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Despite his seminal importance in Jacobean drama (most critics rank him as second only to Shakespeare as a tragedian), very little was known about John Webster's life until recently. However, the researches of Mary Edmond and the discovery in 1985 of a fragment of a manuscript play which may be in Webster's hand have materially changed the information available about him. Webster has been the subject of much critical enthusiasm this century, and his two tragedies, The White Devil and The Duchess of Malfi, are more frequently revived than any Jacobean plays other than Shakespeare's. Yet most of this critical and theatrical attention is paid to only a small portion of Webster's output. Part of the reason for this is that beyond reasonable question The White Devil and The Duchess of Malfi are his finest surviving achievements. But these masterpieces need to be seen in context.
Edmond established that Webster was the son of a prosperous coachmaker, John Webster the elder, who was a member of the prestigious Company of Merchant Taylors (coachmaking was a relatively new trade, which did not have its own livery company).
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