Act II., 1, line 224, that “it has beauties of so very high an order, that
with all my respect for Massinger, I do not think he had poetical enthusiasm capable of furnishing them. His associate Dekker, who wrote _Old Fortunatus_, had poetry enough for anything.” This is one of Lamb’s many unfair remarks about our author; he had discovered so many treasures in the Elizabethan goldfield that he was disposed to underrate the favourite of the eighteenth century. One rises from a perusal of the works of Dekker with a feeling that he was in many respects an engaging, child-like mind, with a gift for drawing character, but with an imperfect sense of technique and structure. If he had written anything in his undoubted works as good as this scene, it would be natural to adjudge it to him.
I should be inclined to assign II., 2, to Massinger; great stress is laid in it on the lack of courtesy shown in scanty greetings, which is a familiar line of thought in our author. Theophilus’ speech, “Have I invented tortures,” sounds to me like Massinger. The structure of II., 3, reminds one of several similar incidents in Massinger, though it is clear that no poet can claim the monopoly of introducing auditors of love-scenes in the gallery above the stage. On the other hand, the ravings of Theophilus (_ibid._, 116-123) read like Dekker; as does the rhymed passage (_ibid._, 131-136). Perhaps the scene is composite.
The same remark applies to IV., 1. The first sixty lines are certainly Massinger’s, and much of the rest; notice especially Antoninus’ sudden change of mind at line 102. On the other hand, the speech of the British slave (_ibid._, 136-147) might be Dekker’s work.
If Massinger can be accredited with Dorothea’s farewell speech in IV., 3, 69-92, I do not see why he should not have written the famous passage in II., 1. They seem to me to have the same thrill of emotion.
Lastly, V., 1, seems to be constructed on the lines of a Massinger scene, and to contain traces of his vocabulary; _cf._ the use of “horror” in line 41, and of “to thy centre” in line 146. The conversion of Theophilus, like that of Antoninus in a previous scene, is effected rapidly, in Massinger’s manner.
To sum up, I should be inclined to say that Massinger had, at any rate, a considerable share in the following scenes: II., 1, II., 2, II., 3, IV., 1, V., 1.
APPENDIX XI. THE AUTHORSHIP OF “THE FATAL DOWRY”
Boyle assigns to Massinger, Act I.; Act III. as far as line 315 (enter Novall, junr.); Act IV., 2, 3, 4; Act V. This amounts to about three-fifths of the play. On metrical grounds I reluctantly concede that Field wrote the famous funeral scene, Act II., 1. But there are clear traces of Massinger’s style in the part of Act II., 2, which follows the prose passage. Thus, Romont’s speech, beginning at line 201, seems to show traces of Massinger; likewise Pontalier’s, beginning at line 370. It is probable that Field wrote the prose scenes in the play, and possibly the songs; nor would I deny that the regular ten-syllable blank verse of such passages as Act II., 2, 178-187 (ROCHFORT. Why, how now, Beaumelle? ... nothing but good and fit), and Act II., 2, 318-328 (This is my only child ... were multiplied tenfold), is Field’s work. In the two plays which have come down to us from Field there is much passable blank verse. It is important to remember, however, that we have so little of Field left that it is hazardous to base material tests on it; and secondly, the authors may have collaborated in individual scenes in such a way as to escape analysis. This is what probably has taken place in Act II., 2. Nor do I feel certain that the latter part of Act III. is wholly due to Field; lines 438-478 contain much that is like Massinger, though the ugly line 464 is not in his style.
“I not accuse thy wife of act, but would Prevent her precipice to thy dishonour.”
On the other hand, the rhymed couplet (lines 375-6) is probably Field’s.
The pert page in Act IV., 1, reminds us of a similar character in _Woman’s a Weathercock_, and is probably Field’s handiwork. On the other hand, Pontalier’s speech in the same scene (lines 119-140) reads to me like Massinger.
These instances may serve to show how hard it is to dissect the play satisfactorily.
APPENDIX XII. THE TRAGEDY OF “SIR JOHN VAN OLDEN BARNAVELT”
This play is to be found in Bullen’s _Old Plays_, vol. ii. It was printed from B.M. Add. MSS. 18653, a folio of thirty-one leaves in a small clear hand.
Mr. Bullen thinks that Massinger wrote III., 2; III., 6; IV. (the trial scene); V., 1. He ascribes the concluding scene to Fletcher. These ascriptions seem to me correct. There is much fine poetry in the play, notably in the Leidenberg scene. But Fleay goes too far when he calls the play “magnificent.” It is a “piece of occasion,”(572) written shortly after the tragic death of Barnavelt, in such a way, however, that it would not interest a later generation, who had forgotten the sensation of the time. In the second place, it has no unity, a fact no doubt partly due to the dual authorship. We do not know if we are intended to sympathise with Orange or Barnavelt. Such a specimen of the historical drama pure and simple makes us feel that more than a mere narrative of events is needed in a play; we look to the author to guide our sympathies, and have a view of his own about his theme.(573)
APPENDIX XIII. “THE SECOND MAIDEN’S TRAGEDY”
This play was reprinted by the Malone Society in 1909.(574) The writing of the original MS. in the British Museum is remarkably good. It is No. 807 in the Lansdowne Collection, and comes to us from the famous Warburton MSS. The play was licensed by Sir George Buck, October 31st, 1611, and acted by the King’s men. At the end is inscribed: “by Thomas Goffe,(575) George Chapman, by Will Shakspear. A tragedy indeed!”
The last phrase is true. The first two names are erased; the third name has been added by a late seventeenth or eighteenth century hand.
The underplot, according to Boyle, is derived from Cervantes’ _Curious Impertinent_, and in Acts I. and II. passages “are literally taken from that novel.” There is an incident at the end of the play which reminds us of _The Duke of Milan_. The “Tyrant” removes the body of the heroine from her tomb, and sends for a painter to give colour to her face and lips. Govianus, her husband, comes in disguise to do the deed, and the Tyrant is killed by the poison which Govianus has put on the lips of the corpse.
Massinger may therefore have known the play, but I differ entirely from Boyle’s estimate. He thinks Massinger wrote Acts I. and II., Tourneur Acts III., IV., V. I see no trace of Massinger in Act I., except the reference in line 541 to a “cup of nectar.” The sudden repentance of the heroine’s father Helvetius, in Act II., 1, 253, reminds us of a trait of Massinger referred to above;(576) but the style of the first two acts is too feeble and vague, and the metre too halting for him.(577) I cannot suppose that at the age of twenty-seven Massinger could have taken part in writing a play where “A voice from within” the tomb says to the mourning husband, “I am not here!”(578)
APPENDIX XIV. “THE POWERFUL FAVORITE”(579)
“_The Powerful Favorite_, or the life of Aelius Sejanus, by P. M., printed at Paris, 1628.” So runs the title in the English translation.
Two translations of Pierre Matthieu’s book, “Histoire d’Aelius Sejanus,” appeared in the same year. One is padded out with additions; in the shorter and more exact translation, the initials on the title-page of the Bodleian copy have been filled out thus: P. Massinger.
We know that Massinger’s political sympathies were against the Duke of Buckingham, and it is probable that a Life of Sejanus may have attracted attention at a time when the parallel was drawn and the unpopularity great; but it is simpler to suppose that P. M. stands for the French author. It would require some courage to publish under one’s own name or initials a translation of the book.
It is noteworthy that in 1632, after Buckingham’s death, a translation appeared by Sir T. Hawkins. The title which he gave his book was “Unhappy prosperitie expressed in the histories of Aelius Sejanus and Philippa, the Catanian.” Underneath he adds the words: “Written in French by P. Matthieu.”
APPENDIX XV. “DOUBLE FALSEHOOD”
In 1728 there appeared at London a play with the following title: “Double Falsehood, or The Distressed Lovers; written originally by W. Shakespeare, and now revised and adapted to the stage by Mr. Theobald, the author of _Shakespeare Restor’d_.”
It was dedicated to the Rt. Hon. George Dodington, Esq. In the Preface Theobald states that one of the copies in MS. is of above sixty years’ standing. He goes on to say that there is a tradition that Shakspere wrote it—“in the time of his retirement from the stage.” The story is taken from a novel in _Don Quixote_, which appeared in 1611, five years before Shakspere’s death. Theobald professes to allow that the colouring, diction, and characters come nearer to the style and manner of Fletcher.
Some writers(580) have supposed that Theobald in compiling this play used materials from a lost play by Massinger. The first thing we notice in it is that there are a good many prose scenes. This is unlike Massinger. In the second place, the metre is unlike Massinger’s; it is simple and regular, and contains very few double endings or run-on lines. In Act II., 4, Leonora gives an important letter to her lover Julio, out of a window, to a “citizen” whom she does not know, by night. Is this improbable incident the sort of thing that Massinger would write?(581)
The whole play is an eighteenth-century effusion in the manner of Rowe. There is no trace of Fletcher or Massinger here.
APPENDIX XVI. MIDDLETON’S “A TRICK TO CATCH THE OLD ONE”
_A Trick to catch the Old One_ is a lively play, mainly written in prose, in which an air of plausibility is skilfully cast around a farcical plot. There can be no doubt that Massinger borrowed the idea of _A New Way_ from Middleton, as well as a few expressions.(582) In both plays there are an uncle who has strained the law to deprive his nephew of his lands, a rich widow whose supposed affection for the nephew converts the uncle to make reparation, and creditors who have to be satisfied. The servants (_A Trick_, IV., 4) who are to discharge their duties in Hoard’s new household may have suggested the group in Lady Allworth’s house who supply a comic element. On the other hand, the two plays are constructed on very different lines. The central point of _A Trick_ is the hatred of the two usurers, Lucre and Hoard, for one another, both being in the end cheated by the hero Witgood. In _A New Way_ there is only one usurer, Sir Giles. _A Trick_, though well constructed, has a lame and hurried conclusion; and it is overloaded with minor characters, who help the action but little—in particular, the usurer Dampit seems to be introduced for no particular reason except to fill up the time with mediocre fun. The part played by the heroine, Joyce, is small and obscure. Then again, there can be no comparison between the slight figure of Hoard and the powerful creation of Sir Giles Overreach. Wellborn does nothing in the play that misbecomes a gentleman; the ingenuity with which he frames a plan to deceive his uncle leads us to believe that when he has repented his wild life he has the capacity to make good. His prototype, Witgood, on the other hand, is merely an amusing adventurer. Indeed, Middleton seems throughout to be pursuing with his vengeance the sharp practices of those who lend money to fast young men, and we certainly sympathize with his castigation of Lucre, Hoard, and Dampit. Massinger’s widow is a lady of birth and title; Middleton’s is a courtesan in disguise. When she marries Hoard, though we feel some satisfaction at the deception which has been practised on him, we cannot help asking ourselves as the characters retire to the conventional “wedding dinner” of an Elizabethan comedy, whether the solution would have worked in real life. The answer is, that while we have been much amused, we have been cheated by the author’s great skill and vivacity into accepting an improbable plot. Massinger’s play, on the other hand, contains little that might not have happened, and the conclusion is so arranged that there is every prospect of the characters living happily hereafter. While Middleton’s play is a charming extravaganza, Massinger’s has held the stage ever since. The one play can be acted now, the other cannot. This is not merely due to the fact that _A New Way_ has more dignity and refinement than its predecessor, but it is because Massinger’s characters behave like real beings.(583)
APPENDIX XVII
These two poems are copied from a folio MS. in the library of Trinity College, Dublin (G, 2, 21), containing compositions of Donne and other poets of the seventeenth century. They are to be found on pages 554-559. The handwriting is that of the seventeenth century. I have reproduced the original punctuation and spelling. Mr. Grosart published the poems in _Englische Studien_, No. xxvi. He says that the librarian of Trinity, Dr. T. K. Abbot, had grounds for supposing that the MS. had been in the possession of Trinity College for a century; he does not, however, state what the grounds are. As far as the dates go which are indicated in the volume, it might have passed into the library with other books from Archbishop Ussher’s collection.
From the tone of line 16 of the first poem we may assume that it was addressed by Massinger when quite young to William, the third Earl of Pembroke.
I
The Copie of a Letter written upon occasion to the Earle of Pembrooke Lo: Chamberlaine
My Lord
p. 554
Soe subiect to the worser fame Are even the best that clayme a Poets name: Especially poore they that serve the stage Though worthily in this Verse-halting Age. And that dread curse soe heavie yet doth lie Wch the wrong’d Fates falne out wth Mercurie Pronounc’d for ever to attend upon All such as onely dreame of Helicon. That durst I sweare cheated by selfe opinion I were Apolloes or the Muses Mynion 10 Reason would yet assure me, ’tis decreed Such as are Poets borne, are borne to need. If the most worthy then, whose pay’s but praise Or a few spriggs from the now withering bayes Grone underneath their wants what hope have I Scarce yet allowed one of the Company— 16
p. 555
When(584) thou sighst, thou sigh’st not wind, but sigh’st my soule away When thou weep’st unkindly kind, my lifes blud doth decay It cannot bee That thou lov’est mee as thou sai’est, if in thine my life thou wast, Thou art the best of mee.(585) In some high mynded Ladies grace to stand Ever provided that her liberall hand 30 Pay for the Vertues they bestow upon her And soe long shees the miracle and the honor Of her whole Sex, and has forsooth more worth Then was in any Sparta e’re brought forth But when the Bounty failes a change is neare And shee’s not then what once shee did appeare For the new Giver shee dead must inherit What was by purchase gott and not by merit Lett them write well that doo this and in grace I would not for a pension or A place 40
Part soe wth myne owne Candor, lett me rather p. 556 Live poorely on those toyes I would not father Not knowne beyond A Player or A Man That does pursue the course that I have ran Ere soe grow famous: yet wth any paine Or honest industry could I obteyne A noble Favorer, I might write and doo Like others of more name and gett one too Or els my Genius is false. I know That Johnson much of what he has does owe 50 To you and to your familie, and is never Slow to professe it, nor had Fletcher ever Such Reputation, and credit nonne But by his honord Patron, Huntington Unimitable Spencer ne’re had been Soe famous for his matchlesse Fairie Queene Had he not found a Spencer Sydney to preferr [_sic_] His plaine way in his Shepheards Calender Nay Virgills selfe (or Martiall does lye) Could hardly frame a poore Gnatts Elegie 60 Before Mecænas cherisht him; and then He streight conceiv’d Æneas and the men That found out Italic Those are Presidents(586) I cite wth reverence: my lowe intents Looke not soe high, yet some worke I might frame That should nor wrong my duty nor your Name. p. 557 Were but your Lopp pleas’d to cast an eye Of favour on my trodd downe povertie How ever I confesse myselfe to be Ever most bound for your best charitie 70 To others that feed on it, and will pay My prayers wth theirs that as yu doe yu may Live long, belov’d and honor’d doubtles then Soe cleere a life will find a worthier Penn. For me I rest assur’d besides the glory T’wold make a Poet but to write your story. 76
Phill: Messinger.
p. 557
II
A New yeares Guift presented to my Lady and M:rs the then Lady Katherine Stanhop now Countesse of Chesterfield.
By Phill: Messinger.
Madame
Before I ow’d to you the name Of Servant, to your birth, your worth your fame I was soe, and t’was fitt since all stand bound To honour Vertue in meane persons found Much more in you, that as borne great, are good Wch is more then to come of noble blood Or be A Hastings; it being too well knowne
p. 558
An Empresse cannot challenge as her oune Her Grandsires glories; And too many staine Wth their bad Actions the noble straine 10 From whence they come. But as in you to be A branch to add fresh honor to the tree By vertue planted, and adorne it new Is graunted unto none or very few To speake you further would appeare in me Presumption or a servants flattery But there may be a tyme when I shall dare To tell the world and boldly what yu are Nor sleight it Madame, since what some in me Esteeme a blemish, is a guift as free 20 As their best fortunes, this tooke from the grave Penelopies chastitie, and to it gave Still living Honors; this made Aiax strong Ulisses wise: such power lies in a Song Wch Phaebus smiles on, wch can find noe Urne While the Sea his course, or starrs observe their turne Yet ’tis not in the power of tinckling Rime That(587) takes rash iudgments and deceive the tyme Wth Mountebanke showes a worke that shold indure Must have a genius in it, strong, as pure 30 But you beginne to smile, as wondring why I should write thus much to yu now since I Have heretofore been silent may yu please To know
To know the course it is noe new disease p. 559 Groune in my iudgment, nor am I of those That thinke good wishes cannot thrive in prose As well as Verse: but that this New yeares day All in their loves and duties, what they may Present unto you; though perhaps some burne Wth expectation of a glad returne 40 Of what they venture for. But such I leave To their deceiptfull guifts given to deceive What I give I am rich in, and can spare Nor part for hope wth ought deserves my care He that hath little and gives nought at all To them that have is truly liberall. 46
APPENDIX XVIII. ALLITERATION IN MASSINGER
The art with which Massinger employs alliteration escapes all but the most careful perusal; but once noticed, it attracts attention as one of his favourite expedients. Perhaps the best way to exemplify its use is to give a complete collection of instances from one of the plays: I take for this purpose _The Unnatural Combat_.
I., 1, 150: Impartial judges, and not sway’d with spleen.
" 158: Not lustful fires, but fair and lawful flames.
" 189: Our goods made prize, our sailors sold for slaves.
" 217: He that leaves To follow as you lead, will lose himself.
" 286: Their lives, their liberties.
" 308: Both what and when to do, but makes against you.
" 309: For had your care and courage been the same.
" 342: He may have leave and liberty to decide it.
II., 1, 14: With my best curiousness and care observed him.
" 23: A sudden flash of fury did dry up.
" 94: But dare and do, as they derive their courage.
" 143: In a moment raz’d and ruin’d.
" 157: In one short syllable yield satisfaction.
" 170: With scorn on death and danger.
" 177: But what is weak and womanish, thine own.
