611 Ll28 HG4 UC-NRLF *B SIS i^^y XEbe Ulnlversits of dbicaflo FOUNDED BY JOHN D. ROCKEFELLER LA CALPRENEDE'S ROMANCES AND THE RESTORATION DRAMA A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF THE- GRADUATE SCHOOL OF ARTS AND LITERATURE IN CANDIDACY FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY (department of ENGLISH) BY HERBERT WYNFORD HILL Reprinted from the University of Nevada Studies, Vol. II, No. 3 (1910), and Vol. Ill, No. 2 (191 1) XTbe JUnivcvBit^Q ot (Tbicaao FOUNDED BY JOHN D. ROCKEFELLER LA CALPRENEDE'S ROMANCES AND THE RESTORATION DRAMA X ^P^ A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF ARTS AND LITERATURE IN CANDIDACY FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY (department of English) BY HERBERT WYNFORD HILL Reprinted from the University of Nevada Studies, Vol. II, No. 3 (1910), and Vol. Ill, No. 2(1911) Composed and Printed By The University of Chicago Press Chicago. Illinois, U.S.A. PREFACE The present study of the influence of La Calprenede's romances, Cassandra and Cleopatra^ on the late seventeenth- century drama is the second of a series concerned with the influence of types of novels on the plays of the period. The first of the series presented the influence of the pastoral romances. On tracing this influence it was found that in the second half of the century new currents of influence were setting in; and that while the older influences persisted to a greater or less extent and in some cases lent themselves with modification to the new spirit, they were no longer in control. Chief among the new forces was the Fj-ench heroic romance, a type having its beginning in D'Urfe's Astrea (1607-19), maturing in Gomberville's Polexander (1629- 37), and flowering luxuriantly in the romances of La Calpre- nede and Mile Scudery.^ And this was the type selected for the present investigation. As the study proceeded the necessity of setting some limitations became imperative, and La Calprenede was chosen as the representative of the heroic school. Later it was found advisable still further to limit the study to Cassandra and Cleopatra. It is hoped that the range is sufficiently broad to indicate the main lines of influence. To Dr. Frederic Ives Carpenter, who drew my 1 The principal French romances included in this group are, in addition to those already named: Francois de MoliSre's Polixene (1623), a pastoral heroic romance; Gombauld's Endymion (1624), an aUegorical heroic romance; Jean-Pierre Camus' Iphigenes (1625), a pastoral heroic romance; Jean Des- maretz, siexir de Saint-Sorlin's Ariane (1632), a historical heroic romance; Pierre d'Ortigue, sieur de VaumoriSre's Le Grand Scipion (1656-62). La Calprenede's romances were Cassandre (1642-50); CUopdtre (1647-58); and Faramond (1661-70). Mademoiselle de Scudgry's romances were Ibrahim (1641); Artamene ou le Grand Cyrus (1649-53); La Clelie (1654-60); and Almahide (1660-63). 1 255773 2 Herbert Wynford Hill attention to this line of research, I am indebted for many helpful suggestions. Professor John Matthews Manly I wish to thank for encouragement and kindly criticism. To Dr. Myra Reynolds and the Seminar of 1907 in the heroic play I owe many contributions to the second part of this study. From the librarians of Harvard, Columbia, Cornell, and Chicago Universities I have received numerous courte- sies. LA CALPRENEDE'S ROMANCES AND THE RESTO- RATION DRAMA By Herbert Wynford Hill PART I: THE ROMANCES THE PLOT OF Cassaudra The main plot.^ — Oroondates^ the young prince of Scythia, while serving in his father's army against Darius, king of Persia-, bursts into one of the tents of the enemy, and sees the divine Statira, the daughter of the king. Although forced to depart on the instant, he is captivated by this glimpse of the most perfect workmanship of the gods. Dur- ing the remainder of the campaign he is haunted by the beautiful vision; and as soon as the armies withdraw to their 1 The plot analyses throughout will not be exhaustive but, it is hoped, sufiSciently complete to guide the reader to an understanding of La CalprenSde's method of plot structure. The plots on which plays are based will be pre- sented more in detail when the plays are discussed. For fiu-ther synopses the reader may consult Bihliothkque universelle des romans (October, 1700, and November, 1780); and Koerting, Geschichte des franzosichen Romans im 17. Jahrhundert, Vol. I, pp. 247-81. 2 The antecedent action of the Cassandra is introduced in the form of "histories" told by Araxes, squire to Oroondates, by Cleone, and by Toxaris. See pp. 5-33, 41-113, 242-55, 253-70. The page references here and elsewhere, xmless otherwise specified, are to Cotterell's translation of Cassandra, ed. of 1676. The title-page reads as follows: "Cassandra The Fam'd Romance. The Whole Work: In Five Parts. Written Originally in French, and Now Elegantly Rendred into English By Sir Charles Cotterell, Master of the Ceremonies to His late Majesty of Blessed memory, and to om- present Soveraign Charles II. King of Great Britain, France and Ireland, etc. London Printed for Peter Parker, at the Leg and Star over against the Royal Exchange in ComhiU, 1676." One of the best discussions of La Calpren6de's romances and of the other French romances of the seventeenth century is that of Professor Thomas Frederick Crane in the introduction to his excellent edition of Boileau's Les heros de roman. Other accounts are those of Koerting mentioned above. Morillot's Le roman en France depuis 1610 jusqu' ii nos jours, Le Breton's Le roman au dix-septieme sihcle, and Charlanne's Influence frangaise en Angle- terre au XV 11^ siecle, chap. vl. 3 4 Herbert Wynford Hill winter quarters, being unable longer to endure the torments of his passion, he goes in disguise to the Persian camp. Here by his prowess and magnanimity he wins the lasting friend- ship of Artaxerxes, Statira's brother. With this beginning he rapidly advances in Statira's esteem and affections; at the proper moment his high rank is discovered, and he learns with rapture that Statira returns his love. Through the trickery of Roxana, who is herself in love with Oroondates, Statira is led to believe that he is false and she marries Alex- ander, who has meanwhile captured her father's kingdom. After Oroondates has recovered from the shock of the announcement of this marriage, he sets out for Babylon with the intention of killing Alexander; on the way he learns that Alexander is dead. He hears also that Roxana, who is now in control of affairs in Babylon, has put to death Statira. It appears later, however, that this last information was false. Perdiccas, to whom the task of beheading Statira is assigned, himself being in love with her, executes in her place a slave. He furthermore takes her to a place of safety, the house of Polemon, on the banks of the Euphrates, not far from the walls of Babylon. It is at this point that the romance opens.^ In the pleas- ing shade of leafy trees not more than two or three hundred paces distant from the house of Polemon, our hero is intro- duced. Hardly has he tasted the first sweetness of slumber, when he is disturbed by the noise of neighboring conflict. Rushing to the scene of combat he intuitively joins the weaker side. One of the contestants flees, leaving Oroondates to continue the combat with the other. While thus engaged these two are set upon by a dozen followers of the fugitive; 1 Interspersed in the main story are frequent "histories" which serve to bring the various threads of the plot up to date. These rather seriously break the continuity of the narration, as the following page references, marking the progress of the main plot, wiU indicate: pp. 1-4; 34-40; 114-208; 256-86; 307-28; 339-45; 363-64, etc. La Calprenede's Romances 5 joining forces they drive off this band. When all is quiet once more, there is an exchange of compliments, and Oroon- dates discovers his companion to be Lysimachus. He further discovers that the knight whom he helped escape is no other than Perdiccas. As a final blow he is told by Lysimachus of the reported death of Statira, and throwing himself on his sword, falls weltering in a river of blood. Fortunately his wound is not fatal and he is borne to the house of Polemon, where he rapidly recovers. Statira is carried back to Baby- lon by Perdiccas. Oroondates, with the assistance of his friends, finally wins the city, and the hand of Statira. the two duplicating plots The LysimachuS'Parisatis plot} — Lysimachus, serving under Alexander during the invasion of the Persian empire, meets Parisatis, who with her sister Statira is taken captive after the defeat of Darius. He falls in love with this princess and renders her some signal services. Alexander, in whose hands lies the disposition of Parisatis, supports Lysimachus' rival, Hephestion. Lysimachus repeatedly attempts to fight with his rival, and for this is condemned to be eaten by a lion. Lysimachus succeeds in killing the lion, but even this exhibition of prowess does not avail. Hephestion marries Parisatis, but dies soon after. Lysimachus hears that Parisatis has been killed, together with Statira. He joins Oroondates in the capture of Babylon and thus gains Parisatis. The Artaxerxes-Berenice plot^ — Artaxerxes, son of Darius, is severely wounded during an engagement with the Scythian forces; he is left for dead on the battlefield. He is rescued 1 The story up to the point where Lysimachus joins Oroondates is told by Lysimachus, pp. 119-56. 2 The story is mingled in a puzzling way with the main action. To further compUcate matters, the solution is held in suspense imtil the close. 6 Herbert Wynford Hill and brought back to health by a noble enemy. In due time he meets Berenice, the daughter of the Scythian king, and falls in love with her. Encouraged by the recollection of Oroondates' success in a similar situation he urges a success- ful suit. Hardly has he enjoyed the first raptures of a requited passion when he is summoned home by the news of Alexander's invasion of his father's kingdom. On his way thither he is captured by pirates. Escaping, he has the good fortune to save the life of the king of Scythia. His joy in this act is short lived, however, for the ungrateful king, discovering the identity of his rescuer, throws him into prison. Arsacomes, an unscrupulous suitor, abducts Berenice. Bere- nice escapes and is recaptured several times; finally she is rescued by Oroondates, and turned over to Artaxerxes, who has in the meantime been released. THE REMAINING PLOTS The Orontes-Thalestris plot. — Supposedly killed in the fall of a bridge, Orontes, stimulated by the picture of a beautiful girl, sets out to find her. Disguised as a woman he goes to the land of the Amazons, where he finds in Thalestris, their queen, the object of his search. He wins her friendship but dares not reveal his passion. One day as Orontes, tortured by his love for the fair Amazon, lies in an arbor sobbing out his secret, he is overheard by Thalestris and banished. Thalestris hears that Orontes is dead, and, grief-stricken, bursts into a declaration of her love for him within his hear- ing. He discovers himself to her and for a brief space they rejoice in each other's love. Orontes soon goes away on a defensive expedition and while absent is deceived into believ- ing Thalestris false to him. He deserts her and she very naturally is furious. They meet in battle before the walls of Babylon. Orontes persistently refuses to engage against La Calprenede's Romances 7 Thalestris and repeatedly saves her life. Finally they are reconciled. The Barsina plot. — Barsina, a Persian lady of noble rank, is beloved by Memnon, one of the first noblemen of the king- dom, and also by Oxyartes, brother to the king. At first friendly toward each other, the two suitors gradually drift into strained relations. Memnon refuses to fight with Oxyartes because Oxyartes is the king's brother, and accord- ingly leaves the country, resigning his claim to Barsina. Oxyartes refuses to accept this sacrifice; and Memnon, returning, marries Barsina. Memnon shortly after his marriage is killed in battle, and Barsina marries Oxyartes. The Theander-Alcione plot. — The happy marriage rela- tions of Theander and Alcione are broken up by the mali- cious plottings of Bagistanes, a rich uncle of Theander's, ably assisted by Astiages, Theander's brother. Both Theander and Alcione stab themselves. Alcione recovers. The Hermione plot. — In love with Alexander, whom she has never seen, Hermione kills her wicked husband Spitamenes and goes to Alexander's camp. Repulsed by Alexander, she dons armor and enters battle. Before the walls of Baby- lon she receives a mortal wound from the hands of Demetrius. The susceptible Demetrius falls in love with her. The Deidamia plot. — Deidamia loses her lover in battle and sees her father's kingdom ruined by rebellion. Obeying an oracle she comes to the camp of Oroondates. Here she is persistently wooed by Demetrius and finally yields to his suit. The plot structure.