245:, Charles is heir to his father's estates, while Eustace is merely a younger son with no independent income. The two fathers scheme to oust Charles from his privileged place and convey his birthright to Eustace. The protests of Brisac's brother Miramount, who favors Charles and admires his intellectual pursuits, are dismissed. Brisac promises Charles an income that will provide for his bookish life; and Charles is naive enough to accept the offer – until he meets Angellina in person. He is instantly swept away by her, as she is with him; and he is inspired to defend his rights, knowing that he needs an estate to support a wife. He refuses to sign the legal documents that Brisac and Lewis have prepared, documents that would effectively disinherit him.
238:
and simples" (Act I, scene 1). Yet now that she is fourteen years old, he judges it appropriate that she be married to a fitting husband. Lewis looks toward his neighbor Brisac, who has two eligible sons. The older, Charles (the play's title character), is a scholar, who ignores everyday concerns and prefers his books; the younger, Eustace, is a courtier, fashionable and worldly. Both Lewis and Brisac decide that
Eustace is the right match for Angellina.
237:
Lewis is a French nobleman who lives on his country estates, where he raises his only child, Angellina. He takes care to guide the girl away from the sybaritic sloth in which many aristocratic women indulge, encouraging her to "rise with the sun, walk, dance, or hunt, and learn the virtues of plants
261:
Being written in prose rather than verse, the play lacks the embellishments of style normal for
Fletcher and Massinger; it compensates with vigorous and entertaining vollies of invective. At one point, Miramount calls his brother Brisac "a flat dull piece of phlegm, shap'd like a man" (II,1). Other
69:
is unusual in the canons of both
Fletcher and Massinger in being almost entirely in prose rather than verse. (Only the Prologue, the Epilogue, and a lyric in III,v are in verse; and the Prologue and Epilogue are of uncertain authorship, in this play as in others.) A prose play was logically easier
257:
over
Angellina and their disrupted inheritance. Miramount tries to stop them, and they are interrupted by the news that Brisac has taken legal action over the matter, seizing both Lewis and Angellina. Miramount, Charles, and Eustace go to prevent this. The childless Miramount makes an offer that
248:
Brisac and Lewis are both outraged at the failure of their plan. Brisac orders
Charles out of his house, as Lewis does Angellina; but the young couple find refuge with Miramount. Angellina is at first concerned about her honor and reputation – but Charles assures her that he will treat her with
142:. (The rights to the play were transferred to Moseley in Oct. 1646, according to the Stationers' Register; the recording entry cites the playwright's name as "Mr. Fflesher" – one of the odder vagaries in the famously flexible orthography of the English Renaissance.) A third quarto followed in
249:
respect and discretion. Eustace and two of his courtier friends, Cowsy and
Egremont, go to confront Charles; but the newly emboldened young man seizes Eustace's sword and drives the three of them out. Brisac and Lewis, meanwhile, have a falling-out over the bad outcome of their scheme.
252:
In conversation with Cowsy and
Egremont, Eustace is disillusioned by their frank cowardice and their self-centered disregard for considerations of honor; he obtains one of their swords, then chases them away and goes to confront his brother once again. The two brothers begin a
218:, in his comprehensive study of authorship problems in Fletcher's canon, agrees with other commentators in assigning Acts I and V to Massinger, and Acts II, III, and IV to Fletcher – the same division of shares displayed in
258:
pacifies all concerned: he will make
Eustace the heir to his estates and support the young man in finding a wife. Charles and Angellina can then proceed to the altar without hindrance.
377:
65:
Both the
Prologue and the Epilogue of the play mention Fletcher's passing; the Prologue refers to him as "now dead," indicating, perhaps, a recent event.
499:
262:
characters are described as "gaudy glow-worms," "a hair-brain'd puppy," "running ulcers," "owls," "mungrils," and many other imaginative insults.
214:
Given
Fletcher's highly distinctive literary style, it has not been difficult for scholars to delineate the respective shares of the two authors.
1387:
1377:
861:
1085:
370:
202:. Q3 returns to the original attribution to Fletcher alone; but Q4 reverts to Beaumont and Fletcher. (The play dates from long after
747:
106:, but thought it "ill acted." The play remained in the repertory for years, and was a "principal old stock play" of the era.
363:
229:
to be a work originally by Fletcher alone, "the first and last acts of which have been virtually rewritten by Massinger."
186:. The text of the MS. shows a range of small differences from the printed texts (mainly single words, and a few lines).
