Chapter 1 of The White Devil is here in full — 403 sentences across 81 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
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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.
But do you hear, I shall have you steal to her chamber about midnight. Cam. Do you think so? why look you, brother, because you shall not say I 'll gull you, take the key, lock me into the chamber, and say you shall be sure of me. Flam. In troth I will; I 'll be your jailor once.
Chapter 1 of The White Devil is here in full — 403 sentences across 81 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 50/80 · 5 reading units · Lines 246–250
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 river in east central England that flows past Cambridge to join the Ouse River
From this reading “Cam.”
a natural or artificial enclosed space
From this reading “But do you hear, I shall have you steal to her chamber about midnight.”
make a fool or dupe of
From this reading “Do you think so? why look you, brother, because you shall not say I 'll gull you, take the key, lock me into the chamber, and say you shall be sure of me.”
metal device shaped in such a way that when it is inserted into the appropriate lock the lock's mechanism can be rotated
From this reading “Do you think so? why look you, brother, because you shall not say I 'll gull you, take the key, lock me into the chamber, and say you shall be sure of me.”
fasten with a lock
From this reading “Do you think so? why look you, brother, because you shall not say I 'll gull you, take the key, lock me into the chamber, and say you shall be sure of me.”
12 o'clock at night; the middle of the night
From this reading “But do you hear, I shall have you steal to her chamber about midnight.”
take without the owner's consent
From this reading “But do you hear, I shall have you steal to her chamber about midnight.”
a mutual promise to marry
From this reading “In troth I will; I 'll be your jailor once.”
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.
on the subject of; concerning
From this reading But do you hear, I shall have you steal to her chamber about midnight.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Do you think so? why look you, brother, because you shall not say I 'll gull you, take the key, lock me into the chamber, and say you shall be sure of me.
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading Do you think so? why look you, brother, because you shall not say I 'll gull you, take the key, lock me into the chamber, and say you shall be sure of me.
for the reason that
From this reading Do you think so? why look you, brother, because you shall not say I 'll gull you, take the key, lock me into the chamber, and say you shall be sure of me.
a male with the same parents as someone else
From this reading Do you think so? why look you, brother, because you shall not say I 'll gull you, take the key, lock me into the chamber, and say you shall be sure of me.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading But do you hear, I shall have you steal to her chamber about midnight.
a river in east central England that flows past Cambridge to join the Ouse River
From this reading Cam.
a natural or artificial enclosed space
From this reading But do you hear, I shall have you steal to her chamber about midnight.
used to form questions and negatives, and to give emphasis
From this reading But do you hear, I shall have you steal to her chamber about midnight.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Flam.
make a fool or dupe of
From this reading Do you think so? why look you, brother, because you shall not say I 'll gull you, take the key, lock me into the chamber, and say you shall be sure of me.
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading But do you hear, I shall have you steal to her chamber about midnight.
perceive (sound) via the auditory sense
From this reading But do you hear, I shall have you steal to her chamber about midnight.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading But do you hear, I shall have you steal to her chamber about midnight.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading But do you hear, I shall have you steal to her chamber about midnight.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading In troth I will; I 'll be your jailor once.
moving to the inside of something
From this reading Do you think so? why look you, brother, because you shall not say I 'll gull you, take the key, lock me into the chamber, and say you shall be sure of me.
someone who guards prisoners
From this reading In troth I will; I 'll be your jailor once.
metal device shaped in such a way that when it is inserted into the appropriate lock the lock's mechanism can be rotated
From this reading Do you think so? why look you, brother, because you shall not say I 'll gull you, take the key, lock me into the chamber, and say you shall be sure of me.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Do you think so? why look you, brother, because you shall not say I 'll gull you, take the key, lock me into the chamber, and say you shall be sure of me.
fasten with a lock
From this reading Do you think so? why look you, brother, because you shall not say I 'll gull you, take the key, lock me into the chamber, and say you shall be sure of me.
perceive with attention; direct one's gaze towards
From this reading Do you think so? why look you, brother, because you shall not say I 'll gull you, take the key, lock me into the chamber, and say you shall be sure of me.
the person speaking, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading Do you think so? why look you, brother, because you shall not say I 'll gull you, take the key, lock me into the chamber, and say you shall be sure of me.
12 o'clock at night; the middle of the night
From this reading But do you hear, I shall have you steal to her chamber about midnight.
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading Do you think so? why look you, brother, because you shall not say I 'll gull you, take the key, lock me into the chamber, and say you shall be sure of me.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading Do you think so? why look you, brother, because you shall not say I 'll gull you, take the key, lock me into the chamber, and say you shall be sure of me.
on one occasion
From this reading In troth I will; I 'll be your jailor once.
express in words
From this reading Do you think so? why look you, brother, because you shall not say I 'll gull you, take the key, lock me into the chamber, and say you shall be sure of me.
used with I and we for the future, or to offer and suggest
From this reading But do you hear, I shall have you steal to her chamber about midnight.
for that reason; with the result that
From this reading Do you think so? why look you, brother, because you shall not say I 'll gull you, take the key, lock me into the chamber, and say you shall be sure of me.
take without the owner's consent
From this reading But do you hear, I shall have you steal to her chamber about midnight.
having or feeling no doubt or uncertainty; confident and assured
From this reading Do you think so? why look you, brother, because you shall not say I 'll gull you, take the key, lock me into the chamber, and say you shall be sure of me.
carry out
From this reading Do you think so? why look you, brother, because you shall not say I 'll gull you, take the key, lock me into the chamber, and say you shall be sure of me.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Do you think so? why look you, brother, because you shall not say I 'll gull you, take the key, lock me into the chamber, and say you shall be sure of me.
judge or regard; look upon; judge
From this reading Do you think so? why look you, brother, because you shall not say I 'll gull you, take the key, lock me into the chamber, and say you shall be sure of me.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading But do you hear, I shall have you steal to her chamber about midnight.
a mutual promise to marry
From this reading In troth I will; I 'll be your jailor once.
the cause or intention underlying an action or situation, especially in the phrase “the whys and wherefores”
From this reading Do you think so? why look you, brother, because you shall not say I 'll gull you, take the key, lock me into the chamber, and say you shall be sure of me.
used to talk about the future, or about willingness
From this reading In troth I will; I 'll be your jailor once.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading But do you hear, I shall have you steal to her chamber about midnight.
belonging to the person or people being spoken to
From this reading In troth I will; I 'll be your jailor once.
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.