— Although, because of the introduction of numerous "histories" the romance seems to cover a long period of time, in reality it extends only a trifle beyond six weeks. The first two days, largely concerned with Oroon- dates' ''history," are complete in Part One; the third day 8 Herbert Wynford Hill carries us to Part Two, Book Three; the fourth day, to Part Three; the fifth day, to Part Three, Book Three. We are now informed that about a week after he was wounded Oroondates recovers. Five days after his recovery Araxes goes to Babylon, returning four days later. This brings us to about the sixteenth day. Two days later the first battle was fought; about a week after the first, the second. The siege begins two days after the second battle and continues a little over a week before Oroondates is captured. Nearly another week elapses before he is rescued. This makes a total of about six weeks. Strangely enough, when one considers the length of the romance, the author with almost Chaucerian insistency informs the reader that he intends to hurry on; that the length of various narrations or discourses prevents him from recounting them; that he has no time to describe this place or that battle or ceremony. The inconsistency between this avowed intention and the performance grew out of his desire to round the story to completion by telling the histories of all his important characters. Sometimes this interferes sadly with the movement of the main action. Thus just before the capture of Oroondates, which is one of the climaxes of the story, we find introduced the history of Barsina, an account which has little or no bearing on the main plot and which seriously clogs the machinery. Nevertheless, read leisurely with frequent reference to the preceding threads of plot, the romance shapes itself definitely into a fairly well- organized story. In the handling of the sub-plots. La Calprenede followed a plan which he developed more fully in his later romances. In the preceding plot analyses, two of the plots have been classified as duplicating plots. To even a casual reader one of the most noticeable features of the Cassandrais the frequent La Calprenede's Romances 9 duplication of situations and incidents. A somewhat closer examination reveals that this duplication is chiefly confined to the three plots which we have classified respectively as the main plot and the two duplicating plots. Furthermore, the situation or incident dupUcated invariably appears in the main plot although not always in both of the sub-plots and generally before its appearance in either of the two sub- plots. In other words it seems that the purpose of the repeti- tion is to emphasize the incidents and situations in question. This method of strengthening the main plot is common enough in the drama — ^witness the Gloucester plot in King Lear — and not unknown in romance. That La Calprenede employed the method deliberately seems evident enough. Oroondates, for instance, interrupts Lysimachus in the midst of the relation of his adventures with the following words '} Ah, Lysimachus! What a resemblance our misfortunes have to one another. In similar vein Artaxerxes says:^ Was not Statira Darius's daughter, and was not Oroondates the King of Scythia's son ? Hast thou not a heart as well as he ? And canst not thou attempt that for his Sister, which he so courageously hazarded for thine ? Thou without doubt hast f ecilities in thy design, which he found not in his; his Example may encourage thee, his proceeding may instruct thee, and his assistance may make thee the most fortunate above all men living. Even though we had no such statements as these of the plan of the author the nature of the resemblance itself offers sufficient evidence. Let us compare the Lysimachus-Paris- atis plot with the main plot. In each the hero is in love with a mistress who has married a rival. In each the rival hus- band is killed and the heroine is subjected to a mock execu- tion which is thought to be real by the hero. In each the 1 p. 136. 2 p. 367. 10 Herbert Wynford Hill heroine is discovered to be alive and is finally joined to the hero by the capture of Babylon. The other supporting plot, the Artaxerxes-Berenice story, duplicates the main plot even more closely. The two heroes are in love each with the other's sister. They are fast friends. To phrase it a little more fully, each is in love with the daughter of a hostile king and each goes in disguise to the court of his mistress. Each through heroic exploits wins favor, and scorns all reward save the hand of the prin- cess. Each saves the life of the king. Each heroine is lost to the hero through revolution; each is captured by the hero, released, and later captured by the unscrupulous rival. From this point on, the events which bring together the hero and heroine resemble each other less closely. One repeated incident, however, is worthy of citation. Each hero, in turn, not recognizing the other, mistakes demonstrations with the respective princesses of brotherly affection for the accepted advances of a rival lover; and a combat ensues. Duplication of certain features of the main plot is to be found outside of the two supporting plots, but it is of a differ- ent nature. The principal complicating incident of the Orontes-Thalestris plot, for instance, is like an incident in the main plot. The heroine is deceived through a letter into the belief that the hero is false. And, to take another example, just as Oroondates comes upon Statira asleep in a beautiful spot, so Thalestris comes upon Orontes, not once but twice. Neither the incident nor the situation, however, is of the kind to warrant any claims of deliberate imitation. Both are conventional, appearing time and again in the Cassandra and in La Calprenede's other romances. The Deidamia and the Hermione stories have little bear- ing on the main plot. They are loosely related to each other, through Demetrius, who falls in love with each lady in turn. La Calprenede's Romances 11 Hermione, it will be remembered, touches the main plot through her relations with Alexander. The stories of Barsina and Alcione are introduced prin- cipally because their homes are the meeting-places for the main characters; the one in the antecedent action, the other in the direct narration. The antecedent action, however, is not very well centered geographically; it does not focus strongly on any one point. The direct action, on the other hand, is in the neighborhood of Babylon, and within the city itself. The house of Polemon, the father of Alcione, is the first gathering-point. Here come nearly all the characters of prominence to entertain each other with their histories while waiting for the forces to mobilize for the attack on Babylon. In Babylon after its capture the heroes receive their long- deferred rewards. At this point the author takes reluctant leave of his gallant heroes and fair heroines, not, however, without a fleeting glance at their future. The Design [he says] to which I regularly enough have tied my self not to wander from the Banks of the Euphrates, and the Walls of Babylon, hinders me from following my Heroes in their Voyages: I will not therefore relate their fortunate successes; their arrivals in their kingdoms; and the crowning of so many Gallant Princes, who established a brave and happy Sovereignty, which they enjoyed through the whole course of very long and prosperous Reigns. You may learn the end of their lives from Historians Famous in Antiquity, who have written them. THE PLOT OF Cleopatra The main plot.^ — Coriolanus, captured when an infant and deprived of his parents and kingdom, is brought by Augustus Caesar to Rome, where he is reared as a Roman 1 The account of the Ufe and death of Queen Cleopatra and of the birth of her daughter, Cleopatra, the heroine of the romance, is told to Tyridates by a servant (pp. 36-48). Emilius, squire to Coriolanus, recoimts his master's 12 Herbekt Wynford Hill prince. He gets a glimpse of the princess Cleopatra, led a slave in the triumphal procession celebrating the fall of Alexandria, and falls in love. Two other princes, Marcellus and Tiberius, also lose their hearts to this most remarkable ornament of her sex. Marcellus, out of friendship to Corio- lanus, withdraws his suit; but Tiberius, through malicious plottings, drives Coriolanus from Rome, and even succeeds in convincing Cleopatra that Coriolanus is false to her. Thus when Coriolanus returns in disguise to see Cleopatra he is spurned by her. He leaves Rome, and finally, weary and sick at heart, reaches a point near Alexandria. Cleopatra, voyaging to Alexandria, is cast ashore by a tempest. It is at this point that the romance opens. Coriolanus, lying down to rest, is aroused by a great noise of clashing arms. Rushing upon the scene he takes the side of the weaker combatant and assists him to escape. While Corio- lanus is continuing the fight, the fugitive returns with a dozen or so followers and sets upon Coriolanus' opponent. Corio- lanus turns his sword against the new arrivals and helps his late opponent drive them off. He now discovers that the knight to whom he has last rendered assistance is no other than the famous Caesario and that the band they have just driven off is that of the notorious pirate, Zenodorus.^ adventures to Tyridates (pp. 78-161). Five hundred pages farther on (pp. 100-14 of the second division of the foho), Cleopatra, in the relation of her history to Artemissa, brings the story up to the point where the romance opens. The page references here and elsewhere are to Loveday's translation. The title-page of this edition reads as follows: "Hymen's Praeludia or Loves Master-piece. Being that so much admired Romance, Intituled Cleopatra. In Twelve Parts. Written Originally in the French, and now Elegantly rendered into English. By Robert Loveday. Evand. "Qui magis aptaret Cleopatra Parentibus orta. "Conspicuis, Comiti quam placuisse Thori ? "London, Printed, by W. R. and J. R. and are to be sold by Peter Parker, at his Shop at the Leg and Star over against the Royal Exchange, and Thomas Guy, at the Corner-shop of the Little Lumbard-street and Comhill, 1674." 1 This is a favorite way of introducing a hero. The reader will recall that in this way Cassandra opens. La Calprenede's Romances 13 A few days after this adventure, Coriolanus strolls into a solitary grove which strongly reminds him of the spot on the banks of the Tiber where he formerly enjoyed the favor of the fair Cleopatra. Exhausted by grief, he falls asleep along the luxuriant bank of a murmuring brook with his head at the foot of an old oak. Here he is discovered by Cleopatra and Artemissa. Cleopatra wakens him and reproaches him with infidelity. While he is attempting to clear himself a band of villains dash in upon them and carry off the two princesses in spite of Coriolanus' prodigious efforts to prevent it. After various other adventures the hero, in search of death, leaps from a horrible cliff into the pitiless waves. By rare good fortune he strikes within reaching distance of the sailors on the ship in which Cleo- patra is kept prisoner and is dragged on board. He pays for his rescue by saving the ship from capture by Cornelius, praetor of Alexandria. His identity is soon discovered, however, and the ship's company, at the command of one of their leaders, turn upon their deliverer. Single-handed he beats them off until a ship headed by two of his friends, Marcellus and Alexander, comes to his rescue. Cleopatra goes to Alexandria. Here Tiberius, the unscru- pulous rival, urges his suit and finally attempts to abduct the heroine. Coriolanus in checking this move of his rival is discovered in combat with him and thrown into prison by the emperor. Cleopatra is ordered by the emperor to marry Tiberius if she wishes to save the life of Coriolanus. While she is debating the matter, through a revolt headed by Candace ably supported by Alexander, Artaban, and other heroes, Coriolanus is freed from prison. Coriolanus goes to the emperor and begs the privilege of dying to secure pardon for those involved in the revolt. As the emperor is about to grant this privilege, Marcellus rushes before Augustus 14 Herbert Wynford Hill and threatens suicide if the order for Coriolanus* execution be carried out. He also reveals the fact that the emperor's life has been saved by Coriolanus. After further interces- sion Augustus reluctantly yields. Cleopatra is given to the hero. Space does not permit the analysis of all the sub-plots of Cleopatra. It seems necessary, however, to present briefly the stories of the two duplicating plots — the Artaban- Elisa plot, and the Caesario-Candace plot. The story of Artaban and Elisa is the most typical of all La Calprenede's plots in its structure and in its situations, incidents, and characters. In interest it surpasses the main story of the romance. The Artaban-Elisa plot. — Artaban, the son of Pompey and Cornelia, after disaster has overtaken his parents, is brought up under the name of Britomarus, by Briton, a soldier formerly. in Pompey' s service. He goes to the court of Hidaspes, king of Aethiopia. Here he falls in love with the princess, Candace, and this results in his banishment. He next appears in Arminia, where, having erased the image of the fair Candace from his mind, he falls in love with Arsinoe, the king's sister. He is scorned because of his lowly station and again exiled. He now becomes a great general among the Medes and conquers Phraates, king of the Parthians. Pursuing the defeated army to the frontier he captures EUsa, the king's daughter, and her mother. Artaban quarrels with the king of the Medes about the dis- position of the captives, and goes over to the side of Phraates. As is to be expected the tide of battle now turns against the Medes. Pressed to accept reward for his services, Artaban asks the hand of Elisa. Elisa is not only refused him but is commanded to marry Tigranes, the two kings having come to an agreement. Artaban leaves the kingdom, but drawn La Calprenede's Romances 15 by his love, returns to be imprisoned. He is now put, a prisoner, on board a ship bound for the court of Tigranes. The ship is attacked by pirates under the leadership of Zenodorus, and Artaban is released to help beat them off. Successful at first, he is later captured by the pirates; picking up Zenodorus he leaps with him in his arms into the sea. Zenodorus is rescued; but to all appearances Artaban never rises, an occurrence not at all strange when it is remembered that he wore a full suit of armor. As a matter of fact, how- ever, he does come to*the surface and with the help of a convenient plank keeps afloat until he is picked up by some fishermen. He straightway sets out in search of Elisa, who, it should be noted, was on board the ship captured by Zeno- dorus. In the meantime Elisa has been rescued by Cornelius and taken to Alexandria. Near the tomb of Tyridates, Artaban and Elisa meet: the rapturous moment is disturbed by the appearance of Tigranes. A remarkable combat ensues which is stopped by Agrippa, a nobleman of Alexandria who has fallen in love with Elisa. Arrived within the city, Artaban has the pleas- ure of seeing his three mistresses all together. Through the influence of Tigranes he is confined a prisoner within his own lodgings. A new factor is now introduced to solve the com- plication. The people of the kingdom of Parthia, having killed their king in an insurrection, clamor for Artaban as their ruler. Artaban's noble birth is established through a medal which he wears, and he is given the Parthian king- dom and the hand of Elisa. ^ 1 The reader is kept in ignorance of the real identity of the hero until the close. The incidents in the past life of Artaban are introduced in reverse order. The following page references will give the reader some idea of the complex arrangement of the story. His early history is told by Briton, Division Two, pp. 520-75. Artaban disguised as Britomarus tells more of his history. Division Two, pp. 505-508; Division Two, pp. 365-86; and Division Two, pp. 344-46. EUsa tells her history to Candace, Division One, pp. 213-66. The wife of Phraates fills in the rest. Division Two, pp. 498-505. 16 Herbert Wynford Hill The Caesario-Candace plot.