The White Devil

Many characters in The White Devil find themselves utterly consumed by their ambitions, and although specific goals shift from character to character, the broader message of the play strikes a cautionary note against the inherent dangers of pursuing personal ambitions to excess. To emphasize this dynamic, Webster creates some characters, such as Marcello, to stand as foils to their more voraciously ambitious peers. For example, Marcello speaks about his piety and his refusal to bend his morals even though his family has fallen on hard times. By contrast, although Monticelso dresses his ambition in religious garb, he merely pretends that his cynical persecution of Vittoria is religiously rather than personally motivated. Whereas Marcello’s sincere piety prevents him from indulging in ambitious excesses, Monticelso’s false piety becomes a cynical excuse for him to pursue his own desires, and his actions stand as a further symptom of the cynical immorality of a society that rewards ambition at any price.

Flaminio stands as one of the most ruinously ambitious characters in the play, for he is willing to sacrifice every measure of moral decency to achieve wealth and status and attain the recognition of the Italian elite.