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Marriage a la Mode (1672
1672 in literature

The year 1672 in literature involved some significant events....
) is a comic play by John Dryden, first performed in London in 1673 by the King's Company
King's Company

The King's Company was one of two enterprises granted the rights to mount theatrical productions in London at the start of the English Restoration....
. It is written in a combination of prose
Prose

Prose is writing that resembles everyday Speech communication. The word "prose" is derived from the Latin prosa, which literally translates to "straightforward"....
, blank verse
Blank verse

Blank verse is a type of poetry, distinguished by having a regular meter , but no rhyme. In English, the meter most commonly used with blank verse has been iambic pentameter ....
 and heroic couplets. It has often been praised as Dryden’s best comedic endeavor and Sutherland accounts for this by observing that “the comic scenes are beautifully written, and Dryden has taken care to connect them with the serious plot by a number of effective links.






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Marriage a la Mode (1672
1672 in literature

The year 1672 in literature involved some significant events....
) is a comic play by John Dryden, first performed in London in 1673 by the King's Company
King's Company

The King's Company was one of two enterprises granted the rights to mount theatrical productions in London at the start of the English Restoration....
. It is written in a combination of prose
Prose

Prose is writing that resembles everyday Speech communication. The word "prose" is derived from the Latin prosa, which literally translates to "straightforward"....
, blank verse
Blank verse

Blank verse is a type of poetry, distinguished by having a regular meter , but no rhyme. In English, the meter most commonly used with blank verse has been iambic pentameter ....
 and heroic couplets. It has often been praised as Dryden’s best comedic endeavor and Sutherland accounts for this by observing that “the comic scenes are beautifully written, and Dryden has taken care to connect them with the serious plot by a number of effective links. He writes with . . . one of the most thoughtful treatments of sex and marriage
Marriage

Marriage is a social, spirituality, or law union of individuals. This union may also be called matrimony, while the ceremony that marks its beginning is usually called a wedding and the married status created is sometimes called wedlock....
 that Restoration comedy
Restoration comedy

Restoration comedy refers to English Comedy written and performed in the English Restoration period from 1660 to 1710. After public stage performances had been banned for 18 years by the Puritan regime, the re-opening of the theatres in 1660 signalled a rebirth of English drama....
 can show.”

The play contains two songs, "Why Should a Foolish Marriage Vow" by Robert Smith and "Whilst Alexis Lay Pressed" by Nicholas Staggins, both set to Dryden's lyrics and printed in the 1673 book Choice Songs and Ayres for One Voyce to Sing to the Theorbo-Lute or Bass-Viol.

Cast


POLYDAMAS, Usurper of Sicily.

LEONIDAS, the rightful Prince, unknown.

ARGALEON, favourite to POLYDAMAS.

HERMOGENES, foster-father to LEONIDAS.

EUBULUS, his friend and companion.

RHODOPHIL, captain of the guards.

PALAMEDE, a courtier.

PALMYRA, daughter to the Usurper.

AMALTHEA, sister to ARGALEON.

DORALICE, wife to RHODOPHIL.

MELANTHA, an affected lady.

PHILOTIS, woman to MELANTHA.

BELIZA, woman to DORALICE.

ARTEMIS, a court lady.

In the 1673 premiere production, William Wintershall
William Wintershall

William Wintershall , also Wintersall or Wintersell, was a noted seventeenth-century English actor. His career spanned the difficult years of mid-century, when English theatres were closed from 1642 in literature to 1660 in literature, during the English Civil War and the English Interregnum....
 played Polydamas, Edward Kynaston
Edward Kynaston

Edward Kynaston was an England actor, one of the last Restoration theatre "boy players," young male actors who played women's roles....
 was Leonidas, Michael Mohun
Michael Mohun

Michael Mohun was a leading British actor both before and after the 1642?60 closing of the theatres.Mohun began his stage career as a boy player filling female roles; he was part of Christopher Beeston's theatrical establishment at the Cockpit Theatre, "eventually becoming a key member of Queen Henrietta's Men."...
 was Rhodophil, and Nicholas Burt
Nicholas Burt

