Notesale: Turn your study into money

Document Preview

Extracts from the notes are below, to see the PDF you'll receive please use the links above

---

Appearances

FALSE APPEARANCES
There are many occasions in The White Devil when the theme of appearance vs
...
Is
what they see really true? Are they acting deceitfully?
Disguise
First mentioned by Lodovico – “Your wolf no longer seems to be a wolf, / Than when
she’s hungry
...

It is ‘maintained by an imagery comprised of polar opposites
...
Even the
characters are unsure
...
This could partly be so that there are two possible meanings to
everything, adding to the difficulty in knowing who is a ‘good’ and who is a ‘bad’
character
...
Why do they wear / These several
habits?” “That Lord i’th’ black cloak with the silver cross / Is Knight of Rhodes; the
next Knight of St Michael…” – Lodovico mocks the titles of the Knights; their clothes
and the position they represent do not necessarily describe the person
...

The Conjurer
His character is used to put the theme into words; “Great men do great good, or else
great harm
...
’ – His outward appearance does not truly represent the way he feels

WHO IS THE WHITE DEVIL?
‘Evil wears always the mask of good, and good disguises itself as evil, so that at last the
two are indistinguishable
...

Blake, A Divine Image
‘Cruelty has a human heart, / And jealousy a human face;’ – ‘bad’ emotions are hidden
beneath human appearances
...
’ – a popular proverb when Webster was
writing
...
’ (St
Paul’s in II Corinthians 11:14)
Are these characters more despicable than openly evil characters because they hide
their deceit?
Vittoria?
It is most commonly believed that she is the White Devil, she is described as “such
counterfeit jewels
...
’ (Ribner) – Her
beauty is her disguise
...
Behold his picture
...
” (III ii 183-4)
There is ‘no difference between accuser and accused
...

Blake, The Garden Of Love
‘And Priests in black gowns were walking their rounds, / And binding with briars my
joys & desires
...


Lodovico?
His name comes from ludo in Latin, meaning ‘I play’ – is life a game to him, where he
is only playing a character? Links to Shakespeare (As You Like It) ‘All the world’s a
stage, and all the men and women merely players: they have their exits and their
entrances; and one man in his lifetime plays many parts
...
” (IV i 128-9) – He admits his
deceitfulness but also subtlety and cleverness
...

The Court?
The rich lifestyle masks the corruption that is present underneath
...
” (III iii 17)
Lodovico – “I am too low to storm
...
The rich only saw what they wanted to see
...
W
...




---