can be together. The plot succeeds, but brings about some unexpected complications, such as the ire of a Cardinal, Brachiano's wife's husband, and Lodovico, an Italian count who loved Brachiano's wife. Things quickly get out of hand, ending quite tragically for almost everyone involved.

The White Devil isn't quite as crazy as The Revenger's Tragedy, but I thought it was the better of the two plays. It had a better pace and was just a lot easier to relate to. And the character of Vittoria was far better crafted than any of the characters from The Revenger's Tragedy.