Middleton - Complete Plays and Poetry of Thomas Middleton

The Complete Plays of

THOMAS MIDDLETON

(1580-1627)

Contents

Delphi Classics 2016

Version 1

The Complete Plays of

THOMAS MIDDLETON

By Delphi Classics, 2016

Complete Plays of Thomas Middleton

First published in the United Kingdom in 2016 by Delphi Classics.

Delphi Classics, 2016.

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Elizabethan London Middletons birthplace

Map of Westminster in Elizabethan times

Another view of Elizabethan Westminster

Middletons father owned property adjoining the Curtain Theatre in Shoreditch

The Phoenix was written c. 1603-04 and first performed by the acting company The Children of Pauls, one of the most prominent theatre troupes during the Elizabethan and Jacobean eras. Though St. Pauls Cathedral had featured a boys choir since the 12th century, it was not until the 16th century that they formed a dramatic group. The troupe quickly became a popular choice of the Court, until they were banned from performing for a decade between 1590 and 1600. They began acting again in productions at the start of the 17th century, only to cease to be active by 1606. Children of Pauls performed Middletons play at Court before King James I on 20 February 1604, but it was not entered into the Stationers Register until 9 May 1607. The first quarto was published by the bookseller Arthur Johnson in late 1607 and more than twenty years later Richard Meighen issued a second quarto.

The play is often categorised as a City comedy: a genre of satirical drama based on ordinary London life, revealing the metropolis as a place of vice, degradation and idiocy; such plays often parody certain theatrical conventions such as characters in disguise and noble and honourable sons wishing to regain their fortunes from unscrupulous family members. While Middletons play lacks London as its location, the characters tend to exhibit similar behaviours to those present in dramas set in the capital in the early 17th century. The first City comedies appeared at the end of the 16th century and continued to be staged until the closing of the theatres in 1642 at the start of the English Civil War.

The Phoenix opens with the Duke of Ferrara proposing that his virtuous son and heir, Phoenix, should be sent away to travel in order to gain the necessary experience for him to rule after his fathers demise. Phoenix confides in his loyal servant, Fidelio, that he intends to remain in the kingdom, but disguise himself so he can learn the truth about the vices and abuses committed by the subjects. The young man and his servant soon discover much dubious and immoral behaviour, including Proditors plan to murder the Duke and his son, the Captains attempts to sell his wife and the corrupt justice of the peace Falsos many troubling schemes and endeavours. Middletons work particularly lampoons and satirises the nefarious manner in which the legal system could be abused and corrupted by unscrupulous people that wished to increase their personal wealth.

Thomas Middleton

The DUKE of Ferrara
INFESTO, a lord
LUSSURIOSO, a lord
PRODITOR, a lord
NOBLES
Prince PHOENIX, the Dukes son
FIDELIO, his servant
NIECE to Falso
THREE SOLDIERS of the sea
The CAPTAIN, Castizas husband
CASTIZA, Fidelios mother
The GROOM of an inn
SUITORS to Tangle
TANGLE, a lawyer
The JEWELLERS WIFE, Falsos daughter
Her BOY
The KNIGHT
His LACKEY
SUITORS to Falso
FALSO, a justice
LATRONELLO, his servant
FURTIVO, his servant
TWO GENTLEMEN, friends of Falsos brother
SERVANT to Proditor
FUCATO, Falsos servant
CONSTABLE and OFFICERS
QUIETO, a reformed lawyer
Quietos BOY
MAID to the Jewellers Wife