" 183: As a serpent swoll’n with poison.
" 226: Marseilles owes the freedom of her fears.
" 241: That will vouchsafe not one sad sigh or tear.
" 267: And with all circumstance and ceremony.
II., 3, 67: Nor should you with more curiousness and care.
III., 1, 10: It being a serious and solemn meeting.
" 17: I’ll undertake to stand at push of pike.
" 21: When the dresser, the cook’s drum, thunders, Come on!
III., 1, 23: As tall a trencher-man.
" 32: The only drilling is to eat devoutly And to be ever drinking.
" 57: Delay is dangerous.
" 88: Continue constant To this one suit.
" 90: Every cast commander.
" 100: And so by consequence grow contemptible.
" 117: For his own sake, shift a shirt!
III., 2, 46: The colonels, commissioners, and captains.
" 78: That losing her own servile shape and name.
" 85: Believe my black brood swans.
" 95: As I have heard, loved the lobby.
" 150: Of her fair features, that, should we defer it.
" 160: And serves as a perpetual preface to.
III., 3, 43: The curiousness and cost on Trajan’s birthday.
" 78: I’ve charged through fire that would have singed your sables.
" 82: Such only are admired that come adorn’d.
" 93: Does make your cupboards crack.
" 114: For want of means shall, in their present payment.
" 149: With my son, her servant.
III., 4, 89: And he shall find and feel, if he excuse not.
IV., 1, 53: And liked and loath’d with your eyes, I beseech you.
" 91: A loathsome leprosy had spread itself.
" 101: Sir, you have liked and loved them, and oft forc’d.
" 119: My ranks of reason.
" 132: Thy virtues vices.
" 133: Far worse than stubborn sullenness and pride.
" 206: In your fame and fortunes.
IV., 2, 47: Against my oath, being a cashier’d captain.
" 68: Your lords Of dirt and dunghills.
" 118: My corslet to a cradle.
" 120: Or to sell my sword and spurs, for soap and candles?
IV., 2. 135: Fair France is proud of.
" 148: Such as have power to punish.
V., 2, 35: Or our later laws forbid.
" 38: And solemn superstitious fools prescribe.
" 57: Into some close cave or desert.
" 58: Our lusts and lives together.
" 165: But to have power to punish, and yet pardon, Peculiar to princes.
" 248: Accuse or argue with me.
" 307: To season my silks.
APPENDIX XIX
By the kindness of Mr. Edmund Gosse I have been enabled to examine and collate the manuscript notes in copies of the first quartos of the following plays in his possession: _The Duke of Milan_, _The Bondman_, _The Roman Actor_, _The Renegado_, _The Picture_, _The Fatal Dowry_, _The Emperor of the East_, _The Maid of Honour_. The dates of these quartos range from 1623 to 1632. The poet Swinburne had no doubt that the manuscript notes were due to Massinger himself; the resemblance of the handwriting is certainly indubitable, but as we have no other evidence than that of the corrections themselves, we are forced to be content with the conclusion that the insertions are of a contemporary date. I take the plays in the above order.
_The Duke of Milan_
I., 1, 23.—This, the last line on the page, has suffered from the binding, and is written in the margin.(588)
I., 1, 56.—The same thing has happened here.
In both cases the writing resembles that of the poet. It may be argued, on the other hand, that it is unlikely that the play should have suffered so soon from binding; it is, however, of course not impossible that the eight plays were bound up together shortly after the year 1632.
V., 2, 203.—Forza. S. inserted before F. (So _infra_, 218, 234, 256.)
At the end of the play occurs a symbol M which might represent the poet’s initial.
_The Bondman_
I., 1: Timagorus bis in stage-directions, us corrected to as and also in I., 1,5
I., 1, 37: I love live
I., 2, 2: I cannot brooke with this gadding
I., 3, 83: As to the supreame Magistrates Sicilie surely tenders
" 161: And yet the chu rl added
" 181: made glorious by Achon Action
" 182: gave warrant to her ailes added couns
" 183: hand heard
" 206: nor defence noe
" 295: ? at end ? deleted
" 319: of slaves our
II., 1, 71: fam’d fann’d
" 87: vayle y deleted
" 144: loose both sent and th inserted after beauty “loose,” and c in “sent”
" 153: owe awe
II., 2, 16: manners; yet this morning for
" 57: cunning coḿinge
" 62: ? added
III., 3, 99: too too large second “too” deleted
" 135: leave her off stand her of
" 165: during daring
III., 4, 29: Timandra Timag
" 51: cares feares
IV., 1, 21: still you
IV., 2, 128: when where
" 140: “Pray you, leave mee” added at end to complete the line
IV., 3, 145: tempter second t deleted
V., 3, 9: not be deni’de to inserted before “be”
" 38: howsoere the fortune thy
" 103: gods and fautors his
" 193: ) inserted after devices
" 245: Gra. inserted at beginning of line, (_i.e._, Graccho)
All these corrections are manifestly right, except possibly III., 3, 135 and IV., 1, 21. The addition in IV., 2, 140, though not especially appropriate to the situation, presents us with a type of line much favoured by Massinger.
_The Roman Actor_
I., 1, 6: stocke socc (_i.e._, sock)
" 25: parenthesis inserted after “vice”
" 37: gald l
" 44: The Catta and the Dacie Catti ... Daci
" 46: Jove hasten it ? added
" 49: we obey you full stop added
" 51: the sceane Scaene
" 79: is to eb(589) guilty bee
" 115: grieve greive (“give” is required by the sense)
I., 2: Enter Domitia and Parthenius “with a letter” added
I., 2, 33: for to be thankfull I woulde
" 44: his plea its
" 86: new workes that dare not Monarches. Pa: added, do (_i.e._, Parthenius)
" 88: Parth. Will you dispute Parth. deleted and ? added.
I., 3, 44: ( ) added
I., 3, 53-4: ( ) added
" 67: condemne condemnd
" 78: which with
" 78: redde (_i.e._, read) ) added
" 86: Cancillus Camillus
I., 4, 13: Fulcinius and prisoners “and” deleted led by him
II., 1, 4: yours ; added
" 16: though ( added
" 21: purple ! added
" 22: my heyre ? added
" 182-3: ( ) added
" 217: promped prompted
" 372: ( ) added
" 386: ( ) added
III., 1, 30: words swordes
" 52: retch reach
" 58: the mortall powers iḿortall
" 78: tyrannie tyrant
" 163: steepie steep
" 205: ! added
IV., 1, 8: I thinke not “not” deleted, and added after “respects” in 9
" 95: compliant complaint
" 149: ? added
IV., 2, 12: lesse; ; deleted
" 27: pe bee
" 28: you command to me ever you coḿand me
" 39: tremele tremble
" 44: geeat great
" 70: Hypollitus one l substituted
" 123: express thee stop added
" 127: To render me that was ( ) added before before I hugg’d thee “that” and An adder in my bosome “before,” and after “thee” and “bosome”
IV., 2, 130: Thy pomp and pride— 163 Perpetual vexation shall not fall.
Note at top of p. 31_b_: “This page follows the later.”
Note at top of p. 32_a_: “This page misplac’d.”
" 182: would coulde
" 190: the iu ice st inverted inserted here between “iu” and “ice”
" 191: had with h inverted had
" 196: if yf
" 229: act are
" 242: grim death “grim” deleted
" 295: ( ) added
V., 1, 115: assure as sure
" 142: still’d stil’d
" 228: pinn’d pinion’d
V., 2, 22: iumpe impe
" 78: this murther ’tis
" 85: to sentence her inserted after “to”
I have compared the Malone quarto in the Bodleian Library and find that the mistakes are identical. In other words, _The Roman Actor_ was carelessly printed. Nearly all the corrections made, alike of sense and punctuation, are improvements. The emendation at IV., 2, 28 reads like one made by the author. On the other hand, a careful study of IV., 2, 127 will reveal the fact that the writer’s sense has been mistaken, and the omission of “grim” in IV., 2, 242 spoils the rhythm. The curious thing is that the play is full of misprints, which have not been corrected—_e.g._, III., 2, 143, Anaxerete (and in several other lines); line 154, “Epethite,” for “epithet”; 258, Heccuba. Take again IV., 2, 181: An e is inverted and not corrected; 188, “bttchered” stands for “butchered”; and 189, “lacriledge” for “sacrilege.”
_The Renegado_
I., 3, 159: receive least losse “the” inserted after “least.” It spoils the metre
II., 5, 46: up to the bre a c breache " ? added
III., 3, 1: I will ’Twill " 89: like a neighing gennet to mare to her proud her stallion stallion
III., 5, 114: well made galley mann’d
IV., 1, 114: witnesse of my change “of” deleted: “good” inserted after “my”
V., 2, 79: Franci. inserted (= Francisco)
V., 3, 111: Vitelli inserted
III., 3, 89 reads like an author’s emendation. On the other hand, the alteration in IV., 1, 114 is not in Massinger’s style.
_The Picture_
Line 37, Poem by T. Jay: of to heare or " 38: write neere writ " 40: admir’d admire I., 1, 31: satisfie satietie " 40: ( ) added " 53: If I am so rich or Sir " 120: wone him o inserted after “o” " 154: wracke w deleted " 190: ere the fight begun s added after “fight” (=is)
I., 2, 13: bravel ye added " 71: but deleted and added again in margin
" 170: examp le added
II., 1, 82: A post. deleted " 83: “Aside. A Post.” added in margin
II., 2, 98: “In one here” printed “In one here” deleted in a separate line after (_vide_ Gifford) this line
" 103: resolve s added
II., 2, 103: lords of her, like acres " 174: fierce dame n inserted before “m.” dame=dam " 255: solder soldier " 260: tosses trifles
Here it will be noted that two good emendations are made—I., 1, 53 and II., 2, 103. On the other hand, no notes are made on the last three acts: such a misprint as “ijgobobs” in V., 3, 161 escaping comment.
_The Fatal Dowry_
Nil.
_The Emperor of the East_
I., 1, 83: musicke? ? deleted, and “Sir?” added
I., 2, 169: too to " 178: Constantinople courte " 242: them feare their " 291: care feare " 323: Nimph Umph " 347: wooned d deleted
II., 1, 114: in knowledge “the” inserted after “in”
III., 2, 62: ( ) added " 93: heaven is most gratious “to you” deleted to you, madam " 111: with a kinde impotence “of” inserted after “kinde” " 138: I speak it ) added " 139: I I (so III., 4, 145, 163; IV., 1, 13) " 199: ransone m
III., 4, 19: how .sister: !! added " 29: str stirre " 44: beg pardon a inserted after “beg” " 60: my pity t added above “t” " 80: ? added
III., 4, 132: observe handle " 146: royall sir comma added
IV., 1, 14: Princesse Empresse
IV., 3, 36: they hee " 43: fraide defray’d " 62: camer cancer " 132: this admiration thie
V., 3, 47: flights s deleted " 85: niggle iuggle " 111: I fever if ever " 190: my grace on all cancelled
The corrections in this play are nearly all good: thus the metre is restored at I., 2, 178, and III., 2, 93, and improved in III., 4, 132. V., 3, 85 is an excellent emendation. On the other hand, I do not think the author would have made such a stupid mistake as the one found at IV., 1, 14, for Chrysapius is there addressing the Empress, about Pulcheria.
_The Maid of Honour_
Nil.
NOTE BY MR. EDMUND GOSSE.
In 1877, when he was breaking up his home at Clifton, and disposing of his books, John Addington Symonds gave Mr. Edmund Gosse a thick volume containing eight first editions of plays by Massinger. The book was bound in worn old calf of the period, and had stamped on the back the author’s name. Symonds, in giving the book to Mr. Gosse, called his attention to the contemporary corrections in ink, and said there was “a tradition” that they were in the handwriting of Massinger himself. Mr. Gosse, unfortunately, broke up the volume and had the eight plays separately bound, but the old binding had contained no further indication. In 1882 Swinburne made a careful examination of the corrections, and again in 1883, when he urged that they should be published. He became persuaded that they were made by Massinger himself. Nothing, however, has until now been done with them. The volume came from the Harbord library at Gunton in Norfolk, and was sold, with other old books, at the death of the fourth Lord Suffield in 1853. Symonds bought it of an Oxford bookseller when he was an undergraduate.
APPENDIX XX. BIBLIOGRAPHY
W. ARCHER: “The Elizabethan Stage” (Quarterly Review, No. 415, April, 1908).
R. BOYLE: Dictionary of National Biography: “Massinger.”
" Englische Studien (Heilbronn): “On Beaumont, Fletcher, and Massinger,” v. 74, vii, 66, viii. 39, ix. 209, x. 383.
" New Shakespeare Society Transactions, part ii., 1880-85, xviii., pp. 371-399: “Massinger and The Two Noble Kinsmen.” (_Cf._ Discussion on March 9, 1883, p. 66.)
" New Shakespeare Society Transactions, 1880-86, xxi., pp. 443-488: “Henry the Eighth.”
" New Shakespeare Society Transactions, 1886, xxvi., pp. 579-628.
A. C. BRADLEY: Oxford Lectures on Poetry: “Shakespeare the Man, and Shakespeare’s Theatre and Audience.”
A. H. BULLEN: Dictionary of National Biography: “Fletcher.”
H. COLERIDGE: Preface to Massinger and Ford. 1840.
S. T. COLERIDGE: Lectures on Shakespeare and the Poets (T. Ashe, 1883), pp. 403-407, 427, 432, 437, 534, 540.
W. T. COURTHOPE: History of English Poetry, vol. iv., pp. 348-369.
T. COXETER: The dramatic works of P. Massinger: 1761.
LIEUT.-COL. F. CUNNINGHAM: The plays of P. Massinger: Chatto and Windus: 1870.
DOWNES: Roscius Anglicanus.
EDINBURGH REVIEW, No. 23, 1808. (Review of Gifford’s edition.)
F. G. FLEAY: Biographical Chronicle of the English Drama.
" Chronicle History of the London Stage, 1559-1642.
F. G. FLEAY: Chronicle History of W. Shakespeare.
" New Shakespeare Society Transactions, 1874, vol. i., No. 2: “On Metrical Tests as applied to Dramatic Poetry” (Fletcher, Beaumont, Massinger.)
" Shakespeare Manual.
GARDINER: “The Political Element in Massinger.” (Contemporary Review, August, 1876): reprinted in New Shakespeare Society Transactions, 1875, No. xi., pp. 314-332. (_Cf._ also History of England, 1884, vol. vii., pp. 327 and 337)
GARNETT AND GOSSE: English Literature: an Illustrated Record. Heinemann.
GAYLEY AND BRANDER MATTHEWS: Representative English Comedies, vol. iii. New York, 1914.
W. GIFFORD: 1805. Second edition, 1813.
W. W. GREG: Henslowe’s Diary, vol. ii., pp. 165, 171, 224. 1904-08.
" Henslowe Papers, pp. 66, 70, 74, 85. 1907.
" List of English Plays written before 1643 and printed before 1700. Bibliographical Society, 1900.
HALLAM: Literature of Europe, part iii., chap. vi.
HAZLITT: Lectures on Elizabethan Literature, pp. 131-136.
E. KOEPPEL: Cambridge History of English Literature, vol. vi., chap, vi.: “Massinger.”
" Quellen Studien zu den Dramen George Chapman’s, Philip Massinger’s, und John Ford’s.
C. LAMB: Specimens of English Dramatic Poets.(590)
G. C. MACAULAY: Cambridge History of English Literature, vol. vi., chap. v.: “Beaumont and Fletcher.”
J. MONCK MASON: Dramatic Works, 1779.
E. H. C. OLIPHANT: Englische Studien, xiv., xv., xvi.
" Modern Language Review, iii., 337-355; iv., 190-199, 342-351.
" Problems of Authorship in the Elizabethan Drama. Chicago, 1911.
J. PHELAN: Dissertation (Halle), 1878. This careful performance contains information about Massinger’s family. (_Cf._, however, Furnivall’s Protest in Anglia, ii., p. 504.)
J. M. ROBERTSON: The Baconian Heresy, chap. iii.
G. SAINTSBURY: Cambridge History of English Literature, vol. v., chap, viii.: “Shakespeare.”
SCHELLING: Elizabethan Drama, 1908.
SHAKESPEARE’S ENGLAND: Oxford University Press, 1916.
L. STEPHEN: Hours in a Library, vol. ii.
A. C. SWINBURNE: Contemporaries of Shakespeare (Gosse and Wise).
" Fortnightly Review, July, 1889.
" Letters (Gosse and Wise), Nos. lxii. and lxxiii.
A. SYMONS: Mermaid Series, two volumes.
ASHLEY H. THORNDIKE: Tragedy. Constable, 1908.
L. WANN: Shakespeare Studies (University of Wisconsin), vii.: “The Collaboration of Beaumont, Fletcher, and Massinger.”
SIR A. W. WARD: Cambridge History of English Literature, vol. v., chap. xiv.
" History of English Dramatic Literature, especially vol. iii., pp. 1-47.
INDEX
A
AESCHYLUS, 149, 169
Alliteration in M., 121 _n._ 1, App. XVIII.
Aristophanes, 61, 70, 149
Aristotle, 27 _n._ 1, 28 _n._ 2, 75, 76, 110 _n._ 1, 140
Armada, 18
Aubrey, 5 _n._ 2
À Wood, A., 2, 6
B
_Bashful Lover, The_, 48, 50, 57, 58, 75, 98, 131, 147, 199
Beaumont, 21 _n._ 5, 25, 57, 59 _n._ 1, 70, 94, 99 _n._ 2, 110, 129 _n._ 1
Beethoven, 76
_Believe as You List_, 15, 54, 93, 140, App. VII., App. VIII.
