The White Devil By Bracciano Analysis

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|The White Devil |
|JOHN WEBSTER |
|1612 |
|INTRODUCTION |
|AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY |
|PLOT SUMMARY |
|CHARACTERS
Meanwhile, Lodovico is pardoned. He returns to Rome, |
|announces that he was in love with Isabella, and enters the quest for revenge. The Cardinal becomes pope and |
|excommunicates Bracciano and Vittoria. Francisco bribes Lodovico to murder Bracciano. |
|Act 5 |
|Now married, Bracciano and Vittoria hold a tournament. Francisco, Lodovico, and Gasparo, among others, disguised as |
|Moors and monks, offer their services to Bracciano. Flamineo continues his evil ways, speaking against Bracciano; |
|promising marriage to Zanche, Vittoria's maid, and then breaking his word; insulting his mother's honor to his |
|brother Marcello; and finally killing Marcello in Cornelia's presence. She becomes insane as a result. |
|In an especially fiendish plot, Lodovico and his fellow assassins sprinkle poison on Bracciano's visor. He becomes |
|violently ill. Lodovico and Gasparo pose as priests offering last rites; however, they expose their identity to
|
|Flamineo sees Bracciano's ghost and goes to Vittoria to inform her of the sign. He decides that he, Vittoria, and |
|Zanche should all die. He gives pistols to the women and instructs them to shoot him first, and then kill each |
|other. However, after the women supposedly kill Flamineo, they do not kill themselves, and desecrate Flamineo's |
|"corpse." In a surprise twist, Flamineo next stands up, uninjured; he has not loaded the guns with bullets and used |
|the device as a test of the women. Lodovico arrives with Gasparo and two other assassins, and they kill Flamineo, |
|Vittoria, and Zanche. Ultimately, the English ambassador puts the assassins to death. The play ends with Giovanni, |
|Bracciano's son, ready to inherit his father's dukedom. |
|CHARACTERS |
|Duke of Bracciano