The Queen of Corinth
Encyclopedia
The Queen of Corinth is a Jacobean era stage play, a tragicomedy
in the canon of John Fletcher
and his collaborators. It was initially published in the first Beaumont and Fletcher folio
of 1647
.
's Greetings from the Court of the Great Mogul, which was published in London in 1616
. The play, therefore, could not pre-date that year. The casual and somewhat deprecating tone of the allusion — "his wit is so huge, nought but an elephant could carry him" — has been interpreted to mean that it also dates prior to Coryat's death in Surat
in 1617, or prior to news of his death reaching England, in 1618 at the latest.
This dating is confirmed by the cast list added to the play in the second Beaumont and Fletcher folio of 1679
, which cites Richard Burbage
, Nathan Field, Henry Condell
, John Lowin
, John Underwood
, Nicholas Tooley
, Thomas Pollard
, and Thomas Holcombe
. The list indicates that the play was produced by the King's Men
in the 1616–19 period, between Field's joining the troupe in the earlier year and Burbage's death in the later.
had retired from dramatic authorship in 1613 and had died in 1616, he could not have contributed to the authorship of The Queen of Corinth. One piece of external evidence states that Fletcher, Nathan Field, and Philip Massinger
were collaborating together c. 1616: an entry in the Stationers' Register
dated 8 April 1654
assigns the lost play The Jeweller of Amsterdam to the three writers. The murder that that play dramatized occurred in 1616, and it is likely that the play was written soon after the event to capitalize on current public interest.
The styles of the three authors, Fletcher, Field, and Massinger, are distinctive enough to be fairly readily differentiable; scholars from E. H. C. Oliphant to Cyrus Hoy
have been able to reach agreement on assignment of shares:
Other plays of this period, The Honest Man's Fortune
and The Knight of Malta
, also show clear internal signs of being collaborations among the three playwrights.
) was later revised by Massinger, perhaps around 1626. The fact that the play's leading comic character has two different names, Onos and Lamprias, is the kind of inconsistency that sometimes indicates a revision by a hand other than that (or those) the original author(s). Ira Clark regarded the hypothesis of Massinger's revision "more plausible," the alternative of triple collaboration "less likely."
. The city-state of Corinth
is ruled by a Queen (otherwise unnamed), a middle-aged widow with an adult son, Theander. The Queen is a virtuous, just, and capable ruler, but Theander is "a vicious Prince," and the play's villain. For some time before the play's action starts, Theander has been the intended husband of Merione, a young ward of the Queen who has grown to adulthood in her court. This situation changes at the start of the play: Corinth's military conflict with Argos
has been resolved peacefully, and the Argosian ruler Agenor has come to Corinth with the Queen's general Leonidas to formalize the peace. The Queen decides to promote a dynastic marriage between Agenor and Merione. Theander is unhappy at losing his intended bride.
Simultaneously, a young Corinthian named Euphanes has returned home from foreign travels. He is a younger son, and like many younger sons under the system of primogeniture
, he has little in life, the family estates having descended to the older brother Crates upon their father's death. Crates is a mean-spirited individual who resents his younger brother's virtues and natural gifts. Crates is also a key follower of Theander, and his primary assistant in evil deeds to come. The Queen, however, responds very positively to Euphanes on their first meeting, and he quickly becomes her new favorite. This instant promotion only adds to the resentments of Theander and Crates. Euphanes enjoys the Queen's favor without restraint; her anger flairs when he requests permission to marry a young woman named Beliza — but the Queen soon recovers from her irritation. (Queen Elizabeth
was famous for resenting, and interfering with, the marriage plans of her courtiers; the Queen in this play bears general resemblances to Elizabeth.)
Theander decides to vent his malice by raping Merione. Crates and other court sycophants abduct Merione in the night and take her to a secluded place, where Theander commits the act. The courtiers are masked, and stage the rape so that it resembles the abduction of Proserpine
by Pluto
. Merione is drugged, and carried to the house of her brother Leonidas, where she is left unconscious. She is discovered on the front stoop by Leonidas and Agenor, and awakened; her condition becomes understood by them and by the Queen and her court, to general outrage. Her wedding with Agenor is postponed, and Leonidas and Agenor swear vengeance on the rapist.
