The Fatal Dowry
The Fatal Dowry is a late Jacobean era stage play, a tragedy written by Philip Massinger and Nathan Field, and first published in 1632. It represents a significant aspect of Field's very limited dramatic output.
Though hard evidence is lacking, the play is thought to have been composed c. 1619; it may have been the last writing for the theatre done by Field before his death in 1620. The play was acted by the King's Men at the Blackfriars Theatre. The 1632 quarto was printed by John Norton for the bookseller Francis Constable. The quarto's text is corrupt and badly printed.
Synopsis
The play is set in
Rochfort has an only daughter named Beaumelle; she is the centre of a set of fashionable and
Novall Junior is irate about the marriage, since he has lost his chance of taking Beaumelle's virginity; but Bellapert assures him that the marriage will work to his advantage. Others, including Charalois' friend Romont, perceive the growing intimacy of Novall Junior and Beaumelle, and try to warn the parties involved — without success. Eventually, Beaumelle consummates her incipient affair with Novall Junior. Charalois walks in upon them, catching them in the act. Charalois challenges Novall Junior; Novall attempts to avoid the duel, but in the end he fights with Charalois, and is killed.
Charalois stages a mock trial, with his father-in-law Rochfort as the judge.[1] Rochfort, even in his emotional turmoil, hears Charalois' accusation and Beaumelle's confession, and sentences her to death. Charalois stabs her; Beaumelle dies. Novall Senior discovers his son's death, and has Charalois arrested and prosecuted. Charalois defends himself before the court, and wins an acquittal. One of Novall Junior's followers, however, is an ex-soldier named Pontalier who was redeemed from debtor's prison by the judge's son; repaying that favour, Pontalier stabs and kills Charalois in the court, and in turn is stabbed and killed by Romont.
Authorship and reception
Scholars have estimated that the play is 60% Massinger's work, and 40% Field's.[2] Field's hand is most prominent in Act II, in the second half of Act III, and in Act IV scene 1.[3] The two collaborators divided the task according to their artistic strengths: Field wrote the portions of the play that deal with the fashionable world of Beaumelle and Novall Junior, while Massinger handled the parts involving soldiers, the law court, and the serious moral issues of the drama.
The play has been called "unique among the plays of the Massinger canon in being both weak in plot and unusually strong in characterization."[4] The play has been praised by critics; Arthur Symons considered it one of Massinger's "two most distinct and most distinguished tragedies" (the other being The Duke of Milan).[5]
Adaptations
In 1702,
Notes
- ^ This powerful scene appears[citation needed] to have been suggested by a scene in an earlier play, Robert Daborne's The Poor Man's Comfort of c. 1617.
- ^ Logan and Smith, p. 107.
- ^ Sykes, p. 201.
- ^ T. A. Dunn, quoted in Logan and Smith, p. 98.
- ^ Symons, p. 114.
- ^ Phelan, p. 59.
Sources
- Dunn, T. A., ed. The Fatal Dowry. Berkeley, University of California Press, 1969.
- Garrett, Martin. Massinger: The Critical Heritage. London, Routledge, 1991.
- Lockhart, Lacy. "A Scene in The Fatal Dowry." Modern Language Notes Vol. 35 No. 5 (May 1920), pp. 291–3.
- Logan, Terence P., and Denzell S. Smith, eds. The Later Jacobean and Caroline Dramatists: A Survey and Bibliography of Recent Studies in English Renaissance Drama. Lincoln, NE, University of Nebraska Press, 1978.
- Phelan, James. On Philip Massinger. Halle, E. Karras, 1878.
- Sykes, H. Dugdale. Sidelights on Elizabethan Drama. London, Oxford University Press, 1924.
- Symons, Arthur. Studies in Two Literatures. London, Leonard Smithers, 1897.
External links
- The 1632 quarto: facsimile (Internet Archive) and transcription (EEBO-TCP)