Besant, Sir W., 7
Boccaccio, 9 _n._ 1, 11 _n._ 1, 76 _n._ 3
_Bondman, The_, 15, 24, 27, 31, 32 _n._ 1, 35, 36, 48, 61, 73, 75, 104, 108, 134, 145, 150
Boyle, 2 _n._ 3, 20, 21, 25, 55, 56, 62 _n._ 1, 70 _n._ 1, 88, 96, 97-104, 109, 122 _n._ 3, 129, 131, App. III., 198, 200
Bradley, A. C., 14, 26 _n._ 3, 28 _n._ 4, 65 _n._ 3, 80 _n._ 16
Bridges, R., 69 _n._ 1, 175
Brooke, R., 111, 159
Brooke, Tucker, 95-97
Browne, Sir T., 82, 119
Buckingham, Duke of, 16, 204
Bullen, A. H., 70, 95 _n._ 2, App. III., 178 _n._ 6, 201
Bunyan, 108 _n._ 1
C
Catalogue lines, 54, 91 _n._ 1
Cayet, 178 _n._ 6, 193
Cervantes, 5 _n._ 5, 203
Chapman, 15 _n._ 2, 66 _n._ 2, 117, 139, 202
Charles I., 7, 15
Cibber, Colley, 176, 181 _n._ 3
_City Madam, The_, 10, 11, 13, 31, 32 _n._ 1, 43, 53, 54, 55, 73, 113, 116, 133
Cokaine, Sir A., 22
Coleridge, S. T., 55, 64, 71, 76 _n._ 3
Collier, J., 24
Corneille, 43
Courthope, 96
Croker, T. Crofton, 175
Cunningham, F., 7 _n._ 1, 24, 133 _n._ 1, 182
D
Daborne, 2
Davies, 123
Dekker, 20, 44 _n._ 1, 123, 135 _n._ 2, 147, App. X., 199, 200
Diderot, 110 _n._ 1
Dostoevsky, 61
_Double Falsehood, The_, App. XV.
Downes, 24 _n._ 3
Dryden, 24, 116
Dublin MS., App. XVII.
_Duke of Milan, The_, 16, 31, 32 _n._ 1, 41, 52, 81, 82, 135, 145, 203
E
_Emperor of the East, The_, 17, 27, 28, 32 _n._ 1, 43 _n._ 2, 48, 51, 54, 72, 82, 101, 102, 108, 128, 146, 148, 149, 170
Euripides, 27, 32, 33, 75, 77, 110 _n._ 1, 169 _n._ 1
F
_Fair Penitent, The_, 137
_Fatal Dowry, The_, 8, 20, 28 _n._ 4, 36, 49, 53, 56 _n._ 2, 119, App:. XI.
Field, 21, 138, App. XI.
Fielding, 63, 77
Fleay, F. G., 5 _n._ 5, 20, 33 _n._ 2, 56 _n._ 2, 57 _n._ 1, 159, 202
Fletcher, 3, 10, 19, 21 _n._ 1, 28, 59 _n._ 2, 66, 71, 84 _n._ 1, 91, 97, 98, 109, 123, 129, 130, 133, 135, 147, App. III., 170
Ford, 8, 13 _n._ 5, 13 _n._ 6, 33 _n._ 2, 59 _n._ 1, 62, 63 _n._ 3, 65 _n._ 3, 81, 120, 205 _n._ 2
G
Gardiner, 7
Garrick, 124 _n._ 4, 176
Gayley, 26 _n._ 4, 141 _n._ 1, 160
Georgian Poets, The, 61
Gibbon, 28
Gifford, 7 _n._ 1, 25, 176, App. IX., 198, 220
Goffe, 77 _n._ 3, 202
Gosse, E., App. XIX.
Gounod, 109 _n._ 1, 137 _n._ 3
_Great Duke of Florence, The_, 16 _n._ 1, 25, 47, 54, 102, 103, 150
Greene, 102 _n._ 5
Greg, W. W., 24 _n._ 2, 67 _n._ 2, 168
Grosart, 6 _n._ 1, 208
_Guardian, The_, 4, 12, 24, 27, 28, 49, 74, 120, 134, 148
H
Hallam, 70
Hazlitt, 25, 124 _n._ 4, 137 _n._ 3
_Henry VIII._, 11 _n._ 5, 20, 22, 71, 73 _n._ 1, 84-91, 128, 141 _n._ 1
Henslowe, 4, 177
Herbert, Sir H., 15
Heywood, 117
Homer, 169
Hroswitha, 124 _n._ 3
J
James I., 7
Johnson, S., 121 n. 2
Jonson, Ben, 6 _n._ 2, 12, 43 _n._ 2, 69 _n._ 4, 70, 72, 77 _n._ 3, 113-116, 118, 128, 133, 185 _n._ 1
K
Kean, 124 _n._ 4
Kemble, 124 _n._ 4
_Knacke to Know a Knave, A_, 208 _n._ 1
Koeppel, 28, 178 _n._ 6, 193
Kyd, 127
L
Lamb, C., 25, 33, 122 _n._ 3, 199
Langbaine, 2 _n._ 2, 34
Lee, Sir Sidney, 77 _n._ 2, 112
_Love Lost in the Dark_, 24
Lyly, 117
M
Macaulay, G. C., 21 _n._ 5, 65 _n._ 1, App. III.
_Maid of Honour, The_, 16, 18, 27, 28, 40, 74, 103, 132, 146
Malone, 15 _n._ 1, 15 _n._ 3, 24, 176
Marlowe, 29 _n._ 1, 110, 117, 150 _n._ 10
Marston, 62, 112 _n._ 1, 159
Massinger, Arthur, 1
Massinger, Philip: life, 2; religion, 3; knowledge of Spanish, 5 _n._ 5; death, 7; politics, 14; stagecraft, 26; style, 33; versification, 55; faults, 60; imitation of Shakspere, 77; introduction of doctors, 81; method, 104; favourite words, 106; character, 118; use of epithets, 120 _n._ 5; use of assonances, 121 _n._ 1; knowledge of Greek, App. II.; a metrical peculiarity, App. VI.; use of alliteration, App. XVIII.
Matthews, Brander, 25, 45, 64, 71, 123 _n._ 4, 142 _n._ 3, 160
Matthieu, P., 6 _n._ 2, App. XIV.
Middleton, 21, 28, 62, 65 _n._ 3, 124, 127, 141 _n._ 1, 147, 158, App. XVI.
Milton, 32 _n._ 3, 51, 55, 69
Monck Mason, 25, 123, 134
Montgomery, Philip, Earl of Pembroke and, 5, 14
Mozart, 76, 88
N
_New Way to Pay Old Debts, A_, 12, 20, 25, 47 _n._ 3, 48, 52, 70, 108, 115, 122, 124, 142 _n._ 3
Nichol Smith, 77 _n._ 1
O
_Old Law, The_, 21, 141, 158
Oliphant, E. H. C., 59 _n._ 2, 162 _n._ 2
Ovid, 34, 105 _n._ 3, 151
P
_Parliament of Love, The_, 42, 50, 59, 60, 82, 83, 92, 139, 146, App. IX.
Peele, 142 _n._
Pembroke, second Earl of, 2
Pembroke, third Earl of, 6
Pepys, 24
Phelan, 137 _n._ 3, 203 _n._ 2
Philipps, Halliwell, 24 _n._ 2, 176
_Picture, The_, 8, 9, 29, 50, 54, 73, 74, 82, 111 _n._ 1, 140, 146
Plautus, 2, 67 _n._ 2, 104
_Powerful Favourite, The_, 6 _n._ 2, App. XIV.
_Prince of Tarent, The_, vide _A Very Woman_
Prynne, 65 _n._ 3
Puritans, 10, 45
R
_Renegado, The_, 3, 13, 24, 27, 31, 53, 65, 74, 75, 134, 145, 149
Repetition of words and phrases, 54, 197 _n._ 1
Richardson, 135
_Roman Actor, The_, 28, 33, 38, 52, 66, 72, 82, 116, 126, 137, 146
Rosenbach, 5 _n._ 5
Rowe, 56 _n._ 2, 137
Rowley, W., 21, 141 _n._ 1, 142, 168
S
Schelling, 5 _n._ 5, 65 _n._ 1
Schmidt, 43 _n._ 2, 171, 175
Scott, Sir W., 68
Sea scenes, 28
_Second Maiden’s Tragedy, The_, App. XIII.
_Sero sed Serio_, 5 _n._ 1
Shakspere, 3, 12 _n._ 3, 18, 20, 29, 32, 33 _n._ 1, 43 _n._ 1, 43 _n._ 2, 45, 49, 56 _n._ 2, 63, 69, 70, 72, 73, 77-80, 83, 85, 87, 90, 91, 98, 99, 101, 109, 113, 118, 121-123, 125, 128, 130, 135 _n._ 1, 137, 147, 153, App. IV.
Shelley, 31
Shirley, 116, 126 _n._ 2, 147, 180 _n._ 1
Signorelli, Luca, 61
Simpson, P., 65 _n._ 3, 133 _n._ 1, 203 _n._ 2
_Sir J. V. O. Barnavelt_, 8, 9, 52, 139 _n._ 3, 177 _n._ 2, App. XII.
Sophocles, 150
Stephen, Sir Leslie, 45, 68, 76 _n._ 2, 76 _n._ 3, 132
Stevenson, 64
_Strangest Adventure, The_, 178
Subordinates combined, 29
Swinburne, 52, 151, 215
Sykes, Dugdale, 93, 94, 96
Symonds, J. A., 222
T
Taylor, J., 124 _n._ 2
Theobald, 204
Torture on stage, 28
Tourneur, 20, 55, 62, 157, 203
Turks, 9
_Two Noble Kinsmen, The_, 20, 22, 23 _n._ 1, 92-104
U
_Unnatural Combat, The_, 8, 28, 31, 54, 69, 138, App. XVIII.
V
_Very Woman, A_, 21, 42, 50, 81, 82, 84, 100, 102, 108, 129
Virgil, 127 _n._ 3
_Virgin Martyr_, _The_, 3, 18, 20, 24, 31, 32, 33, 46, 47 _n._ 3, 62, 72, 73, 81, 120, 123, 142, 149, App. X.
Vocabulary of M., 106
W
Warburton, 23, App. V.
Ward, Sir A., 25, 65 _n._ 1, 110
Warner, Sir G. F., 177
Weber, 21 _n._ 6
Webster, 5, 29 _n._ 2, 111-113, 159
_Wit and Fancy in a Maze_, 77 _n._ 3
Z
Zielinski, 50
FOOTNOTES
1 It is much to be wished that someone would essay the same task for Beaumont and Fletcher, though there the work would be less easy, partly from the looseness of the metres, partly from the corruption of the text, but chiefly from the presence of prose-passages bordering on verse.
2 A. à Wood’s _Fasti Oxonienses_, p. 313.
3 Herein he resembled F. Beaumont. G. Langbaine, on the other hand, says that the Earl sent Massinger to Oxford, where he “closely pursued his studies.” But we must be careful how we believe Langbaine; his account of our poet begins thus: “This author was born at Salisbury, in the reign of King Charles the First, being son to Philip Massinger, a gentleman belonging to the Earl of Montgomery.” Here are three gross blunders at once.
4 Boyle (_N. S. S._, xxi., p. 472) says that “Massinger’s inveterate habit of repeating himself arose probably from his profession as an actor.” I know of no evidence for this hypothesis. _Cf._, however, p. 6, note 1.
_ 5 Cf._ Mommsen’s _History of Rome_, English translation, vol. ii., p. 440.
6 Thus in the play of _Lady Jane_, of which _The Famous History of Sir T. Wyatt_ is a fragment, we find five authors concerned. It will be remembered that Eupolis contributed to the _Knights_ of Aristophanes.
7 For some account of Field see Appendix XI.
8 Daborne’s letters bulk large in the Henslowe Correspondence. We have two plays of his: _A Christian turn’d Turke_, based on the story of the pirate Ward; and _The Poor Man’s Comfort_, a tragi-comedy. Like Marston, he abandoned the stage in middle life and took orders, before 1618. It is therefore unlikely that he collaborated with Massinger in any of the plays which we possess.
9 Such a reference to _Acta Sanctorum_ as is contained in these lines might be made by an Anglican:
ANTONINUS. It may be, the duty And loyal service, with which I pursued her, And sealed it with my death, will be remember’d Among her blessed _actions_.—_V. M._, IV., 3, 28.
More stress might be laid on the metaphor contained in these lines:
THEOPHILUS. O! mark it, therefore, and with that attention, As you would hear an embassy from heaven, _By a wing’d legate_.—_V. M._, V., 2, 103.
10 No doubt it required courage to present a Jesuit in this way so soon after Gunpowder Plot; and the curious argument in _The Renegado_, V., 1, 28-41, in favour of lay-baptism certainly shows a mind interested in ecclesiastical problems.
_ 11 The Renegado_, I., 1, 24-32.
_ 12 Two Gentlemen of Verona_, V., 1.
13 Friar Paulo takes an important part in _The Maid of Honour_, ad finem. Octavio, disguised as a priest, elicits Alonzo’s repentance in _The Bashful Lover_, IV., 2. The same expedient occurs in _The Emperor of the East_, V., 3, where Theodosius, disguised as a friar, convinces himself of his wife’s innocence. Shakspere disguises the Duke as a friar in _Measure for Measure_, II., 3, III., 1, 2, IV., 1, 2, 3.
14 See the photograph at the beginning of the book. _Cf._ also Greg’s Henslowe Papers, article 68. Fleay identifies the play referred to in the document as _The Honest Man of Fortune_, acted in 1613. In the first Dublin poem, after referring to the patronage which had befriended Jonson and Fletcher, Massinger goes on thus:
“These are precedents I cite with reverence; my low intents Look not so high; yet some work I might frame That should not wrong my duty, nor your name; Were but your lordship pleased to cast an eye Of favour on my trod-down poverty.”
_ 15 Cf._ W. W. Greg’s _Henslowe’s Diary_, vol. ii., pp. 110-147. Mr. Greg points out (p. 113) that “there is no record of any speculations of Henslowe’s own as far as the evidence of the Diary is concerned. The accounts are company accounts”—_i.e._, of The Rose and Fortune Theatres.
We have also at Dulwich a bond from R. Daborne and P. Massinger to Philip Henslowe for payment of £3, dated July 4th, 1615. _Cf._ Greg’s Henslowe Papers, article 102.
16 Licensed March 4th, 1631.
17 Licensed May 6th, 1631.
18 See poem “Sero sed serio” (Cunningham, p. 628); _Picture_, II., 2, 37; _City Madam_, I., 2, 116; _Emperor of the East_, II., 1, 45. _Cf._ _Catiline_; II, 1.
19 Aubrey, in his _Natural History of Wiltshire_ (ed. J. Britton, 1847, p. 31), distinctly says that the poet had a pension of twenty or thirty pounds per annum, which was “payed to his wife after his decease.”
20 Younger brother of William Herbert, Earl of Pembroke.
21 The dedication begins thus: “However I could never arrive at the happiness to be made known to your lordship,” etc.
22 No doubt he knew some foreign languages. His plays come from various sources, French, Italian, and Spanish, some of which, however, had been translated into English. _The Renegado_ is traceable to a comedy of Cervantes, _Los Baños de Argel_, printed in 1615. _The Emperor of the East_ is derived from a French translation of Zonaras. If, which is doubtful, _The Duke of Milan_ owes anything to Guicciardini, his history had appeared in an English translation by Sir Geoffrey Fenton in 1579. Fleay has a curious theory that where French scenes are found in Fletcher they are due to Massinger.
Much interesting information on the great debt which Fletcher and other dramatists owed to Spanish literature will be found in F. E. Schelling’s _Elizabethan Drama_, vol. ii., pp. 205-218 and 530. Schelling comes to the conclusion that Fletcher did not know Spanish; but he quotes an unpublished dictum of his friend Dr. Rosenbach, who holds it as certain that Massinger knew Spanish. _The Island Princess_ is based on a Spanish play, of which no translation is known, _Conquista de las islas Malucas_, by De Argensola, 1609. Rosenbach attributes the play to Massinger! It is clear, however, that a translation may have been in circulation from which Fletcher took his materials, or somebody may have seen the play acted in Spain, and reported it to him. Further, _Love’s Cure_ is based on the _Comedia de la Fuerza de la Costumbre_, by Guillen De Castro, licensed at Valencia, February 7th, 1625, and published three months later. Fletcher died in August, 1625, and Stiefel thinks that he read Spanish, and that this is his last work. Rosenbach and Bullen assign the play to Massinger (_cf._ Appendix III., No. 29). It is highly desirable that the grounds which led Rosenbach to believe that Massinger knew Spanish should be made public.
23 Lines 39-45 run thus:
Let them write well that do this, and in grace. I would not for a pension or a place Part so with over candour: let me rather Live poorly on those toys I would not father; Not known beyond a player or a man, That does pursue the course that I have ran. Ere so grow famous.
Lines 41-42 are interesting as seeming to hint that Massinger preferred to waive publicity as to his collaboration with Fletcher and others. The poem was published by A. B. Grosart in _Englische Studien_, xxvi., pp. 1-7, and will be found with the original spelling and punctuation in Appendix XVII.
_ 24 A. O._, ii., 654-656. A. à Wood includes in the list of Massinger’s plays _Powerful Favourite, or the Life of Sejanus_. As Massinger was but nineteen in 1603 he cannot have been the “happy genius” referred to in the address “to the readers” of Ben Jonson’s play. For the explanation of the mistaken attribution of _The Powerful Favourite_, _cf._ Appendix XIV.
25 Gifford was right as to the date and Cunningham wrong. The entry in question is as follows: “March 18th, 1639 [_i.e._, old style], Philip Massenger, a stranger.” The entry about Fletcher runs thus: “Aug. 29, 1625, John Ffletcher [sic], a man, in the church.” Entries such as “a man,” “a boy,” “a girl” are not unusual in the book, and the practice of burial “in the church” was comparatively common at the time.
26 The stone inscribed with his name in the chancel of St. Saviour’s does not mark the place of his burial, which is unknown.
