Notes first paragraph•

I / The word devil is often used to define women. They are temptation and responsible of men’s sins. As a result they are often accused during the play
« they are the true material fire of hell » p61 L 86 We also have another one just after, « . Ay even on man’s perdition, his sin »

Their intelligence and ingenuosity is also perceived as a manifestion of the devil in them.
Flamineo says « Excellent Devil » talking about Vittoria when she suggest to Brachiano to kill their respective husbands and wifes to be free to love each other.

Finally, Men don't clearly understand women nature and often wonder in the book if they are good or bad. Actually even the reader wonders.. For exemple Vittoria appears sometimes as a victime but also as a devil manipulating everyone.Moreover cornelia is not totally pure as she watches Vittoria and he r lover without saying anything. Consequently there is an ambiguity about women's nature and the title « white devil » which is an oxymoron could refer to women and their incertain nature.

II/ Devils, sins and hell are omnipresent during the play as if human nature was inseparable of these bad sides. The world is thus portrayed as a place in which there are many devils.

p91 Flamineo sarcastic talks about a world in which « there are degrees of evils so in this world there are degrees of devils » This presence of devils in the play also reflects about appearances and how some apparently good people are sometimes bad. For example p105 Monticelso asks Lodovico« what devil was that, that you were raising? » and he answers « devil my lord » as if he was innocent.

Finally the accumulation of sins and devil references sets a tragic atmosphere of despair. No one seems to escape from this because it is part of human's