''A Fine Companion'' is a

Caroline Caroline may refer to: People * Caroline (given name), a feminine given name * J. C. Caroline (born 1933), American college and National Football League player * Jordan Caroline (born 1996), American (men's) basketball player Places Antarctica * ...

era stage play, a comedy written by

Shackerley Marmion Shackerley Marmion (January 1603 – 1639), also Shakerley, Shakerly, Schackerley, Marmyon, Marmyun, or Mermion, was an early 17th-century dramatist, often classed among the Sons of Ben, the followers of Ben Jonson who continued his style of ...

that was first printed in 1633. It is one of only three surviving plays by Marmion. The play was published in 1633 in a

quarto Quarto (abbreviated Qto, 4to or 4º) is the format of a book or pamphlet produced from full sheets printed with eight pages of text, four to a side, then folded twice to produce four leaves. The leaves are then trimmed along the folds to produc ...

printed by

Augustine Matthews Augustine Matthews ( fl. 1615 – 1637) was a printer in London in the Jacobean and Caroline eras. Among a wide variety of other work, Matthews printed notable texts in English Renaissance drama. Matthews became a freedman (a full member) ...

for the bookseller

Richard Meighen Richard Meighen (died 1641) was a London publisher of the Jacobean and Caroline eras. He is noted for his publications of plays of English Renaissance drama; he published the second Ben Jonson folio of 1640/41, and was a member of the syndicat ...

. The title page of the first edition states that the play was performed by

Prince Charles's Men Prince Charles's Men (known as the Duke of York's Men from 1608 to 1612) was a playing company or troupe of actors in Jacobean and Caroline England. The Jacobean era troupe The company was formed in 1608 as the Duke of York's Men, under the titu ...

at the

Salisbury Court Theatre The Salisbury Court Theatre was a theatre in 17th-century London. It was in the neighbourhood of Salisbury Court, which was formerly the London residence of the Bishops of Salisbury. Salisbury Court was acquired by Richard Sackville in 1564 du ...

, and that the work was acted before King

Charles I Charles I may refer to: Kings and emperors * Charlemagne (742–814), numbered Charles I in the lists of Holy Roman Emperors and French kings * Charles I of Anjou (1226–1285), also king of Albania, Jerusalem, Naples and Sicily * Charles I of ...

and Queen

Henrietta Maria Henrietta Maria (french: link=no, Henriette Marie; 25 November 1609 – 10 September 1669) was Queen of England, Scotland, and Ireland from her marriage to King Charles I on 13 June 1625 until Charles was executed on 30 January 1649. She wa ...

Whitehall Palace The Palace of Whitehall (also spelt White Hall) at Westminster was the main residence of the English monarchs from 1530 until 1698, when most of its structures, except notably Inigo Jones's Banqueting House of 1622, were destroyed by fire. Hen ...

. The original production most likely occurred in the 1632–33 period. The same company had staged Marmion's first play, '' Holland's Leaguer'', in 1631. Marmion based his drama on one of the popular stories in

Barnabe Rich Barnabe Rich (also Barnaby Riche) (c. 1540 – 10 November 1617) was an English author and soldier, and a distant relative of Lord Chancellor Rich. Life He fought in the Low Countries, rising to the rank of captain, and afterwards served in ...

's ''Farewell to the Military Profession'' (1581). Like Marmion's other plays, ''A Fine Companion'' shows the clear and abundant influence of

Ben Jonson Benjamin "Ben" Jonson (c. 11 June 1572 – c. 16 August 1637) was an English playwright and poet. Jonson's artistry exerted a lasting influence upon English poetry and stage comedy. He popularised the comedy of humours; he is best known for t ...

's style of comedy. Marmion was one of the Sons of Ben, self-professed admirers and followers of Jonson. In the 1633 first edition, the play is prefaced by a Prologue featuring an Author and a Critic, in which Marmion defends his practice of satire.