27 By a charming if undesigned coincidence the Massinger window stands next to that of Shakspere. It represents two scenes from _The Virgin Martyr_, and, unfortunately, repeats the erroneous date (1639) of the poet’s death, and gives 1583 as the year of his birth.
_ 28 Contemporary Review_, August, 1876.
29 II., 2, 140.
30 Intercourse with the Low Countries is referred to in the _New Way_ (I., 2, 75). The monastery to which Sir John Frugal retires is at “Lovain” (_City Madam_, III., 2, 58). _Cf._ also for the University of “Lovain” _The Elder Brother_, II., 1.
31 III., 1, 38. _Cf._ also Frank Wellborn’s petition, V., 1, _ad finem_. Compare the part played in _Sir John Barnavelt_ by the English mercenaries in Holland; and especially IV., 2.
ORANGE. I have sent patents out for the choicest companies Hither to be remov’d, first Colonel Vere’s From Dort, next Sir Charles Morgan’s, a stout Company.
IV., 3. BARNAVELT (_to his daughter_):
What! wouldst thou have a husband? Go marry an English Captain, and he’ll teach thee How to defy thy father and his fortune.
II., 1. BARNAVELT:
But have you tried by any means (it skills not How much you promise) to win th’ old soldier (The English Companies in chief I aim at) To stand firm for us?
_ 32 Unnatural Combat_, I., 1, 243, 278; _Great Duke of Florence_, I., 2, 62; II., 1, 145; _Picture_, I., 1, 3-5; _Guardian_, II., 1, 84; V., 4, 160; _Very Woman_, V., 5, 28. _Cf._ in Marlowe, _Tamburlaine_, Pt. I., III., 3; Pt. II., I., 2; _Jew of Malta_, I., 1; II. 2. For a Christian pirate _cf._ _Decameron_, II. 4.
_ 33 Bondman_, IV., 3, 77; _Renegado_, IV., 1, 99-102; II., 6, 32.
_ 34 A Very Woman_, III., 1.
_ 35 Cf._ _The Unnatural Combat_ and _The Renegado_.
_ 36 Guardian_, II., 1, 84. Similarly in _The Bashful Lover_, V., 3, 110, Matilda warns Lorenzo that “Heaven’s liberal hand” has designed him to fight rather against the Turk than a Christian neighbour-king. Compare _The Devil’s Law-case_ (p. 138_b_).
ERCOLE. When our bloods Embrac’d each other, then I pitied That so much valour should be hazarded On the fortune of a single rapier And not spent against the Turk.
_ 37 Renegado_, II., 5, 24 and 64-73. Bertoldo, the Knight of Malta, is the hero of _The Maid of Honour_. _Cf._ also Fletcher’s play of that name; and _Guardian_, V., 4, 143-145.
_ 38 Unnatural Combat_, V., 2, 230. We find a similar emphasis on the Turk and pirates in Webster’s _White Devil_ and_ Devil’s Law-case_.
39 The “zealous coblers” and “learned botchers” who preach at Amsterdam are mentioned in _Renegado_, I., 1, 30-32. In _The Unnatural Combat_, III., 1, 75, the “Hugonots” are referred to as using the word “mortified.” “Geneva print” is mentioned in _Duke of Milan_, I., 1, 11; “precisians” in _New Way_, I., 1, 6, use the word “verity.”
_ 40 Fair Maid_, IV., 2.
_ 41 Very Woman_, III., 1, 124:
MERCHANT. They have a city, Sir—I have been in it. And therefore dare affirm it—where if you saw With what a load of vanity ’tis fraughted, How like an everlasting morris-dance it looks, Nothing but hobby-horse and Maid Marian, You would start indeed.
_ 42 Old Law_, IV., 1, 20; _New Way_, III., 2, 169; _Very Woman_, III., 5, 29 and 70; _Renegado_, I., 3, 74. _Cf._ _Decameron_, II. 5.
43 For the influence of the masque on Massinger, _cf._ _Picture_, II., 2; _City Madam_, V., 3; _Guardian_, IV., 2.
_ 44 Cf._ the characters of Simonides in _The Old Law_ and young Novall in _The Fatal Dowry_, II., 2; _Emperor of the East_, I., 2, 21; _Picture_, II., 2, 29-36; _Very Woman_, III., 1, 131-2. Compare also _Henry VIII._, I., 3.
_ 45 Renegado_, III., 1, 57; _Guardian_, II., 1, 81. _Cf._ _Merchant of Venice_, I., 2, 78-81; _As You Like It_, IV., 1, 34-40.
46 The play ends thus:
Make you good Your promised reformation, and instruct Our city dames, whom wealth makes proud, to move In their own spheres, and willingly to confess, In their habits, manners, and their highest port, A distance ’twixt the city and the court.
_Cf._ also _Maid of Honour_, III., 1, 84; _City Madam_, III., 2, 153; IV., 4, 43; _New Way_, II., 1, 81 and 88. In _The Renegado_, I., 2, distinctions are drawn between the county ladies, the city dames, and the court ladies of England. Compare also the epilogue to _Henry VIII_:
Others, to hear the city Abused extremely, and to cry “that’s witty.”
_Rape of Lucrece_, II., 1; II., 3; _The Devil is an Ass_, III., 1; _Westward Ho!_ I., 1; “I tell thee, there is equality enough between a lady and a city dame if their hair be but of a colour.” Ford contrasts the ladies of the city and the court in _The Broken Heart_, II., 1. In Dekker’s _Shoemaker’s Holiday_, I., 1, the Lord Mayor says:
Too mean is my poor girl for his high birth, Poor citizens must not with courtiers wed.
_Cf._ also _A Chaste Maid in Cheapside_, I., 1:
MAUDLIN. Besides, you have a presence, sweet Sir Walter, Able to dance a maid brought up in the city; A brave court-spirit makes our virgins quiver.
_Eastward Ho!_ deals with the same contrast. _Cf._ also the Induction to _The Knight of the Burning Pestle_, and _ib._, IV., 5; Induction to _Four Plays in One_.
_ 47 Renegado_, I., 3, 92-94; _City Madam_, I., 2, 34. _Cf._ _Henry VIII._, V., 4; _Shoemaker’s Holiday_, V., 2; _The Honest Whore_, Pt. I., III., 1; _Sir Thomas More_, II., 1.
_ 48 Parliament of Love_, IV., 5, 12; _New Way_, II., 1, 142. _Cf._ _Epicoene_, V., 1 _bis_; _Elder Brother_, IV., 3; _Honest Man’s Fortune_, V., 3; _Thierry and Theodoret_, II., 3.
_ 49 Unnatural Combat_, III., 3, 35; IV., 2, 35; _Parliament of Love_, IV., 5, 125, 126; _Bondman_, V., 3, 245-252; _Guardian_, III., 3, 8; _City Madam_, IV., 1, 74; _Duke of Milan_, III., 2, 18. _Cf._ _1 Henry IV._, II., 2, 49; III., 1, 130; _2 Henry IV._, IV., 3, 52-54; _Winter’s Tale_, IV., 3, 181-263; V., 2, 25-27; _Antony and Cleopatra_, V., 2, 215; _Queen of Corinth_, III., 1; _Spanish Curate_, IV., 7; _False One_, I., 1; _Elder Brother_, IV., 4; _The White Devil_, p. 23b; _The Devil’s Law-case_, pp. 131_b_ and 143_b_; _Love’s Sacrifice_, III., 1; IV., 1; _The Honest Whore_, Pt. I, I., 1; _Bartholomew Fair_, Induction; II., 1; and III., 1; _Rape of Lucrece_, II., 1; _Edward II._, II., 2; _Orlando Furioso_, IV., 1; _George a Greene_, IV., 2; _Parliament of Bees_, ch. v.
_ 50 Renegado_, II., 4, 1. _Cf._ _Much Ado about Nothing_, V.,1, 295-297; _A King and No King_, I., 2; IV., 2; _Four Plays in One_; _Triumph of Love_, 4; _Little French Lawyer_, III., 2; _The False One_, III., 2; IV., 3; _Lover’s Progress_, I., 1; III., 4; V., 3; _Cupid’s Revenge_, II., 4; _James IV._, 1, 2.
_ 51 New Way_, especially II., 1; for the difficulty of getting justice done for the poor, _cf._ _Unnatural Combat_, I., 1; _Fatal Dowry_, I., 1, especially lines 67-80.
52 II.; 4, 79-106. The reference to the mills is as follows:
Builders of iron mills, that grub up forests With timber trees for shipping.
_Cf._ _Volpone_, I., 1, 33-36.
53 I., 1, 290-340.
_ 54 E.g._, in _The New Way_ and _The Guardian_.
_ 55 City Madam._
56 Thus Ford, in an interesting passage in _Love’s Sacrifice_, I., 1, refers to the national love of self-depreciation among the English. _Cf._ also _Rape of Lucrece_, III., 5.
57 I., 2, 22-49. _Cf._ also _Very Woman_, III., 1, 133-135; and Webster’s _Westward Ho!_ I., 1, and III., 3.
_ 58 Cf._ _The Honest Whore_, Pt. II., IV., 1:
MATHEO. England is the only hell for horses, and only paradise for women. Also Lamira’s words in _The Honest Man’s Fortune_, III., 3.
_ 59 Cf._ _Duke of Milan_, _Picture_, and _Roman Actor_. The Duke of “Pavy” in Ford’s _Love’s Sacrifice_ is a slighter sketch of the same type. The worthlessness of Bianca in the same play is a measure of the moral gap between Massinger and Ford.
_ 60 Renegado_, IV., 2, 116-143.
61 Oxford Lectures on Poetry, pp. 363-365. _Cf._ also pp. 392-3.
_ 62 Cf._ op. cit., p. 381. _Cf._ Prologue to _Henry VIII._, line 13; Prologue to _Romeo and Juliet_, line 12, and Chorus to Act I. in _The Mayor of Queensborough_.
If all my powers Can win the grace of two poor hours, Well apaid I go to rest.
Also Prologues to _Two Noble Kinsmen_, lines 28, 29; _Alchemist_, line 1; _Love’s Pilgrimage_, line 8; _Lover’s Progress_, line 18 (“_three_ short hours”); and Shirley’s Preface to the Folio of Beaumont and Fletcher.
_ 63 Cf._ Malone’s _Shakspere_ (edition 1790), vol. i., pt. 2, p. 226. _Believe as You List_ probably represents an adaptation of this play, with classical names and setting substituted for the original plot. _Cf._ Appendix VII.
64 Chapman had to suppress a considerable part of _The Tragedy of Byron_, which referred to quite recent events in France. But the censorship seems to have become much more stringent in Massinger’s days.
_ 65 The King and the Subject_; now lost. The play was performed, after alterations had been made, under another title. Sir H. Herbert wrote, “Received of Mr. Lowen’s for my paines about Massinger’s play called _The King and the Subject_, 2nd June, 1638, £1.”
66 Malone’s _Shakspere_ (ed. 1790), vol. i., pt. 2, p. 235.
_ 67 Bondman_, I., 3.
68 I., 1, 49-56. _Cf._ also _Great Duke of Florence_, I., 1, 75-84. Sanazarro is one of the better type of favourites.
69 I., 1, 23-36.
70 III., 1, 10-17.
71 III., 3, 135.
72 IV., 5, 52. _Cf._ also _Great Duke of Florence_, I., 1, 73-84.
_ 73 Cf._ especially the offer made by the Informer to Paulinus, I., 2, 69-89.
74 1st quarto, “pole.”
75 I., 2, 236-257.
76 IV., 1, 136-147.
77 I., 1, 220-233.
78 Middleton refers to “the great Armada” in _A Trick to Catch the Old One_, III., 4; Dampit: “In Anno ’88, when the great Armada was coming.” _Cf._ _The Alchemist_, IV., 2.
_ 79 Cf._ Champernal in _The Little French Lawyer_, and Alberto in _The Fair Maid of the Inn_. Notice too the zest with which Valerio (_A Wife for a Month_, V., 3) describes the sea-action with the Turks.
80 The question whether Massinger knew Greek is discussed in Appendix II. To take one play only, _The Maid of Honour_, we find classical allusions in I., 1, 240; I., 2, 36, 107-128; II., 1, 48; II., 2, 23; II., 3, 26; II., 4, 17; II., 5, 13, 28; III., I, 29; III., I, 194; IV., 4, 13; IV., 4, 97, 108, 109; IV., 4, 140-145.
_ 81 N. S. S._, xxvi., p. 581.
_ 82 Englische Studien_, V., 93.
83 I., 2, 27.
84 Also called _The Prince of Tarent_. It would have been easier for Fletcher to imitate Massinger than for Massinger to imitate Fletcher. The pathos and comedy of the latter were alike out of our author’s range.
85 III., 1, 39.
86 See discussion on p. 141.
_ 87 Cf._ Appendix III.
88 The question suggests itself at once: Did Massinger ever collaborate with Beaumont? Mr. Macaulay does not face this problem in his interesting monograph on Beaumont; indeed, he ignores Massinger’s undoubted claims to have collaborated with Fletcher, though he makes full amends for this omission in his article in the _Cambridge History of English Literature_. Boyle at one time thought that Massinger worked with Beaumont and Fletcher in _The Honest Man’s Fortune_ and _The Knight of Malta_ (_N. S. S._, pp. 589-590).
89 From the nature of the case the idea is not new; thus Weber, in the Preface to the 1812 Edinburgh edition of Beaumont and Fletcher, attributes the completion of _The Lover’s Progress_, _Love’s Pilgrimage_, and the character of Septimius in _The False One_ to Massinger. Fleay (_Shakespeare Manual_, p. 152) makes out a list of ten of Fletcher’s plays in which he traces Massinger’s hand. _Cf._ Appendix III.
_ 90 Eng. St._, VII., 75.
91 Reprinted 1877. Congleton. A copy of the original book is to be seen at Shakspere’s birthhouse, Stratford-on-Avon.
92 An inauspicious date for such a publication!
93 There are many touches in _Henry VIII_ which remind one of Massinger; and not a few passages in Massinger remind one of _Henry VIII_. Take as an example _City Madam_, III., 2, 111.
LUKE. O my lord! This heap of wealth, which you possess me of, Which to a worldly man had been a blessing, And to the messenger might with justice challenge A kind of adoration, is to me A curse I cannot thank you for; and, much less Rejoice in that tranquillity of mind My brother’s vows must purchase. I have made A dear exchange with him: he now enjoys My peace and poverty, the trouble of His wealth conferr’d on me; and that a burthen Too heavy for my weak shoulders.
LORD LACY. Honest Soul, With what feeling he receives it!
Or this from _The Bashful Lover_, IV., 2, 87.
ALONSO. She cause, alas! Her innocence knew no guilt, but too much favour. To me unworthy of it; ’twas my baseness, My foul ingratitude—what shall I say more? The good Octavio no sooner fell In the displeasure of his prince, his state Confiscated, and he forced to leave the Court, And she exposed to want; but all my oaths And protestation of service to her, Like seeming flames, raised by enchantment, vanish’d; This, this sits heavy here.
_Cf._ also _City Madam_, I., 2,126-134. I feel inclined to say that Massinger knew _Henry VIII_ by heart. _Cf. infra_, pp. 84, 85.
_ 94 The Two Noble Kinsmen_ is a remarkable play, full of fine poetry and lofty thought. On the other hand, its technique is very immature. The Gaoler’s daughter’s soliloquies are inartistic, and at times ludicrous. The play has at once the dignity of an early period and the complexity of style with which we are familiar in Shakspere’s later manner. One thing is clear: Act I. is by a different hand from the rest. Perhaps Shakspere and Fletcher touched up an old anonymous play.
See, however, discussion _infra_, pp. 84-104.
_ 95 Cf._ Appendix V.
96 Mr. Halliwell Philipps, in his MS. note to _Believe as You List_, now in the British Museum, expresses himself as sceptical of the Warburton legend. _Cf._ Greg’s _Bakings of Betsy_ (_Library_, July, 1911).
97 Shakspere, III., p. 275. _Cf._ Downes’ _Roscius Anglicanus_, pp. 18, 52.
98 Diary, 1848 edition, I., p. 192; IV., p. 373.
99 Gayley’s _Representative English Comedies_, p. 319.
100 Gifford’s edition of Massinger, in four volumes, is one of the classics of our literature, though careless in details.
101 To Hazlitt, however, we owe, in his estimate of Sir Giles Overreach, one of the most brilliant pieces of English prose that we possess.
102 (_E. D. L._, iii., p. 42) “In Massinger we seem to recognize a man who firmly believes in the eternal difference between right and wrong, and never consciously swerves aside from the canon he acknowledges.”
_ 103 N. S. S._, xxvi., p. 586.
_ 104 Iphigenia auf Tauris_, IV., 4: “Ich untersuche nicht, ich fühle nur.”
105 Dr. Bradley (_Oxford Lectures_, p. 383) points out that “the average play of Shakspere’s day has great merits of a strictly dramatic kind, but it is not ‘well-built,’ it is not what we mean by ‘a good play.’ ” He traces this fault to the multiplication of scenes, which the absence of scenery in those days made easy.
106 Gayley points out (_R. E. C._, p. xci.) that, “Shakspere and Fletcher excepted, Massinger has been adjudged by posterity the most successful of the practical dramatists of the early seventeenth century.” He suggests (_R. E. C._, p. xcv.) that with slight and judicious modification an enterprising actor-manager might successfully produce _A New Way_, _The Maid of Honour_, _The City Madam_, and perhaps _The Bondman_.
107 Aristotle, _Rhetoric_, III., p. 1404_b_.
108 IV., 2. On the other hand, we should remember that our author did not invent this incident, but took it from Byzantine history. _Cf._ Gibbon’s _Decline and Fall_, chapter xxxii.
_ 109 Bondman_, II., 1, 187. _Cf._ ὁ ἄφωνος in Ar. _Poetics_, 1460 a. 32.
