''The Faithful Friends'' is an early seventeenth-century stage play, a

tragicomedy Tragicomedy is a literary genre that blends aspects of both tragic and comic forms. Most often seen in dramatic literature, the term can describe either a tragic play which contains enough comic elements to lighten the overall mood or a seriou ...

associated with the canon of John Fletcher and his collaborators. Never printed in its own century, the play is one of the most disputed works in English Renaissance drama.

Date

The play's date of authorship is unknown; scholars, judging on internal features, have conjectured dates ranging from 1604 to 1626. Possible allusions to the December 1613 marriage of

Robert Carr, 1st Earl of Somerset Robert Carr, 1st Earl of Somerset (c. 158717 July 1645), was a politician, and favourite of King James VI and I. Background Robert Kerr was born in Wrington, Somerset, England, the younger son of Sir Thomas Kerr (Carr) of Ferniehurst, Sco ...

have been read as indicating a date c. 1614 – though another allusion to

Philip III of Spain Philip III ( es, Felipe III; 14 April 1578 – 31 March 1621) was King of Spain. As Philip II, he was also King of Portugal, Naples, Sicily and Sardinia and Duke of Milan from 1598 until his death in 1621. A member of the House of Habsburg, Phi ...

and the

Duke of Lerma Francisco Gómez de Sandoval y Rojas, 1st Duke of Lerma, 5th Marquess of Denia, 1st Count of Ampudia (1552/1553 – 17 May 1625), was a favourite of Philip III of Spain, the first of the ''validos'' ('most worthy') through whom the later H ...

seems to favor 1618–21 or later.

Manuscript

''The Faithful Friends'' was entered into the Stationers' Register on 29 June 1660 by bookseller

Humphrey Moseley Humphrey Moseley (died 31 January 1661) was a prominent London publisher and bookseller in the middle seventeenth century. Life Possibly a son of publisher Samuel Moseley, Humphrey Moseley became a "freeman" (a full member) of the Stationers Co ...

. Moseley did not publish the play, though, prior to his death in the next year, 1661. The play remained in manuscript – now known as Dyce MS. 10 – until it was first published in Henry William Weber's 1812 edition of Beaumont and Fletcher. "The MS. is in various hands, one of which has made corrections. Some of these seem on internal evidence to have been due to suggestions of the censor, others to playhouse exigencies." The main hand in the MS. is thought to be that of Edward Knight, the "book-keeper" or prompter of the King's Men. Knight may have purged oaths from the text, though he also left gaps in his manuscript, rather than guess at the intended meaning, where he couldn't read the "foul papers" or authorial draft from which he worked.

Authorship

In the Stationers' Register entry, Moseley called ''The Faithful Friend''s a

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 joi ...

work. Critics who have considered the play's authorship have started with the attribution to Beaumont and Fletcher, but have also postulated other potential writers, including

Philip Massinger Philip Massinger (1583 – 17 March 1640) was an English dramatist. His finely plotted plays, including '' A New Way to Pay Old Debts'', ''The City Madam'', and ''The Roman Actor'', are noted for their satire and realism, and their polit ...

Nathan Field Nathan Field (also spelled Feild occasionally; 17 October 1587 – 1620) was an English dramatist and actor. Life His father was the Puritan preacher John Field, and his brother Theophilus Field became the Bishop of Llandaff. One of his brother ...

James Shirley James Shirley (or Sherley) (September 1596 – October 1666) was an English dramatist. He belonged to the great period of English dramatic literature, but, in Charles Lamb's words, he "claims a place among the worthies of this period, not so m ...

, and

Robert Daborne Robert Daborne (c. 1580 – 23 March 1628) was an English dramatist of the Jacobean era. His father was also Robert Daborne, heir to family property in Guildford, Surrey and other places, including London, and a wealthy haberdasher by tra ...

. Commentators have also proposed hypotheses of revision, even multiple revision; E.H.C. Oliphant thought that the play was written by Beaumont and Fletcher, revised by Field c. 1610–11, and revised again by Massinger c. 1613–14. None of these arguments has won acceptance from a consensus of scholars; the play's perceived low dramatic quality appears to stand as an argument against the presence of major talents. The forest scene of the play bears a general resemblance to the one in ''

Philaster Philaster may refer to: * Philastrius (died 390s), bishop of Brescia in the fourth century * ''Philaster'' (play), play by Francis Beaumont and John Fletcher, published in 1620 * ''Philaster'' (genus), a genus of ciliates in the family Philasterid ...

;'' faithful male friendship is one of the perennial (and easily imitated) dramatic themes of Fletcher.

Anachronisms

The play is given a classical setting during the Roman Kingdom, but it actually occurs in the dramatic neverland of the English Renaissance stage. Its supposedly-ancient Romans refer to

Niccolò Machiavelli Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli ( , , ; 3 May 1469 – 21 June 1527), occasionally rendered in English as Nicholas Machiavel ( , ; see below), was an Italian diplomat, author, philosopher and historian who lived during the Renaissance. ...