Synopsis

The play opens with its lovers, Aurelio and Valeria. Aurelio is a worthy son who has been disinherited by a capricious father, in favour of his wastrel younger brother Careless (the latter is the "fine companion" of the title). The lovers' plans to marry are frustrated by Aurelio's lack of means; and they are separated physically by Aurelia's father, the usurer Littlegood. His own father being deceased, Careless is determined to spend and enjoy his patrimony. He mortgages his lands to Littlegood and wastes his funds on high living; his tailor, sempster, and haberdasher wait upon him faithfully. He is surrounded by a set of questionable friends. Spruce is a would-be lady's man who carries a box full of pre-written love letters, only the names left blank. Captain Whipple and Lieutenant Stern are cashiered soldiers who mooch what they can. Littlegood has two daughters and a son. In addition to Valeria there is the high-spirited Aemilia; son Lackwit is the darling of his mother, Fondling Littlegood, who encourages him to live the life of a gentleman and a gallant, much to his father's displeasure. Littlegood wants to marry off his daughters to husbands of his choice; he plans to bestow Valeria upon Spruce, and Aemilia on the elderly Dotario, the uncle of Aurelio and Careless. Aemilia, however, is determined to foil her father's plans; she prefers Careless for her husband. Directed by Aurelio, Valeria pretends to be mad; Aurelio disguises himself as the doctor who is to cure her. Careless disguises himself as Dotario, and makes off with Aemilia. (Lackwit mistakes the real Dotario for a false Dotario, and scares him away with a longsword.) The disguised brothers marry their brides. Littlegood and Dotario are stunned to learn they've been duped, though Fondling is pleased with the results. To avoid public embarrassment and keep the family secrets, Littlegood agrees to return Careless's mortgaged lands to him, and Dotario provides Aurelio with an income. Interspersed with the play's main plot scenes are scenes of the comic subplot, which trace the adventures of Careless, Lackwit, the Captain, and comic servants through a milieu of taverns, confidence games, and pranks. Captain Whipple is a version of the "

Miles gloriosus ''Alazṓn'' ( grc, ἀλαζών) is one of three stock characters in comedy of the theatre of ancient Greece. He is the opponent of the '' eirôn''. The ''alazṓn'' is an impostor that sees himself as greater than he actually is. The ''senex ...

" of classical comedy: he talks big and blusters, but is a coward at heart. He indulges in a fantastic style of speech — :There's a wench that has her suburb tricks about her, I warrant you. Hold there :Bellerophon! take thy Ocyrois, and mount her like Phlegon. Yet by the end of the play he has been humbled: he marries the Hostess of the tavern where he resides, and becomes the Host.

Literary connections

Like many Caroline era plays, Marmion's ''Fine Companion'' shows a range of resemblances with, and borrowings from, earlier works. ''

A Match at Midnight ''A Match at Midnight'' is a Jacobean era stage play first printed in 1633, a comedy that represents a stubborn and persistent authorship problem in English Renaissance drama. Publication The play was entered into the Stationers' Register on ...

'', a play in the canon of

William Rowley William Rowley (c. 1585 – February 1626) was an English Jacobean dramatist, best known for works written in collaboration with more successful writers. His date of birth is estimated to have been c. 1585; he was buried on 11 February 1626 in ...

, bears noteworthy common features with Marmion's comedy: the old usurer (Bloodhound, Littlegood) and his rebellious children; the witty virgin (Moll Bloodhound, Aemilia Littlegood) and her decrepit old suitor (Earlack, Dotario); the usurer's silly son (Tim Bloodhound, Lackwit Littlegood); dishonest tavern-crawling discharged soldiers, etc. In turn, Marmion's play influenced subsequent writers. ''A Fine Companion'' served "as a source for plot elements" in

Richard Brome Richard Brome ; (c. 1590? – 24 September 1652) was an English dramatist of the Caroline era. Life Virtually nothing is known about Brome's private life. Repeated allusions in contemporary works, like Ben Jonson's ''Bartholomew Fair'', ind ...

's ''

The English Moor ''The English Moor, or the Mock Marriage'' is a Caroline era stage play, a comedy written by Richard Brome, noteworthy in its use of the stage device of blackface make-up. Registered in 1640, it was first printed in 1659, and, uniquely among th ...

''.Matthew Steggle, ''Richard Brome: Place and Politics on the Caroline Stage'', Manchester, Manchester University Press, 2004; p. 125. During the

Restoration Restoration is the act of restoring something to its original state and may refer to: * Conservation and restoration of cultural heritage ** Audio restoration ** Film restoration ** Image restoration ** Textile restoration * Restoration ecology ...

Thomas d'Urfey Thomas d'Urfey (a.k.a. Tom Durfey; 165326 February 1723) was an English writer and wit. He wrote plays, songs, jokes, and poems. He was an important innovator and contributor in the evolution of the ballad opera. Life D'Urfey was born in Devonshi ...

borrowed from Marmion's drama to create his '' Sir Barnaby Whig, or No Wit Like a Woman's'' (1681). D'Urfey's Captain Porpuss is modelled on Marmion's Captain Whipple. (Four years earlier, in 1677, d'Urfey had similarly plundered Marmion's ''

The Antiquary ''The Antiquary'' (1816), the third of the Waverley novels by Walter Scott, centres on the character of an antiquary: an amateur historian, archaeologist and collector of items of dubious antiquity. He is the eponymous character and for all prac ...

'' for another of his works.)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fine Companion, A English Renaissance plays 1633 plays Charles I of England Henrietta Maria of France