The Lady's Trial
Encyclopedia
The Lady's Trial is a Caroline era stage play, a comedy
by John Ford
. Published in 1639
, it was the last of Ford's plays to appear in print, and apparently the final work of Ford's dramatic career.
The play was licensed for performance by Sir Henry Herbert, the Master of the Revels
, on May 3, 1638
. The quarto
edition of the following year was issued by the bookseller Henry Shepherd, with a dedication by Ford to his personal friends John and Mary Wyrley. The title page bears Ford's anagrammatic motto, "Fide Honor," as is usual for Ford publications of the era; and it states that the play was acted by "both their Majesties' servants at the private house in Drury Lane" — that is, by the King and Queen's Young Company, colloquially known as Beeston's Boys
, at the Cockpit Theatre
. This simply confirms the fact that the play was performed once the London theatres re-opened after the long plague
closure of 1636–37.
As Ford's final play, The Lady's Trial departs from the pattern of his earlier works; it is "more like the fashionable Cavalier plays of the court dramatists...there is in the play an artificiality and refinement not found in the earlier plays but pervasive in the court drama of the time." Neither of Ford's two late comedies, The Fancies Chaste and Noble
and The Lady's Trial, has ranked high with critics, though The Lady's Trial has benefitted in that it lacks much of the overt bawdry and sexuality of the earlier play, and contains elements "beautiful in language and character" (Havelock Ellis
), with "some of Ford's sweetest blank verse and some excellently subtle bits of characterization" (Stuart Pratt Sherman).
, and his marriage to the beautiful and virtuous but lowly-born Spinella. Auria's marriage across class lines is controversial among other Genoese nobles, like his friend Aurelio; when Auria announces that he is going off to the wars against the Turks to repair his fortunes (Spinella brought no dowry), Aurelio opposes the move on two counts: Spinella will be exposed to temptations, and the role of soldier of fortune is unbecoming to a nobleman. Auria replies that he trusts his wife, and that he would rather stand on his own than depend on his friends. The contrast is drawn between the two men: Aurelio is rule-bound and conventional, while Auria is more independent in his judgments.
Aurelio is right in one respect: Spinella is exposed to temptation in her husband's absence. The nobleman Adurni tries to seduce Spinella, though he is so convincingly repulsed that he reforms and abandons his lustful ways. Spinella's reputation is compromised, however, when Aurelio exposes their meeting; even when Adurni confesses his trangression and apologizes to the returned husband, the scandal comes to a head in a formal trial of Spinella ("the lady's trial" of the title). The trial allows Spinella to exonerate herself and prove to the world, and to aristocratic Genoese society, her honor and virtue. Auria accepts Adurni's repentance as sincere, and chooses the path of reason over violent retribution. Adurni in turn takes Spinella's sister Castanna as his bride, as a seal of their reconciliation.
The secondary plot involves the divorced couple Benatzi and Levidolche. Levidolche has been seduced by Adurni; Benatzi seeks to catch her in the act by wooing her in disguise — but Levidolche recognizes him and decides to reform. But she tries to manipulate Benatzi into taking revenge on Adurni — an attempt that fails comically.
The third level, the comic subplot, deals with the commoner Amoretta and her social-climbing urge to marry an aristocrat. She is pursued by the ridiculous suitors Guzmann and Fulgoso; her father plots with two pretend suitors, Futelli and Piero, to confound his daughter's ambitions and draw her back to a more sensible view of life. Through various schemes and manipulations, Amoretta eventually reforms as well, and marries the worthy Futelli.
The play ends with four marriages; in a pattern typical of the comic genre, everyone has learned his or her lesson. In Auria, Ford's portrayal of a husband who "responds rationally to the rumor of his wife's infidelity" provides a bold departure from, and a stark contrast to, earlier figures in English Renaissance drama like Othello
, as well as the precedents of Ford's own earlier plays.
Comedy
Comedy , as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse or work generally intended to amuse by creating laughter, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins are found in...
by John Ford
John Ford (dramatist)
John Ford was an English Jacobean and Caroline playwright and poet born in Ilsington in Devon in 1586.-Life and work:...
. Published in 1639
1639 in literature
The year 1639 in literature involved some significant events.-Events:*May 21 - The King's Men act John Fletcher's The Mad Lover.*Blaise Pascal's family move to Rouen.*François de La Mothe-Le-Vayer is elected to the Académie Française....
, it was the last of Ford's plays to appear in print, and apparently the final work of Ford's dramatic career.
The play was licensed for performance by Sir Henry Herbert, the Master of the Revels
Master of the Revels
The Master of the Revels was a position within the English, and later the British, royal household heading the "Revels Office" or "Office of the Revels" that originally had responsibilities for overseeing royal festivities, known as revels, and later also became responsible for stage censorship,...
, on May 3, 1638
1638 in literature
The year 1638 in literature involved some significant events.-Events:*February 6 - Luminalia, a masque written by Sir William Davenant and designed by Inigo Jones, is staged at the English Court....