_ 110 Cf._ _The Sea Voyage_ and _The Double Marriage_.
_ 111 Roman Actor_, III., 2, 71; _Virgin Martyr_, V., 2, 206. _Cf._ Dr. Bradley’s remarks (_Oxford Lectures_, p. 366, note) on the blinding of Gloucester in _King Lear_. When the Duke in Ford’s _Love’s Sacrifice_ (V., 3) stabs himself and cries aloud:
Sprightful flood, Run out in rivers! O, that these thick streams Could gather head, and make a standing pool, That jealous husbands here might bathe in blood;
the words can only produce an anticlimax in the spectator’s mind, however effective they may be to the reader. Massinger is more dexterous in _The Fatal Dowry_, IV., 4, 154: “Yes, sir; this is her heart’s blood, is it not? I think it be.” There is a similar difficulty about D’Amville in _The Atheist’s Tragedy_ (V., 2) knocking out his brains with the executioner’s axe; and about Scaevola in _The Rape of Lucrece_ (V. 4) burning off his hand. _Cf._ also Bajazet and Zabina in _Tamburlaine_, Pt. I., V., 1, and Tamburlaine himself in Pt. II., III., 2.
112 Needless to say, the idea is not original; it is already a marked feature of Marlowe’s _Tamburlaine_ and _Faustus_; but the device does not often work so smoothly as in Massinger.
113 II., 2, 59-77. _Cf._ _The Virgin Martyr_, I., 1 (the three kings); _Emperor of the East_, II., 1 (Theodosius and his courtiers); _A New Way_, I., 3, 43 (the servants); _City Madam_, IV., 1 (Luke and the three creditors); IV., 2 (Luke and the two apprentices); _Bashful Lover_, I., 1 (Matilda and the waiting-women); V., 1 (Octavio and three friends); _Bondman_, I., 3 (Timoleon and four senators); _Unnatural Combat_, II., 2 (Theocrine and three attendants); _Great Duke of Florence_, I., 2 (three councillors); II., 2; V., 2 and 3 (Cozimo and courtiers); _Guardian_, IV., 4 (Severino and four banditti); _Maid of Honour_, I., 1 (Bertoldo and the two heirs “city bred”); _Roman Actor_, IV., 1, 98; V., 1, 213 (the three tribunes); V. 2, 1-19 (the conspirators); _Duke of Milan_ I., 3, _ad init._ (three gentlemen). We find this method again and again in Webster; _cf._ _The Duchess of Malfi_, p. 63_a_; p. 78_b_; p. 80_b_; _The White Devil_, p. 56; p. 42_a_; _The Devil’s Law-case_, p. 111_b_; p. 116_a_. _Cf._ also Cymbal and Fitton in _The Staple of News_, I., 2; and the three courtiers in _Cupid’s Revenge_.
114 The exact cause of the son’s anger is the murder of his mother by his father. The secret is not revealed until Act V., 2, 122, though it is hinted at in II., 1, 118-120. The son knows nothing of the other terrible charge.
115 In _The Renegado_ the brother and sister are not revealed until V., 4.
116 IV., 3.
117 I., 1.
118 The best instance of Euripidean art is the scene in _The Emperor of the East_ (II., 1), where all the arguments for the Emperor’s speedy marriage are cleverly amassed. _Cf._ also Luke’s appeal for mercy to the creditors in _The City Madam_, I., 3; the long preparation which Sforza makes in _The Duke of Milan_, I., 3, 268; the skill which leads up to the disclosure of Marullo’s name in _The Bondman_ (IV., 3, 124), and the way in which he persuades the slaves to revolt (II., 3). For other instances of what we may call the gradual method, compare _The Virgin Martyr_, I., 1, 294, and _A Very Woman_, V., 4, 91.
_ 119 Cf._ _Fatal Dowry_, I., 2; IV., 4; V., 2; _Roman Actor_, I., 3; _Bondman_, I., 3; _Parliament of Love_, V., 1; _Great Duke of Florence_, V., 3.
120 Here he incurs the censure of Milton on such plays (Preface to _Samson Agonistes_): “This is mentioned to vindicate tragedy from the small esteem, or rather infamy, which in the account of many it undergoes at this day with other common interludes; happening through the poet’s error of intertwining comic stuff with tragic sadness and gravity; or introducing trivial and vulgar persons, which by all judicious hath been counted absurd, and brought in without discretion, corruptly to gratify the people!”
_ 121 Cf._ Shakspere’s _Julius Caesar_, where the hero dies in the third act; but the plot is not felt to have exhausted itself until Brutus and Cassius are disposed of.
122 Massinger is very sparing in his use of prose in his plays, though Fleay goes too far when he says: “Neither Fletcher nor Massinger admits prose” (_Shakespeare Manual_, p. 71). The grace of Massinger’s dedications is very marked when compared with the stilted and obscure style of Ford’s.
123 C. Lamb.
124 Lines referring to Massinger quoted by Langbaine.
_ 125 Bondman_, IV., 2, 51-88.
126 I., 2, 147.
127 I., 3, 268-30 6.
128 I., 3, 49-142.
129 II., 4, 22-35.
130 I., 3, 51-74.
131 IV., 3, 124-138.
132 V., 1, 42-60.
_ 133 Cf._ Prologue to _Henry V_, line 4, a passage imitated and expanded in _The Virgin Martyr_, V., 2, 98-102.
134 We have a Somersetshire rustic in _The Emperor of the East_, IV., 2. _Cf._ Schmidt’s _Shakespeare Lexicon_, Appendix II., p. 1424. “In general it can be said that Shakspere abstains from the use of provincial dialects, as characteristic of his dramatical persons.... It is only on one occasion that he seems to imitate the peculiar speech of a certain dialect: _King Lear_, IV., 6, 239-251. Concerning the particular county there referred to English scholars have been of different opinions. Steevens pleads for Somersetshire, in the dialect of which rustics were commonly introduced by ancient writers; Collier inclines to decide in favour of the North.” _Cf._ Mr. H. Bradley’s remarks in _Shakspere’s England_, II., p. 570. In _Bartholomew Fair_, IV., 3, a contrast is drawn between the dialect of a rustic from the West and one from the North. Urania’s dialect in _Cupid’s Revenge_ cannot be pronounced a success, or Antonio’s Irish in _The Coxcomb_.
_ 135 City Madam_, II., 2, 128. Among the things which Anne demands from her suitor, is:
A fresh habit, Of a fashion never seen before, to draw The gallants’ eyes, that sit on the stage, upon me.
_Cf._ also Induction to _The Malcontent_; Induction to _The Staple of News_; Induction to _Cynthia’s Revels_; Fitzdottrel in _The Devil is an Ass_, I., 3; Induction to _Knight of the Burning Pestle_; _Woman-Hater_, I., 3; Prologue to _All Fools_; and Dekker’s _The Guls Horne-booke_, Chapter VI.
_ 136 Hours in a Library_, ii., p. 171. Leslie Stephen elsewhere (pp. 167-171) does justice to Massinger’s “romantic tendency.” “The chivalrous ideal of morality involves a reverence for women which may be exaggerated or affected, but which has at least a genuine element in it. The same vein of chivalrous sentiment gives a fine tone to some of Massinger’s other plays; to _The Bondman_, for example, and _The Great Duke of Florence_, in both of which the treatment of lovers’ devotion shows a higher sense of the virtue of feminine dignity and purity than is common in the contemporary stage.”
_ 137 The Virgin Martyr_, IV., 3, 72-92. _Cf. Believe As You List_, IV., 2, 183-204.
138 I., 1, 103-114. The whole play exhibits this element of grace more than any other of our author. It should be acted by Lysis and Charicles, Glaucon and Adeimantus.
139 IV., 3, 175. It is to be noted that great courtesy is observed and expected in greetings and leave-takings in Massinger’s plays. Thus in _The Virgin Martyr_, II., 2, Macrinus gets into trouble for the curtness of his salutation; similarly, Wellborn in _A New Way_, V., 1, 114. Compare also _Roman Actor_, IV., 1, 67; _A Very Woman_, I., l, 147.
140 I., 1, 246.
141 I., 2, 36.
142 II., 2, 71.
143 I., 1, 77.
144 IV., 2, 96.
145 III., 2, 92.
146 V., 2, 51.
147 I., 2, 162-175.
148 II., 3, 28-32.
149 I., 2, 136-141.
150 IV., 2, 46.
151 I., 2, 17.
152 I., 5, 44. The longest series of parentheses in Massinger is to be found in Cardenes’ speech in _A Very Woman_ (I., 1, 240-256). For clumsy periods see _Fatal Dowry_, IV., 2, 99-104; V., 2, 23-34; _Roman Actor_, IV., 2, 123-128.
_ 153 Our Debt to Antiquity_, Eng. trans, by Strong and Stewart, p. 75.
154 It is needless to say how common this idiom is in Shakspere, Webster, Shirley, and other authors of the period. I only mention it because it lends itself in a peculiar way to the suppleness of Massinger’s style.
155 I., 1, 18-32.
156 I., 3, 339.
157 V., 1, 25.
158 III., 3, 4.
159 V., 2, 22.
_ 160 Contemporaries of Shakespeare_, p. 183. Though I do not accept all Mr. Swinburne’s estimates, I am at once pleased and humiliated at the thought that he has expressed so much better than myself many of my conclusions about Massinger.
161 V., 1, 51.
162 III., 1, 302.
_ 163 The Renegado_, III., 1, 30-39.
164 Oliphant (_Englische Studien_, xiv., 60) notes this feature as Fletcherian.
165 Boyle, _N. S. S._, Trans., p. 378.
_ 166 Op. cit._, p. 403.
_ 167 E. S._, vii. 70.
_ 168 N. S. S._, xxvi. 584. The “run-on” line ends with a preposition or other word which syntactically requires the next line. Take as an example _Fatal Dowry_, V., 2, 255:
For the fact, as of The former, I confess it; but with what Base wrongs I was unwillingly drawn to it, To my few words there are some other proofs To witness this for truth.
The “double” or “feminine” ending is the outstanding feature of Fletcher’s verse. _Cf._ _Fatal Dowry_, V., 2, 137:
ROCHFORT. You say you are sorry for him; A grief in which I must not have a partner. ’Tis I alone am sorry, that when I raised The building of my life, for seventy years, Upon so sure a ground, that all the vices Practised to ruin man, though brought against me, Could never undermine, and no way left To send these grey hairs to the grave with sorrow, Virtue, that was my patroness, betrayed me.
(Gifford inserts “when” in that third line.)
Five instances in nine lines. Fleay (_Shakespeare Manual_, p. 171) points out that in Shakspere’s part of _Henry VIII_ the proportion of double endings to blank verse is 1 to 3; in Fletcher’s, 1 to 1·7. The weak and sugary effect of double endings is very apparent in Rowe’s _Fair Penitent_, the eighteenth-century play, based on _The Fatal Dowry_.
Boyle (_E. S._, v. 74) takes six of Massinger’s plays: _The Unnatural Combat_, _The Duke of Milan_, _The Bondman_, _The City Madam_, _The Bashful Lover_, and _The Guardian_. These are his conclusions: “The plays show in general a high percentage of double endings, generally 40 per cent, or more. The percentage of run-on lines is a little lower, but seldom sinks for more than a scene below 30 per cent. The light and weak endings together make 5 to 7 per cent. The versification is exquisitely musical. There are very few rhymes.” The corresponding figures for Fletcher are: double endings, over 50 per cent.; run-on lines, under 20 per cent.; and light and weak endings almost negligible; rhyme, rare. Shakspere in his later manner (e.g., _The Tempest_) has 33 per cent. double endings. (_E. S._, vi. 71.)
169 Fleay (_Shakespeare Manual_, p. 123) takes a piece of Dryden’s _All for Love_, and rewrites it, as far as metre (and metre only) is concerned, in the styles of Fletcher, Beaumont, Massinger, Greene, and Rowley.
170 IV., 3, 5-24.
171 I., 2, 49-71.
172 In this respect Massinger resembles Beaumont and Ford, whose metre in divided lines, unlike Webster’s and Fletcher’s, is very regular. Shirley’s plays are full of lame lines. For strict division _cf._ _City Madam_, I., 3, 44; II., 1, 109; V., 1, 4 and 70; V., 2, 66; V., 3, 126; _Guardian_, I., 1, 80, 221, 308; II., 3, 116; III., 2, 61; IV., 3, 16; _New Way_, I., 2, 48 and 63; II., 2, 151; III., 2, 241; V., 1, 233; _Very Woman_, I., 1, 26 and 147; V., 6, 31; _Bashful Lover_, I., 1, 114, 163, and 207; II., 2, 36, 37; II., 3, 9; II., 4, 42; III., 1, 99; III., 3, 71 and 80; V., 1, 39, 40, 48, 50, 176; _Roman Actor_, I., 3, 32. Instances can be given of lines divided between four speakers—e.g., _Very Woman_, V., 3, 23; V., 4, 167; _Bashful Lover_, II., 7, 20; _Roman Actor_, I., 4, 50; IV., 1, 83; _Guardian_, V., 4, 209. The carelessness of the metre in _The Old Law_ is in itself proof that Massinger had little to do with it.
173 An instance of “emphatic” double-ending (_Oliphant_, _E. S._, xiv., 71), common in Fletcher, rare in Massinger.
174 I., 5, 38.
175 V., 1, 226.
_ 176 Cf._ also Matilda in _The Bashful Lover_ (IV., 3, 170), and Olinda in _The Lovers’ Progress_.
_ 177 Frogs_, l. 1413.
_ 178 Cf._ the dialogue in _A Very Woman_, I., 1, 1-24. “Heaven’s greatest blessings” (line 21) is a very characteristic phrase. _Cf._ also _Emperor of the East_, II., 1, 216.
179 Boyle (_N. S. S._, 385-88) is severe but not, to my mind, convincing. Reading between the lines, one arrives at the conclusion that Boyle admired Massinger enormously, and would have allowed none else to abuse him except himself. _Cf._ his spirited attack on Charles Lamb’s “unfair judgment” (pp. 371-2).
180 Rubens took his wives as models for his art; let us hope that Massinger’s portrait of the imperious woman was not drawn from his wife. We happen to know that he was married.
181 I., 1. _Cf._ also Matilda in _The Bashful Lover_ (III., 3, 147), and Donusa in _The Renegado_ (II., 4).
182 IV., 1; V., 4. _Cf._ also Thamasta in Ford’s _Lover’s Melancholy_ (III., 2), Calantha’s request to her father in _The Broken Heart_ (IV., 3), Fiormonda in _Love’s Sacrifice_ (I., 2), Hidaspes in _Cupid’s Revenge_ (I., 3).
183 Act I., 3.
184 III., 1, 161. _Cf._ also _Romeo and Juliet_, I., 5, 95.
185 The situation is not unknown in modern fiction; take, for example, _Dr. Breen’s Practice_ and _The House of Lynch_. _Cf._ Jebb’s _Bentley_, p. 197.
_ 186 Op. cit._, p. 317.
187 A favourite phrase of Massinger’s—e.g., _Emperor of the East_, II., 1, 345; V., 2, 83; _Great Duke of Florence_, II., 3, 112; _Unnatural Combat_, I., 1, 312; IV., 1, 110; _Parliament of Love_, II., 3, 77.
188 B. Matthews, p. 318.
189 Especially Sir A. W. Ward (_English Dramatic Literature_, iii., pp. 41-42). _Cf._ also G. C. Macaulay in _Cambridge History of English Literature_, vol. vi., p. 121, and Schelling’s verdict.
190 The Venetian in _The Renegado_.
191 Dr. Bradley (_Oxford Lectures_, pp. 373-4) minimizes the objections to this custom, without, however, dwelling on the moral problem. _Cf._ also Mr. Percy Simpson’s remarks in _Shakspere’s England_, ii., p. 246. Prynne deals with it (_Histriomastix_, ed. 1633, pp. 214-216). He allows, reluctantly, that “men actors in women’s attire are not altogether so bad, so discommendable as women stage-players,” but goes on to say: “since both of them are evill, yea extremely vitious, neither of them necessary, both superfluous as all playes and players are; the superabundant sinfulnesse of the one, can neither justifie the lawfulnesse, nor extenuate the wickednesse of the other.... This should rather bee the conclusion, both of them are abominable, both intolerable, neither of them laudable or necessary; therefore both of them to bee abandoned, neither of them henceforth to be tollerated among Christians.”
Ford, in _Love’s Sacrifice_ (III., 2), refers to the novelty of women-antics—_i.e._, of women acting in masques. It is clear that Queen Henrietta Maria, with her passion for appearing on the stage in masques, however much she may have been before the times, must have caused great scandal to the Puritan party. The complications which sometimes arise from the use of men for female parts may be illustrated from Middleton’s amusing play, _The Widow_, where Martia is disguised as a man, Ansaldo, and, to escape further complications, is subsequently disguised as a woman, _being a boy all the time_. We find the same thing in the second Luce in _The Wise Woman of Hogsdon_.
_ 192 Supra_, p. 38.
193 Though Massinger does not owe much to Chapman, it is to be noted that this trick of repeating a phrase occurs several times in Chapman’s popular play, _Bussy d’Ambois_. _Cf._ III., 1., “He shall confess all, and you then may hang him,” and towards the end of the same Act, “Ay, anything but killing of the King;” and in _The Conspiracy of Byron_, Act II., in La Fin’s speech, “I can make good” four times at the end of the line. _Cf._ “Behold the Turk and his great Empress” in _Tamburlaine_, pt. I., V., 1; “I love my lord; let that suffice for me” in Greene’s _Orlando Furioso_, I., 1.
_ 194 A Very Woman_, III., 4.
195 A few instances of γνῶμαι may be given from Massinger; his debt to Shakspere will be clear:
_Fatal Dowry_, I., 1, 20:
There is a minute When a man’s presence speaks in his own cause More than the tongues of twenty advocates.
