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''Blurt, Master Constable, or the Spaniards' Night Walk'' is a late
Elizabethan The Elizabethan era is the epoch in the Tudor period of the history of England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (1558–1603). Historians often depict it as the golden age in English history. The symbol of Britannia (a female personifi ...
comedy Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term o ...
, printed anonymously in 1602 and usually attributed to either Thomas Middleton or Thomas Dekker. The subtitle of the play, "The Spaniards' Night Walk," together with an allusion to the Spanish in Ireland in its final scene, helps to fix the date of composition to late 1601 or early 1602, following the Spanish landing in Ireland in September 1601 and their role in the
battle of Kinsale The siege of Kinsale, or Battle of Kinsale ( ga, Léigear/Cath Chionn tSáile), was the ultimate battle in England's conquest of Gaelic Ireland, commencing in October 1601, near the end of the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, and at the climax of t ...
. It was entered into the
Stationers' Register The Stationers' Register was a record book maintained by the Stationers' Company of London. The company is a trade guild given a royal charter in 1557 to regulate the various professions associated with the publishing industry, including print ...
on 7 June
1602 Events January–June * January 3 – Battle of Kinsale: The English defeat Irish rebels and their Spanish allies. (The battle happens on this date according to the Gregorian calendar used by the Irish and Spanish but on Thursday, 24 Dec ...
, and published later in that year in
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
Edward Allde Edward Allde (''Alde'', ''Alldee'', or ''Alday''; born c. 1560, died 1627) was an English printer in London during the Elizabethan and Jacobean eras. He was responsible for a number of significant texts in English Renaissance drama, includin ...
for the bookseller Henry Rocket. The title page of the quarto states that the play was acted by the
Children of Paul's The Children of Paul's was the name of a troupe of boy actors in Elizabethan The Elizabethan era is the epoch in the Tudor period of the history of England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (1558–1603). Historians often depict it a ...
, one of the troupes of boy actors performing at the time.


Authorship

There is no direct attribution of authorship in any contemporary source.
Francis Kirkman Francis Kirkman (1632 – c. 1680) appears in many roles in the English literary world of the second half of the seventeenth century, as a publisher, bookseller, librarian, author and bibliographer. In each he is an enthusiast for popular litera ...
, 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 ...
era printer, attributed the play to
Thomas Middleton Thomas Middleton (baptised 18 April 1580 – July 1627; also spelt ''Midleton'') was an English Jacobean playwright and poet. He, with John Fletcher and Ben Jonson, was among the most successful and prolific of playwrights at work in the Jac ...
in
1661 Events January–March * January 6 – The Fifth Monarchists, led by Thomas Venner, unsuccessfully attempt to seize control of London; George Monck's regiment defeats them. * January 29 – The Rokeby baronets, a British ...
. Thomas Dekker was first linked to the play by the scholar E. H. C. Oliphant in 1926. Since then, 20th-century scholars have looked at ''Blurt'' as the work of Middleton, or Dekker, or both. The majority view through much of the middle and later 20th century tended to favor the hypothesis that ''Blurt'' is a Dekker/Middleton collaboration. Yet David Lake, in his analysis of authorship problems in the Middleton canon, concludes that Middleton had nothing to do with the play and assigns the whole of it to Dekker with no collaborator.


Synopsis

Camillo and Hippolito are young Venetian noblemen, just returned from the wars; Camillo brings with him a captured French gentleman named Fontinelle. Camillo turns his prisoner over to Hippolito's sister Violetta for safekeeping. Violetta is the object of Camillo's affections; but Fontinelle and Violetta fall in love. Learning of this unwelcome development, Camillo and Hippolito try to tempt Fontinelle to infidelity by sending his portrait to the courtesan Imperia, hoping to interest her in the Frenchman. The ploy fails (at first), and Camillio has Fontinelle thrown into prison. But Fontinelle and Violetta are secretly married. In the last act, however, the Venetians' plotting bears fruit: Fontinelle falls for Imperia, and Violetta has to resort to the standard Elizabethan
bed trick The bed trick is a plot device in traditional literature and folklore; it involves a substitution of one partner in the sex act with a third person (in the words of Wendy Doniger, "going to bed with someone whom you mistake for someone else"). In ...
Desens, pp. 53, 61-6. to consummate her marriage. ''Blurt'' has an obvious relationship with
Shakespeare's William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
''
Romeo and Juliet ''Romeo and Juliet'' is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare early in his career about the romance between two Italian youths from feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular plays during his lifetim ...
.'' The two lovers, partisans of opposing factions, meet at a ball and fall instantly in love; there is a balcony scene, and a secret marriage by a friar. Verbal echoes of Shakespeare's play also occur in ''Blurt'' — though the latter play is bawdier. A similar borrowing from Shakespeare's ''
Much Ado About Nothing ''Much Ado About Nothing'' is a comedy by William Shakespeare thought to have been written in 1598 and 1599.See textual notes to ''Much Ado About Nothing'' in ''The Norton Shakespeare'' ( W. W. Norton & Company, 1997 ) p. 1387 The play ...
'' is evident in the play's comic subplot, which features the title character of Blurt the constable (rather as if ''Much Ado'' were titled ''Dogberry'').


Notes

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References

* Bullen, A. H., ed. ''The Plays of Thomas Middleton''. 8 volumes, London, J. C. Nimno, 1885–1886. * Bly, Mary. "Bawdy Puns and Lustful Virgins: The Legacy of Juliet's Desire in Comedies of the 1600s". ''Shakespeare Survey'' 49; Stanley Wells, ed. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2002; pp. 97–110. * Chambers, E. K. ''The Elizabethan Stage.'' 4 Volumes, Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1923. * Desens, Marliss C. ''The Bed-Trick in English Renaissance Drama: Explorations in Gender, Sexuality, and Power.'' Newrak, DE, University of Delaware Press, 1994. * Lake, David J. ''The Canon of Thomas Middleton's Plays.'' Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1975. * Logan, Terence P., and Denzell S. Smith, eds. ''The Popular School: A Survey and Bibliography of Recent Studies in English Renaissance Drama.'' Lincoln, NE, University of Nebraska Press, 1975. * Oliphant, E. H. C. "The Authorship of "The Revenger's Tragedy". ''Studies in Philology'' 23 (1926), pp. 157–168.


External links

* Quarto of 1602
scan
(Internet Archive) an
transcription
(EEBO-TCP)

English Renaissance plays Plays by Thomas Middleton Plays by Thomas Dekker (writer) 1600s plays