^ — Caesario, ''the image of the great Caesar intermixed with some ideas of Queen Cleopatra/' the son of this glorious pair, goes, after the fall of Alex- andria, to the court of Hidaspes, king of the Aethiopians. He falls in love with Candace, daughter of the king. On the king's death Tyribasus, a base rival for the hand of Candace, gets control of the kingdom. Caesario helps Candace to escape down the Nile. He opposes in battle Tyribasus, and defeated, is left for dead on the field. He recovers, and kills Tyribasus. Then he sets out in search of Candace. Candace has not voyaged far when she is captured by the pirate Zenodorus. She sets fire to the ship and escapes on a plank. Her rescue from the waves by Tyridates marks the opening of the romance. After various adventures, Caesario meets Candace in Alexandria. Augustus, hearing of Caesario's presence with- in the city, commands his imprisonment. Candace heads a party that succeeds in rescuing him. They are reconciled with Augustus. The plan of the plot structure of Cleopatra is similar to that of Cassandra. The last two plots outlined above dupli- cate the situations and incidents of the first plot; the resem- blances are even more striking than in the case of the earlier romance. The heroes are princes without parents, home, or kingdom. They fall in love at a remarkably early age with extremely young princesses. ^ They become knights- errant and determine the fates of kingdoms with a breath. They change sides, carrying victory wherever they go. Having distinguished themselves, they scorn all rewards 1 The antecedent action is introduced by histories told to Tjrridates by Candace's servant, pp. 49-64; by Candace herself, pp. 172-212; and com- pleted by Caesario's relation to Candace, Division Two, pp. 292-317. 2 Cleopatra and Candace are ten years old when the heroes fall in love with them. It is interesting to note that this is about the age when the heroines in many of the Greek romances faU in love. La Calprenede's Romances 17 save the hands of their fair mistresses, which are denied them. Each hero loves a disdainful mistress who has admirers in power; he is loved by another woman. ^ Corio- lanus and Caesario visit their mistresses in disguise. All are now separated from the objects of their devotion and become once more knights-errant. They unwittingly fight against their dearest friends, assist their enemies, and per- sistently refuse to kill the man who in each case blocks the way to happiness. Cleopatra and Candace are shipwrecked in turn. The three heroines are individually and repeatedly captured by pirates or unscrupulous rivals; and as a master stroke all three in company are attacked by the three unscru- pulous rivals and rescued with the greatest difficulty by the three noble lovers. From this point to the happy ending the experiences of the heroes and heroines are practically identical. Of the thirteen remaining plots two bear directly upon the principal plot and the Artaban-EUsa plot, presenting as they do two rivals of the heroes. In the story of Marcellus and Julia, the first of these to be considered, we find in Mar- cellus the type of the generous rival. This rival is unsel- fishly interested in Cleopatra's happiness, and it is only through a mistaken behef as to the hero's loyalty that he is brought into collusion with the unscrupulous rival in a plot to separate Coriolanus and Cleopatra. As soon as he discovers his mistake he sets about helping to bring them together, and at the close is the one most infiuential in secur- ing from Augustus the hero's pardon. The marriage between Marcellus and Julia is not a love match. Thus throughout the romance Julia is free to complicate the plot by making love to Coriolanus, Artaban, Drusus, and other less promi- 1 This love situation is too conventional to serve as argument by itself. In Cleopatra it is repeated, also, in the stories of the PhUadelph and Delia, and Tyridates and Mariamne. 18 Herbert Wynford Hill nent heroes. Media, the hero of the second of the two plots under consideration, is the type of the unscrupulous rival. From the beginning to the end he opposes Arta- ban. His marriage at the close to Urania is against his will, and his previous relations with her are unimportant com- pared with his relations to the characters of the Artaban- Ehsa plot. The Tyridates-Mariamne plot is introduced because the house of Tyridates serves as a gathering-place for the six principal characters. Furthermore, as uncle to Elisa he is entitled to a hearing. The story itself is not interwoven with any of the other stories, but in its nature and tone fits well into the romance. There are two other plots which touch the main plot rather lightly; they are hardly more than histories told for the entertainment of characters in the romance. These are the stories of Arminius-Isminia, and Alcamenes-Menalippa. La Calprenede does, however, join them to the principal story after a fashion. Isminia, for instance, serves Julia as a slave; and Arminius is brought into the main thread of action through a gladiatorial combat. Furthermore, Arminius is united to Isminia in Alexandria at the time when the principal characters are made similarly happy. Alcamenes and Menalippa also participate in this glorious conclusion. The Alcamenes-Menalippa story may be considered a minor supporting plot, so strong is the resemblance of Alcamenes' adventures to those of the chief heroes. As an errant knight he wins in disguise fame at a foreign court. Menalippa falls in love with him as he lies asleep by a babbling brook (cf. Coriolanus 291, and Phila- delph 317, 506). Denied the hand of the princess and banished, he goes over to the enemy, carrying victory with him; he visits his beloved in disguise; and unwittingly fights against his friends. Like the Arminius-Isminia plot, the La Calpeenede's Romances 19 story centers on the theme of a hero in love with the daughter of a hostile king. Alexander as twin brother to Cleopatra is given an impor- tant role. He not only has a history of his own, but intro- duces another family whose exploits furnish material for two other plots. All three plots are pretty well woven into the main plot. Of the five remaining plots four are introduced to round out Cleopatra's family history, and the fifth properly belongs to the Philadelph-Delia story. These are all brief and not very fully developed. In spite of the complicated structure of the Cleopatra, the careful reader will find numerous hints to guide him through the labyrinth of plot. In the latter part, frequent references are made to past incidents; some incidents are told again from a new view-point; others are discussed and explained. Although one finishes the romance with the impression that the story covers a long period of time, in reality the main action up to the point where Coriolanus is imprisoned in Alexandria, within a hundred pages of the close, covers less than a week. La Calprenede must have taken consider- able pains to get his characters into Alexandria in so short a space of time; but from this point on, when everything is in shape for a rapid, brilliant conclusion, he loiters around in an exasperating way. It is well-nigh impossible to deter- mine accurately the period of time included between Corio- lanus' imprisonment and the happy ending; it certainly extends beyond a week, possibly it covers two. Even though three weeks be taken as the total period, Cleopatra still has greater compression than Cassandra. Cassandra with half the number of plots covers twice as long a period. The "histories" introducing the antecedent action of Cleopatra 20 Herbert Wynford Hill are much better handled than those of Cassandra. La Cal- prenede probably felt the necessity of greater care in the handling of a greater number of plots. Possibly, too, he had gained better control of the method employed. The indirect narration focuses on one geographical point. The direct narration in each romance focuses first on a point near a large city and then shifts to the city itself. A comparison of the situations and incidents of Cassandra and Cleopatra reveals some interesting facts. The central situation in each is much the same; and yet there is an essen- tial difference, a difference that vitally distinguishes the two romances. Let us review the two situations. In Cleopatra the hero is in love with a princess, is loved by another woman, and contends against a rival more powerful at court than himself. In Cassandra the hero is in love with a princess, is loved by another woman, and contends against a rival more powerful, not at court, but on the battlefield. Alex- ander, the rival in Cassandra, captures the kingdom and marries the heroine. The rival in Cleopatra opposes the hero through influence at court. The fundamental difference between the two romances becomes more evident if the main situation in Cassandra be stated in a different way. The hero in disguise wins favor in a foreign court through exploits in war; he falls in love with the king's daughter and refuses all rewards save her hand, which is denied him. Up to this point the situation is closely paralleled by that of Corio- lanus in Cleopatra. Here, however, the resemblance stops. Oroondates, the hero in Cassandra, is deprived of his mistress by a world conqueror; Coriolanus contends aganst a court favorite. Oroondates marshals a great army to capture Baby- lon, and so wins his mistress; Coriolanus wins his mistress by bringing the emperor over to his side. Contrary to what might be expected, with a shifting of La Calprenede's Romances 21 the issue from the battlefield to the drawing-room, women take a less active part in Cleopatra than in the earlier romance. Cassandra is deceived into believing the hero false through the woman in love with the hero; Cleopatra, through the man in love with herself. In the sub-plots of Cassandra also the women are more aggressive. It is interesting to note that these women are all widows, as of course is the heroine. In Cleopatra no widow has an important role, and the heroines are for the most part only the glorious prizes to be appor- tioned at the close. In line with the more subtle handling of the issues at stake, we find in Cleopatra less frequent use of the super- natural to foreshadow or advance the plot. In the earlier romance, at least five of the principal characters are retained on the banks of the Euphrates or brought there through oracles; and a sixth is sent thither by a vision. In fact Artaxerxes is the only hero of note who finds his way natur- ally to the scene of action. In Cleopatra, the characters all arrive at Babylon in the natural course of their adventures; at no point are they directed by supernatural agency.^ Not until the close is the supernatural introduced. Tiberius is at last discouraged from his designs on Cleopatra by the prophecy of Thrasyllus; and Augustus is encouraged to repentance by the appearance of Caesar's ghost. This decrease in the use of the supernatural is to be noted also in the minor features such as omens, miraculous herbs for healing, potions, and the like. Cleopatra shows a marked increase in direct narration. Hardly a third of Cassandra is direct narration, twenty-two per cent, to be exact; while forty-nine per cent of Cleopatra is direct narration, and this, too, in spite of the presence of 1 In the story of Alcamenes and Menalippa, one of the subordinate plots of Cleopatra, an oracle is introduced, but in no vital way does it affect the plot. 22 Herbert Wynford Hill three times as many sub-plots where the percentage of indirect narration is naturally high. The main plot runs sixty-eight per cent of direct narration, a high proportion for a heroic romance.^ In other ways the plot is lightened and the movement made more rapid; the speeches are shorter; there are fewer soliloquies; letters are less frequently introduced; and there is a decrease in the length and number of descriptions. In Cassandra La Calprenede exhibits an especial fondness for descriptions of armies; he rarely passes an opportunity for de- scribing the marshaling of forces, and military maneuvers; if he does forego the indulgence it is with a sigh and an apology. There is little of this in Cleopatra. In his earlier work he felt the need of hurrying on; there is hardly a page that does not express the desire, but he had not learned how. In the later romance he had learned how, and he felt less trammeled by the conventions of heroic romance. The plot marches for- ward more gracefully, more rapidly, and more inevitably. THE SOURCES OF THE PLOTS OF Cassandra AND Cleopatra At this point it is not proposed to go into a full discussion of the historical sources of the romance.^ The most impor- 1 In Clelia one of the characters is made to say {Clelia, p. 140, ed. of 1678. London printed and to be sold by H. Herringman, D. Newman, T. Cockerel, S. Heyrick, W. Cadman, S. Laundes, G. Marriot, W. Croak, and C. Smith): "I did not love to be my own Historian, and I must tell you again, that I never will, and that those who will write such Books as that famous blind man did, whose works all Greece adores, must always introduce some persons to tell the adventures of others. For then the Relator commends or con- demns those of whom he speaks according to their merit. They will impar- tially describe the persons whom they do introduce, they will descant upon things and mingle their own thoughts with theirs; but when any are their own Historians, all that they shall say in their own advantage is suspected; and it is so diflflcult to do, that if it be a woman who teUs her own tale, she cannot handsomely say, I made him in love with me; and if it be a man, he cannot well say, that he was loved, or that he was valiant; and therefore it is a thousand times better to have the story told in the third person than in the first," etc. 2 Wherever the plot of a play has been drawn from the romance, the sources of the romance have been examined to determine the exact indebted- ness of the play to the sources as well as to the romance. La Calprenede^s Romances 23 tant will be noted, however, with the special view of deter- mining La Calprenede's dependence on these sources. La Calprenede states very clearly his attitude toward his mate- rial in the preface to Part III of the romance, where he addresses Cassandra in the following words :^ Take care also, if you please, to excuse me to her; and if she think it strange, that having kept myself hitherto enough within probability, I take a little liberty in the description of some particu- lar actions, and that instead of following the manner of writing us^ by Plutarch, Quintus Curtius, Justin, and other Authors from whom I have drawn the foundations of your History, I make my Heroes march into the fight, in a way somewhat nearer to that of Homer, Virgil, Tasso, and other writers of that nature, who have beautified the truth with some ornaments, rather more pleasing than confined to a strict and regular liklihood; say for my defence, that having for your quarrel assembled so many great men, famous in Antiquity, and renowned amongst all the Authours that have written the History of their age, I, in favour of them, have exempted my self from that severity, and believ'd that in taking a diversion by that kind of recital, I might represent some particulars of that vaUant Dame, who hath made them known to the whole earth. Moreover, our narration is much more fixt upon the especial actions of our Heroes, than upon those of whole nations; and we much rather seek the reputation of Oroondates and Arsaces, than that of the Medes, Persians, and Macedonians in general, but yet without making them remarkable by impossible actions, or extrava- gant inventions. In an address to the reader appended to the fifth and last part of the romance, La Calprenede discusses more specifi- cally his departure from historical fact. You will have the patience I hope to read these few Lines I am obhged to add, that I may justify part of those things which I have written. I have been bound up in many Passages of this Conclusion by the truth of History, though perhaps I have altered it in some places, where it is least known. If I make Statira and 1 p. 237. 