Merione is nursed by Beliza, with the aid of Leonidas and Agenor. Theander and his supporters confront and insult Euphanes and his friends; Euphanes is restrained in his reaction, but the Queen learns about the matter and reproves her son. She orders Theander to take a casket of jewels to Euphanes as a present; Theander instead sends the casket by an anonymous messenger, and adds to it a ring that he took from Merione on the night of the rape. Euphanes gives the ring to Beliza. When Merione sees it on Beliza's hand and instantly recognizes it, Agenor and Leonidas conclude that Euphanes is the rapist. They take an unorthodox approach to their quest for revenge, however: believing that they cannot gain access to Euphanes directly, they seize Theander as a hostage and take refuge in the city's fortress. They demand Euphanes in exchange for Theander.
The Queen is outraged, and refuses co-operation. She orders Euphanes and his friend Conon to lead troops against the rebels. Euphanes disobeys her order by confronting Leonidas and Agenor, alone and unarmed. He convinces the two that he did not rape Merione, even reminding Leonidas that the two of them were together on the night of the crime. In a dumbshow
, Euphanes pleads for the rebels with the Queen, and she pardons them.
Theander, not satisfied with the outcome of his machinations, decides to rape Beliza as he did Merione. Crates has qualms, feeling that things are going too far. Before the crime can take place, Euphanes' friend Conon confronts Crates; the two duel, and both are wounded, before the fight is broken up by Euphanes and others. Crates experiences a change of heart as a result of the duel and his wound (which happens repeatedly in the works of Fletcher and his collaborators); he confesses Theander's plan against Beliza. Euphanes, Leonidas, and Agenor concoct a scheme to apprehend Theander as he tries to commit the crime; they do so, but not before the prince completes a second rape.
In the play's final scene, Theander is brought to trial before the Queen and her court. The law states that a rapist can be put to death — or pardoned, if the victim takes the rapist as her husband. Theander is confronted by both Merione, dressed in white, and Beliza, dressed in black; Merione, willing to marry Theander, pleads for his pardon, while Beliza demands his death. After hearing their pleas, the Queen condemns her son to death, asserting that the law is not intended for a repeat offender. It is then revealed that Beliza's place had been taken by Merione on the night in question — so that instead of raping two women, Theander has raped the same woman twice. In the strange moral and ethical world of Fletcherian drama, this allows the Queen to pardon the repentant Theander, and marry him to Merione. Euphanes and Beliza are also headed toward the altar; and the Queen compensates Agenor for his lost bride by marrying the Argosian prince herself.
The play's comic relief
is supplied by the clown character variously called Onos or Lamprias. He and his Tutor and Uncle have just returned from foreign travels, like Euphanes — but they represent the inverse situation, showing that foreign travel by itself cannot redeem fools from their folly. The clown, seconded by tutor and uncle, attempts to fulfill the role of a gentleman and a gallant; but he fails badly, and ends the play abused and ridiculed by pages and grooms.
Tragicomedy
Tragicomedy is fictional work that blends aspects of the genres of tragedy and comedy. In English literature, from Shakespeare's time to the nineteenth century, tragicomedy referred to a serious play with either a happy ending or enough jokes throughout the play to lighten the mood.-Classical...
in the canon of John Fletcher
John Fletcher (playwright)
John Fletcher was a Jacobean 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 rivalled Shakespeare's...
and his collaborators. It was initially published in the first Beaumont and Fletcher folio
Beaumont and Fletcher folios
The Beaumont and Fletcher folios were two large folio collections of the stage plays of John Fletcher and his collaborators. The first was issued in 1647, and the second in 1679. The two collections were important in preserving many works of English Renaissance drama.-The first folio, 1647:The 1647...
of 1647
1647 in literature
The year 1647 in literature involved some significant events.-Events:* Thomas Hobbes becomes tutor to the future Charles II of England.* Plagiarist Robert Baron publishes his Deorum Dona, a masque, and Gripus and Hegio, a pastoral, which draw heavily on the poems of Edmund Waller and John Webster's...
.
Date
Scholars have dated the play to the 1616–18 period, based in part on an allusion in the play to "the Ulyssean traveller that sent home his image riding upon elephants to the great Mogul" (Act III, scene i). This is a reference to Thomas CoryatThomas Coryat
Thomas Coryat was an English traveller and writer of the late Elizabethan and early Jacobean age. He is principally remembered for two volumes of writings he left regarding his travels, often on foot, through Europe and parts of Asia...
