The Unknown Webster

I was also surprised that I have never come across John Webster before, especially as a theatre major. Because of a parallel of classes, we are studying the Jacobean revenge tragedy in Theatre history next week. While it is unfortunate John Webster is not more well-known, I can understand why. The way I see it, the revenge tragedies are difficult plays for professional actors to perform, let alone high school students. The plays studied and read in high schools are usually plays that can be performed and understood by high schoolers. The revenge tragedy is a difficult genre that is best characterized in the Jacobean era. Because of our bias toward Elizabethan arts, I believe that many teachers choose to focus on this era. However, we know that the monarchs reigns are arbitrary dates that do not actually correlate with any real literary change or achievement. Although the social and political changes during the reign of King James turned the focus of literature in a different direction, the styles of Shakespeare and Webster are similar in their focus on the episodic form. Webster should be studied because of his prolific revenge plays and his embodiment of the Jacobean period. However, I believe he is not studied in high schools or a popular figure because of the preference and extent of the Elizabethan era.