''The Fatal Contract: A French Tragedy'' is a Caroline era stage play, written by

William Heminges William Heminges (1602 – c. 1653?), also Hemminges, Heminge, and other variants, was a playwright and theatrical figure of the Caroline period. He was the ninth child and third son of John Heminges, the actor and colleague of William Shakespear ...

.Carol A. Morley, ed., ''The Plays and Poems of William Heminge'', Madison, NJ, Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 2006.William Heminges, ''The Fatal Contract'', Anne Elizabeth Chard Hargrove, ed., Kalamazoo, MI, Medieval Institute Publications, University of Michigan Press, 1978. The play has been regarded as one of the most extreme of the revenge tragedies or "tragedies of blood," like ''

The Spanish Tragedy ''The Spanish Tragedy, or Hieronimo is Mad Again'' is an Elizabethan tragedy written by Thomas Kyd between 1582 and 1592. Highly popular and influential in its time, ''The Spanish Tragedy'' established a new genre in English theatre, the reveng ...

'' and ''

Titus Andronicus ''Titus Andronicus'' is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy by William Shakespeare believed to have been written between 1588 and 1593, probably in collaboration with George Peele. It is thought to be Shakespeare's first tragedy and is often seen ...

'', that constitute a distinctive subgenre of

English Renaissance theatre English Renaissance theatre, also known as Renaissance English theatre and Elizabethan theatre, refers to the theatre of England between 1558 and 1642. This is the style of the plays of William Shakespeare, Christopher Marlowe and Ben Jonson ...

. In this "most graphic Caroline revenge tragedy...Heminges tops his predecessors' grotesque art by creating a female character, Chrotilda, who disguises herself as a black Moorish eunuch" and "instigates most of the play's murder and mayhem."

Performance and publication

''The Fatal Contract'' was most likely written in 1638–39, and was acted, probably in the latter year, by

Queen Henrietta's Men Queen Henrietta's Men was an important playing company or troupe of actors in Caroline era in London. At their peak of popularity, Queen Henrietta's Men were the second leading troupe of the day, after only the King's Men. Beginnings The company ...

at the

Salisbury Court Theatre The Salisbury Court Theatre was a theatre (structure), theatre in 17th-century London. It was in the neighbourhood of Salisbury Court, which was formerly the London residence of the Bishop of Salisbury, Bishops of Salisbury. Salisbury Court was ...

. Heminges's primary source for plot materials was the ''General Inventory of the History of France'' by Jean de Serres, published in English in 1607. The play was first published 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 ...

originally printed for "J. M." in 1653, and reissued the following year with a new title page by the actor turned

stationer Stationery refers to commercially manufactured writing materials, including cut paper, envelopes, writing implements, continuous form paper, and other office supplies. Stationery includes materials to be written on by hand (e.g., letter paper) ...

Andrew Pennycuicke Andrew Pennycuicke (fl. 1638 – 1658) was a mid-seventeenth-century actor and publisher; he was responsible for publishing a number of plays of English Renaissance drama. What little is known of Pennycuicke's acting career comes from his o ...

. The booksellers dedicated the play to the Earl and Countess of Nottingham. The preface, co-signed by "A. T." (thought to be actor Anthony Turner), indicates that Heminges had died before publication. A second edition, printed for bookseller Richard Gammon, followed in 1661. 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 ...

Elkanah Settle Elkanah Settle (1 February 1648 – 12 February 1724) was an England, English poet and playwright. Biography He was born at Dunstable, and entered Trinity College, Oxford, in 1666, but left without taking a degree. His first tragedy, ''Cambyses, ...

adapted Heminges's play into his ''Love and Revenge'' (1675). The original 1653 text was again adapted in 1687 and issued under a new title, ''The Eunuch''. Although the action remained unchanged, the anonymous adapter omitted some lines, borrowed others from Settle's ''Love and Revenge'', and expanded a few scenes. There are modern editions by Anne Hargrove (1978), Carol Morley (2006), and Andrea Stevens (2020, the only modern-spelling general edition).

Influence of Shakespeare and other Elizabethan dramatists

''The Fatal Contract'' owes a debt to the works of earlier dramatists. Similarities with passages in the works of Beaumont and Fletcher have been noted. Among the writers of the later Jacobean and the Caroline eras, Heminges was perhaps the one most deeply influenced by

Shakespeare 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 ...

, and the play is thick with borrowings from Shakespeare's works. It has particularly close links with ''

Hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...

'', ''

Othello ''Othello'' (full title: ''The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice'') is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare, probably in 1603, set in the contemporary Ottoman–Venetian War (1570–1573) fought for the control of the Island of Cypru ...

