Between Tourneur and Webster there is more of a gap than appears at first sight. Both used the Revenge convention, but in Webster's plays, it begins to crumble. He uses it intermittently, less as a vehicle than a prop. His ‘impure art’, mixing convention and realism, has been defended by Inga-Stina Ewbank in a number of highly influential studies; she believes that realism and convention can be confused but they can also be fused; and the balance is achieved by poetic means.

He completely dropped the traditional narrative, retaining one or two of its most effective episodes. The White Devil and The Duchess of Malfi are both based on historic facts, and this implies a different attitude to the narrative from Tourneur's. The story is not deliberately distorted; each incident in itself can be treated more naturally. The characters have the same double nature as Vindice; but instead of alternating, the two halves are blurred and integrated. This also makes for naturalism. As a result, there is no morality pattern, nor is there any structure of themes as in Tourneur's plays.

Of course there is some simplification. For example, in the two scenes where Vittoria defends her life by lying (III. ii and v. vi), it is so well done that the language contains no trace of dissimulation (as the duplicity of Iago can be felt behind his speeches).