, John of Gaunt and the

Guildhall A guildhall, also known as a "guild hall" or "guild house", is a historical building originally used for tax collecting by municipalities or merchants in Great Britain and the Low Countries. These buildings commonly become town halls and in som ...

of London, among other anachronisms. (See ''

The Old Law ''The Old Law, or A New Way to Please You'' is a seventeenth-century tragicomedy written by Thomas Middleton, William Rowley, and Philip Massinger. It was first published in 1656, but is generally thought to have been written about four decades e ...

'' and ''

Thierry and Theodoret ''Thierry and Theodoret'' is a Jacobean era stage play, a tragedy in the canon of John Fletcher and his collaborators that was first published in 1621. It is one of the problematic plays of Fletcher's oeuvre; as with ''Love's Cure,'' there are ...

'' for comparable cases.)

Synopsis

Marius, a noble young Roman, returns to Rome after a period of exile, to find that conditions have changed – especially for his friend Marcus Tullius. Tullius is now the favorite of the king, Titus Martius;Titus Martius is a fictional creation, and not one of the seven historical or quasi-historical

Kings of Rome The king of Rome ( la, rex Romae) was the ruler of the Roman Kingdom. According to legend, the first king of Rome was Romulus, who founded the city in 753 BC upon the Palatine Hill. Seven legendary kings are said to have ruled Rome until 509 BC ...

. the young man has also celebrated his wedding, just two days before, to his fiancée Philadelphia (the play's heroine). The married couple have yet to consummate their marriage: the chaste Philadelphia has requested that they sleep apart for the first three nights of their marriage. Now, suddenly, the king has named Marcus Tullius to lead Rome's army in defense against the rebellious

Sabine The Sabines (; lat, Sabini; it, Sabini, all exonyms) were an Italic people who lived in the central Apennine Mountains of the ancient Italian Peninsula, also inhabiting Latium north of the Anio before the founding of Rome. The Sabines di ...

s; Philadelphia must remain a virgin wife for some time still. The two friends meet with great warmth, but also with one point of confusion: when Marius inquires about the welfare of Lelia, his love and Marcus's sister, Marcus asks the same question of him. It seems that Lelia has been missing since Marius went into exile, and her family and friends though she had followed him; but Marius knows nothing of her whereabouts. In fact, Lelia is living in Rome, disguised as Philadelphia's boy page Janus (and, in an absurd convention of Fletcherian-style drama, nobody, not even her own brother, manages to recognize her). A faction of older courtiers is outraged that the upstart Marcus Tullius has been given command of the army; Rufinus, the boldest and most ruthless of them, upbraids the king about this to his face. The king confesses that he has an ulterior motive in sending Marcus out from Rome – Titus Martius lusts after Philadelphia, and wants to use Rufinus as his go-between in seducing the virgin bride. The proud and prickly Rufinus is offended by this, but decides to use to king's infatuation for his own ends. Rufinus wants to see Marcus Tullius dead. While fighting the Sabines, Marcus Tullius receives messages warning him about treachery at home. He leaves the front in Marius's charge, instructing his friend to dress in his armor so that no one will know of the substitution. While taking his friend's place, Marius receives a message from the Sabine commander, offering peace terms. Marius meets with Sabinus, only to fall to an assassination attempt; the king has offered the rebels clemency if they murder Marcus Tullius (Rufinus isn't the only one who wants the young man dead), and they strike at the disguised Marius as a result. Marius is wounded and thought dead, but the protection he wears under his clothing frustrates the fatal blow. The page Janus rescues him, and reveals herself as Lelia, his lost love. Back in Rome, Marcus Tullius and his supporters disguise themselves as

masque The masque was a form of festive courtly entertainment that flourished in 16th- and early 17th-century Europe, though it was developed earlier in Italy, in forms including the intermedio (a public version of the masque was the pageant). A masq ...

rs at a royal banquet. Marcus spies upon the king's attempt to seduce Philadelphia, and sees her resistance; he confronts the king, who claims that he was merely testing her chastity (another Fletcherian dramatic convention), and that he knows nothing about any murder plot – but he vows to expose such evil goings-on. In the play's final scene, the machinations of Rufinus and his cohorts are exposed; Marcus Tullius urges the king to pardon their lives, as long as they are driven far from the royal court. The play also contains an abundance of comic material, centering on the ridiculous suitor Sir Pergamus, and the soldier Captain Bellario and his motley group of recruits.

Notes

Sources

* Chambers, E. K. ''The Elizabethan Stage.'' 4 Volumes, Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1923. * Ioppolo, Grace. ''Dramatists and Their Manuscripts in the Age of Shakespeare, Jonson, Middleton and Heywood.'' London, Routledge, 2006. * 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. * Mehl, Dieter. "Beaumont and Fletcher's ''The Faithful Friends.''" ''Anglia'' 80 (1962), pp. 417–24. * Oliphant, E. H. C. ''The Plays of Beaumont and Fletcher: An Attempt to Determine Their Respective Shares and the Shares of Others.'' New Haven, Yale University Press, 1927. {{DEFAULTSORT:Faithful Friends, The English Renaissance plays Plays by Francis Beaumont Plays by John Fletcher (playwright) Plays by Beaumont and Fletcher 1610s plays 1620s plays