The Double Marriage
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''The Double Marriage'' is a Jacobean era stage play, a
tragedy Tragedy (from the grc-gre, τραγῳδία, ''tragōidia'', ''tragōidia'') is a genre of drama based on human suffering and, mainly, the terrible or sorrowful events that befall a main character. Traditionally, the intention of tragedy ...
written by John Fletcher and
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 ...
, and initially printed in the first Beaumont and Fletcher folio of 1647.


Date and performance

Though firm evidence on the play's date of authorship and early stage history is lacking, scholars usually assign the play to the 1619–22 period. It was acted by the King's Men, with Joseph Taylor playing the lead – a production that must have occurred after Taylor joined that company in the spring of 1619. The play's absence from the fairly thorough Revels Office records of Sir Henry Herbert probably indicates a date prior to May 1622, when Herbert first occupied the office of
Master of the Revels The Master of the Revels was the holder of a position within the English, and later the British, royal household, heading the "Revels Office" or "Office of the Revels". The Master of the Revels was an executive officer under the Lord Chamberlain ...
. The cast list added to the play in the second Beaumont and Fletcher folio of 1679 mentions, in addition to Taylor,
John Lowin John Lowin (baptized 9 December 1576 – buried – 24 August 1653) was an English actor. Early life Born in St Giles-without-Cripplegate, London, Lowin was the son of a tanner. Like Robert Armin, he was apprenticed to a goldsmith. Whil ...
,
Robert Benfield Robert Benfield (died July 1649) was a seventeenth-century actor, noted for his longtime membership in the King's Men in the years and decades after William Shakespeare's retirement and death. Nothing is known of Benfield's early life. He was mo ...
, Richard Robinson, John Underwood,
Nicholas Tooley Nicholas Tooley (c. 1583 – June 1623) was a Renaissance actor in the King's Men, the acting company of William Shakespeare. Recent research has shown that Tooley was born in late 1582 or early 1583; his birth name was not Tooley but Wilkin ...
, George Birch, and Richard Sharpe. ''The Double Marriage,'' like many of the plays in Fletcher's canon, was revived during the Restoration era. It was acted as late as 6 February 1688 at
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. H ...
. A revival in the 1671–72 period was given a Prologue, perhaps written by Aphra Behn, which was re-used for Behn's ''Abdelazer'' (1677) and, as an Epilogue, for Behn's ''The Widow Ranter'' (1690).


Authorship

Scholars have been able to differentiate the respective contributions of Fletcher and Massinger in the play.
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 wide-ranging survey of authorship problems in Fletcher's canon, provided this breakdown, which resembles the verdicts of earlier critics: :Massinger — Act I; Act III, scene 1; Act IV, 2; Act V, 3 and 4; :Fletcher — Act II; Act III, scenes 2 and 3; Avt IV, 1, 3, and 4; Act V, scenes 1 and 2. The authorship division is unsurprising for the two collaborators; it resembles their shares in ''
The Spanish Curate ''The Spanish Curate'' is a late Jacobean era stage play, a comedy written by John Fletcher and Philip Massinger. It premiered on the stage in 1622, and was first published in 1647. Date and source The play was licensed for production by Sir ...
,'' in which Massinger handled the main plot and Fletcher the subplot. There is no distinct subplot in ''The Double Marriage;'' in this play, Fletcher took primary responsibility for the "underworld" elements about the pirates, and Massinger the "overworld" of the royal court of
Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...
, as is typical of him. (Massinger as collaborator – as with
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 ...
in ''
The Fatal Dowry ''The Fatal Dowry'' is a late Jacobean era stage play, a tragedy written by Philip Massinger and Nathan Field, and first published in 1632. It represents a significant aspect of Field's very limited dramatic output. Though hard evidence is lac ...
,'' and with Thomas Dekker in '' The Virgin Martyr'' — tended to handle "upper-crust" materials: kings and dukes; royal courts and law courts; aristocrats, noble families, and great houses. He relied on his co-workers for materials involving lower classes, the common people, the ''beau monde'' of fashion, and criminals and clowns and similar elements. ''The Double Marriage'' conforms to this pattern.) It appears that Massinger revised the play after Fletcher's death; Fletcher's characteristic preference for ''ye'' instead of ''you'' was toned down in Massinger's revision.


Sources

The dramatists drew their plot from two tales in ''The Orator'' (1596) by "Lazarus Pyott" (perhaps a pseudonym of Anthony Munday). The characters' names derive from ''The Historie of Philip De Commines,'' in Thomas Danett's English translation (1596/1601). ee:_Philippe_de_Commines..html" ;"title="Philippe_de_Commines.html" ;"title="ee: Philippe de Commines">ee: Philippe de Commines.">Philippe_de_Commines.html" ;"title="ee: Philippe de Commines">ee: Philippe de Commines.Fletcher may also have drawn upon the ''Controversiae'' of Seneca the Elder.Logan and Smith, p. 38.