Nicholas Burt , or Birt or Burght among other variants, was a prominent English actor of the seventeenth century. In a long career, he was perhaps best known as the first actor to play the role of Othello in the English Restoration era....
 was Palamede; the role of Hermogenes was taken by William Cartwright
William Cartwright (actor)

William Cartwright was an English actor of the seventeenth century, whose career spanned the Caroline era to the English Restoration. He is sometimes known as William Cartwright, Junior or William Cartwright the younger to distinguish him from his father, another William Cartwright , an actor of the previous generation....
 the younger. Elizabeth Cox played Palmyra, Rebecca Marshall
Rebecca Marshall

Rebecca Marshall was a noted English actress of the English Restoration era, one of the first generation of women performers on the public stage in Britain....
 played Doralice, Elizabeth James was Amalthea, and Elizabeth Boutell
Elizabeth Boutell

Elizabeth Boutell, n?e Davenport , was a British actress. She joined the King's Company about 1670 and played many important roles in the 1670s, including Benzayda in John Dryden's The Conquest of Granada , Melantha in Dryden's Marriage A-la-Mode , Margery Pinchwife in William Wycherley's The Country Wife , and probably Rosalinda...
 was Melantha.

Synopsis

The setting is in Sicily
Sicily

Sicily is an Autonomous regions with special statute of Italy. Of all the regions of Italy, Sicily covers the largest land area at 25,708 km? and currently has just over five million inhabitants....
. The plot concerns two separate storylines, one a romance between Palmyra and Leonidas, who were separated from their parents as babies and who were raised together by Hermogenes, who has kept their past a secret. When Hermogenes is recognized by the usurper-king Polydamas, he declares that Leonidas is Polydamas's son. However, as Leonidas's new position of prince then forbids him to marry Palmyra, much misery is brought to the couple. When the lovers refuse to stop seeing each other, Palmyra is sentenced to death. Hermogenes then steps forward and reveals that he was lying: Leonidas is his own son, he says, and he had lied in the hopes of bettering the boy by making him prince, and in fact Palmyra is the real child of Polydamas. After offering proof of this new claim, Palmyra is established as princess, but again this prevents her and Leonidas from marrying. Hermogenes then takes Leonidas aside and reveals to him the whole truth -- Leonidas is the son of the rightful king, whose throne was usurped by Polydamas. As soon as he learns this, Leonidas forms a rebellion against Polydamas, wins, and establishes himself the new king, finally allowing himself and Palmyra to be married.

The second storyline, which intertwines with the first, concerns Rhodophil and his friend Palamede. Palamede has fallen in love with Rhodophil's wife Doralice, and Rhodophil is in love with Palamede's fiancée Melantha. Each of the women seem to find their pursuers agreeable, and great care is taken by all parties to keep their meetings secret from each other, with disastrous results as the two couples seem to always choose the same locations and tactics for meeting. When finally the actions of everyone are discovered, Palamede and Rhodophil decide that since their tastes in women are so similar, each would be best sticking to his rightful claim. Palamede then manages to win the heart of Melantha, and amicably break off his relationship with Doralice.

Sources

Dryden borrowed from two plays in the canon of John Fletcher
John Fletcher (playwright)

John Fletcher was a Jacobean era playwright. Following William Shakespeare as house playwright for the King's Men , he was among the most prolific and influential dramatists of his day; both during his lifetime and in the early Restoration, his fame rivaled Shakespeare's....
 and his collaborators for Marriage A-la-Mode. He adapted his main plot from Beggars' Bush
Beggars' Bush

For the old military barracks in Dublin, Ireland, see Beggars Bush Beggars' Bush is a Literature in English#Jacobean literature era stage play, a comedy in the canon of John Fletcher and his collaborators that is a focus of dispute among scholars and critics....
, and his subplot from Rule a Wife and Have a Wife
Rule a Wife and Have a Wife

Rule a Wife and Have a Wife is a late Literature in English#Jacobean literature stage play, a comedy written by John Fletcher . It was first performed in 1624 and first published in 1640....
.

External links