'', and ''

King Lear ''King Lear'' is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare. It is based on the mythological Leir of Britain. King Lear, in preparation for his old age, divides his power and land between two of his daughters. He becomes destitute and insane an ...

'', and commonalities with other works in Shakespeare's canon. The play's verbal echoes of Shakespeare are too numerous to detail. One example may stand for the rest: with Clotair's "And rise black vengeance from the depth of hell," compare Othello's "Arise, black vengeance, from the hollow hell!" (''Othello'', III,3,447). With Fredigond stabbing her portrait, compare Lucrece attacking a portrait with her nails (''

The Rape of Lucrece ''The Rape of Lucrece'' (1594) is a narrative poem by William Shakespeare about the legendary Roman noblewoman Lucretia. In his previous narrative poem, '' Venus and Adonis'' (1593), Shakespeare had included a dedicatory letter to his patron, ...

'', lines 1562–68); rage and a rape context are common to both. Stabbed portraits also can be found in the plays ''The Noble Spanish Soldier'' (printed 1634) and

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 ...

's '' The Traitor'' (acted 1631, printed 1635).

Blackface

"By 1638 the disguised Moor had become a theatrical convention."Mason, p. 122.

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 ...

'' (c. 1637), almost contemporaneous with Heminges's play, is a noteworthy example.

Synopsis

''The Fatal Contract'' is set in the earliest period of the French monarchy. Childerick is king; Fredigond, his wife and queen, is the play's villainess; Clotair and Clovis are their sons. In the play's

backstory A backstory, background story, back-story, or background is a set of events invented for a plot, presented as preceding and leading up to that plot. It is a literary device of a narrative history all chronologically earlier than the narrative of p ...

, Clotair raped Chrotilda, the sister of two young noblemen named Lamot and Dumain (the play's virtuous characters). One of their relatives mistakenly killed the queen's brother Clodimer in revenge, thinking him the rapist; Fredigond is now quietly and systematically exterminating the members of Chrotilda's family. In a macabre touch, the queen maintains a group portrait of the family; she paints in the members – grandmother, parents, infant child – as she kills them off. (In a sudden frenzy of rage, Fredigond stabs the painting.) The queen is assisted in her villainy by a Moorish eunuch called, with brutal literateness, Castrato. Childerick is poisoned by Fredigond; Lamot and Dumain are blamed for the death, but manage to escape. The prince Clovis is in love with Aphelia, and she with him; but his elder brother, and now king, Clotair is envious. Castrato helps Clotair plan Aphelia's rape. Clovis intercepts his brother; as they fight, Castrato raises an alarm and their mother Fredigond arrives. Rather than trying to stop the fight, she eggs them on. Clotair stabs Clovis, who is carried off, presumably dead. Ferdigond and her lover Landrey are in her chamber; Castrato sets the room on fire, but the queen disguises her lover as the ghost of Clovis. Fredigond plans to rule the kingdom with Landrey once Clotair, Clovis, and Aphelia are dead. She wants Clotair to execute Aphelia, to placate Clovis's "ghost." Clotair initially falls for the trick, but Castrato, who is busily manipulating the other characters ("on all sides the eunuch will play foul"), informs him of the queen's intentions. Clotair responds by marrying Aphelia instead of killing her. Lamot, disguised as a surgeon, has discovered that the wounded Clovis is still alive. Clovis masquerades as the ghost of his father Childerick, and terrifies the queen into admitting that she poisoned her husband. Clovis turns Fredigond and Landrey over to Castrato, who starves the imprisoned queen and her paramour, then poisons them. Landrey tries to escape with a concealed dagger; but in his weakened state he is unable to evade Castrato, who trips him, sits on him, and stabs him. Castrato has convinced Clotair that Aphelia has been unfaithful to him; Clotair binds his wife and Castrato tortures her (he "sears her breast"). Castrato displays the corpses of Fredigond and Landrey, and Clotair understands that Aphelia is innocent and that he has been abused. Clotair stabs Castrato, who, dying, reveals her true identity as Chrotilda. Lamot and Dumain break into the castle with a party of supporters. The play's conclusion indicates that Clotair, Aphelia, and Chrotilda will die and that Clovis will inherit the throne.

References

External links

* ''The Fatal Contract'' (1st edition, 1653), scan
Internet Archive
* ''The Fatal Contract'' (1st edition, 1653), transcription and searchable text
Early English Books Online – Text Creation Partnership
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fatal Contract, The English Renaissance plays 1639 plays