_Guardian_, I., 1, 241:
For a flying foe Discreet and provident conquerors build up A bridge of gold.
_Guardian_, IV., 1, 99:
O dear madam, We are all the balls of time, toss’d to and fro, From the plough unto the throne, and back again; Under the swing of destiny mankind suffers.
(_Cf._ _Plautus’ Captivi_, Prologue, 22, “Enimvero di nos quasi pilas homines habent;” _Pericles_, II., 1, 63; and _The Duchess of Malfi_, p. 99_a_; _Parliament of Bees_, char, vii.)
_Bashful Lover_, IV., 1, 69:
Fortune rules all; We are her tennis-balls.
(_Cf._ also Greg’s _Henslowe Papers_, p. 143.)
_Bashful Lover_, III., 2, 3:
A diamond, Though set in horn, is still a diamond And sparkles, as in purest gold.
_Very Woman_, IV., 1, 90:
Revenge, that thirsty dropsy of our souls, Which makes us covet that which hurts us most, Is not alone sweet, but partakes of tartness.
_Duke of Milan_, I., 1, 60:
Dangers that we see To threaten ruin, are with ease prevented; But those strike deadly that come unexpected.
_Great Duke of Florence_, III., 1, 138:
Love Steals sometimes through the ear into the heart, As well as by the eye.
_Picture_, II., 1, 79:
Ill news, madam, Are swallow-wing’d, but what’s good walks on crutches.
_Virgin Martyr_, IV., 1, 103:
Pleasures forc’d Are unripe apples; sour, not worth the plucking.
_A New Way_, IV., 1, 187:
Though I must grant Riches, well-got, to be a useful servant, But a bad master.
_Bondman_, I., 3, 100:
He that would govern others, first should be The master of himself, richly endu’d With depth of understanding, height of courage, And those remarkable graces which I dare not Ascribe unto myself.
_Bondman_, III., 1, 6:
But turbulent spirits, raised beyond themselves With ease, are not so soon laid; they oft prove Dangerous to him that call’d them up.
_ 196 Hours in a Library_, i., p. 167.
_ 197 Poetics_, 1460_b_, 4.
_ 198 Cf._ Appendix VI. and the discussion in Robert Bridges’ _Milton_, Appendix D, pp. 56-57. The same thing is found again and again in Shirley’s _Lady of Pleasure_.
199 For a rhymed passage _cf._ _A Very Woman_, IV., 1, 141-152.
200 We have a few unimportant poems in rhyme from his pen, which show the same characteristics of style as his blank verse, though fettered by the restraints of the couplet. Some of his songs are not at all bad; _cf._; for example, _Emperor of the East_, V., 3: “Why art thou slow, thou rest of trouble, Death?” _Guardian_, IV., 2, The songs of Juno and Hymen; V., 1, the “entertainment of the Forest’s Queen.” _Picture_, II., 2, the song of Pallas; III., 5, song beginning, “The blushing rose and purple flower.” It must, however, be conceded that these songs are commonplace.
_ 201 Maid of Honour._ The same name is found in Ben Jonson’s unfortunate _New Inn_, produced in 1629. _Cf._ also _City Madam_, II., 2, 182:
MARY. Whose sheep are these, whose oxen? The Lady Plenty’s.
PLENTY. A plentiful pox upon you.
_New Way_, IV., 2, 2:
Did not Master Marrall (He has marr’d all I am sure) strictly command us?
_New Way_, IV., 2, 68:
No, though the great Turk came, instead of turkies To beg any favour, I am inexorable.
202 Belgrade in _The Unnatural Combat_.
203 Boyle (_N. S. S._, pp. 588-9) points out that Massinger “succeeds admirably in depicting the witty pertness of a saucy page.” It does not, therefore, follow that he had been one himself, as has been supposed by some.
204 In _The New Way_ and _City Madam_.
205 Mr. Ben Greet’s Company has from time to time given a charming alfresco performance of _The Great Duke of Florence_.
206 Preface to Sir John V. O. Barnavelt (_Old Plays_, vol. ii., p. 204).
_ 207 Op. cit._, p. 405.
_ 208 Op. cit._, p. 312.
_ 209 Cf._ Sforza in _The Duke of Milan_; Theodosius in _The Emperor of the East_; and especially, Leosthenes in _The Bondman_.
210 The first quarto of _Othello_ appeared in 1622, _The Duke_ in 1623.
211 Perhaps Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are the only instances. Notice in _Henry VIII_ various rapid changes of mind—_e.g._, III., 2, 336: SURREY. “I forgive him”; V., 2, 172: GARDINER. “With a true heart and brother love I do it.” Henry V and Antony are other instances which will occur to everyone. In the case of the former, at any rate, I for one feel that Shakspere cuts the Gordian knot.
212 The soliloquy of Luke over his brother’s wealth is one of the most splendid efforts of eloquence in English. (_City Madam_, III., 3.)
_ 213 Guardian_, I.
214 I., 1.
215 I., 2.
216 V., 2, 129.
217 IV., 3, 133:
VITELLI. Your intent to win me To be of your belief, proceeded from Your fear to die. Can there be strength in that Religion, that suffers us to tremble At that which every day, nay hour, we haste to?
DONUSA. This is unanswerable, and there’s something tells me I err in my opinion.
_ 218 Virgin Martyr_, III., 1, 186.
219 IV., V. _Cf._ especially IV., 1, 138:
LORENZO. Stay, I feel A sudden alteration.
MARTINO. Here are fine whimsies.
_ 220 Poetics_, 1454_a_, 33.
221 III., 3; V., 3, 33. After all, Corisca does not repent of her worst faults, only of her luxury and cruelty to her slaves. _Cf._ also The Projector in _The Emperor of the East_, I., 2, 257. On the other hand, the conversion of the courtiers in the same play (II., 1, 154) is according to character.
_ 222 Poetics_, 1454_a_, 26.
_ 223 Poetics_, 1454_a_, 28.
224 Leslie Stephen has anticipated me here. “The truth seems to be that Massinger is subject to an illusion natural enough to a man who is more of the rhetorician than the seer. He fancies that eloquence must be irresistible. He takes the change of mood produced by an elevated appeal to the feelings for a change of character” (_Hours in a Library_, ii., p. 164).
225 Here again I find myself in agreement with Leslie Stephen. “Massinger’s plays are a gradual unravelling of a series of incidents, each following intelligibly from the preceding situation, and suggestive of many eloquent observations, though not developments of one master thought. We often feel, that if external circumstances had been propitious, he would have expressed himself more naturally, in the form of a prose romance than in a drama” (_Op. cit._, ii., p. 157). _Cf._ also Coleridge’s remark that Massinger’s plays are “as interesting as novels.” How much character-drawing is there in Boccaccio or Paynter?
226 Mr. Nichol Smith (_Shakspere’s England_, ii., p. 202) doubts the “association of Pembroke with Shakspere.”
227 Sir Sidney Lee (_Life of W. Shakespeare_, 1915, p. 441) notes “the almost magical success” with which Massinger echoes Shakspere’s tones.
228 In a “mock” romance published at London in 1656, _Wit and Fancy in a Maze_ (Book 2, chapter iv.), the Enchantress Lamia and the hero Don Zara del Fogo go to Elysium and find everything in an uproar. Ajax and Ulysses are quarrelling; Homer and Hesiod; Statius and Virgil. Last of all Ben Jonson “had openly vaunted himself the first and best of English poets.” This is much resented by Chaucer, Chapman, and Spenser; last of all Shakspere and Fletcher appear “with a strong party” to claim the first place. Among “their life guard” are mentioned Goffe, Massinger, Dekker, Webster, Suckling, Cartwright, Carew. Did Ben Jonson dislike Massinger as Mr. Phelan conjectures?
229 II., 1, 100.
230 IV., 2.
231 IV., 3.
232 I., 3.
233 III., 1, 261.
234 III., 1.
235 II., 4. The good brigand goes back beyond Robin Hood to Herodotus, VI. 16.
236 IV., 1.
237 Compare especially V., 2, 104 with _Midsummer Night’s Dream_, II., 2, 145.
238 II., 1, 22.
239 II., 4.
240 III., 1, 24.
241 II., 7.
_ 242 Unnatural Combat_, III., 2, 13.
243 IV., 3.
244 III., 3, 91-2.
245 IV., 1.
246 IV., 5.
247 III., 4.
248 II., 2, 93.
_ 249 Othello_, III., 3.
250 V., 1, 376. _Cf._ also Security in prison in _Eastward Ho_ (Act V.); Grimaldi in _The Renegado_ (IV., 1, 4).
251 III., 4, 148. On the other hand, Paulo in _A Very Woman_ (III., 3, 5) observes:
To choke up his spirits in a dark room, Is far more dangerous.
252 II., 3.
253 V., 2.
254 V., 1.
255 I., 3, 49. Rowley uses the metaphor in the dedication of _A Fair Quarrel_.
256 II., 7.
257 III., 1, 49.
258 IV., 1. The language of Ding’em in _The City Madam_ (IV.; 1, 15) takes us back to Pistol:
Thy word’s a law, And I obey. Live, scrape-shoe, and be thankful, Thou man of muck and money, for as such I now salute thee; the suburbian gamesters Have heard thy fortunes, and I am, in person, Sent to congratulate.
_Cf._ also _A New Way_, I., 2, 59:
FURNACE. “I am appeased, and Furnace now grows cool.”
259 I., 2, 318. _Cf._ _Prophetess_, I., 2, 31:
I presently, inspired with holy fire, And my prophetic spirit burning in me, Gave answer from the gods.
_Double Marriage_, II., 4, 30:
Who stole her? Oh! my prophetic soul!
260 I., 5, 40.
261 IV., 2, 39.
_ 262 Virgin Martyr_, III., 3, 46.
263 III., 1, 118.
264 V., 1, 170.
265 II., 1, 99. _Cf._ also _Roman Actor_, III., 2, 35.
266 IV., 1, 1.
267 III., 2, 18.
_ 268 Coriolanus_, I., 1, 99.
269 I., 2, 40. _Cf._ also _A New Way_, I., 3, 88, and _Emperor of the East_, V., 2, 83:
I am flesh and blood, as you are, sensible Of heat and cold, as much a slave unto The tyranny of my passions as the meanest Of my poor subjects.
270 III., 1.
271 IV., 1, 103.
272 II., 1, 54.
273 II., 5.
274 IV., 3, 131-137.
275 II., 1, 38. _Cf._ Bradley, _Shakspearean Tragedy_, p. 268.
276 Thus, to take an instance at random, the madness of the Englishman is referred to in Webster’s _Malcontent_ (III. 1).
_ 277 Cf._ also Appendix IV.
278 IV., 1.
279 IV., 1, 1. The last line shows how prosaic Massinger could on occasion be. In judging our older writers, however, it is important to remember that words change their poetical value with time; it is clear, for example, that in James I.’s age, “undertaker,” “proceedings,” “punctually,” “aunt,” were regarded as legitimate in poetry.
280 V., 2, 49-54.
281 II., 2, 23.
_ 282 A Very Woman_, II., 2, 96.
283 IV., 4.
284 V., 2.
285 II., 1.
286 II., 2, 84-98; _cf._ also _A Very Woman_, II., 2, 2; _Bondman_, I., 3, 216; _Emperor of the East_, III., 2, 54; _Guardian_, III., 1, 23; _Parliament of Love_, I., 4, 23; _Believe as You List_, V., 1, 69; _Unnatural Combat_, IV., 1, 131 and 231.
287 III., 1, 12-16.
_ 288 Cf._ also _Bondman_, II., 2, 36; IV., 4, 22; _Bashful Lover_, V., 1, 72-156; _Emperor of the East_, IV., 3, 39; _Duke of Milan_, IV., 3, 97; _Unnatural Combat_, IV., 1, 199; _Parliament of Love_, V., 1, 526-7; _Guardian_, I., 1, 13; II., 5, 56; _Picture_, III., 4, 21.
_ 289 New Way_, II., 2, 17-22; _Picture_, IV., 2, 26-33.
_ 290 Picture_, I., 2, 30; IV., 2, 79; _Bondman_, I., 2, 36; IV., 2, 44; IV., 4, 21; _A New Way_, II., 2, 20; IV., 2, 99; _Emperor of the East_, I., 2, 223; _Parliament of Love_, IV., 1, 49; _Guardian_, I., 1, 297.
291 III., 1, 26; III., 1, 32.
_ 292 Cf._ _New Way_ and _City Madam_, _passim_.
_ 293 Cf._ Churton Collins’ _Studies in Shakspere: No. V._, “Was Shakspere a lawyer?” Mr. Arthur Underhill, in _Shakspere’s England_, Vol. i, No. xiii., decides that Shakspere’s “knowledge of law was neither profound nor accurate.”
_ 294 A Very Woman_, II., 2, 60-64. It is to be noted that doctors are common also in Fletcher, the reason being that there are so many duels, and unexpected recoveries, in that author. Thus, the surgeon diets the Duke of Sesse in _The Double Marriage_ (II., 4); and in the same play the doctor plays tricks on Castruccio’s food (V., 1). In _The Sea Voyage_ (III., 1) the surgeon is introduced merely to make fun of his apparatus. Doctors, chirurgeons, and apothecaries appear in fifteen of the plays of Beaumont and Fletcher. The same remark applies to Webster; _cf._ _The Duchess of Malfi_, _The White Devil_, and especially _The Devil’s Law-case_.
_ 295 Henry VIII_, I., 1, 75; I., 2, 42; III., 2, 171.
296 II., 3, 42 and 72; III., 2, 305, 307, 353.
297 II., 3, 93.
298 III., 2, 37; _cf._ III., 4, 69. Beaumont observes a similar strictness.
_ 299 E.g._, I., 1; III., 2.
_ 300 E.g._, III., 2, 336; IV., 2, 73; V., 4, 172.
301 II., 1, 88-94.
302 II., 2, 143.
303 III., 2, 297-8.
304 III., 2, 365.
_ 305 E.g._, I., 1, 39-44; II., 3, 13-16, 18-22, 32; II., 4, 70-73, 78, 79, 129, 130; IV., 1, 56-59; V., 1, 2-5, 11-16, 36; V., 3, 1012, 20-31, 43-45.
306 IV., 2, 45.
307 V., 3, 10.
308 II., 4, 238.
309 III., 2, 447.
310 IV., 1, 103.
_ 311 Cf._ II., 3, 77; III., 2, 50—both instances of the method of anticipation referred to above.
312 II., 1, 88.
313 III., 2, 393.
314 IV., 2, 125.
315 Thus Gardiner’s dislike of Anne Boleyn (V., 1, 22) is true to history, though artistically a blemish on the play, because redundant.
The way in which in IV., 1, and elsewhere, historical details are dragged in is quite unlike Massinger, and very like Shakspere. _Cf._ lines 17-19, 24-29, 38-42, 47-49, 51, 52, 101-103.
_ 316 New Shakspere Society’s Transactions_, 1880-86, xxi.
317 See Discussion on January 16th, 1885.
_ 318 Ibid._, p. 447.
319 For other instances see II., 4, 208; III., 2, 39-42, 55-56, 96, 159; V., 1, 22-3, 36, 109-11; V., 3, 43-45.
320 The same remark applies to V., 3, 8.
321 Compare such a line as V., 3, 94.
322 See p. 87, n. 4.
323 For “catalogue lines,” _cf._ I., 2, 33; II., 1. 116; II., 3, 29; III., 2, 342; V., 5, 48. For assonances, _cf._ I., 3, 25, 27, 31, 35, 41; II., 1, 126; II., 2, 28, 48; II., 3, 86; II., 4, 92; III., 2, 125, 129, 213, 214, 236, 255, 259; V., 2, 32; V., 3, 23, 60, 72, 103; V., 4, 94; V., 5, 30. For repetitions of words, _cf._ III., 1, 110; III., 2, 29; V., 1, 98, 138. Passages which remind us of Massinger are I., 4, 101; II., 3, 93; V., 1, 62, 70, and 71; Epilogue, 5.
324 V., 1, 1-7.
_ 325 Modern Language Review_, April, 1916.
326 I., 1, 124. My numeration in _The Two Noble Kinsmen_ is Mr. Tucker Brooke’s.
327 III., 2, 14.
_ 328 Op. cit._, p. 143.
_ 329 The Two Noble Kinsmen_, I., 3, 8.
330 V., 1, 161.
331 II., 1 reads to me like Shakspere.
332 A Danish scholar, Dr. Bierfreund, maintains this thesis (Tucker Brooke, Introd., p. xlv).
333 II., 3; III., 5.
334 This is perhaps what Mr. Bullen believes about the play.
_ 335 The Shakespeare Apocrypha._
336 I., 1, 209.
337 III., 1, 74.
_ 338 H. E. L._, iv., p. 361.
_ 339 New Shakspere Society’s Transactions_, 1880-5, pt. 2, xviii.
340 Page 372.
341 Page 373.
342 Pages 375-6.
343 Page 381.
344 I., 1, 76.
_ 345 E.g._, _Roman Actor_, I., 4, 41; _Picture_, II., 2, 112; _Bondman_, I., 1, 13. _Cf._ _Tamburlaine_, pt. II., III., 2; _Orlando Furioso_, V., 2.
_ 346 Macbeth_, I., 1, 54.
347 Page 387.
348 Page 393.
349 Page 393.
350 Page 394.
351 I., 3, 76.
352 II., 4, 134.
353 Notice in passing that Beaumont is fond of using intransitive verbs transitively. He also has the phrase “twinning cherries.”
354 I., 1, 195-206.
355 I., 1, 209-213.
356 Page 395.
357 I., 2.
358 Page 397.
359 Pages 380-391.
360 I., 1, 165; V., 1, 160. Shakspere has “the wheaten garland” of peace in _Hamlet_, V., 2, 41.
_ 361 Bashful Lover_, I., 1, 279; IV., 3, 164; _Maid of Honour_, I., 2, 116.
