Chapter 1 of The White Devil is here in full — 403 sentences across 81 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter I
Chapter 1 of The White Devil is here in full — 403 sentences across 81 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Quite lost, Flamineo. Flam. Pursue your noble wishes, I am prompt As lightning to your service. O my lord! The fair Vittoria, my happy sister, Shall give you present audience--Gentlemen, [Whisper.
Chapter 1 of The White Devil is here in full — 403 sentences across 81 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 20/80 · 5 reading units · Lines 96–100
These definitions explain words found in the current reading and keep every example grounded in its original sentence.
Oxford-style entry order: headword, part of speech, US IPA, concise definition, contextual example, and audio.
a gathering of spectators or listeners at a (usually public) performance
From this reading “The fair Vittoria, my happy sister, Shall give you present audience--Gentlemen, [Whisper.”
plural of “gentleman” — a man of refinement
From this reading “The fair Vittoria, my happy sister, Shall give you present audience--Gentlemen, [Whisper.”
abrupt electric discharge from cloud to cloud or from cloud to earth accompanied by the emission of light
From this reading “Pursue your noble wishes, I am prompt As lightning to your service.”
impressive in appearance
From this reading “Pursue your noble wishes, I am prompt As lightning to your service.”
give an incentive for action
From this reading “Pursue your noble wishes, I am prompt As lightning to your service.”
carry out or participate in an activity; be involved in
From this reading “Pursue your noble wishes, I am prompt As lightning to your service.”
speaking softly without vibration of the vocal cords
From this reading “The fair Vittoria, my happy sister, Shall give you present audience--Gentlemen, [Whisper.”
plural of “wish” — a specific feeling of desire
From this reading “Pursue your noble wishes, I am prompt As lightning to your service.”
Every word in these five lines is listed here, and every one of them can be played on its own.
Dictionary details are shown only when verified; these are not licensed Oxford entries.
the form of “be” used with “I”
From this reading Pursue your noble wishes, I am prompt As lightning to your service.
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading Pursue your noble wishes, I am prompt As lightning to your service.
a gathering of spectators or listeners at a (usually public) performance
From this reading The fair Vittoria, my happy sister, Shall give you present audience--Gentlemen, [Whisper.
free from favoritism or self-interest or bias or deception; conforming with established standards or rules
From this reading The fair Vittoria, my happy sister, Shall give you present audience--Gentlemen, [Whisper.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Flam.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Quite lost, Flamineo.
plural of “gentleman” — a man of refinement
From this reading The fair Vittoria, my happy sister, Shall give you present audience--Gentlemen, [Whisper.
cause to have, in the abstract sense or physical sense
From this reading The fair Vittoria, my happy sister, Shall give you present audience--Gentlemen, [Whisper.
enjoying or showing or marked by joy or pleasure
From this reading The fair Vittoria, my happy sister, Shall give you present audience--Gentlemen, [Whisper.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading Pursue your noble wishes, I am prompt As lightning to your service.
abrupt electric discharge from cloud to cloud or from cloud to earth accompanied by the emission of light
From this reading Pursue your noble wishes, I am prompt As lightning to your service.
terms referring to the Judeo-Christian God
From this reading O my lord!
no longer in your possession or control; unable to be found or recovered
From this reading Quite lost, Flamineo.
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading O my lord!
impressive in appearance
From this reading Pursue your noble wishes, I am prompt As lightning to your service.
a nonmetallic bivalent element that is normally a colorless odorless tasteless nonflammable diatomic gas; constitutes 21 percent of the atmosphere by volume; the most abundant element in the earth's crust
From this reading O my lord!
give an exhibition of to an interested audience
From this reading The fair Vittoria, my happy sister, Shall give you present audience--Gentlemen, [Whisper.
give an incentive for action
From this reading Pursue your noble wishes, I am prompt As lightning to your service.
carry out or participate in an activity; be involved in
From this reading Pursue your noble wishes, I am prompt As lightning to your service.
to a degree (not used with a negative)
From this reading Quite lost, Flamineo.
work done by one person or group that benefits another
From this reading Pursue your noble wishes, I am prompt As lightning to your service.
used with I and we for the future, or to offer and suggest
From this reading The fair Vittoria, my happy sister, Shall give you present audience--Gentlemen, [Whisper.
a female person who has the same parents as another person
From this reading The fair Vittoria, my happy sister, Shall give you present audience--Gentlemen, [Whisper.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading The fair Vittoria, my happy sister, Shall give you present audience--Gentlemen, [Whisper.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Pursue your noble wishes, I am prompt As lightning to your service.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The fair Vittoria, my happy sister, Shall give you present audience--Gentlemen, [Whisper.
speaking softly without vibration of the vocal cords
From this reading The fair Vittoria, my happy sister, Shall give you present audience--Gentlemen, [Whisper.
plural of “wish” — a specific feeling of desire
From this reading Pursue your noble wishes, I am prompt As lightning to your service.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading The fair Vittoria, my happy sister, Shall give you present audience--Gentlemen, [Whisper.
belonging to the person or people being spoken to
From this reading Pursue your noble wishes, I am prompt As lightning to your service.
Chapter 1 of The White Devil by John Webster holds 403 sentences, grouped into 81 reading sections of at most 5 sentences. The text is the source edition, unabridged, and the chapter records which sentences cover which part of the work so that nothing is dropped. Every word can be tapped for its pronunciation and dictionary entry.
Chapter 1 holds 403 sentences of The White Devil, unabridged, divided into 81 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of The White Devil by John Webster exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 403 sentences, grouped into 81 sections of at most 5 sentences so that a reader can take the chapter in steady, finishable pieces. The chapter also stores a coverage record mapping every one of its sentences to a part of the work, which is how the edition demonstrates that no line was dropped.
Work through the 81 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 81 sections in this chapter is short enough to read once, hear once, and then re-read with the vocabulary in view. Tapping a word plays it alone and opens its dictionary entry with IPA, part of speech and meaning, so the reader is never forced to guess a pronunciation from spelling. Working section by section keeps a long chapter from becoming an undifferentiated wall of text, which is the usual reason a reader abandons a work of this period.
Yes — every sentence and every individual word in chapter 1 can be played aloud in United States English.
Audio covers the whole chapter: any sentence can be played, and any single word within it can be played on its own. The voice uses United States English. For a work of this period that matters, because spelling is an unreliable guide to pronunciation for vocabulary that has fallen out of daily use, and a learner who guesses wrong tends to keep the error. Hearing the word in its own sentence, and then alone, settles it.
Common questions about reading The White Devil by John Webster on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 3118 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #12915 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #12915, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 259 minutes of reading across 624 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The White Devil section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 8 chapters of The White Devil to begin.
Each section holds 5 sentences; read it once through.
Play the section aloud, then tap any unfamiliar word for its entry.
Words and structures a reader meets early in The White Devil, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