's Greetings from the Court of the Great Mogul, which was published in London in 1616
1616 in literature
The year 1616 in literature involved some significant events.-Events:*Nicolaus Copernicus' De revolutionibus is placed on the Index of Forbidden Books by the Roman Catholic Church....
. The play, therefore, could not pre-date that year. The casual and somewhat deprecating tone of the allusion — "his wit is so huge, nought but an elephant could carry him" — has been interpreted to mean that it also dates prior to Coryat's death in Surat
Surat
Surat , also known as Suryapur, is the commercial capital city of the Indian state of Gujarat. Surat is India's Eighth most populous city and Ninth-most populous urban agglomeration. It is also administrative capital of Surat district and one of the fastest growing cities in India. The city proper...
in 1617, or prior to news of his death reaching England, in 1618 at the latest.
This dating is confirmed by the cast list added to the play in the second Beaumont and Fletcher folio of 1679
1679 in literature
This article lists some of the most significant events of the year 1679 in literature.-Events:*John Locke returns to England from France.*Étienne Baluze becomes almoner to King Louis XIV of France....
, which cites Richard Burbage
Richard Burbage
Richard Burbage was an English actor and theatre owner. He was the younger brother of Cuthbert Burbage. They were both actors in drama....
, Nathan Field, Henry Condell
Henry Condell
Henry Condell was an actor in the King's Men, the playing company for which William Shakespeare wrote. With John Heminges, he was instrumental in preparing the First Folio, the collected plays of Shakespeare, published in 1623....
, John Lowin
John Lowin
John Lowin was an English actor born in the St Giles-without-Cripplegate, London, the son of a tanner. Like Robert Armin, he was apprenticed to a goldsmith. While he is not recorded as a free citizen of this company, he did perform as a goldsmith, Leofstane, in a 1611 city pageant written by...
, John Underwood
John Underwood (actor)
John Underwood was an early 17th century actor, a member of the King's Men, the company of William Shakespeare.-Career:Underwood began as a boy player with the Children of the Chapel, and was cast in that company's productions of Ben Jonson's Cynthia's Revels and The Poetaster...
, Nicholas Tooley
Nicholas Tooley
Nicholas Tooley was a Renaissance actor in the King's Men, the acting company of William Shakespeare.Recent research has shown that Tooley was born in late 1582 or early 1583; his birth name was not Tooley but Wilkinson...
, Thomas Pollard
Thomas Pollard
Thomas Pollard was an actor in the King's Men — a prominent comedian in the acting troupe of William Shakespeare and Richard Burbage....
, and Thomas Holcombe
King's Men personnel
King's Men personnel were the people who worked with and for the Lord Chamberlain's Men and the King's Men from 1594 to 1642...
. The list indicates that the play was produced by the King's Men
King's Men (playing company)
The King's Men was the company of actors to which William Shakespeare belonged through most of his career. Formerly known as The Lord Chamberlain's Men during the reign of Queen Elizabeth, it became The King's Men in 1603 when King James ascended the throne and became the company's patron.The...
in the 1616–19 period, between Field's joining the troupe in the earlier year and Burbage's death in the later.
Authorship
Since Francis BeaumontFrancis Beaumont
Francis Beaumont was a dramatist in the English Renaissance theatre, most famous for his collaborations with John Fletcher....
had retired from dramatic authorship in 1613 and had died in 1616, he could not have contributed to the authorship of The Queen of Corinth. One piece of external evidence states that Fletcher, Nathan Field, and Philip Massinger
Philip Massinger
Philip Massinger was an English dramatist. His finely plotted plays, including A New Way to Pay Old Debts, The City Madam and The Roman Actor, are noted for their satire and realism, and their political and social themes.-Early life:The son of Arthur Massinger or Messenger, he was baptized at St....
were collaborating together c. 1616: an entry in the Stationers' Register
Stationers' Register
The Stationers' Register was a record book maintained by the Stationers' Company of London. The company is a trade guild given a royal charter in 1557 to regulate the various professions associated with the publishing industry, including printers, bookbinders, booksellers, and publishers in England...
dated 8 April 1654
1654 in literature
The year 1654 in literature involved some significant events.-Events:*Lady Dorothy Osborne plays the lead role in a country-house staging of Sir William Berkeley's tragicomedy The Lost Lady. While the London theatres remain closed, amateur theatricals continue at private houses in England...
assigns the lost play The Jeweller of Amsterdam to the three writers. The murder that that play dramatized occurred in 1616, and it is likely that the play was written soon after the event to capitalize on current public interest.
