''The Captain'' is the title of a Jacobean era stage play, a comedy written by

Francis Beaumont Francis Beaumont ( ; 1584 – 6 March 1616) was a dramatist in the English Renaissance theatre, most famous for his collaborations with John Fletcher. Beaumont's life Beaumont was the son of Sir Francis Beaumont of Grace Dieu, near Thrin ...

and John Fletcher. It was originally published in the first Beaumont and Fletcher folio of

1647 Events January–March * January 2 – Chinese bandit leader Zhang Xianzhong, who has ruled the Sichuan province since 1644, is killed at Xichong by a Qing archer after having been betrayed one of his officers, Liu Jinzhong. ...

Performance and publication

The play was acted at Court by the King's Men during the Christmas season of 1612–13 (the season that saw the lavish celebration of the wedding of King James I's daughter Princess Elizabeth with

Frederick V, Elector Palatine Frederick V (german: link=no, Friedrich; 26 August 1596 – 29 November 1632) was the Elector Palatine of the Rhine in the Holy Roman Empire from 1610 to 1623, and reigned as King of Bohemia from 1619 to 1620. He was forced to abdicate both r ...

); the company performed the play again at Court in May 1613. The partial cast list published with the play in the second Beaumont and Fletcher folio of 1679 mentions

Richard Burbage Richard Burbage (c. 1567 – 13 March 1619) was an English stage actor, widely considered to have been one of the most famous actors of the Globe Theatre and of his time. In addition to being a stage actor, he was also a theatre owner, ent ...

Henry Condell Henry Condell ( bapt. 5 September 1576 – December 1627) was a British actor in the King's Men, the playing company for which William Shakespeare wrote. With John Heminges, he was instrumental in preparing and editing the First Folio, the col ...

William Ostler William Ostler (died 16 December 1614) was an actor in English Renaissance theatre, a member of the King's Men, the company of William Shakespeare. Ostler started out as a boy player in the Children of the Chapel troupe; he was cast in their 1 ...

, and

Alexander Cooke Alexander Cooke (died February 1614) was an actor in the King's Men and the Lord Chamberlain's Men, the acting companies of William Shakespeare, John Heminges and Richard Burbage. Cooke was most likely introduced to the theatre by John Heminge ...

. Since Ostler joined the King's Men almost certainly in 1609, the play is judged to have originated in the 1609–12 period. The play was revived in 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, but does not seem to have been particularly popular, or to have been staged often.

Authorship

The consensus of scholarship agrees on the authorship of the play. Unlike some other

Beaumont and Fletcher Beaumont and Fletcher were the English dramatists Francis Beaumont and John Fletcher, who collaborated in their writing during the reign of James I (1603–25). They became known as a team early in their association, so much so that their jo ...

plays such as ''

A King and No King ''A King and No King'' is a Jacobean era stage play, a tragicomedy written by Francis Beaumont and John Fletcher and first published in 1619. It has traditionally been among the most highly praised and popular works in the canon of Fletcher a ...

,'' ''

The Maid's Tragedy ''The Maid's Tragedy'' is a play by Francis Beaumont and John Fletcher. It was first published in 1619. The play has provoked divided responses from critics. Date The play's date of origin is not known with certainty. In 1611, Sir George Buck, ...

,'' and '' The Woman Hater,'' in which Beaumont is the dominant partner, ''The Captain'' shows Fletcher's hand predominating.

Cyrus Hoy Cyrus Henry Hoy (February 26, 1926 – April 27, 2010) was an American literary scholar of the English Renaissance stage who taught at the University of Virginia and Vanderbilt University, and was the John B. Trevor Professor of English (emerit ...

, in his survey of authorship problems in the canon of Fletcher and his collaborators, produced this breakdown between the two playwrights' respective shares: :Fletcher – Acts I, II, and III; Act IV, scenes 1–3; Act V, 1–2; :Beaumont – Act IV, 4; :Beaumont and Fletcher – Act V, 3–5 — a schema that agrees with the conclusions of earlier critics.

The play

Commentators who object to the ethical and moral tone of works in the Beaumont/Fletcher canon have found ''The Captain'' to be a prime offender. Critic Robert Ornstein castigated the incest scene in ''The Captain'' for its "disgusting prurience."Ornstein quoted in Logan and Smith, p. 36. ''The Captain'' tells a story with clear general resemblances to the earlier ''The Woman Hater;'' the earlier play might be considered Beaumont's version, and the later one Fletcher's, of the same dramatic concept. Jacomo, the title character of ''The Captain,'' is another

misogynist Misogyny () is hatred of, contempt for, or prejudice against women. It is a form of sexism that is used to keep women at a lower social status than men, thus maintaining the societal roles of patriarchy. Misogyny has been widely practiced fo ...

, and the heroine Frank loves him and finds a way to reform him and win him. (In each play, the misogynistic protagonist gets bound to a chair by the play's coterie of female characters.) In the parallel plot, Julio and Angelo are both in love with the "cunning wanton widow" Lelia. The play is notable for its overt challenge to its audience's expectations and sense of plausibility. At the end, Julio engages in a surprise marriage to Frank's witty friend Clora; and his boon companion Angelo comments wryly: :::::::If a marriage ::Should be thus slobber'd up in a play, ::Ere almost anybody had taken notice ::You were in love, the spectators would take it ::To be ridiculous. (V,v)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Captain, The English Renaissance plays 1612 plays Plays by Francis Beaumont Plays by John Fletcher (playwright) Plays by Beaumont and Fletcher