The story is loosely based on an event in Italy thirty years prior to the play's composition: the murder of Vittoria Accoramboni in Padua on 22 December 1585. Webster's dramatisation of this event turned Italian corruption into a vehicle for depicting "the political and moral state of England in his own day",[1] particularly the corruption in the royal court.
The play explores the differences between the reality of people and the way they depict themselves as good, "white", or pure.
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Flamineo is Vittoria and Marcello's brother, Brachiano's secretary, and the play's most scheming villain; he is driven by a desire to increase his social standing, but must rely on manipulation and wit to achieve his purposes.
The White Devil is definitely influenced by the revenge tragedy. The author was detailed in his desire to portray both revengers and those who were victims of revenge as evil; he lumped them together in an unnatural way, and only included those...
