Description
Book SynopsisA new volume of the greatest revenge tragedies of the seventeenth-century stageThese four plays, written during the reigns of James I and Charles I, took revenge tragedy in dark and ambiguous new directions. In
The Duchess of Malfi and
The White Devil, John Webster explores power, sex, and corruption in the Italian court, creating two unforgettable anti-heroines. In
The Broken Heart, John Ford questions the value of emotional repression as his characters attempt to subdue their desires and hatreds in ancient Greece. Finally, Ford's masterpiece '
Tis Pity She's a Whore explores the taboo themes of incest and forbidden love in a daring reworking of
Romeo and Juliet.
For more than sixty-five years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,500 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history
Trade ReviewRevenge, hatred, villainy, incest, and murder upon murder are their constant themes . . . and they handle these horrors with little or no moral purpose, save that of exciting and amusing the audience . . . We should call him a madman who allowed his daughters or his servants to see such representations -- Charles Kingsley