24 Herbert Wynford Hill her Sister live again contrary to the report of Plutarch, who says she was killed by Roxana's cruelty; I have followed the Opinion of many Historians, and I make her pass the rest of her life in countries very remote from those where she spent her younger years, and under a different name from that by which she was known to Plutarch. I well might give Darius a son without contradicting the Historians that write of Alexander, who only mention his Daughters; I make him dead in the opinion of the World before Alexander entered upon his Father's Territories, he comes thither no more till after his death, and therefore those Authors might well have been ignorant of Artaxerxes his life, he having pagsed it in very far Countries, and under another name, after he had lost it in the general beUef. I with the same licence might make him to be the Great Arsaces, who founded the Empire of the Parthians: and Historians not having given him any certain birth, have afforded me the liberty to make him be born of Darius: I should undoubtedly have made him recover his Father's Empire, if I could have done it without falsifying truths which are known to all the World, and which have left me a free disposing of my Adventures: I should have changed something in the destiny of Roxana and Cassander, if I might have been permitted, and if I had pardoned Roxana, in consideration of her sex, I should have killed Cassander to shew the punishment of Vice, as well as the recompense of Vertue; but the rest of his life was too well known by his Crimes, and by his ruhng in Greece. I have been freer in those of Perdiccas and his Brother; 'tis certain they were slain within a while after Alexander's death, by a Sedition amongst their Forces, and there is so little spoken of the particulars of their death, that I believed I might lawfully frame it to my History. This idea of introducing events that seem probable La Calprenede evidently kept constantly before him. He had already advanced it in his preface to Part II (p. 116) : I think nevertheless, though other beauties be wanting in it, one shall at least find few things that thwart either probabihty or decency; nay, to that degree, that I find most difficulty to accom- modate those passages to a liklihood, which are really in History. Methinks it does not ill mingled with Romance; and of those La Calprenede's Romances 25 accidents that are feign'd, there are not many in which I could be contradicted, if I would make them pass for true. And again in the letter to Calista prefaced to Part IV (p.342):i If all the adventures of it are not equal, and if you find some places in them not so strong, nor so diverting as others, you will be pleased to consider, that my invention has not had an entire liberty, and that it has been rack'd by Chronology, by the truth of the History, and by those things I had already written; and in short, that I have been put to it, as many others would have been, to make Darius his son passe his time handsomely in Scythia, whilst his country was laid desolate, and his father deprived of his Empire, and of his life, by Alexander's victorious forces. Yet in this encounter, and in many others, which truly have kept me in troublesome constraint, I have stuck to probabihty as much as I possibly could, and have made up a story which in mine own opinion is not the most defective of this piece. The historians quoted are the ones to whom he is most indebted — Plutarch, Justin,^ and Quintus Curtius.^ From all of these he drew numerous details. He is especially indebted to Justin for the remarkable combat between Lysimachus and the lion; and to Quintus Curtius for the account of the defeat of Darius at the hands of Alexander. In Cleopatra La Calprenede is little hampered by the historical sources, nor does he depend on them to any con- siderable extent for his phrasing. Robert Loveday in the preface to his translation (ed. of 1674) writes: If thou beest an Historian, thou wilt trace his ingenius Pen through Tacitus, Florus, Suetonius, and others that wrote Augustus life, and find with what skilful method he hath culled such Flowers from each of their Gardens, as was fittest to beautifie his Garland. But the quantity of flowers so culled is almost inconsider- able. Another historical source that might be mentioned 1 Lit. transl. of preface, Tome 7, Partie 4, Livre I, ed. of 1645. 2 Translated into French in 1616. 3 Translated into French in 1653. 26 Herbert Wynford Hill in passing is Flavins Josephus, from whom he took many details in the story of Tyridates and Mariamne.^ The situations and incidents of Cassandra were not drawn to any considerable extent from the Greek romances; in fact the only incident of much importance to be so derived is that of the execution of slaves in the place of the heroine and her sister {Cassandra, p. 243). In Tatius^ a slave is executed in the heroine's place to deceive the hero and at another time the hero sees the heroine apparently killed.^ In Cleopatra, however, there are numerous parallels to situations and incidents of the Greek romances. The hero- ine is frequently shipwrecked {Cleopatra, Part I, pp. 211, 473, 523; Part II, pp. 114, 344, 523: and compare with Helio- dorus,^ 136; Tatius, 402, etc.). She is captured by pirates {Cleopatra, Part I, pp. 75, 206; Part II, pp. 53, 258; Helio- dorus, p. 17; Longus Daphnis & Chloe (Bohn ed.), p. 281; Tatius, p. 440, etc.). The hero and the heroine fall in love at an extremely early age. In Cleopatra the most remark- able example of this precocity is that of Alexander and Arte- missa, aged ten and eight years respectively, who fall seriously in love and converse in the most approved heroic style (cf . pp. 274, Daphnis & Chloe, p. 267, and Clitopho and Leu- dppe, p. 355). The heroine is sold as a slave {Cleopatra, Part II, p. 54 ; Clitopho and Leucippe, p. 450) . A brother attempts to seduce the heroine {Cleopatra, Part I, p. 467; Clitopho and Leucippe, 463, where at the beginning of the romance the hero is engaged to his half-sister). The story of Cae- sario-Candace in the Cleopatra has borrowed many details from the Aethiopian History of HeUodorus. In both, the hero, a visitor, falls in love with the daughter of Hidaspes, 1 Cf. The Jewish War, Book I, chap. xxii. 2 The Loves of Clitopho and Leucippe (Bohn ed., 1855), p. 440. 3 P. 410. Sidney uses the incident in his Arcadia. 4 An Aethiopian History (Tudor transl.). La Calprenede's Romances 27 king of Aethiopia. This daughter is miraculously white. The hero and heroine travel from the kingdom into a series of wonderful adventures: they are captured repeatedly, together and separately, by pirates and rivals; they are ship- wrecked. The pirate chief falls in love with the heroine; the heroine is loved by the Roman praetor and by a native Aethiopian of obscure birth. The hero is loved by an unscrupulous woman in power. The force of these resem- blances is strengthened by4)he similarity in the accounts of the great wealth at the Aethiopian court; in the introduction of the scene on the battlefield at night where the woman weeps over the body of a dear one ; and by the names common to Heliodorus and La Calprenede of Oroondates, Hidaspes, Alcamenes, and Arsace.^ The Arthurian romances furnished La Calprenede with very few situations and incidents. The use of disguise, the introduction of tournaments, scorn of wealth, banishment, imprisonment, rescue of heroine from rivals, are of course conventional with the Arthurian romances. Artaban's shifting from side to side carrying victory with him is paral- leled frequently (cf. Launcelot). The incident where Oroon- dates, by donning the armor of a knight whom he has slain, lures on an enemy to his death has a parallel in Libeaus Des- conus, and The Faerie Queene. The later romances furnished very little in the way of incident or situation. There are, however, numerous paral- lels; and in some cases evidence of relationship is unmistak- able. Barclay's Argenis suggested the story of Orontes and Thalestris.2 In Primaleon of Greece there are two situations 1 Not all of these are used in the Caesario story but are found elsewhere in La Calprenede's romances. 2 Cf. Cassandra, pp. 164, for La CalprenMe's version; and, for Barclay's presentation, the story of Theocrine, Argenis, Book III, chaps. viii+. The Argenis was first published in Latin in 1621. Other editions appeared in 28 Herbert Wynford Hill parallel to situations in Cassandra and Cleopatra: one where Edward turns gardener in order to be near his mistress/ and another where the hero is made to challenge himself to a combat. 2 THE STYLE OF Cassaudra and Cleopatra Cassandra. — In an address to the reader prefacing the second part of Cassandra, La Calprenede writes (p. 116) :^ As for other matters, seek neither for Science, nor for fine Discourse, perchance thou shalt find neither in this Piece; and I may say unfeignedly, it is written with too little pains, or rather with too little care, to hope for anything studyed, or delicate in it. In what I write (after my obedience to an absolute command) my only aim is to divert myself; and I find no other advantage in this employment, and I am very far from pretending glory from a thing which I have not own'd, and which I will forsake when I can no longer disavow it. A modern reader certainly would be justified in consider- ing these remarks as merely a display of becoming modesty. To one, however, acquainted with the fine style of Mile Scudery, they have some point. In Clelia^ we find her 1622, 1627, 1630, 1634, 1642, 1655, 1659 (two eds.), 1664 (two eds.), 1671. 1673. It was translated into English — the prose by R. Le Grys, the verses by F. L. May — in 1629; and again, this time by Kingsmill Long, in 1636, an edi- tion "beautified with Pictures Together with a Key to unlock the whole story"; and again in 1772 by "a Lady." It was translated into Italian in 1629, into French in 1632, 1732; and into German in 1644 and 1770. 1 Primaleon, pp. 77; Cassandra, pp. 58. 2 Primaleon, pp. 188; Cleopatra, Part II, pp. 151. The edition of Prima- leon referred to is that of 1619. The title-page reads as follows: "The Famous and renowned history of Primaleon of Greece Sonne to the great and mighty Prince Palmerin d'Olivia, Emperor of Constantinople Describing his Kjiightly deeds of Arms, as also the memorable adventures of Prince Edward of England; and continuing the former history of Palmendos, brother to the fortunate Prince Primaleon «&. The First Book translated out of French & Italian into EngUsh by A. M, London 1619." 3 Literal translation of preface of French ed. of 1644, Tome 3, Partie II, Livre I. This preface is cut at the beginning, but in the passage quoted the translation is faithful. 4 Part IV, Book II, p. 541, ed. of 1678. La Calprenede's Romances 29 theory of how a heroic romance should be written. One of the characters (Plotina) speaks: * Were I to invent a History, I think I should make things much more perfect than they are. All Women should be admirably fair, and all Men should be as valiant as Hector, all my Heroes should slay at least a hundred men in every battel, I would build Palaces of precious stones, I would make Prodigies fall out every moment, and without troubling myself to invent with judgment, I should suffer my fancy to act as it pleased; so that seeking out only surprising events, without examining, whether they were consistent to reason or no, I should certainly make very extraordinary things; a continual Shipwracks, burning of Bities,' and a thousand like other accidents, which occasion handsome lamentations and descrip- tions. To which Anacrion replies — Should you invent a History after the manner you speak of, amiable Plotina, (said he) you would do a thing no doubt sufficiently strange; for with rare Events, wonderful Descriptions, heroical Actions, extraordinary Matters, and Palaces of Precious Stones, you would make one of the lewdest Fables than can be possibly invented; there being without doubt nothing worse, than to see things of this nature made without order and reason .... when you invent a Fable, your purpose is to be believ'd, and the true art of Fiction is handsomely to resemble truth, etc. And another speaker (Hermineus) says — And as diversity or variety is the Soul of the World, he ought to take heed of making all men Heroes, all Women equally fair, the dispositions and humors of all particular persons ahke and cor- respondent, and Love, Anger, Jealousie, Hatred, to produce always the same effects. On the contrary, he must imitate that admirable variety, which is seen in all men, according to the example of Homer. Anacrion further says (p. 542), speaking of historical romances : For when names of Countreys are employed, which all the world hears of, and wherewith Geography is exactly acquainted; 1 Evidently misprint for Cities. 