1382:
1362:
287:
The Later Jacobean and Caroline Dramatists: A Survey and Bibliography of Recent Studies in English Renaissance Drama,
1131:
492:
997:
168:
1078:
338:
The Plays of Beaumont and Fletcher: An Attempt to Determine Their Respective Shares and the Shares of Others,
1372:
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1002:
156:
94:
era, like many other popular plays in the Fletcher canon; it was performed as early as Friday 23 November
1211:
992:
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407:
134:
exists in two states, with minor typographical differences between them. A second quarto was issued in
46:
355:
1071:
82:
The early performance history of the play is unknown. The first recorded performance occurred at the
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926:
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163:, like other previously printed Fletcher plays; it was included in the second folio of
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57:, it may have been the last play Fletcher worked on before his August 1625 death.
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127:
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1339:
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167:. The title pages of all the quartos agree that the play was staged by the
131:
99:
1259:
1123:
642:
74:
was a "rush job" done in the final weeks and months of Fletcher's life.
452:
385:
215:
119:
194:
The play was originally assigned to Fletcher alone; but Q2 assigned
621:
70:
and quicker to compose that a work in verse. It is possible that
42:
24:
178:
The play also exists in a manuscript, part of the collection
254:
206:
retirement from the stage in 1613 and his death in 1616.)
289:
Lincoln, NE, University of Nebraska Press, 1978; p. 78.
41:
is an early seventeenth-century English stage play, a
1056:† = Not published in the Beaumont and Fletcher folios
318:
Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press, 1926; p. 19.
225:another of their collaborative efforts. Hoy judged
340:New Haven, Yale University Press, 1927; pp. 230–4.
305:Vol. 35 No. 1 (August 1937), pp. 61–72; see p. 66.
265:The play also contains a noteworthy reference to
241:They face a problem, however: under the rules of
130:, with a title-page attribution to Fletcher. The
1354:
269:, as "Galateo, the Italian star-wright" (II,4).
316:Beaumont and Fletcher on the Restoration Stage,
90:on 5 January 1637. The play was revived during
23:. For the indigenous South American tribe, see
122:printed by Felix Kingston for the booksellers
1093:
1079:
500:The Masque of the Inner Temple and Gray's Inn
371:
862:Four Plays, or Moral Representations, in One
285:Terence P. Logan and Denzell S. Smith, eds.
1086:
1072:
378:
364:
16:Play by John Fletcher and Philip Massinger
301:, "The Diary of a Caroline Theatergoer,"
86:on 25 April 1635; and it was staged at
1355:
349:Hoy quoted in Logan and Smith, p. 113.
1067:
359:
1388:Plays by John Fletcher and Massinger
912:with Massinger, Chapman & Jonson
1378:Plays by John Fletcher (playwright)
13:
922:with Massinger, Ford & Webster
14:
1399:
157:first Beaumont and Fletcher folio
493:The Knight of the Burning Pestle
114:The play was first published in
327:Sprague, pp. 22, 24, 33 and ff.
189:
343:
330:
321:
308:
292:
279:
109:
77:
1:
1034:(Shakespeare & Fletcher?)
809:with Beaumont & Massinger
272:
209:
1003:Beaumont and Fletcher folios
7:
993:English Renaissance theatre
699:Rule a Wife and Have a Wife
232:
10:
1404:
1252:A New Way to Pay Old Debts
1196:The Great Duke of Florence
833:with Massinger & Field
18:
1383:Plays by Philip Massinger
1363:English Renaissance plays
1132:The Custom of the Country
1102:
1054:
1021:
983:
936:
800:
748:The Custom of the Country
708:
592:
509:
484:
471:
395:
182:in the collection of the
53:. Apparently dating from
29:Elder Brother (character)
27:. For the character, see
1228:The Little French Lawyer
1220:John van Olden Barnavelt
1212:The Honest Man's Fortune
956:(Middleton & Rowley)
927:The Fair Maid of the Inn
838:The Honest Man's Fortune
727:The Little French Lawyer
601:The Faithful Shepherdess
21:The Elder Brother (film)
1172:The Emperor of the East
1031:The History of Cardenio
917:Rollo, Duke of Normandy
664:The Humorous Lieutenant
60:
1300:Rollo Duke of Normandy
1268:The Parliament of Love
953:Wit at Several Weapons
314:Arthur Colby Sprague,
102:saw it on 6 September
880:The Two Noble Kinsmen
814:Thierry and Theodoret
388:Beaumont and Fletcher
200:Beaumont and Fletcher
155:was omitted from the
1332:The Unnatural Combat
1236:The Lovers' Progress
907:The Maid in the Mill
845:The Queen of Corinth
755:The Lovers' Progress
685:The Wild Goose Chase
88:Hampton Court Palace
1373:Plays in manuscript
1148:The Double Marriage
1116:Believe as You List
1043:(possibly based on
852:The Knight of Malta
741:The Double Marriage
671:The Island Princess
583:The Noble Gentleman
428:William Shakespeare
336:E. H. C. Oliphant
173:Blackfriars Theatre
146:, with a fourth in
84:Blackfriars Theatre
1324:The Spanish Curate
1244:The Maid of Honour
762:The Spanish Curate
692:A Wife for a Month
562:A King and No King
555:The Maid's Tragedy
19:For the film, see
1350:
1349:
1164:The Elder Brother
1156:The Duke of Milan
1108:The Bashful Lover
1061:
1060:
1013:Humphrey Robinson
979:
978:
961:The Laws of Candy
897:Wit Without Money
783:The Elder Brother
650:The Loyal Subject
608:The Woman's Prize
576:The Scornful Lady
569:Love's Pilgrimage
227:The Elder Brother
196:The Elder Brother
153:The Elder Brother
72:The Elder Brother
67:The Elder Brother
38:The Elder Brother
1395:
1096:Philip Massinger
1088:
1081:
1074:
1065:
1064:
1040:Double Falsehood
1008:Humphrey Moseley
890:The Night Walker
867:with Shakespeare
482:
481:
438:Thomas Middleton
415:Philip Massinger
401:Francis Beaumont
380:
373:
366:
357:
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350:
347:
341:
334:
328:
325:
319:
312:
306:
303:Modern Philology
296:
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180:MS. Egerton 1994
140:Humphrey Moseley
51:Philip Massinger
1403:
1402:
1398:
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1396:
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1392:
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1352:
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1346:
1308:The Roman Actor
1188:The Fatal Dowry
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986:and publication
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945:The Nice Valour
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710:
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629:Monsieur Thomas
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527:Cupid's Revenge
520:The Woman Hater
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184:British Library
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12:
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1316:The Sea Voyage
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1284:The Prophetess
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969:The Coronation
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821:Beggars' Bush
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734:The False One
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657:Women Pleased
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636:The Mad Lover
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433:James Shirley
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408:John Fletcher
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299:G. E. Bentley
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243:primogeniture
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221:The False One
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128:John Waterson
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47:John Fletcher
44:
40:
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34:
30:
26:
22:
1340:A Very Woman
1338:
1330:
1322:
1314:
1306:
1298:
1292:The Renegado
1290:
1282:
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1258:
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1242:
1239:(1624, 1634)
1234:
1226:
1218:
1210:
1204:The Guardian
1202:
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1186:
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1114:
1106:
1044:
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1029:
967:
959:
951:
943:
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915:
905:
895:
888:
885:with Shirley
878:
871:
860:
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843:
836:
826:
819:
812:
791:A Very Woman
789:
782:
781:
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746:
739:
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709:Fletcher and
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512:and Fletcher
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478:conjectural)
476:attributions
463:John Webster
423:Nathan Field
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190:Attributions
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132:first quarto
113:
100:Samuel Pepys
81:
71:
66:
64:
37:
36:
35:
33:
1276:The Picture
1260:The Old Law
1124:The Bondman
984:Performance
948:(Middleton)
902:with Rowley
828:Love's Cure
678:The Pilgrim
643:The Chances
615:Valentinian
548:The Captain
534:The Coxcomb
124:John Benson
110:Publication
92:Restoration
78:Performance
45:written by
1368:1625 plays
1357:Categories
1343:(1619–22?)
1303:(1612–24?)
998:King's Men
873:Henry VIII
857:with Field
803:and others
453:Ben Jonson
273:References
210:Authorship
204:Beaumont's
169:King's Men
1263:(1614–18)
1231:(1619–23)
1183:(1619–20)
1151:(1619–22)
1135:(1619–23)
1094:Plays by
972:(Shirley)
720:Barnavelt
711:Massinger
541:Philaster
448:John Ford
216:Cyrus Hoy
1045:Cardenio
801:Fletcher
593:Fletcher
510:Beaumont
485:Beaumont
233:Synopsis
1335:(1624?)
1022:Related
622:Bonduca
390:" Canon
171:at the
118:, in a
1327:(1622)
1319:(1622)
1311:(1626)
1295:(1630)
1287:(1622)
1279:(1630)
1271:(1624)
1255:(1625)
1247:(1632)
1223:(1619)
1215:(1613)
1207:(1633)
1199:(1636)
1191:(1632)
1175:(1632)
1167:(1625)
1159:(1623)
1143:(1632)
1127:(1624)
1119:(1631)
1111:(1636)
964:(Ford)
937:Others
120:quarto
98:, and
43:comedy
25:Koguis
474:(some
472:Plays
386:The "
255:duel
165:1679
161:1647
148:1678
144:1661
136:1651
126:and
116:1637
104:1661
96:1660
61:Date
55:1625
49:and
198:to
159:of
1359::
175:.
1087:e
1080:t
1073:v
1047:)
1037:†
1028:†
870:†
788:†
717:†
379:e
372:t
365:v
223:,
31:.
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