The White Devil brought to life

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Like buses, productions of Hamlet come and go quite frequently. If you miss one, there’s likely to be another fairly soon. The same cannot be said for productions of John Webster’s The White Devil. This gutsy Jacobean tragedy is full of passion, violence and spectacle but performed only infrequently. This is a shame, as it’s a great play, as well as being a set text on the following syllabuses:

• AQA English Literature B
• OCR English Literature
• Cambridge Pre U

As anybody knows, when you are trying to grapple with a printed play text, the best thing you can do is see it brought to life on stage.

Today you have the chance, as booking has just opened for a new production of The White Devil by the RSC. The run is from the end of August to the start of October, which means that realistically a student group can only book between 3rd Sep – 3rd October. If you are studying the play, do let your teacher know, as tickets are likely to run out very quickly. Go to http://www.rsc.org.uk/whats- on/the-white-devil/ for details.

A vivid interpretation

One of the reasons the RSC are staging Webster’s revenge tragedy is because it features two feisty female roles in Vittoria and her maid, Zanche. These women are prepared to defy convention and fight for their rights within a controlling patriarchal society. The play is part of a season focusing on strong women in Jacobean drama.

Judging from the reviews of other recent productions by director, Maria Aberg, you can be confident that she will provide an engaging and powerful drama, full of fresh ways of understanding Webster’s world.

Be prepared

Before seeing it on stage, it really helps to be familiar with the plot of The White Devil. If you want a quick way in to the text, the synopses provided here will quickly give you a handle on the action.

There is much more detail available for when you delve into the play more fully and don’t forget that Crossref-it.info for Google Chrome also has a handy revision/study plan to help you collate everything you know about the text ready for examination.

Gatsby for the Facebook generation

Surface success

Facebook is a competitive environment:

> How rapidly can you update your status and how prestigious can you make it?

> How many friends can you boast of?

> How many wacky photos can you post to prove you’re having fun?

If it had been around in this era, Jay Gatsby (hero of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby) would have been a social media success. His blog would have been followed, his Tweets would trend. Where he was, was where the world gathered.

Of course, Gatsby had the ultimate Facebook profile, presenting the glamorous identity in which he wanted people to believe. But, like many Facebook profiles, it wasn’t entirely genuine. Charismatic Jay’s surprising backstory was that of itinerant Jimmy Gatz from North Dakota.

And just like the insubstantiality of today’s Facebook friends, Gatsby’s death demonstrated how hollow his relationships actually were. Even the idol of Gatsby’s enduring passion – Daisy Fay/Buchanan – could not withstand the weight of real engagement. Like much internet dating, their relationship thrived best at a distance.

Understanding Gatsby’s world

Launched this week is a new A Level study guide on The Great Gatsby. It will help you understand the world Fitzgerald was writing within and the symbolism by which he translated this into his novel. It deals with the Jazz Age’s quest for self-definition and the outworking of its hedonism. Characterisation and narrative are discussed in depth, whilst handy synopses and chapter commentaries will guide you through the text, also online at texts.crossref-it.info/text/the-great-gatsby. And if you need help with coursework assignments or exam prep, you’ll find it.

The Great Gatsby certainly provides a window into 1920s society, but Fitzgerald’s slim novel also provides a perspective on ours.