The styles of the three authors, Fletcher, Field, and Massinger, are distinctive enough to be fairly readily differentiable; scholars from E. H. C. Oliphant to Cyrus Hoy
Cyrus Hoy
Cyrus Hoy was a literary scholar of the English Renaissance stage who taught at the University of Virginia and Vanderbilt University, and was the John B. Trevor Professor of English at the University of Rochester...
have been able to reach agreement on assignment of shares:
-
- Massinger — Acts I and V;
- Fletcher — Act II;
- Field — Acts III and IV.
Other plays of this period, The Honest Man's Fortune
The Honest Man's Fortune
The Honest Man's Fortune is a Jacobean era stage play, a tragicomedy written by Nathan Field, John Fletcher, and Philip Massinger. It was apparently the earliest of the works produced by this trio of writers, the others being The Queen of Corinth and The Knight of Malta.-Texts:The Honest Man's...
and The Knight of Malta
The Knight of Malta
The Knight of Malta is a Jacobean era stage play, a tragicomedy in the canon of John Fletcher and his collaborators. It was initially published in the first Beaumont and Fletcher folio of 1647.-Date and source:...
, also show clear internal signs of being collaborations among the three playwrights.
Possible Revision
Scholars have disagreed, however, on the nature of the trio's collaborative effort in The Queen of Corinth. Rather than a "simple" three-way authorial effort (if there is such a thing), some scholars have suggested that an original play written by Field and Fletcher (like Four Plays in OneFour Plays in One
Four Plays, or Moral Representations, in One is a Jacobean era stage play, one of the dramatic works in the canon of John Fletcher and his collaborators...
) was later revised by Massinger, perhaps around 1626. The fact that the play's leading comic character has two different names, Onos and Lamprias, is the kind of inconsistency that sometimes indicates a revision by a hand other than that (or those) the original author(s). Ira Clark regarded the hypothesis of Massinger's revision "more plausible," the alternative of triple collaboration "less likely."
Synopsis
The play is set in ancient GreeceAncient Greece
Ancient Greece is a civilization belonging to a period of Greek history that lasted from the Archaic period of the 8th to 6th centuries BC to the end of antiquity. Immediately following this period was the beginning of the Early Middle Ages and the Byzantine era. Included in Ancient Greece is the...
. The city-state of Corinth
Corinth
Corinth is a city and former municipality in Corinthia, Peloponnese, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Corinth, of which it is the seat and a municipal unit...
is ruled by a Queen (otherwise unnamed), a middle-aged widow with an adult son, Theander. The Queen is a virtuous, just, and capable ruler, but Theander is "a vicious Prince," and the play's villain. For some time before the play's action starts, Theander has been the intended husband of Merione, a young ward of the Queen who has grown to adulthood in her court. This situation changes at the start of the play: Corinth's military conflict with Argos
Argos
Argos is a city and a former municipality in Argolis, Peloponnese, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Argos-Mykines, of which it is a municipal unit. It is 11 kilometres from Nafplion, which was its historic harbour...
has been resolved peacefully, and the Argosian ruler Agenor has come to Corinth with the Queen's general Leonidas to formalize the peace. The Queen decides to promote a dynastic marriage between Agenor and Merione. Theander is unhappy at losing his intended bride.
Simultaneously, a young Corinthian named Euphanes has returned home from foreign travels. He is a younger son, and like many younger sons under the system of primogeniture
Primogeniture
Primogeniture is the right, by law or custom, of the firstborn to inherit the entire estate, to the exclusion of younger siblings . Historically, the term implied male primogeniture, to the exclusion of females...
, he has little in life, the family estates having descended to the older brother Crates upon their father's death. Crates is a mean-spirited individual who resents his younger brother's virtues and natural gifts. Crates is also a key follower of Theander, and his primary assistant in evil deeds to come. The Queen, however, responds very positively to Euphanes on their first meeting, and he quickly becomes her new favorite. This instant promotion only adds to the resentments of Theander and Crates. Euphanes enjoys the Queen's favor without restraint; her anger flairs when he requests permission to marry a young woman named Beliza — but the Queen soon recovers from her irritation. (Queen Elizabeth
Elizabeth I of England
Elizabeth I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. Sometimes called The Virgin Queen, Gloriana, or Good Queen Bess, Elizabeth was the fifth and last monarch of the Tudor dynasty...
was famous for resenting, and interfering with, the marriage plans of her courtiers; the Queen in this play bears general resemblances to Elizabeth.)