30 Herbert Wynford Hill and when great events are made use of, which are sufficiently known, the mind is wholly disposed to suffer itself to be seduc'd, and to receive the fiction together with the truth, provided it be handsomely interwoven, and the Writer take pains to study the Age well he makes choice of, to improve all the rarities of it, and to conform to the customs of places he treats of, not to mention Laurels in Countreys where there was never any seen, not to con- found the Religions or Customs of Nations that are to be introduc'd; though they may with judgment be a little drawn to the usage of the present age, to the end they be more delightful; I am confident if this be observ'd, and they which are introduc'd in a Fable of this nature, speak well, the passions be well pointed out, the adventures be natural and prudently invented, all the little matter which discover the bottom of mens hearts, be pertinently plac'd; Vice be blam'd. Virtue rewarded, and Variety dispers'd through the whole, without confusion, if the fancy be always subject to the judgment, extraordinary events be rationally grounded; if there be knowledge, without affectation, defight, ornament, and pleasantness, wherever it is necessary; if the style be neither too high nor too low, and no violence offer'd to decency and good manners; I am confident, I say, such a Work will please all that read it, be more delightful to them than a History, and withal be more profitable. No one can read a page of Mile Scud^ry's romance with- out feeling a constant straining after the effects described above. Far more stress is laid on the delicate phrasing of polite conversatiorh or love letters, or on the devising of ingenious details for embroidering the narration, than on the effective advancement of the story itself. The plot serves primarily to bring together models of stilted conver- sation, artificial letters and verses, and ingenious methods of social diversion. Compared to Mile Scudery, surely La Calprenede may lay claim to a simple style. Read in time of leisure when the fancy runs free it is surprising how fascinating the romances become: the style soon slips below the surface of La Calprenede's Romances 31 things to be noticed and the characters move and have their being in a world, unlike our own to be sure, but in one per- fectly suited to them and in itself interesting. If one gives himself up to the genius of the place he finds nothing to scoff at, nothing that jars; all is painted in purple and gold, but the colors blend well; there is no incongruity, no lack of harmony. Polemon^s home, the scene of activities in the first part of the romance, is thus described. Polemon's house was seated at the foot of a Uttle hill, about five or six hundred paces from the Euphrates; on that side toward the River it was sheltered with a high Wood, which reached from the Garden walls almost to the Bank of it; on that toward the hill there were many Vineyards, and on the other two an open plain of a vast and spacious breadth; on the side towards Babylon it spread itself to the very Gates, and on the other as far as the Temple of Apollo. It was in that, the Princes caused their Army to encamp, covering themselves on the side toward their Enemies with the wood, and with the Hill. The City of Babylon, where the rest of the direct action is placed, is presented as follows:^ The great City of Babylon (the stately Work of valiant Semiramis, and then considered as one of the wonders of the World) is seated on both sides of the Euphrates, which passing between its buildings, divides the Town into two equal parts; they are joyned together by many Bridges, and principally by one very great one of Stone, different in matter from its other Buildings, and considerable for its breadth, height, and marvellous structure. The Banks of the River are kept up with two Brick Walls, and have high large Causies on each side, which yet would not be able to stop the impetuousness of the Stream, when it is swelled with Rain, if there were not deep open places at certain distances. .... There was to be seen that miracle of a Hanging Garden, so cried up by Ancient Writers, where in Earth carried thither with an admirable industry and sustained by Pillars of two hundred 1 p. 473. 32 Herbert Wynford Hill foot high, there grew Trees whose Branches seemed to touch the Clouds, presenting tufted Forrests to the eye of Passengers above the tops of the highest Buildings. These two descriptions are not very highly colored and are distinctly from the point of view of the soldier. In nearly every case the descriptions of places are slight, as in that of the Garden of Abdolomius, which he passes over with the remark ''It is not necessary for me to describe the beauty of a place which you have often seen." In the course of what happens in the next page or two we learn that this garden possesses a grot, secret arbors, fountains, and murmur- ing rivulets; but these details are woven into the story. In the following description we have a good example of his method :i We were in a very close Arbour, yet from it we might see the gate of the Garden, and know all that was done in it, without being perceiv'd. We saw the Ladies part several ways, according to their different inclinations: The Queens began to walk in the broad Alley, which went along the side of a little stream. The Princess Parisatis, with Apamia, and Arsinoe, Artabasus his daughters, and sisters to Barsina, withdrew into an Arbour; and the Princess Statira making a great cushion to be carried by Cleone, the dearest of her maids of honor, walk'd toward a Grot, where there was a pleasing Fountain. My Prince having seen her pass by, gave her the leisure to retire as she intended, and a while after sHpt through a covered Alley, which led unseen unto that Grot. He gave me leave to follow him, and going softly, and without noise, we came into the entry of it; my Master trembling with love and respect, was even like a lost man; but he was much more so when drawing near his Princess, he saw her laid along by the edge of the Fountain, and already fain asleep upon the Cushion which Cleone had brought her. He often uses a setting appropriate to the mood of his characters as in the following description. 1 Cassandra, p. 56. La Calpkenede's Romances 33 Cassandra, p. 495' She had some other discourses with herself, full of irresolution, when she entred into the Wood, that had been shewed her, and there upon the green swarth she lost that track, she had followed, and wandered about a great while among the Trees. That Wood had something more wild and savage in it than others, and was more suitable than ordinary, to a melancholy solitary humor: The Trees were of an excessive height, and with age were almost covered with Moss and Ivy; their tufted Branches cast a shade, which even at high noon, defended a great deal of the ground from the sun's most piercing Beams, among the Trees one might see many pieces of Rock overgrown also with Moss, and for the most part dropping with a clear Water, which moystened the Grass round about them, and which with the help of certain little Springs, turned insensibly into a little Rivulet: The place was rugged and unfit for walking as well by reason of the Rocks, as of thick Bryars and Bushes that stopt the passage, and shewed, it was but very little frequented. The Princess roved about a while, where it was passable with least inconveniency; and though she was almost out of hope, she found some pleasure (nevertheless) in visiting a place so unfrequented, and so conformable to the pensive humor she had long been in. It is only occasionally that La Calprenede goes into such details as we find in the following description of the Temple of Apollo. 2 The Platform of it was a Pentagone, and the Frontespiece appeared in Perspective, between two rowes of trees of an extraor- dinary height, which made a long Walk whose other end reach'd to the bank of the River. This Front was marvelously high, beautified with many Statues, and particularly with two Marble Pillars of an excessive height, upon which the God Apollo, and the Goddess his Sister, were placed in their Chariots. The Gates were Cedar, standing on the top of five or six Steps, of the fairest Parian Marble that was ever seen: the Floor of the Temple was Paved with the same, and the Walls were all adorned with Pictures, which represented the most famous actions of that God [follows a list of these pictures] 1 Literal translation of Cassandre, Tome 9, Partie V, Livre 2, p. 308. 2 Cassandra, p. 36. 34 Herbert Wynford Hill In his description of his heroines La Calprenede exercises less restraint; the following description of Berenice is thoroughly characteristic.^ Cassandra, p. 216 Both of them were exactly perfect, but that of Berenice's was the more delicate, her skin whiter, her features milder, and more suitable to her sex; she had something in her eyes so bright and piercing, that a heart must of necessity either be stupid or strongly prepossessed, if it could bear her looks without alteration. As she was neither fair nor brown so were her eyes neither grey nor black, but their color holding something of both, accompanied that of her hair, which likewise being neither fair nor black, had borrowed a shadow of each, that made a clear auburn colour, incomparably more beautiful than either; her face was little, but it had naturally all the fullness that was necessary to form a complete oval, and though she was slender, her neck and hands were plump, and mar- vellously well proportioned; her looks and all her motions were accompanied with a natural sweetness which showed itself plainly in the smallest of her actions; and though her countenance were truly full of Majesty, yet was it one of those which strike less fear than love, which seldom own themselves with lightenings and thun- ders, able to cloud their ordinary serenity, and which ill accommo- date themselves to the motions of the soul, when they are set at work by anger. The sentences are for the most part long.^ Balance is frequent : almost any page will furnish sentences like this :^ If one of us must die, 'tis I alone, I alone am guilty, perjured, faithless; and you are still innocent, still firm, still constant; I am she who have unworthily betrayed you, and basely forsaken you, and you are he who hath too generously, and too faithfully lov'd me. 1 Koerting says that La Calprenede lists the details in the following order: "Haltung, Gang, Teint, Augen, Mund, Zahne, Haare, Busen, Hande." A more complete analysis of his character, description, and presentation will be fomid below in the discussion of the Cleopatra. 2 Cf. the discussion of sentence length under Cleopatra. « P. 106. La Calprenede's Romances 35 Sometimes the balance is sustained through a half-column folio as in Lysimachus^ speech beginning on p. 148.^ A brief passage will suffice to illustrate its character. Hephestion has the happiness to possess her, and Lysimachus the glory to die for her. If I have been jealous of Hephestion's fortune, he ought to envy my destiny; and if his passion could not be more happily recompenced, mine could not have a more honor- able conclusion. The balance is generally simple, without any further artificial arrangements. Sometimes the author cannot resist exhibiting his ingenuity in more involved balance, as in the following: Cassandra, p. 567 In Berenice's face there was more sweetness, but more majesty in Statira's: yet in that difference, Statira's majesty was so sweet and Berenice's sweetness so Majestick, that all the other beauties in the world could not have shown so great a sweetness, and so great a Majesty together. Nor does he hesitate to balance the abstract with the concrete. Lysimachus says:^ I left my bed, and my chamber, but not that mortal sorrow, which ought to have brought me to my grave, etc., and Thalestris speaks in similar fashion i^ All the favors he had stoln from me, all the familiarities I had innocently granted him, came thronging into my memory, and making a mixture of shame and anger, kindled in my face a colour like fire, and in my mind a deadly wrath. The style although not ornate is well colored with figures of speech. It is said of Oroondates:^ His fire was kindled again by this recital, and so much of his affection as was smothered by the beUef of his Princesses infidelity, 1 Cf. p. 97 for another as long and balanced throughout. 2 Cassandra, p. 149. » Ibid., p. 170. « Ibid., p. 92. 36 Herbert Wynford Hill broke forth again into such a violent flame, by the knowledge of her innocence, that he became more ardent, and more passionate than ever. Parisatis and Statira are described leaning their cheeks against each others':^ Their tears mixt themselves confusedly witli such a grace, that in that amiable disorder wherein love languished with pity, sadness appeared in its chiefest triumph. Lysimachus thus describes the effect of his second sight of Parisatis i^ In this interim my condition was very much changed, and that second sight of Parisatis had so weakened my heart that it was no longer able to defend itself, nor to avoid those mortal wounds, which it hath so dearly conserved, and wherof it neither can nor will be cured, but by the end of my life alone. Sorrow appeared so charming in the countenance of that dear^ prostrate Lady, and 6er eyes, though full of water, threw such piercing darts at me, that being quite surcharged with love and compassion, I went forth with the King in such a perplexity, that I had much ado to know where I was. When I was gotten into my Tent, her Idea came yet more strongly into my remembrance, and notwithstanding all the attempts I made to blot it out, my passion being whetted by that difficulty, assaulted me with greater violence, and seem'd to inflame itself with anger, at the resistance I made against an affection that was so glorious to me. Sustained personification of the passions and emotions are the most frequent figures employed. The illustrations cited might be duplicated from nearly any page; one more example will be sufl&cient i'^ His jealousie encreasing by the strength of appearances, grew then so insolent, as to dispute for superiority with his joy; and indeed it had not so little power, but that it held his mind for some 1 Cassandra, p. 120. ^ i^id., p. 122. 