The Plays of Beaumont and Fletcher


Book Description

This is an analysis of sexual themes in the plays of Beaumont and Fletcher, both in the context of the Jacobean theatre and in the light of modern readings of sexuality and gender during the English Renaissance. Sandra Clark challenges commonly-held perceptions of Beaumont and Fletcher's work. The book is intended for undergraduate and graduate courses on Renaissance literature, Elizabethan and Jacobean drama, tragicomedy, gender and genre in the Renaissance.




Philaster, 1622


Book Description




The Maids Tragedy


Book Description

Reproduction of the original: The Maids Tragedy by Francis Beaumont, John Fletcher




The Little French Lawyer


Book Description

"The Little French Lawyer" is a comedic play co-authored by John Fletcher and Francis Beaumont, believed to have been first performed in the early 17th century. Set in France, the play follows the misadventures of a cunning French lawyer named Cleremont, who is known for his crafty and manipulative ways. The plot revolves around Cleremont's efforts to outsmart and manipulate various characters for personal gain. He becomes embroiled in a complicated love triangle involving a wealthy heiress, Isabella, and her suitors. Using his wit and cunning, Cleremont orchestrates a series of humorous and farcical situations, leading to unexpected twists and turns. As the play unfolds, Cleremont's schemes are eventually exposed, and he finds himself outwitted by his own cleverness. However, true love prevails in the end, and the characters find happiness despite Cleremont's meddling.




The Tamer Tamed


Book Description

The Tamer Tamed is the subtitle or alternative title to John Fletcher's The Woman's Prize, a comedic sequel and reply to The Taming of the Shrew. The plot switches the gender roles of Shakespeare's play: the women seek to tame the men. Katherine (the "shrew" of the original) has died, and Petruchio takes a second wife, Maria. Maria denounces her former mildness and vows not to sleep with Petruchio until she "turn him and bend him as [she] list, and mold him into a babe again." After many comedic exchanges and plot twists, Petruchio is finally "tamed" in the eyes of Maria, and the play ends with the two reconciled. The play is seen to reflect how society's views of women, femininity, and "domestic propriety" were beginning to change. It is said that Fletcher wrote this play to attract Shakespeare's attention - the two went on to collaborate on at least three plays together. This brand new New Mermaid edition offers unique and fresh insight into the critical interpretation of the play. It builds on current critical foundations (the relationship with Taming of the Shrew, gender relations etc) and suggests different areas of interest (popular associations of the shrew, the question of reputation, and a re-examination of the play's structure). as well as examining stage history and recent productions.




The Coxcomb


Book Description




The Cambridge Companion to Shakespeare and Contemporary Dramatists


Book Description

While Shakespeare's popularity has continued to grow, so has the attention paid to the work of his contemporaries. The contributors to this Companion introduce the distinctive drama of these playwrights, from the court comedies of John Lyly to the works of Richard Brome in the Caroline era. With chapters on a wide range of familiar and lesser-known dramatists, including Thomas Kyd, Christopher Marlowe, Ben Jonson, John Webster, Thomas Middleton and John Ford, this book devotes particular attention to their personal and professional relationships, occupational rivalries and collaborations. Overturning the popular misconception that Shakespeare wrote in isolation, it offers a new perspective on the most impressive body of drama in the history of the English stage.




The Dramatic Works in the Beaumont and Fletcher Canon: Volume 10, The Honest Man's Fortune, Rollo, Duke of Normandy, The Spanish Curate, The Lover's Progress, The Fair Maid of the Inn, The Laws of Candy


Book Description

This is the tenth and final volume in the definitive series of critical, old-spelling texts of the plays in the Beaumont and Fletcher canon, in which the texts are established on modern bibliographicals. This volume contains the texts of six plays written by Fletcher and his collaborators, Nathan Field, Philip Massinger, Ben Jonson, George Chapman, John Ford and John Webster. The plays are The Honest Man's Fortune, Rollo, The Spanish Curate, The Lovers' Progress, The Fair Maid of the Inn and The Laws of Candy.




The Lovers' Progress


Book Description

The Lovers' Progress, also known as The Wandering Lovers, or Cleander, or Lisander and Calista, is an early seventeenth-century stage play, a tragicomedy written by John Fletcher and Philip Massinger. As its multiple titles indicate, the play has a complex history and has been a focus of controversy among scholars and critics. The primary source for the plot of The Lovers' Progress was the Histoire trage-comique de nostre temps, sous les noms de Lysandre et de Caliste, a popular prose romance by Vital d'Audiguier that was first published in 1615 and often reprinted.




Cupid's Revenge


Book Description

Cupid's Revenge is a Jacobean tragedy written by Francis Beaumont and John Fletcher. It was a popular success that influenced subsequent works by other authors. The play depends upon the Arcadia of Sir Philip Sidney for the source of its plot; the Duke in Cupid's Revenge is a blend of Sidney's King of Lycia and King of Iberia. In turn, Cupid's Revenge served as a source for other dramatists. There is a significant relationship between this play and The Birth of Merlin, one of the plays of the Shakespeare Apocrypha. Plot elements shared by both works - the missing prince, and the ruler and his heir who fall in love with the same woman-could be due to derivation from common sources; but the plays also feature specific shared lines and passages. Critics also cite detectable influences from Cupid's Revenge on the anonymous tragedy Andromana (printed 1660).