About the author

John Webster (c. 1578–1638?) was a London-born poet and dramatist, best known as the author of two dark masterpieces of English Renaissance drama: The White Devil (c. 1612) and The Duchess of Malfi (c. 1614). Webster's plays are often noted for their dark imagery and macabre themes, prompting T. S. Eliot to famously describe the poet as someone who was ‘much possessed by death’ and who ‘saw the skull beneath the skin’ (‘Whispers of Immortality’, Poems (1920)).

‘Induction’, The Malcontent (1604)

About the text

The early textual history of The Malcontent is complex. Three quarto editions of the play were printed in 1604 (Qa, Qb and Qc). The first two quartos are substantively similar, but Qc, ‘augmented by Marston’ and with material ‘Written by John Webster’, adds an extended ‘Induction’ scene, moves the prologue to the end of the play, and introduces several further new passages. The new ‘additions’ expand the play by 450 lines. Our excerpt is taken from the added meta-theatrical Induction scene to Qc, written by Webster. Here, Will Sly, an actor with the King's Men, plays the part of a theatregoer, who speaks with several of the other actors (Henry Condell, Richard Burbage, John Lowin and others) who will perform roles in the upcoming play. In this comical scene, Webster directs his satire at the pretensions of some audience members as well as at the actors themselves. For example, in our excerpt, Sinklo (the real-life actor John Sincler/Sinclair) wagers that the play he is about to perform in will not be ‘so well acted’ as when previously performed.

The arts of memory

Sly's ‘theatregoer’ character boasts about the power of his memory, claiming that he does not need to have studied the Art of Memory to be able to achieve prodigious mnemonic feats. Intriguingly, Sly says he uses the mnemotechnique to ‘meditate much’ when he attends plays, but this idea is not explored any further.

Textual notes

John Webster, ‘Induction’ to John Marston's The malcontent (London, 1604), A4r-v.