3 The Folio reads fear, evidently a misprint. * P. 202. La Calprenede's Romances 37 time wavering in suspence; but in the end the excellencie of his nature, and of his affection, which was absolutely pure, and dis- interested, gave joy the upper hand, and made him more satisfied with the life of his Princess, than afflicted with her inconstancy. La Calprenede is fond of light and color : the sparkle of the dew, the flashing of armor in the sun, and the glitter of jewels light up the pages of the romance. The lovely daugh- ters of Darius lay aside mourning at the close and appear in ^'all those embellishments which the misfortunes of their life had made them to neglect." Then Gold and Jewels of inestimable value glittered with a Magnificence suitable to the quality of those Great Princesses, and their Beauty receiving its former lustre by those exterior Ornaments, after having been a long time buryed in afflictions, shew'd it self like the Sun, when after tedious Storms, and foggy Mists, it breaks forth of the Cloud that had obscured it, and appears to our eyes again with its usual brightness. The figures rarely pass the bounds of good taste; only occasionally does one encounter such comparisons as that made of Oroondates, who ''as a young Lion wakens his anger with his tail, animated his courage by the remembrance of his losses." On the whole the style although diffuse is vigorous; and although rhetorical is not florid. Cleopatra. — The setting of the Cleopatra is drawn with a firmer hand and more abundantly along certain lines. There are more sketches of landscapes and bowers and gardens. Fuller pictures of the social life of the time are furnished; a ball, a hunt, and a gladiatorial combat are pre- sented in detail. Greater emphasis is laid on social graces; the atmosphere is more formal. The descriptive range of Cleopatra is accordingly wider than that of Cassandra, but as 'a rule the descriptions are shorter. This is especially 38 Herbert Wynford Hill true of landscapes: springs, fountains, brooks, and glades flourish but are disposed of in a line or two.^ Formal gardens and bowers figure more prominently in Cleopatra than in Cassandra.^ This Noble Assembly, the noblest haply that the whole Uni- verse could have afforded, went all together into a spacious walk, covered in a manner with trees of extraordinary height and abutted, as all the rest did, upon a large Basin of Water which is in the midst of the Garden, having in it one principal figure which may be seen from all the extremities, and that is a Neptune, placed in the midst of the water, seated in his Chariot, drawn by Tritons, and holding in his right hand his Trident, which at the three points of it cast forth water to a greater height than the highest trees of the Garden. He is compassed about by a hundred Nereids of Alablaster, disposed about the extremities of the Basis, in a hundred several postures placed at equal distances within a row of Pilasters of white marble, by which it is encompassed. From this place, by the means of twelve spacious walks, which abutt there, may be seen all the extremities of the Garden, and the end of every walk is remarkable for some object that does a certain pleasant violence on the sight, and surprises the Spectator in twelve different manners. That particular walk into which we were gotten, entertained our eyes only with the gate of the Garden, and a prospect of Rome; but all the rest end either with perspectives, made with so much art that they deceive the sight, even to the extremity thereof; or with grotts, admirable as well for the variety of shells, and the Nacre whereof they are built, as for the diversity of the springs and figures, whereby they are adorned, or with Arbours miraculous for their structure, or lastly with descents of water, ordered with such extraordinary artifice, as that falling from an excessive height upon a many several steps, it makes a confused but withal, a pleasant noise, and so runs into a number of little channels, which border the Walks in divers places, cross them in divers others, so that people are forced to go over them upon Bridges, having on both sides Pilasters of Marble. 1 "It was a most delightful Spring whose natural beauty, a little Art had very much augmented; the soiu-ce was clear and lively, the grass green and fresh round about, and, by a great tuft of Trees, embraced and defended from the Sun, and the sight of passengers" (Vol. II, p. 127). ^Cleopatra, Vol. II. La Calprenede's Romances 39 This turning to formal gardens and bowers is in part a concession to the following of the school of Scudery. Cer- tainly Mile Scudery herself never surpassed in her most fanciful flights the following description of a love galley:^ The boat was in the form of a little Galley compassed about by a row of Pilasters, which seemed to be of gold, but was indeed of wood guilt; without which hung out a hundred arms gilt as the row of Pilasters, which sustained a hundred great torches of virgin wax, whereby the darkness of the night was removed to the distance of many stadia. The oars seemed to be of gold proportionably to all the rest, and the Rowers were twelve little Cupids winged, armed with arrows and quiver, and covered with cloth of gold in those parts of their bodyes where it was not requisite they should be naked. At the extremity of the stern grew up a golden tree, of the height of an ordinary mast having at the top the form of a Scuttle, compassed about by a row of golden Pilasters and twelve arms proportionable to those below, wherein were twelve torches and in the midst of all that sight was a Heart hanging down, which seemed to be all on fire, and out of which by some strange artifice, there visible issued flames ascending up towards the stars, and made more light than all the torches. In the distances which were between the torches were hung up twelve streamers, which were tost up and down by the flames, and the smoke a thousand several wayes, and in which by reason of the greatnesse of the light there might be distinctly seen double A.A.'s with other characters, expressing several waies the word ANTONIA. The same Letters and the same Characters were disposed up and down all over the boat, as also upon the Pilasters, the oars and the mast, and it was so lightsom everywhere, that the least things could not be more distinctly discerned than they were at that time. The descriptions of the heroines do not differ materially from those in Cassandra. The following presentation of Elisa is thoroughly characteristic. Our former description of Candace's beauty dispences with a farther recital, but we should deal unjustly with the fair unknown, 1 Vol. I, p. 221. 40 Herbert Wynford Hill should we hide them in silence, in whom the Queen found many dehcacies that had a far better title to her wonder, than the Praetor's relation could challenge, the new fain snow was tanned in com- parison of the refined purity of that white that was the ground of her complexion, and if sorrow had gathered the carnations of her cheeks, sham'd^ to see herself surpriz'd half naked, though by persons of her own sex, had replanted of hers there, with such fresh advantages, as any weaker eye than Candace's would have shrunk at the brightness of that mingled lustre; her mouth (as well for shape as complexion) shamed the imitation of the best Pensils, and the liveliest colours; and though some petty intervals of joy wanted the smiles that grief had sequestred, yet she never opened it, but like the East at the birth of a beautiful day, and then discovered Treasures, whose excelling whiteness made the price inestimable; all the features of her face had so neer a kindred of proportion and symetry, as the severest Master of Appelles Art might have called it his glory to have copied beauties from her, as the best of Models. The circumference of her usage, shewed the extremes of an imperfect Circle, and almost formed it to a perfect Oval, and this abridgment of marvels was taper'd by a pair of the brightest stars that ever were lighted up by the hand of Nature: as their lustre might justly claim the title of Celestial, so their colour was the same with Heavens, there was a spherical harmony in their motion, and that mingled with a vivacity so penetrating as neither firmest eye, nor the strongest soul could arm themselves with a resistance of proof against those pointed glories, their very languishing dejection darted more charms through the clouds of griefs, that darkned their brightest glory, than all the others could boast in their clearest Sunshine; nor were they ever so dim'd with woe, but they had still vigour enough left to open themselves a passage to hearts defended with the greatest insensibiUty; her head was crowned with a prodigious quantity of fair long hair, whereof the colour as fitly suited the beauty of her eyes, as imagination could make it. To these marvels of face were joyned the rest of her neck, hands, and shape, and there seemed a contest betwixt the form and whiteness of the two former, 1 Evidently a typographical error for shame; cf. the French "la honte qu'elle," etc. The error crept in through the following contracted participle, "surpriz'd." La Calprenede's Romances 41 which had the larger commission from Nature to work wonders; and if she were not so tall of stature as Candace, in revenge of that she was far more slender, and her face much less than the fair Queen of Aethiopia's. In fine her beauty was miraculous. From the passage just quoted it is evident that the sentences are very long. The sentences and paragraphs are so long in the French as to make a page forbidding work to the modern reader who is accustomed to the frequent help of paragraph divisions. This is only partly a matter of structure. It is largely a matter of punctuation. Take, for instance, the first sentence of this passage and repunc- tuate it without any other change.^ Our former description of Candace's beauty dispenses with a farther recital. But we should deal unjustly with the fair unknown should we hide them in silence in whom the Queen found many delicacies that had a far better title to her wonder than the Praetor's relation could challenge. The new fain snow was tanned in com- parison of the refined purity of that white that was the ground of her complexion. And if sorrow had gathered the carnations of her cheeks, shame to see herself surpriz'd half naked, though by persons of her own sex, had replanted of hers there with such fresh advantages as any weaker eye than Candace's would have shrunk at the brightness of that mingled lustre. Her mouth as well for shape as Complexion shamed the imitation of the best Pensils and the liveliest colours. And though some petty intervals of joy wanted the smiles that grief had sequestered; yet she never opened it but like the East at the birth of a beautiful day, and then discovered Treasures whose excelling whiteness made the price inestimable. All the features of her face had so near a kind of proportion and symmetry as the severest Master of Appelles Art might have called it his glory to have copied beauties from her as the best of Models, etc. In the description of battles and single combats the action is often rapid and the sentences short. Balance is as frequent as in Cassandra. 1 In the French the whole description is punctuated as one sentence down to "In fine." 42 Herbert Wynford Hill Cleopatra, Vol. II, p. 380 ye Gods, cried I, is it possible that Tullia, the object of my adorations, should be reduced to those extremities for a person's sake who is not in the least sensible of her sufferings ? and that he who, is ready to die for her dares not hope for any part of that which another so ungratefully disdains! O Tullia what cruel Destiny reigns over thee, that thou must love him that shuns thee, and art so insensible of his devotions that dies for thee! O Ptolomey, is there any necessity that thou shouldst be possessor of a Good thou dost contemn, and that thy unfortunate Friend should derive from that Good, which thou deprivest him of without the least enjoyment to thyself, all his hopes and all the happiness of his life! O Lentulus, must thou needs fall in love with Tullia, whose soul is insusceptible of all impressions other then what it hath received for Ptolomey or shouldst thou hate Ptolomey, who, though not chargeable with any such designs will prove the occasion of all thy unhappiness. The style is highly figurative. Almost any page will furnish a passage like the following: Cleopatra, Vol. I, p. 78 But Oh! what a number of bitter plaints and hollow sighs did that sad remembrance tear from his mouth and heart: and how fitly did the blacks of the night suit with the mourning which his soul had put on: to him the darkest shades were far more welcome and agreeable than the brightest beams that could spring from the active treasury of Light, and not well enduring the day, ever since the eclipse of those fair hopes that enhghtened his soul, he found some comfort in an obscurity conform'd to that of his spirit that helpt him to wrap it in a dull cloud of heavy thoughts; and thus having quitted the care of himself, the day appear' d, before the repose of his body could give an hours calm to the storms of his mind. He no sooner spy'd the new-born light shoot itself through the windows of his Chamber, when saluting it with some sighs, "How importunate is this bright intruder! (cry'd he) how sensibly dost thou aggravate the vexations of a wretch, which should be intomb'd in an eternal night ?" ^ La Calprenede's Romances 43 The conventional kinds of pathetic fallacy common to the pastoral romance are present, although not in abun- dance. If the heroine falls into the ocean the waves are proud of the privilege of courting and kissing the fairest lady that Nature ever framed {Cleopatra^ Vol. I, p. 2). The wind amorously sports with her hair {Cleopatra, Vol. I, p. 319; IV. Partie de Cleopdtre, Liv. Ill, p. 430) and freely kisses her celestial countenance (Cleopatra, Vol. I, p. 359; IV. Partie de Cleopdtre, Liv. IV, p. 774), and the earth which sustains her beautiful body seems to produce new grass to receive her the more agreeably (Cleopatra, Vol. I, p. 319; IV. Partie de Cleopdtre, Liv. Ill, p. 429). Generally the figures are well sustained but it is not diffi- cult to find passages where the figures shift with kaleido- scopic rapidity, as in the following passage:' Ingratitude and Cruelty are the blackest of all vices, and so soon as the Soul of a Prince has once taken their indelible stains, all that he had before of great and good is put to flight by that strong poison which entirely seizes his inclinations and scarce leaves him any shade or trace of vertue. The former is oft the Child of that Pride which is the tumour of prosperity; and if the latter does not rise from a root in our nature, it often springs from the womb of an irregular ambition, which usurping the throne of the will excites all thoughts that are the legitimate race of Reason, and shuts the eyes of those that are possessed with this Devil, upon every consideration that Piety, Justice and Honour itself can represent to their intoxicated judgment. 