. The quarto
Book size
The size of a book is generally measured by the height against the width of a leaf, or sometimes the height and width of its cover. A series of terms is commonly used by libraries and publishers for the general sizes of modern books, ranging from "folio" , to "quarto" and "octavo"...
edition of the following year was issued by the bookseller Henry Shepherd, with a dedication by Ford to his personal friends John and Mary Wyrley. The title page bears Ford's anagrammatic motto, "Fide Honor," as is usual for Ford publications of the era; and it states that the play was acted by "both their Majesties' servants at the private house in Drury Lane" — that is, by the King and Queen's Young Company, colloquially known as Beeston's Boys
Beeston's Boys
Beeston's Boys was the popular and colloquial name of The King and Queen's Young Company, a troupe of boy actors of the Caroline period, active mainly in the years 1637–1642.-Origin:...
, at the Cockpit Theatre
Cockpit Theatre
The Cockpit was a theatre in London, operating from 1616 to around 1665. It was the first theatre to be located near Drury Lane. After damage in 1617, it was christened The Phoenix....
. This simply confirms the fact that the play was performed once the London theatres re-opened after the long plague
Bubonic plague
Plague is a deadly infectious disease that is caused by the enterobacteria Yersinia pestis, named after the French-Swiss bacteriologist Alexandre Yersin. Primarily carried by rodents and spread to humans via fleas, the disease is notorious throughout history, due to the unrivaled scale of death...
closure of 1636–37.
As Ford's final play, The Lady's Trial departs from the pattern of his earlier works; it is "more like the fashionable Cavalier plays of the court dramatists...there is in the play an artificiality and refinement not found in the earlier plays but pervasive in the court drama of the time." Neither of Ford's two late comedies, The Fancies Chaste and Noble
The Fancies Chaste and Noble
The Fancies Chaste and Noble is a Caroline era stage play, a comedy written by John Ford, and notable for its treatment of the then-fashionable topic of Platonic love.-Date and performance:...
and The Lady's Trial, has ranked high with critics, though The Lady's Trial has benefitted in that it lacks much of the overt bawdry and sexuality of the earlier play, and contains elements "beautiful in language and character" (Havelock Ellis
Havelock Ellis
Henry Havelock Ellis, known as Havelock Ellis , was a British physician and psychologist, writer, and social reformer who studied human sexuality. He was co-author of the first medical textbook in English on homosexuality in 1897, and also published works on a variety of sexual practices and...
), with "some of Ford's sweetest blank verse and some excellently subtle bits of characterization" (Stuart Pratt Sherman).
Synopsis
The Lady's Trial employs the multiple-plot structure that is typical of Ford and common in the dramas of the era. The main plot concerns Auria, an aristocrat of GenoaGenoa
Genoa |Ligurian]] Zena ; Latin and, archaically, English Genua) is a city and an important seaport in northern Italy, the capital of the Province of Genoa and of the region of Liguria....
, and his marriage to the beautiful and virtuous but lowly-born Spinella. Auria's marriage across class lines is controversial among other Genoese nobles, like his friend Aurelio; when Auria announces that he is going off to the wars against the Turks to repair his fortunes (Spinella brought no dowry), Aurelio opposes the move on two counts: Spinella will be exposed to temptations, and the role of soldier of fortune is unbecoming to a nobleman. Auria replies that he trusts his wife, and that he would rather stand on his own than depend on his friends. The contrast is drawn between the two men: Aurelio is rule-bound and conventional, while Auria is more independent in his judgments.
Aurelio is right in one respect: Spinella is exposed to temptation in her husband's absence. The nobleman Adurni tries to seduce Spinella, though he is so convincingly repulsed that he reforms and abandons his lustful ways. Spinella's reputation is compromised, however, when Aurelio exposes their meeting; even when Adurni confesses his trangression and apologizes to the returned husband, the scandal comes to a head in a formal trial of Spinella ("the lady's trial" of the title). The trial allows Spinella to exonerate herself and prove to the world, and to aristocratic Genoese society, her honor and virtue. Auria accepts Adurni's repentance as sincere, and chooses the path of reason over violent retribution. Adurni in turn takes Spinella's sister Castanna as his bride, as a seal of their reconciliation.
The secondary plot involves the divorced couple Benatzi and Levidolche. Levidolche has been seduced by Adurni; Benatzi seeks to catch her in the act by wooing her in disguise — but Levidolche recognizes him and decides to reform. But she tries to manipulate Benatzi into taking revenge on Adurni — an attempt that fails comically.
The third level, the comic subplot, deals with the commoner Amoretta and her social-climbing urge to marry an aristocrat. She is pursued by the ridiculous suitors Guzmann and Fulgoso; her father plots with two pretend suitors, Futelli and Piero, to confound his daughter's ambitions and draw her back to a more sensible view of life. Through various schemes and manipulations, Amoretta eventually reforms as well, and marries the worthy Futelli.
The play ends with four marriages; in a pattern typical of the comic genre, everyone has learned his or her lesson. In Auria, Ford's portrayal of a husband who "responds rationally to the rumor of his wife's infidelity" provides a bold departure from, and a stark contrast to, earlier figures in English Renaissance drama like Othello
Othello
The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in approximately 1603, and based on the Italian short story "Un Capitano Moro" by Cinthio, a disciple of Boccaccio, first published in 1565...
, as well as the precedents of Ford's own earlier plays.