John Webster (?1580-1625)
One of the greatest Elizabethan playwrights, John Webster, is the author of many well-known tragedies. His masterpieces include The White Devil and The Duchess of Malfi. His plays are notable for their elaborate plotting and brutal violence. The oppressive atmosphere which the author creates, leads to insanity, murders and suicides. T.S. Eliot once described the playwright as the poet “much possessed by death, [who] saw the skull beneath the skin.”
Webster’s death was a great loss to the Elizabethan stage. After the death of its master the Elizabethan theatre began to the decline.

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