1 Cleopatra, Vol. I, p. 214; III. Partie de Cleopdtre, Liv. Ill, p. 375: "L'ln- gratitude & la cruautg sont les plus noir de tous les vices, & des que I'ame d'un Prince est tache, tout ce qu'elle avait de bon & de grad se dissipe par ce venin qui la corropt, toute entiere, & qui luy laisse a peine quelque ombre & quelque trace de vertu. La premier de ces deux vices n'aist souvent de I'orgueil que nos prosp6rite nous inspirent; & le dernier s'il ne vient du naturel, tire souvent son origine d'tme ambition des reglee, qui s'emparat d'un esprit, en banit tous les sentimens raisonnables, & ferme les yeux de ceux qui en sont prevenus a toutes les cosiderations que la pietS, la justice, & I'honneur mesme leur peuve trepresenter. 44 Herbert Wynford Hill Loveday has, according to his usual practice, heightened the figures; and added some new touches that, in places, render the passage absurd. At times the imagery borders on the grotesque, as in the following: " . . . . whose memory I ought to embalm with tears refined from my purest blood" {Cleopatra, Vol. I, p. 167; iii chap. Liv. I, p. 31, *^ . . . . de qui je devrois deplorer la perte avec des larmes tirees du plus pur & de plus precieux de mon sang . . . ."). Much of the grotesque in the translation is not found in the French. This is especially true where it consists in the turn of a single word as in the use of the word embalm above, or in such passages as ''he vomited his, first resentment" (Vol. I, p. 163) for, '41 exprima ses premiers resetimes" (III, 1.2). The most characteristic features of the style of the heroic romances are circumlocution and exaggeration. La Cal- prenede's romances are no exception. The heroines rarely open their bright eyes to receive the light that they do not open them to let out tears; but they never merely weep. They break forth into rivulets, brooks, and rivers of tears. Elisa (Liv. II, p. 495) feels a torrent of tears ready to force their passage to make an inundation of her countenance. This does not follow the French closely (cf. XII. Partie de Cleopdtre Liv. II, p. 227, "sentant que les larmes forgoient ses paupieres pour sortir avec violence"). Cleopatra (Div. II, p. 354) is moved to so much compassion that a beautiful dew begins to break forth at her eyes. Candace is so sensibly touched by Tyridates' narration that she suffers compassion to steal some liquid pearls from her eyes. No modern writer would seriously introduce a speech as does Coriolanus (p. 93): ''Madam," said he, "if I may be permitted without offending the veneration I owe you, to undisguise a part of my sentiments, I must take the liberty to pay," etc. (cf. La Calprenede's Romances 45 chap.ii, Liv. I, p. 128: "S'ilm^est permis Madame," luy dit-il, "sans offencer le respect que je vous dois de declarer devant vous une partie de mes sentiments, je prendray la liberty de vous dire")- Everything is built to heroic proportions; almost any -page will furnish numerous examples of exaggeration. The pas- sages already cited are full of it. The heroes are all more than gods, and goddesses pale before the scintillating beauty of the heroines. Cleopatra, describing Antonia, says, ''and though Heaven hath bestowed on her a Beauty of the first magnitude among those terrestrial constellations, whose influence the earth adores and is guided by, yet is this Beauty of her person much below that of her mind." Heroes and heroines ahke flood rivers with their tears and warm the wind with their sighs. The level is uniformly elevated. THE SOURCES OF THE STYLE The limits of our treatment do not admit a full discussion of the historical development of the methods of conducting the plot, or of the development of the style of the heroic romances; but a few of the main lines of growth may be pointed out.' Of the historians Curtius influenced La Calprenede's style the most strongly. In numerous places La Calprenede has translated Curtius literally, and the style of the historian slips almost insensibly into that of La Calprenede. The speech of Darius to his soldiers as they are about to encounter the forces of Alexander is translated in detail, nearly a thousand words. The last few sentences will illustrate the closeness of the translation. 1 Cf. Professor Crane's introduction to his edition of Les heros de roman for an excellent account of the development of the heroic romance. 46 Herbert Wynford Hill Cassandra, p. 70 I pray you by your house- hold god, by the eternal Fire we carry upon our Altar, by the light of the Sun, which rises within the limits of my Empire, and by the memory of Cyrus, who added that of the Medes and Lydians to it, that you would save both the name and Nation of the Persians, from its utter ruine, and from its utter infamy, and leave that glory to your posterity which you received so entire from your Ancestors. You carry in your own hands, your goods, your lives, your liber- ties, and your future hopes and in your faces a most assured victory, I read it in your eyes, and in your march; he that despises death, avoids it best, and it soonest catches the fear- ful that flie from it; Let's on therefore (fellow souldiers) whith- er so many considerations call us; I see the Enemies Army move, go and receive them courageously, or rather follow me, for I refuse not to lead you on and to be your example either of valour or cowardise. La Calprenede's account continues in a style so similar that one reluctantly accepts his originality: 1 1660 ed. Crowne used this speech in his play, Darius (Act I, p. 12 of the first ed., 1688). A comparison of the three texts convinced me that, here as in other parts of the play where the wording was almost identical with that of La Calprendde, Crowne had depended on Cnrtius rather than on La CalprenSde. Curtius, Book IV, chap, xiv^ Precor vos per Deos patrios, aeternumque ignem, qui prae fertur altaribus, fulgoremque soliis intra fines regni mei orientis, per aeternam me- moriam Cyri, qui ademptum Medis Lydisque imperium pri- mus in Persidem intulit, vindi- cate ab ultimo dedecore nomen gentumque Persarum. Ite alacres & spe pleni, ut quam gloriam accepistes a majoribus vestris, posteris relinquatis. In dextris vestris jam libertatem, opem, spem futuri temporis geritis. Effugit mortem, quis- quis contempserit: timidissi- mum quemque consequitur. Ipse, non patrio more solum, sed etiam ut conspicii possim, curru vehor. Nee recuso, quo minus imitemini me, sive forti- tudinis exemplum, sive ignavire, fuero. La Calprenede's Romances 47 The King spake these words with a great deal of vehemence, and the soldiers answered them with a shout, that pierced the very- clouds, from which he drew a good omen of the Victory. But the two Armies being so near, that they were upon the point of joining battle, all the Commanders ran to their charges, and my Master parting from the King who gave him his last embrace. "Sir (said he) I will either die generously to day, or restore unto your Majesty some parts of what you have lost." ''Go Son (said the King) may the Gods take as great care of thy safety, as of mine own, and be so gracious, that I may see you again with much joy, as I part from you with sorrow." In the Greek romances, as in Cassandra and Cleopatra, oracles and dreams are used to further the plot development, and to a limited extent histories are introduced as a narrative device. Here we also find letters, and discourses on various topics. Tatius especially delighted in these discourses. The following on the comparative merits of masculine and feminine beauty is typical:^ "There can be no doubt," said Menelaus, "which is preferable. Youths are much more open and free from affectation than women, and their beauty stimulates the senses much more powerfully." "How so?" I asked, "it no sooner appears than it is gone. It affords no enjoyment to the lover, but is like the cup of Tantalus, while one is drinking the liquid disappears; and even the little which has been swallowed is unsatisfying. No one can have such favorites without feeling his pleasure alloyed with pain. The draught of love still leaves him thirsty." "You do not understand," rejoined Menelaus, "that the per- fection of pleasure consists in its bringing with it no satiety; the very fact of its being of a permanent and satisfying kind takes away from its delight. What we snatch but now and then is always new, and always in full beauty. Of such things the pleasure is not liable to decay and age, and it gains in intensity what it loses by briefness of duration." 1 Bohn ed., p. 396. 48 Herbert Wynford Hill Frequently the author stops to philosophize on such subjects as anger and desire: These passions are like two fires in the soul; they differ in nature, but resemble each other in intensity; the former urges to hatred, the latter to love; the sources also of their respective flames are near to one another, anger having its seat in the heart, the liver being the abode of love [and so on, through another page]. In the story of Daphnis and Chloe we find many descrip- tions of Nature. Thus spring is described:^ It was the beginning of spring, the flowers were in bloom throughout the woods, the meadows, and the mountains; there were the buzzings of the bee, the warbhngs of the songsters, the frolics of the lambs. The young of the flock were skipping on the mountains, the bees flew humming through the meadows, and the songs of the birds resounded through the bushes. Seeing all things pervaded with such unusual joy, they, young and susceptible as they were, imitated whatever they saw or heard. Hearing the carol of the birds they sang;^ seeing the sportive skipping of the lambs, they danced; and in imitation of the bees they gathered flowers.^ Here balance and cumulative repetition are carried beyond anything in La Calprenede. In style as in other respects Tatius influenced La Calprenede the most strongly of the Greek romance writers. This description of a grove (p. 367) is much in the style of La Calprenede : It consisted of a grove, which afforded a delightful object to the eyes; around it ran a wall, each of the four sides of which had a colonnade supported upon pillars, the central space being planted with trees, whose branches were so closely interwoven, that the fruits and foliage intermingled in friendly union. Close to some of the larger trees grew ivy and the convolvulus; the latter hanging from the plane-tree, clustered round it, with its delicate foliage; the former twining round the pine, lovingly embraced its trunk, so that the tree became the prop of the ivy and the ivy furnished a crown for the tree. 1 p. 268, Bohn ed. 2 Autumn is described, p. 285; an arbor, p. 308; a garden, p. 326. La Calprenede's Romances 49 His descriptions of women are not unlike those of La Calprenede. The heroine is described as follows (p. 354) : Her sparkling eyes had a pleasing expression, her hair was golden hued, short and curHng, her eyebrows were jet black, her cheeks were fair, save that in the middle they had a tinge border- ing upon purple, like that with which the Lydian women stain their ivory; her mouth was like the rose when it begins to bud.^ And as with La Calpren^de's heroines she is most beauti- ful when in tears p. 464) : Upon hearing his voice, Leucippe burst into tears, and appeared even more charming than before, for tears give permanency and increased expression to the eyes, either rendering them more disagreeable, or improving them if pleasing; for in that case the dark iris, fading into lighter hue, resembles, when moistened with tears, the head of a gently bubbhng fount; the white and black growing in brilhancy from the moisture which floats over the sur- face, assume the mingled shades of the violet and narcissus, and the eye appears as smiling through the tears which are con- fined within its lids.^ The influence of Mile Scudery has been noted in the course o£ the analysis of the style of Cleopatra. Further indications of her influence are to be found in the introduction of verses and of discourses on such topics as Prudence, Modesty, Reservedness, Severity, Favors, the Art of Poetry, and the like. This loitering in conversation for its own sake, the emphasizing of social graces, and the embroidering of the story by dainty devices are essentially of the Scudery school. La Calprenede has introduced these features partly in recog- nition of their vogue — he knew they would delight the reader trained in threading the mazes of the Land of Tender — and partly because they lent themselves readily to a story fought out in the drawing-rooms rather than on the field of battle. 1 Cf . also the description of the picture of Europa with which the romance opens. 2 Cf. Cleopatra, Part I. pp. 35, 130; Part II, pp. 181. 354, 356. 495. 530. etc. 50 Herbert Wynford Hill There are combats and battle enough to be sure in the Cleo- patra, but these are merely the frills of the story; the outcome is determined by the king who pardons the hero and assigns the rewards. THE POPULARITY OF THE HEROIC ROMANCE In a curious volume entitled Remarks upon Remarques: Or, A Vindication of the Conversations of the Town, published in London, 1673, the author comments on the ''mixture of Tongues with the French" in England: And it's true, that in this last Age, wherein our Nation has outdone all others in the superstructures of true Science, several terms of Art have mixed with our ordinary discourses, which by reason of their easiness to intelligence, can hardly be avoided. And it's remarkable, that what words soever our Nation has adopted, they are most significant of the things they express, and so occasion a succinct and comprehensive stile in our Conversa- tion and Writing. After his invectives against French, he kindly says : That Language is highly necessary to all that frequent Courts, and that have to do in the important affairs of the World. This startled me, when he says, French Tongue is necessary to Courtiers, and those concerned in important affairs, and yet not to you; whom he designed and advised to be a Hero. Nor was the knowledge of French confined to courtiers and heroes. Nearly everyone who professed an education included French among his accomplishments. Many text- books of French were published, and numerous teachers assisted in disseminating knowledge of this popular tongue.