Synopsis

Naples suffers under the rule of a brutal and capricious despot, the "libidinous Tyrant" Ferrant. The opening scene shows the "noble Gentleman" Virolet brooding about the political situation. His wife Juliana questions him about his neglect of her; Virolet assures her that it is not lack of affection on his part, but his preoccupation with tyranny that keeps him from her bed. When she challenges him to do something about Ferrant's despotism, Virolet informs her that the plan is already in motion. When Virolet meets with his co-conspirators, however, he is appalled to find that they've accepted Ronvere, the commander of Ferrant's guard, as a member. Ronvere tells them that he has lost his post and is disaffected with Ferrant, but Virolet disbelieves his story; and when he learns that Ronvere has brought others into the rebels' plot, Virolet realises that their plan is hopeless. He accepts Juliana's advice to hide in a cave under their house when the would-be rebels are arrested; but Juliana and her father Pandulpho are rounded up with the others. Ferrant is shown in his court; he is paranoiac and ruthless. Determined to capture Virolet, whom he recognises as the key to the revolt, he tortures Juliana on the rack—though she defies him with remarkable courage. Ferrant seems moved by her bravery, and offers the conspirators a pardon—on the condition that they, led by Virolet, battle the pirates plaguing his coast. The pirates are commanded by the Duke of Sesse, a nobleman who has led a successful resistance against Ferrant for the past fourteen years. Most recently, Sesse has captured Ascanio, Ferrant's nephew and heir. If the conspirators defeat Sesse as a sign of their loyalty, all is forgiven. In a private conversation with Ronvere, though, Ferrant reveals that his motive is selfish political manipulation—he is pitting his enemies against each other, and whoever loses, Ferrant wins. The scene shifts to the Duke of Sesse's pirate ship, and shows his loyal crew—his Boatswain, Gunner, and other crewmen, and most notably Sesse's bold "Amazon" daughter Martia. Sesse is a noble outlaw in the style of
Robin Hood Robin Hood is a legendary heroic outlaw originally depicted in English folklore and subsequently featured in literature and film. According to legend, he was a highly skilled archer and swordsman. In some versions of the legend, he is dep ...
; his controlling motive is opposition to Ferrant. Sesse and his crew engage an approaching ship in combat, and win the fight; Virolet, the captain, is seized, and the rest of the opposing crew and their ship are sent to the bottom. Sesse originally intends to kill Virolet too; but his bold defiance provokes Martia, and Sesse allows his daughter to do what she will with the prisoner. Virolet is shown locked in the "bilboes" (shackles) with Ascanio, who turns out to be a noble and humane young man who has tried to moderate his uncle's rule, though without success. Martia confronts the two prisoners, and reveals that she has fallen in love with Virolet; she will free them and escape with them, if Virolet agrees to marry her. Virolet protests that he is already married, but Martia doesn't care. Without a better option, Virolet agrees to her bargain. Martia, Virolet, and Ascanio flee in the ship's longboat, and Sesse and his crew, becalmed, cannot follow. But Sesse vows revenge on his turncoat daughter: "She runs hot like a whore...." Back in Naples, Ferrant welcomes Ascanio and appears to pardon Virolet as well. Juliana, trying to recover from her torture on the rack, is delighted at Virolet's return—until he presents her with Martia, and informs her that their marriage is over. (He obtains a divorce, on the grounds that Juliana cannot have children...due to the effects of her torture.) Once Virolet and Martia are married, however, Martia is stunned when her new husband abandons her before their marriage is consummated. By marrying Martia, Virolet has fulfilled his promise—but that is as far as he will go with her. He remains sexually faithful to Juliana. (This is the "double marriage" of the title.) Martia is outraged, and shifts from love of Virolet to hatred and revenge. Sesse and his crew come to Naples in pursuit of Martia; they disguise themselves as "Switzers" (Swiss mercenaries, common in Italy at the time) and take service under Ferrant and Ronvere. To obtain her vengeance on Virolet, Martia joins with Ronvere and is introduced to Ferrant; he fancies her, and seats her next to him on his throne. Sesse and his crew launch a rebellion, and the discontented populace rise with them; Ferrant and his supporters retreat to the tower of his castle. In the tumult of the rebellion, Virolet disguises himself as Ronvere, in an attempt to reach Ferrant; Juliana, mistaking him for the true Ronvere, kills him. Juliana discovers her mistake, and dies of grief and the effects of her ordeal. The rebels are victorious, and are shown with Ferrant's severed head. Martia is unrepentant, and gloats over the deaths of Virolet and Juliana. A disgusted Sesse is about to kill her when his Boatswain intervenes and stabs Martia to death—to save Sesse from the shame of killing his own child. The Neapolitans hail Sesse as their new king—but Sesse, never motivated by a taste for personal power, refuses, and instead nominates Ascanio, "warn'd by the example" of his uncle's fate to be a better ruler. The play's
comic relief Comic relief is the inclusion of a humorous character, scene, or witty dialogue in an otherwise serious work, often to relieve tension. Definition Comic relief usually means a releasing of emotional or other tension resulting from a comic epis ...
is supplied by Ferrant's jester Villio and by Castruccio, a court sycophant and parasite.


Stagecraft

''The Double Marriage'' contains some dramatic stage business: Juliana's torture on the rack is shown onstage, as is the fight between Sesse's and Virolet's ships in Act II. This raises questions as to how these elements were presented in the original production.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Double Marriage English Renaissance plays 1610s plays 1620s plays Plays by John Fletcher (playwright) Plays by Philip Massinger Plays by John Fletcher and Massinger