362 I., 1, 82.
_ 363 Picture_, III., 4, 61.
364 I., 1, 141. The exact phrase occurs in _Merchant of Venice_, II., 1, 44. “The temple” is part of Fletcher’s stock-in-trade.
_ 365 Maid of Honour_, V., 2, 45; _Picture_, I., 2, 306.
366 II., 1, 13.
367 I., 1, 77.
_ 368 Twelfth Night_, III., 4, 349.
_ 369 Renegado_, III., 3, 78; _New Way_, V., 1, 27.
370 1., 2, 47, 48.
371 I., 2, 275-278.
372 I., 3, 91.
373 IV., 2, 50.
374 II., 1,66. _Cf._ Margaret in _Friar Bacon and Friar Bungay_, I., 3, _ad finem_.
375 II., 3, 151.
376 III., 1, 10.
377 I., 1, 49. _Cf. Bashful Lover_, I., 1, 54; III., 3, 132.
378 I., 1, 178-181.
379 V., 2, 51. _Cf._ also _Unnatural Combat_, III., 2, 157; _Duke of Milan_, V., 2, 82; _Bondman_, IV., 2, 75; _City Madam_, V., 3, 108; _Guardian_, I., 1, 191. In these last instances marriage is not referred to, nor is the word “despatched” used.
380 V., 1, 106.
381 II., 1, 128.
_ 382 Picture_, II., 2, 159, 163; _Unnatural Combat_, I., 1, 4; III., 2, 70; IV., 1, 103; _Great Duke of Florence_, I., 2, 75 and 155; II., 1, 186; IV., 2, 88; V., 3, 40; _Guardian_, I., 2, 142; II., 3, 47; III., 5, 34: IV., 1, 86; _Maid of Honour_, I., 1, 175; III., 3, 214, 221 and 234; _Duke of Milan_, I., 3, 30; _Parliament of Love_, II., 2, 23; III., 3, 150; _A Very Woman_, II., 2, 28; IV., 3, 99; _Bashful Lover_, III., 3, 68; _New Way_, I., 1, 31; III., 1, 17; III., 2, 49; _Virgin Martyr_, I., 1, 321; _Fatal Dowry_, I., 1, 85; II., 2, 107 and 313; _Emperor of the East_, Prol., 2, 14; II., 1, 324; _Bondman_, I., 3, 290; _Renegado_, II., 1, 66. It is true that blushing plays a great part in all our old dramatists. Compare in Fletcher, _False One_, II., 3, _ad finem_; II., 6, 22; Leandro, in _The Spanish Curate_, I., 1; and in Shakspere, _Henry V_, V., 2, 253; _Much Ado_, IV., 1, 35, 160-163; _Antony and Cleopatra_, I., 1, 29; V., 2,149. _Cf._ also _Eastward Ho_, I., 1. “Give me a little box on the ear, that I may seem to blush”; II., 1. “As I am a lady, if he did not make me blush so that mine eyes stood awater.” _Every Man in his Humour_, V., 1. “Nay, Mistress Bridget, blush not.” _The Devil is an Ass_, I., 3; _Friar Bacon and Friar Bungay_, I., 2; _James IV._, III., 3.
_ 383 Guardian_, III., 6, 55; IV., 2, 52; _Old Law_, III., 1, 272; _Emperor of the East_, IV., 5, 202.
_ 384 Picture_, I., 1, 43; II., 1, 71-75; _Maid of Honour_, I., 1, 157; II., 2, 119; V., 2, 267-270: _Unnatural Combat_, II., 1, 135 and 220: II., 3. 29; _Bondman_, III., 3, 98-102; III., 4, 65; _Renegado_, II., 1, 31-34; IV., 1, 147; V., 3, 76-81; _Guardian_, III., 1, 8-10 and 42: III., 6, 6; IV., 1, 13 and 21; _Emperor of the East_, IV., 1, 59; IV., 3, 22; V., 3, 137; _New Way_, III., 2, 220; IV., 3, 4; _A Very Woman_, V., 3, 21; _Bashful Lover_, V., 2, 12; V., 3, 146; _Duke of Milan_, II., 1, 420: _Believe as You List_, I., 1, 117; IV., 3, 27.
_ 385 Picture_, II., 2, 336:
HONORIA. I am full of thoughts, And something there is here I must give form to, Though yet an embryon.
_Bondman_, I., 3, 315; II., 1, 74-77; V., 2, 103; _Renegado_, III., 3, 97; _The Virgin Martyr_, III., 2, 98; _Guardian_, II., 3, 140; _Emperor of the East_, V., 1, 129; _Bashful Lover_, IV., 1, 200; _Roman Actor_, IV., 2, 105. _Cf._ also _Emperor of the East_, III., 3, 13; _Thierry and Theodoret_, I., 2.
It is a touch which goes back to Ovid’s _Metamorphoses_, vi. 619: “Magnum quodcumque paravi: quid sit, adhuc dubito.”
_ 386 Believe as You List_, V., 1, 129; V., 2, 143; _Picture_, I., 2, 127-129 and 152-153; III., 6, 34; IV., 1, 104; IV., 4, 16; V., 3, 48; _Maid of Honour_, V., 1, 20; _Roman Actor_, I., 2, 14; _Great Duke of Florence_, II., 1, 44; IV., 1, 38; _Bondman_, III., 2, 59; III., 3, 26; _Parliament of Love_, II., 3, 82; _Emperor of the East_, I., 1, 95; I., 2, 148; II., 1, 158 and 334; _New Way_, II., 2, 84; _Bashful Lover_, V., 1, 39; _City Madam_, III., 1, 67. _Cf._ also _Duke of Milan_, IV., 1, 46; _Renegado_, III., 3, 79; IV., 2, 104. Hortensio “kisses the ground” in _Bashful Lover_, III., 3, 124. This may merely mean to kneel (_cf. ibid._, IV., 1, 168, and _Thierry and Theodoret_, II., 3); but _cf. Roman Actor_, III., 2, 193.
_ 387 Old Law_, I., 1, 565;_ Believe as You List_, IV., 2, 58-60, 90-92; _Guardian_, II., 4, 11-13; _Bashful Lover_, II., 6, 13; _Maid of Honour_, II., 4, 18; IV., 3, 127; _A Very Woman_, II., 1, 71; IV., 2, 151. Donusa, the Turkish princess, recommends it in _The Renegado_, III., 2, 83. _Cf._ also _Duke of Milan_, I., 3, 210-212.
_ 388 Guardian_, II., 1, 79-85; _A Very Woman_, V., 6, 40-54. Fletcher is full of duels; thus the plot of _The Little French Lawyer_ in largely concerned with a duel. In _Love’s Progress_ we have a duel in which the seconds fight; they want to do so in _The Honest Man’s Fortune_. In _Love’s Cure_, V., 3, a duel with seconds is commanded by the State. The illegality of duels is referred to in _The Maid’s Tragedy_, V., 4.
389 It is true that this use is not confined to Massinger, being a common idiom of the day. I quote the passages where the word is not used in a religious sense: _Maid of Honour_, IV., 3, 81; _Unnatural Combat_, I., 1, 356; _City Madam_, I., 3, 126; V., 3, 135; _Guardian_, I., 1, 176; _New Way_, IV., 1, 154. For Webster’s similar use of the word _cf. The Duchess of Malfi_, p. 61_a_; _The White Devil_, pp. 29_b_ and 47_a_.
_ 390 Maid of Honour_, III., 3, 142; _Roman Actor_, I., 1. 87; II., 1, 186; IV., 2, 85; _Great Duke of Florence_, I., 1, 135; III., 1, 14; V., 3, 10; _Fatal Dowry_, V., 2, 187; _Parliament of Love_, IV., 1, 8; IV., 4, 18; _Guardian_, II., 1, 53; III., 4, 6; _A Very Woman_, II., 2, 60; _Picture_, I., 3, 176; II., 2, 158, 307; V., 3, 47; _Duke of Milan_, I., 1, 74; III., 1, 221; V., 4, 18; _Emperor of the East_, II., 1, 73, 147; III., 1, 28; III., 2, 82; V., 3, 189; _Renegado_, I., 2, 78; II., 4, 95. _Cf._ also _Beggar’s Bush_, V., 2. Ford uses “royal magnificence” in the same way in _Perkin Warbeck_ (II., 1). In Ben Jonson’s _Staple of News_ (IV., 1) we find “very communicative and liberal, and began to be magnificent.” In Greene’s _James IV_, I., 1:
Your mightiness is so magnificent, You cannot choose but cast some gift apart.
The word “munificent” occurs in _New Way_, IV., 2, 109.
_ 391 Maid of Honour_, IV., 3, 100; _Unnatural Combat_, II., 3, 49; _Renegado_, IV., 3, 42; _Parliament of Love_, II., 3, 70; _Guardian_, V., 4, 231; _New Way_, IV., 1, 103; _Bashful Lover_, I., 1, 217; _cf. Prophetess_, IV., 6, 57.
_ 392 Unnatural Combat_, I., 1, 251, 393; _Virgin Martyr_, III., 1, 28; IV., 3, 62; V., 2, 52; _Renegado_, I., 1, 138; IV., 3, 159; _Believe as You List_, II., 2, 107 and 325; V., 1, 8.
_ 393 Great Duke of Florence_, III., 1, 358; _Guardian_, II., 3, 141; _Bashful Lover_, IV., 1, 200; _Picture_, II., 2, 337; _Believe as You List_, I., 2, 44. _Cf. Thierry and Theodoret_, II., 3.
_ 394 Unnatural Combat_, V., 1, 37; _Parliament of Love_, V., 1, 115; _Guardian_, IV., 1, 77; _Duke of Milan_, II., 1, 138; _Believe as You List_, IV., 4, 30. _Cf. Cupid’s Revenge_, II., 2, _ad finem_.
_ 395 Unnatural Combat_, I., 1, 283; _Bondman_, I., 3, 23. _Cf. Prophetess_, II., 3, 1.
_ 396 Unnatural Combat_, V., 2, 234; _Bondman_, III., 2, 17; IV., 3, 34; _Parliament of Love_, V., 1, 221; _Guardian_, I., 1, 192; III., 6, 17; V., 2, 132; _Bashful Lover_, III., 3, 88; _Picture_, III., 4, 46; _Duke of Milan_, II., 1, 288.
_ 397 Maid of Honour_, IV., 4, 93-95; V., 1, 14; _Roman Actor_, I., 2, 64; II., 1, 198; _Duke of Milan_, I., 3, 206; V., 2, 212; _Parliament of Love_, II., 3, 94; _Guardian_, II., 5, 59; V., 2, 52; _Emperor of the East_, II., 1, 355; IV., 5, 106; _New Way_, III., 1, 75; _Bashful Lover_, III., 3, 33; _Picture_, I., 3, 128; III., 5, 71. _Cf. Love’s Cure_, I., 3.
_ 398 Maid of Honour_, IV., 4, 107; _Roman Actor_, IV., 1, 121; _Parliament of Love_, III., 2, 17; _Guardian_, III., 6, 29; _Virgin Martyr_, V., 2, 238; _Emperor of the East_, V., 3, 109; _Renegado_, II., 5, 159; _Unnatural Combat_, V., 2, 266. _Cf. Hamlet_, II., 2, 159; _Troilus and Cressida_, I., 3, 85. _Cf._ also _Prophetess_, II., 1; V., 2; _Spanish Curate_, I., 2; _Atheist’s Tragedy_, IV., 4; _Honest Whore_, IV., 1; _Parliament of Bees_, char. vii.
_ 399 City Madam_, I., 2, 75; _Unnatural Combat_, I., 1, 223; II., 1, 145; V., 2, 293; _Great Duke of Florence_, II., 1, 142; III., 1, 13; V., 3, 113; _Parliament of Love_, V., 1, 102; _Believe as You List_, I., 1, 73; I., 2, 147; II., 1, 65; III., 3, 143; _Bondman_, III., 2, 1; III., 3, 162; IV., 3, 6; V., 3, 156; _Renegado_, III., 5, 44; _Picture_, I., 1, 79; II., 2, 130 and 155; IV., 1, 65; _Guardian_, III., 6, 31; _Emperor of the East_, III., 4, 55; V., 3, 105; _A Very Woman_, IV., 3, 210; _Bashful Lover_, II., 6, 19, and 50; IV., 2, 58; _Roman Actor_, II., 1, 178; III., 2, 116; V., 2, 67; _Duke of Milan_, I., 1, 49; I., 3, 374; II., 1, 411; V., 2, 117.
_ 400 Roman Actor_, III., 2, 94; _Bondman_, V., 3, 144; _Parliament of Love_, II., 2, 70. Bunyan has the phrase in _The Pilgrim’s Progress_, pt. ii.: “They saw one Fool and one Want-Wit washing of an Ethiopian with intention to make him white, but the more they washed him, the blacker he was.” Warner, in his translation of _The Menaechmi_ (1595), line 247, has “This is the washing of a Blackamore.” The expression goes back to Lucian _adv. Indoct._, 28, Αἰθίοπα σμήχειν. It occurs in _Love’s Cure_, II., 2.
_ 401 New Way_, V., I, 349.
_ 402 Emperor of the East_, IV., 5, 213.
_ 403 Bondman_, V., 3, 95. _Cf. Maid of Honour_, II., 2, 180; _The Bashful Lover_, IV., 1, 138; V., 1, 56; _A New Way_, I., 1, 52; III., 1, 81; _Emperor of the East_, III., 3, 25.
_ 404 The Picture_, II., 1, 123.
_ 405 A Very Woman_, I., 1, 404. _Cf._ also _Parliament of Love_, V., 1, 149. We cannot but remember poor Valentine’s prolonged but vocal agony in Gounod’s opera.
406 II., 1, 84.
407 III., 2, 115.
408 IV., 7, 72.
409 Take as an example the death-bed scene in _The Spanish Curate_, IV., 5.
_ 410 E. S._, VIII., 2.
411 Some idea of the way in which the two poets collaborated may be obtained from the facts collected in Appendix III. Diderot, in a passage quoted by Twining, in his edition of Aristotle’s _Poetics_ (p. 253), recommends collaboration: “On seroit tenté de croire qu’un drame devrait être l’ouvrage de deux hommes de génie, l’un qui arrangeât, et l’autre qui fit parler” (_De la Poés. Dram._, p. 288). What Euripides thought of the arrangement will be seen in The Andromache, lines 476-77:
τόνων θ᾽ ὕμνου συνεργάταιν δυοῖν ἔριν Μοῦσαι φιλοῦσι κραίειν.
It is clear that the early death of Beaumont was a disaster to Fletcher.
412 Massinger’s only attempt at burlesque—Hilario in _The Picture_—though ludicrous, is dramatically impossible.
413 It is generally believed now that Marston wrote this play. He was an author of surprising vigour, and a master of strong English, but his taste is bad, and all his work lacks finish.
_ 414 D. N. B._, _s.v._
415 Dorothea’s story of the King of Egypt (_Virgin Martyr_, III., 1, 163-182) reminds us of an expedient familiar in Webster.
416 IV., 8.
_ 417 Epicoene_, IV., 2.
418 II., 3.
_ 419 The Devil is an Ass_, IV., 1. _Cf._ the light touch of Massinger when dealing with the toilet of a lady in _A Very Woman_, I., 1, 30-59.
_ 420 Staple of News_, I., 1; III., 1—_Emperor of the East_, I., 1, 118; III., 2, 58.
_ 421 Ibid._, I., 2—_Fatal Dowry_, II., 1, 51.
_ 422 Ibid._, II., 1—_Roman Actor_, IV., 2, 103. _Cf._ _The Alchemist_, IV., 2.
_ 423 Ibid._, IV., 1—_passim_ in Massinger.
_ 424 Ibid._, IV., 1—_passim_ in Massinger.
_ 425 Ibid._, IV., 1—_Parliament of Love_, IV., 5, 12.
_ 426 Ibid._, IV., 1—_Renegado_, I., 1, 31.
_ 427 Ibid._, IV., 1—_New Way_, I., 2, 25. (_Cf._ also Prologue to _A Wife for a Month_.)
428 IV., 5—_A Very Woman_, IV., 1, 155; _Believe as You List_, V., 2, 17.
429 III., 2—_Roman Actor_, I., 3, 95.
_ 430 Sejanus_, V., 7—_Roman Actor_, V., 2, 61.
431 Courthope lays far too much stress on Massinger’s imitation of the Morality (_History of English Poetry_, vol. iv., p. 352). It only appears in _The Virgin Martyr_.
432 There are no signs in Massinger of literary or other private quarrels. One or two passages seem to be inspired by sarcasm directed on the gossip of the day—_e.g._, _Duke of Milan_, III., 2, 18-55.
433 Stress is laid more than once on Massinger’s modesty in the commendatory verses from his friends. _Cf._ Sir Thomas Jay’s verses prefixed to _A New Way_, and Prologue to _A Very Woman_, lines 5, 6; Prologue to _The Bashful Lover_, line 4. This feature may account for a lack of worldly wisdom and self-assertion, which prevented him from reaping the full fruits of the fame which he deserved as Fletcher’s collaborator in so many plays. Gerard Langbaine, in his _Account of the English Dramatic Poets_ (Oxford, 1691), pp. 353-60, deals thus with Massinger: “He was extremely beloved by the poets of that age, and there were few but what took it as an honour to club with him in a play—witness Middleton, Rowley, Field, and Dekker, all which join’d with him in several labours. Nay further, to shew his excellency, the ingenious Fletcher took him in as a partner in several plays. He was a man of much modesty and extraordinary parts.” In _The New Year’s Gift_ to his patroness, to be found in MS. in the library of Trinity College, Dublin, we have an indication that Massinger was ashamed of the profession of author; we read (lines 19-21):
Nor slight it, Madam, since what some in me Esteem a blemish, is a gift as free As their best fortunes.