Theander decides to vent his malice by raping Merione. Crates and other court sycophants abduct Merione in the night and take her to a secluded place, where Theander commits the act. The courtiers are masked, and stage the rape so that it resembles the abduction of Proserpine
Proserpina
Proserpina or Proserpine is an ancient Roman goddess whose story is the basis of a myth of Springtime. Her Greek goddess' equivalent is Persephone. The probable origin of her name comes from the Latin, "proserpere" or "to emerge," in respect to the growing of grain...
by Pluto
Pluto (mythology)
In ancient Greek religion and myth, Pluto was a name for the ruler of the underworld; the god was also known as Hades, a name for the underworld itself...
. Merione is drugged, and carried to the house of her brother Leonidas, where she is left unconscious. She is discovered on the front stoop by Leonidas and Agenor, and awakened; her condition becomes understood by them and by the Queen and her court, to general outrage. Her wedding with Agenor is postponed, and Leonidas and Agenor swear vengeance on the rapist.
Merione is nursed by Beliza, with the aid of Leonidas and Agenor. Theander and his supporters confront and insult Euphanes and his friends; Euphanes is restrained in his reaction, but the Queen learns about the matter and reproves her son. She orders Theander to take a casket of jewels to Euphanes as a present; Theander instead sends the casket by an anonymous messenger, and adds to it a ring that he took from Merione on the night of the rape. Euphanes gives the ring to Beliza. When Merione sees it on Beliza's hand and instantly recognizes it, Agenor and Leonidas conclude that Euphanes is the rapist. They take an unorthodox approach to their quest for revenge, however: believing that they cannot gain access to Euphanes directly, they seize Theander as a hostage and take refuge in the city's fortress. They demand Euphanes in exchange for Theander.
The Queen is outraged, and refuses co-operation. She orders Euphanes and his friend Conon to lead troops against the rebels. Euphanes disobeys her order by confronting Leonidas and Agenor, alone and unarmed. He convinces the two that he did not rape Merione, even reminding Leonidas that the two of them were together on the night of the crime. In a dumbshow
Dumbshow
Dumbshow, also dumb show or dumb-show, is a traditional term for pantomime in drama, actions presented by actors onstage without spoken dialogue. It is similar to the masque...
, Euphanes pleads for the rebels with the Queen, and she pardons them.
Theander, not satisfied with the outcome of his machinations, decides to rape Beliza as he did Merione. Crates has qualms, feeling that things are going too far. Before the crime can take place, Euphanes' friend Conon confronts Crates; the two duel, and both are wounded, before the fight is broken up by Euphanes and others. Crates experiences a change of heart as a result of the duel and his wound (which happens repeatedly in the works of Fletcher and his collaborators); he confesses Theander's plan against Beliza. Euphanes, Leonidas, and Agenor concoct a scheme to apprehend Theander as he tries to commit the crime; they do so, but not before the prince completes a second rape.
In the play's final scene, Theander is brought to trial before the Queen and her court. The law states that a rapist can be put to death — or pardoned, if the victim takes the rapist as her husband. Theander is confronted by both Merione, dressed in white, and Beliza, dressed in black; Merione, willing to marry Theander, pleads for his pardon, while Beliza demands his death. After hearing their pleas, the Queen condemns her son to death, asserting that the law is not intended for a repeat offender. It is then revealed that Beliza's place had been taken by Merione on the night in question — so that instead of raping two women, Theander has raped the same woman twice. In the strange moral and ethical world of Fletcherian drama, this allows the Queen to pardon the repentant Theander, and marry him to Merione. Euphanes and Beliza are also headed toward the altar; and the Queen compensates Agenor for his lost bride by marrying the Argosian prince herself.
The play's comic relief
Comic relief
Comic relief is the inclusion of a humorous character, scene or witty dialogue in an otherwise serious work, often to relieve tension.-Definition:...
is supplied by the clown character variously called Onos or Lamprias. He and his Tutor and Uncle have just returned from foreign travels, like Euphanes — but they represent the inverse situation, showing that foreign travel by itself cannot redeem fools from their folly. The clown, seconded by tutor and uncle, attempts to fulfill the role of a gentleman and a gallant; but he fails badly, and ends the play abused and ridiculed by pages and grooms.