The last lines of the poem (43-46) show the familiar combination of modesty and independence:
What I give I am rich in, and can spare; Nor part for hope with aught deserves my care; He that hath little and gives nought at all To them that have, is truly liberal.
434 There are some fine friendships in Massinger—_e.g._, Charalois and Romont in _The Fatal Dowry_; Farnese and Uberti in _The Bashful Lover_; Cleremond and Montrose in _The Parliament of Love_; Antoninus and Macrinus in _The Virgin Martyr_; Pedro and Antonio in _A Very Woman_.
_ 435 Cf._ the Prologues to _The Guardian_ and _The Emperor of the East_. He speaks with feeling of the ungratefulness of courtiers. (_Bashful Lover_, V., 1, 52; _Maid of Honour_, II., 2, 110.)
_ 436 Cf._ _Picture_, II., 2, 255; _Bondman_, I., 3, 300; _Unnatural Combat_, I., 1, 404; _Bashful Lover_, I., 1, 34; _Great Duke of Florence_, II., 1, 138; _Sir J. V. O. Barnavelt_, I., 1 (p. 215, Bullen’s Old Plays); also the character of the Captain in _A Very Woman_. _Cf._ _Knight of Malta_, III., 2.
437 Very significant are the words of Paulo in _A Very Woman_ (IV., 1, 153):
Who fights With passions, and o’ercomes them is endued With the best virtue, passive fortitude.
_Cf._ _Roman Actor_, I., 1, 118; III., 1, 113; _Duke of Milan_, III., 1, 73; and _Renegado_, I., 1, 79:
All that I challenge Is manly patience.
_Cf._ _Sejanus_, quoted above, p. 115, n. 11. _Queen of Corinth_, III, 2:
EUPHANES. To shew the passive fortitude the best.
And _Lover’s Progress_, IV., 4:
ALCIDON. With all care put on The surest armour, anvil’d in the shop Of passive fortitude.
This point is emphasized in Swinburne’s excellent sonnet on Massinger.
438 IV., 2, 17-31, where Charalois declares, “I never was an enemy to ’t [_i.e._, music], Beaumont,” and ends by saying: “I love it to the worth of ’t and no further.”
439 I., 1.
_ 440 Cf._ also V., 2, 130-37.
441 IV., 2, 1-14.
442 Massinger has some notable compound epithets from time to time; take as examples, “pale-cheek’d stars” in _Parliament of Love_, IV., 2, 61; “on black-sail’d wings of loose and base desires,” _Parliament of Love_, V., 1, 215; “Such is my full-sail’d confidence in her virtue,” _Picture_, II., 2, 318; “the brass-leaved book of fate,” _Believe as You List_, I., 2, 136.
“Your must and will Shall in your full-sailed confidence deceive you,”
_A Very Woman_, II., 2, 21.
443 We find not a few assonances and alliterations in Massinger, generally contained in two words: _Emperor of the East_, I., 2, 16, “gallows and galleys”; (_Cf. Renegado_, V., 2, 162, “the gallies or the gallows,” and Webster’s _White Devil_, p. 11a); _Believe as You List_, Prologue 14, “toss’d and turned”; _A New Way_, I., 1, 109, “sue and send”; _Emperor of the East_, IV., 1, 37, “sway and swing” (so in _Great Duke of Florence_, II., 2, 46); _Fatal Dowry_, IV., 1, 193, “confessor and confounder”; _Old Law_, III., 2, 45, “die and dye”; _ibid._, 157, “venues in Venice glasses”; IV., 1, 61, “Siren and Hiren”; _City Madam_, I., 1, 36, “hole and hell”; V., 2, 77, “lords or lowns”; _Guardian_, I., 1, 60, “house and home”; II., 2, 23, “board and bed”; II., 5, 46, “fair and free”; III., 5, 76, “page or porter”; _Picture_, IV., 1, 65, “horns and horror”; _Bondman_, II., 1, 119, “hell and horror”; _Roman Actor_, I., 4, 63, “graced and greased”; II., 1, 376, “carke and caring”; _Renegado_, III., 4, 54, “toss and touse”; _Parliament of Love_, II., 1, 8, “tractable and tactable”; _Duke of Milan_, III., 1, 199, “palm or privilege”; III., 2, 46, “curvet or caper.”
_ 444 Cf._ Johnson’s Preface to Shakspere (p. 19), “A quibble is to Shakspere what luminous vapours are to the traveller; he follows it at all adventures; it is sure to lead him out of his way, and sure to engulf him in the mire.” The whole paragraph is worth reading.
_ 445 A New Way_, I., 3, 22; II., 1, 31, etc. The repetition of Graccho’s name in _Duke of Milan_, V., 1, is intentional and effective. _Cf._ Kitely’s repetition of “Thomas” in _Every Man in His Humour_, III., 2; “Sir Michael” in _1 Henry IV_, IV., 4, and “Sir Thomas” in _Henry VIII_, V., 1.
446 Boyle (_N. S. S._, 371-372), severe as he is on Massinger’s characters, both male and female, agrees with this verdict. He traces the unjust depreciation of Massinger in part to Charles Lamb’s “unfair judgment.” “The hard fate that accompanied the ’stage poet’ through life has clung to him up to the present time, and in spite of warm advocates, like Gifford and Cunningham, prevented him from occupying his legitimate position as a dramatist immediately after Shakspere.”
447 Preface, p. lvii. of Monck Mason’s edition.
448 For another explanation, see Appendix X.
449 Alinda, the heroine of Fletcher’s _Pilgrim_, is equally indiscriminate in her bounty (Act I., 1, 2). We may compare J. Taylor’s _Holy Living_, Sec. VIII., Alms: “Trust not your alms to intermedial uncertain and under-dispensers.”
450 Where did he get her name from? A lady of the name is a subordinate character in Hroswitha’s _Gallicanus_. The plays of Hroswitha have obvious affinities with _The Virgin Martyr_, but I cannot trace any other indications of borrowing.
451 Brander Matthews, as a fellow-countryman of Jay Gould and Rockefeller, is well qualified to estimate Sir Giles Overreach; he points out that he is an instance of what the French call, “l’homme fort.” The part has been taken by many of our great actors, notably Garrick, who revived it in 1745. _Cf._ W. Hazlitt’s _Dramatic Essays_ for the performances of Kean and Kemble in 1816 (pp. 78-80, 91-92, 97-100). The two great actors had a different conception of Sir Giles; and Hazlitt is very severe upon Kemble. Kean was at Drury Lane, Kemble at Covent Garden.
_ 452 Cf._ II., 1, 81 and 88.
453 I., 1, 146.
454 III., 1, 72.
455 See the Dedication: “I ever held this the most perfect birth of my Minerva.” It was printed in 1629. It is interesting to compare it with _The Cardinal_, for which Shirley had a similar affection.
_ 456 Cf._ Domitian’s speech in II., 1, 160-168; and that of Rusticus in III., 2, 59-68.
457 As, for instance, Paris’ speech in I., 1, 21-26, and Stephanos’ words in V., 1, 99-101.
458 I., 4, where the Imperial princesses push one another about in seeking for a front place in the street as Domitian passes, is an example of this fault. We have already referred to the difficulties which are involved in the infliction of torture on the stage, as in III., 2. Again, it is improbable that the actors should have been waiting, as in IV., 1, outside the private gardens, ready to perform the very play which suited Domitian’s purpose. We are also disconcerted to find the ghosts in Act V., 1, stealing the bust of Minerva. (_Cf._, however, Virgil _Æneid_, II., 294.)
459 Prologue 2, 7:
In each part, With his best of fancy, judgment, language, art, Fashion’d and form’d so, as might well, and may Deserve a welcome, and no vulgar way.
_ 460 Cf._ IV., 1, 28, and IV., 5, 216.
461 I., 2.
462 The way in which the apple circulates reminds us of the Umbrana in Beaumont’s amusing _Woman-Hater_.
463 The reference to an architect in IV., 2, 178, suggests that in the first draft of the play Paulo had appeared in that character.
464 IV., 2.
465 III., 1.
466 III., 4.
467 IV., 3.
468 III., 2, 69.
469 IV., 1, 17.
470 IV., 3, 196; V., 3, 53.
471 V., 5, 42.
472 III., 1, 162.
473 V., 5.
474 II., 1, 35.
_ 475 Cf._ _The Virgin Martyr_, I., 1, 405 and V., 2, 4.
476 Epilogue, line 9.
477 There is too much kneeling in this play; Hortensio kneels, I., 1, 200; Matilda, III., 3, 60 and 123; Lorenzo, IV., 1, 167; Matilda again, IV., 1, 184; Alonzo and Pisano, V., 1, 180; Matilda again, V., 3, 101; the Ambassador, V., 3, 169.
_ 478 I.e._, the “emphatic” double ending. _Cf._ II., 4, 21; II., 6, 51; II., 7, 69: III., 1, 114; IV., 3, 81; IV, 3, 155.
_ 479 N. S. S._, p. 393.
480 The disappointment which we feel at Camiola’s lot may be paralleled by Bellario in _Philaster_.
_ 481 The City Madam_ was printed in 1658. Perhaps this accounts for Colley Gibber’s statement that Massinger died in 1659. The editor of the play, Andrew Pennycuicke, “one of the actors,” being, as the name would seem to imply, a canny Scot, dedicated the first edition “to the truly noble John North Esquire,” and the second, _totidem verbis_, “to the truly noble and virtuous Lady Anne, Countess of Oxford.” I owe this fact to the kindness of Mr. P. Simpson. It is to be noted that both editions read “out-conquered,” whereas Cunningham has printed “not-conquered.”
482 Hilario is Massinger’s one attempt at the Shaksperian “fool”; but what a contrast there is between Hilario and Touchstone or Feste!
483 Dekker’s word.
484 II., 1, 20.
485 Notice the skill with which Sforza, in I., 3, works up to his unexpected and terrible request.
486 A clever passage is that where Francisco points out that nothing succeeds like success (IV., 1, 16-36).
487 V., 2, 256. _Cf._ IV., 2, 75:
Hold but thy nature, Duke, and be but rash, And violent enough.
_Cf._ also I., 2, 30; I., 3, 369; III., 3, 252.
488 I., 1, 111-125.
489 III., 3.
490 II., 1, 121.
491 Though Rowe behaved badly in concealing his theft from Massinger, the critics have been unfair to his play. It is very instructive to compare the simple structure of _The Fair Penitent_, written on French lines, with the larger scheme and wealth of incident in _The Fatal Dowry_. We are reminded of the contrast between an English and a Dutch garden. After all, some people prefer their yew-trees cut into cocks and hens, while others do not. I can imagine a being who would prefer Gounod’s _Romeo and Juliet_ to Shakspere’s. In _The Fair Penitent_, the law-court scene, the father’s funeral, and the music-master disappear. We get the “gay Lothario” from this once popular play. Mr. Phelan (p. 60) has properly pointed out that “for Lothario we entertain a latent regard, for his elegant and gallant bearing,” whereas Novall, junr., “is not calculated to gain love.” In other words, while Massinger’s moral is superior, Rowe is more true to life. _Cf._ some interesting remarks by Hazlitt (_Dramatic Essays_, pp. 93-95) on Rowe’s play and Miss O’Neill as Calista.
_ 492 Cf._ _Unnatural Combat_, III., 2, 144, and Fletcher, _passim_.
_ 493 Cf._ I., 1, 203.
494 Novall never meant to marry Beaumelle. _Cf._ IV., 1, 100; V., 2, 264.
495 For a discussion of the authorship of the play, see Appendix XI.
496 There is much in Act III. of _A King and No King_ which reminds us of Malefort’s passion; but Massinger is a better moralist than the authors of that brilliant play.
497 Beaufort senior’s words in III., 2, 32-41, should, however, be carefully observed.
498 IV., 2, 87. _Cf._, however, Sir John Van Olden Barnavelt, III., 2.
_ 499 E.g._, Charles’s speech about Cupid, V., 1, 33-60.
500 Act V. We must allow that Cleremond and Leonora are too long-winded.
501 We may conjecture that the missing part of Act I. contained (_a_) a scene in which “three citizens” described the situation, and the absence of the King; (_b_) a scene of love-making between Cleremond and Leonora, containing the incident referred to in II., 2, 93-100; (_c_) a scene in which Beaupré obtained Chamont’s protection, and asked for an introduction to Bellisant (_cf._ V., 1, 470). Bellisant may also have appeared before I., 4, as her denunciations of the gallants are referred to in II., 1, 23. And Bellisant knows in III., 3, 145, that Clarindore had “cast off” Beaupré. Clarindore is the sort of man who might have boasted of this.
502 V., 1, 520. Massinger did not like people who cannot keep a secret. _Cf._ _A Very Woman_, IV., 2, 142.
503 For a fuller discussion of this play and the MS., see Appendixes VII. and VIII.
_ 504 Poetics_, 1451_a_, 16, 1451_b_, 34.
505 Touches which remind one of Massinger occur, but they are few and far between—_e.g._:
I., 1, 30-70, reminds us of him here and there. (The same applies to Cleanthes’ speech, I., 1, 323-345.)
I., 1, 248: “personal opposition.” (_Cf._ _Believe as You List_, IV., 2, 98.)
I., 1,362:
CLEANTHES. How do you fare, sir?
LEONIDES. Cleanthes, never better.
(In the _Henry VIII_ manner.)
II., 1, 41-61: The first courtier’s speech.
II., 2, 73-94: Lysander’s speech.
IV., 2, 1-130: see especially lines 3, 41, 72, 109.
V., 1, 54-82.
V., 1, 119-132: Lysander’s speech.
V., 1, 156-175.
V., 1, 232-250: Cleanthes’ speech. (Notice the parenthesis in lines 246-7.)
The play is usually assigned to 1599, on the strength of the passage where Gnotho gets the clerk to alter the Parish Chronicle (III., 1). Gayley thinks the mention of 1599 “purely dramatic” (_R. E. C._, III., p. lv). He says the style is not like that of Middleton in 1599, and points out that Rowley was only fourteen years of age in that year. “If Massinger had any share in the play, it was in revision, after Middleton’s death in 1627.” Gayley dates the play 1614-16. It must be pointed out, however, that it is not easy to alter 40 to 39. The author could have chosen a date whose figures were more easy to deal with. I therefore think the usually accepted date is right, though it does not, of course, settle the question of authorship.
Massinger was fond of scenes in courts of justice, and it is highly probable that he elaborated the details of Act V.
506 We find “horror” in IV., 2, 72 and 160; a certain number of the alliterations referred to above (p. 121), I., 1, 66; II., 1, 210, 265; II., 2, 119; V., 1, 546, 550, 605, 650; and words doubled (I., 1, 67, 88, 206, 220, 268, 354, 389; II., 1, 154, 275; II., 2, 91; III., 1, 304, 363).
_ 507 Believe as You List_, IV., 1; _Love’s Triumph through Callipolis_; Peele’s _Battle of Alcazar_.
508 Dodsley’s _Old Plays_, vol. x. (Hazlitt).
509 There is a good edition of _A New Way to pay Old Debts_ by K. Deighton (G. Bell, 1893). Brander Matthews has also edited the play, prefixing a valuable estimate of the poet.
510 V., 3, 148:
O Philanax, as thy name Interpreted speaks thee, thou hast ever been A lover of the King.
_ 511 Picture_, I., 1, 6.
512 III., 1, 7. _Cf._ Ben Jonson’s _Staple of News_, IV., 4 Pennyboy junior:
Thou appears’t κατ᾽ ἐξοχήν, a canter.
513 III., 1, 102-3.
_ 514 Emperor of the East_, II., 1, 278 and 294.
515 III., 4, 40.
516 σκάνδικά μοι δός, μητρόθεν δεδεγμένος. (l. 478).
517 II., 5, 96.
518 Telephus frag., 722:
Σπάρταν ἔλαχες, κείνην κόσμει; τὰς δὲ Μυκήνας ἡμεῖς ἰδίᾳ.
519 V., 1, 5.
520 ὡς γραφεύς τ᾽ ἀποσταθείς.
521 IV., 5, 61.
522 ἐπὶ δὲ καρδίαν ἔδραμε κροκοβαφὴς σταγών (l. 1121).
_ 523 Cf._ _Shakspere’s England_, Vol. I., ix., “Scholarship,” by Sir J. E. Sandys.
524 It may be noted that the end of _The Knight of Malta_ is modelled on the last scene of the _Alcestis_. The play has been attributed in part to Massinger, but the fact cited, though interesting, does not prove acquaintance either on the part of Fletcher or Massinger with Greek at first hand.
525 III., 1., 92-106.
526 IV., 2.
527 IV., 3.
528 II., 5.
529 I have not succeeded in finding the passage referred to.
530 I., 1, 47. (Chreocopia, in I., 1, 54, may be scanned with the accent on the penultimate.)
531 I., 2, 21 and 29; III., 2, 110. Eudocia in _The Emperor of the East_ is more doubtful. _Cf._ IV., 5, 83; V., 1, 122; V., 2, 105; V., 3, 170.
532 Notice that in all these false quantities the stress is laid on the syllable which bears the Greek accent; that is to say, the words are scanned as a Byzantine Greek of the time would have pronounced them. _Cf._ in Marlowe’s _Tamburlaine_, Pt. II., IV., 4: “As in the theoria of the world.” A similar suggestion is anonymously made in _The Times Literary Supplement_, March 20th, 1919, for another line of Marlowe: “Our Pythagôras’ Metempsýchosis.”
“Academy,” in _The Emperor of the East_, I., 1, 45, seems accented on the last syllable.
_ 533 Cf._ p. 19, n. 2.
534 Boyle’s ascription is in each case printed first; M. signifies the portions of each play which he allots to Massinger. A. H. B. = Mr. Bullen, A. H. C. = the writer. Macaulay’s views will be found in _The Cambridge History of English Literature_, vol. vi., Appendix to