^ Thus it happened that French literature was almost as well known among the upper classes as the native literature itself. However, although the knowledge of French was considered the necessary part of the education of a young 1 Cf. Charlanne, Influence frangaise en AngCeterre au XVII^ sikcle. Part I, Chap. iii. La Calprenede's Romances 51 girl in England, not everyone could read the language with any great ease. Thus it fell about that England was flooded with translations of French plays and romances. ^ Howard in The Womans Conquest writes (1671) : some Poets have arrived to a Convenient reputation yet play'd the Thieves, From Poems Histories and Romances, and (in Act I, scene i, p. 12) we learn I have drest up mine out of Story and the Grand Romances of our Times from whence I have Drawn some noble examples of Love and Constancy. And by 1695 Motteux was able to write with truthfulness (Preface to Lovers a Jest) : I would borrow from my own countrymen, but Moli^re and most of em have been so gleaned that there's scarse anything left. La Calpren^de^s romances were translated into English soon after their appearance in French. The first volumes of Cleopatra appeared in English before the last volumes were completed by the author, and both romances were widely circulated. Cassandre was begun in 1642 and finished in 1650.^ According to Jusserand^ it was first published in English in 1652;^ according to Graesse again in 1661; in 1676 appeared the translation by Cotterell in folio; in 1703 a translation by several hands; and in 1725 a reprint of 1 In the preface to Lisander and Calista, 1627, we are told: "This French Knight and his Lady being importimed, contrary to their design, and the fashion of this time (which is almost all French) to appeare to publicke view in this their English habit," etc. 2 1642-50 are the dates generally assigned; and Cotterell in the preface to the Reader speaks of it as a ten years' story, but Grierson gives 1645. 2 P. 364, The Novel in the Time of Shakespeare. * Cf. also Charlanne, Part II, chap, vi, who describes this early transla- tion of the first three parts as a very ordinary one. 52 Herbert Wynford Hill Cotterell's 1676 edition. Cotterell in a prefatory address to the Reader in the 1676 edition wrote that, ''Since this Translation of Cassandra was put into the Press, the begin- ning of another by an accurate pen hath been published to the World,'' but I can find no trace of another translation later than that of 1661 to which this might refer. The reference is in all probabilities to the translation of 1652. Cleopdtre was begun in 1647 and finished in 1658. The first part was translated by Robert Loveday in 1652 under the title of Hymens Praeludia; or Loves Master-piece; being the first part of that so much admir'd Romance entituled Cleo- patra. The second part was translated by Loveday, 1653; the third by Loveday, 1655; the seventh by J(ohn) C(oles), 1658; the eighth by J(ames) W(ebb), 1658; and the ninth to twelfth, inclusive, by J. Davies.^ The complete transla- tion appeared in folio in 1665, a compilation of the transla- tion just named, to which was added the translation of the fourth to sixth parts inclusive by Loveday. In 1674 appeared in folio, two volumes bound in one but paged separately, a translation by Robert Loveday. ^ The British Museum Catalogue lists the following editions: Cassandre: 1642, 1660, 1666; translations into English: 1676 (by C. Cotterell); 1703 (by several hands); 1725 (by Cotterell). Cleopdtre: 1647; translations: Cleopatra: 1652, the first part (by R. Loveday) ; 1654 (the second part) ; 1655 (the third part); 1658 (the seventh part Englished by J C[oles]); 1658 (the eighth part by J W[ebb]); 1665 (folio); 1674 (folio).' 1 Cf. Charlanne, pp. 391-92. 2 This is the translation used in this discussion; all page references are to this edition unless otherwise stated. 3 Translations of other romances that might be mentioned are Gom- bauld's Endymion (1639); Camus' Iphigenes (1652); Desmartz's Ariana La Calpbenede's Romances 53 The women especially were infatuated with the heroic romances. Pepys' wife was a great reader of the romances and bores him constantly by relating parts of them, "though nothing to the purpose nor in any good manner." On November 16, 1668, however, he brought home from Martin, his bookseller's, a copy of Cassandra, and with this he was better pleased; he tells us on May 7, 1669, Thence to my wife, and she read to me the epistle of Cassandra, which is very good indeed; and the better to her, because recom- mended by Sheres. ^ Dorothy Osborne^ similarly tried to encourage Sir William Temple to read La Calprenede: Have you read Cleopatra? I have six tomes of it here that I can lend you if you have not. There are some stories in it that you will like I believe; and in her next letter : Since you are at leisure to consider the moon, you may be enough to read Cleopatra. Therefore I have sent you three tomes. There is a story of Artemise that I will recommend to you; his disposition I like extremely. It has a great deal of gratitude in it, and if you meet with Britomart, pray send me word how you like him; and soon in another letter : I have sent you the rest of Cleopatra. You will meet with a story in these parts of Cleopatra that pleased me more than any I ever read in my life. 'Tis of one Delie; pray give me your opinion of her and her prince. Lady Lurewell in Farquhar's The Constant Couple (1700, Act III, last scene) says: (1636, 1641): Gomberville's Polexander (1647); Scud6ry's Ibrahim (1652), Grand Cyrus {1653-55), Clelia (1656-61, 1Q78), Almahide (1677) ; Vaiunoriere's The Grand Scipio (1660). 1 Cf. also II, 184; II, 109; II, 91, etc. (Braybrooke ed.). 2 In a letter written probably In 1653 or 1654. Cf . The Life of Sir William Temple by Thomas P. Courtenay, Vol. II, p. 288. 54 Herbert Wynford Hill After supper I went to my chamber and read Cassandra, then went to bed and dreamt of it all night, rose in the morning and made verses.^ Many were the verses and letters inspired by the heroic romances, and conversation was greatly refined. Dry den in the epilogue to the Conquest of Granada remarks that, Wit's now ariv'd to a more high degree; Our native Language more refin'd and free. Our Ladies and our men now speak more wit In conversation, than those poets writ.^ Pordage, in the Epistle Dedicatory to The Siege of Baby- lon, wrote: Wit is refined, and Ingenuity made bright, not only by the Industry of Poets, and endeavours of the Learned, but by the example, of the Court, and encouragement of Princes, who diffuse it like Light to all that know them; among whom your Royal Highness, as a Star of the first Magnitude, shines, with the splendor of your Mind, and enhghtens the Souls of others.^ The influence of the court, where the refinements of the Hotel de Rambouillet^ were practiced, was supported by books on manners and conversation^ some of which were 1 Leonora (Spectator, April 12, 1711) includes in her library "Cassandra, Cleopatra, Astraea, The Grand Cyrus: with a pin stuck in one of the middle leaves." 2 Cf. also his Defense of the Epilogue appended to the Conquest of Gra- nada, p. 172. 5 Cf. also Genest, I, 427, where the Eari of Orrery is quoted as writing to a friend, "I have now finished a play in a French manner because I heard the King declare himself more in favour of their way of writing than ours." Camus in the Dedicatory Preface to Iphigenes (translated into English by Major Wright in 1652) addresses the Rt. Honorable James Earle of North- ampton: " Neither is wanting Valoiu- accompanied with Honour which have been the marks and are now the known favorites of yotu* virtuous inclinations." ^ Cf. Cousin's La societe frangaise au XV 11^ siecle, d'apres le Grand Cyrus de Mile de Scudery. 5 Edward Phillips, The Beaus Academy; or the modern and genteel way of wooing and complimenting, after the most courtly manner in which is drawn to life the deportment of the most accomplished lovers, etc. La Calprenede's Romances 55 drawn directly from the heroic romances.^ Doubtless it might have been said of many a lady as in Kingsmyll's Gallantry-a-la-Mode (p. 41) : Did you affect the air of France Strait her discourse was all Romance. Numerous are the letters in heroic style. Nearly all the dedicatory letters prefaced to heroic plays were in the elevated style. Lee's letter to the Duchess of Portsmouth prefaced to Sophonisha is sufficiently typical: But above all, I must pay my adorations to your Grace, who as you are the most Beautiful, as well in the bright appearances of Body, as in the immortal splendours of an elevated Soul, did shed mightier influence and darted on me a largess of glory answer- able to your stock of Beams, etc. Love correspondences were carried on under assumed names in heroic style. Here is a specimen chosen from a volume of Miscellaneous Letters and Essays edited by Charles Gildoninl694 (p. 122): To Acme, before I had seen her. I ought not in Prudence (Madam) to let you know the unreason- able extent of your charms, for fear it destroy the Happiness I am at in your Pitty; Cruelty and Pride being generally the effect of so Unlimited a Power. Yet, since you cannot pity, without know- ing the Sufferer, I must inform you. Divine Maid, that I have increas'd the number of your Slaves, without so much as the pleasure of seeing you for all the Sighs you have cost me. Love indeed is an Offering that ought to be laid on the soft Altars of Beauty; But, Madam, sure never was by any, but my self, on that of an Unknown Deity. We keep the Bleeding Victims of our Hearts, as long as we can, and only yield 'em up to the Irresistible Force of the present Fair One. This, Madam, is the common condition of Lovers; but as my passion has an extraordinary Object in you, so have your Beauties 1 Cf. Crane, Les heros de roman, Introd., p. 113. 56 Herbert Wynford Hill an uncommom Influence on me: for Charm'd by I know not what Divine Witchery , I Sacrifice my poor Heart to your very Name, without putting you to the expence of one kilhng Look, to oblige me to't; Report has often engag'd the Curiosity, but never till now won the Affections. The first mention of you inspir'd me with all the tender thoughts of Love; and being obliged to personate the Lover in Print, I had Recourse to the Divine Idea, I had formed of you, Madam, to qualifie me for it; you were the only Heavenly Muse that I invok'd, which abundantly furnished me with all the Transporting Raptures of Love. But alas! Madame, while I too much gave way to Imagination, it carry'd me to a View of those Joys, none but you can impart, at lest too charming fair one, so much justice is due to the most uncommon of Lovers, as to permit him the Blessing of your Conversion. Ah! Madam, excel the rest of your Sex in Perfections of Mind, as much as you do in those of Body, and let not Pride and Cruelty level you with 'em; like a lawful Prince maintain the Glory of your Empire, by the happiness of your vassals, and be not like a Tyrant, proud of their Destruction, at least permit the address of the greatest of Slaves, Septimus [To he continued] LA CALPRENEDE'S ROMANCES AND THE RESTORATION DRAMA By Herbert Wynford Hill PART 11:1 THE INFLUENCE OF CASSANDRA AND CLEO- PATRA ON THE RESTORATION DRAMA The English heroic play is generally conceded to begin with Davenant.2 The Siege of Rhodes possesses many elements of the heroic play,^ and Love and Honour conforms even more closely to the type. Without question, also, many of the elements of the heroic play appeared in the English drama before Davenant.* Other writers of heroic romances than La Calprenede aided in the development of the heroic play; some preceded him. Our study, however, is concerned with La Calprenede and begins with his in- fluence on Dryden as this English playwright was the first to afford specific evidence of indebtedness to the author of Cassandra and Cleopatra. The mutual resemblance of various situations and inci- dents in La Calpren^de's romances was pointed out in Part I of this study. As one proceeds through the pages of 1 Part I was published in the University of Nevada Studies, Vol. II, No. 3. 2 Dryden in his Essay on Heroic Plays prefixed to the Conquest of Granada (Saintsbury ed. of Works of Dryden 1883, Vol. IV, p. 19) writes: "For heroic plays, in which only I have used it without the mixture of prose, the first light we had of them, on the English theatre, was from the late Sir WiUiam Davenant." Cf. also The English Heroic Play by Lewis Nathaniel Chase; Beljame's Le public et les hommes de lettres en Angleterre au XVIII^ sihcle, pp. 40 + ; and Charlanne's Influence frangaise en Angleterre au XVII^ siecle, chap. vii. 3 Cf. " The Rise of the Heroic Play," by Professor Child, Modern Language Notes, Vol. XIX, p. 166. * Cf. Professor Child's article just cited; and also Professor Tupper's discussion of the relation of the heroic play to the romances of Beaimiont and Fletcher, Publications of the Modern Language Association, September, 1905, pp. 584 +. 57 58 Herbert Wynford Hill Cassandra and Cleopatra he j&nds it constantly easier to fore- cast the relations that will be established among the characters in the successive histories, and the corresponding reactions. Passing directly from the romances to some of Dryden's plays, such as The Indian Queen, The Indian Emperor, and The Conquest of Granada, one experiences little sense of change : the types of characters are the same, the characters are related in the same way, under similar circumstances they do the same things. In order to estimate the extent of this similarity it has been thought best to present first a com- posite romance built up of the stock situations and incidents of Cassandra and Cleopatra, and to endeavor to see how closely the lines of the plays follow the pattern of the romances. Such a romance would read as follows: I. The hero, in disguise or through misfortune reduced from his rightful rank and heritage, falls violently in love with the daughter or protegee of the obdurate ruler. (This is the case in the main and dupUcating plots of Cassandra and Cleopatra and in various minor plots. Cf. Cassandra, 7, 120, 188, 347, 367, etc.; Cleopatra, Part I, pp. 56, 84, 218, 277, 319; Part II, pp. 127, 186, 431, etc.y II. The hero performs wonders: 1. In tournaments (cf. Cassandra, 12, 280, etc.); 2. In gladiatorial combats (cf. Cassandra, 142+ ; Cleopatra, Part II, pp. 424+); 3. In single and mixed combats, not in battles. (These are innumerable); 4. In battle (cf. Cassandra, 6, 29, 71, 77, 82, 189, 285, 328, 347+, 426, 493, 529, 557, etc.; Cleopatra, Part I, pp. 120-29, 264; Part II, pp. 129+, etc.); 1 The page references are to Cotterell's translation of Cassandra, ed. of 1676, and Loveday's translation of Cleopatra, ed. of 1674. La Calprenede's Romances 59 5. In saving the life of the ruler (cf. Cassandra, 43, 100, 379, etc.; Cleopatra, Part II, pp. 552, etc.; Parti, p. 183); 6. In preserving the kingdom from ruin (cf. Cas- sandra, 29+, 347+, 379+, etc.; Cleopatra, Part I, pp. 215+, 183+, 150+ ; Part II, pp. 146+, etc.). III. The hero scorns all rewards save the hand of the heroine. (This is invariably the case.) IV. The heroine's hand is denied him because of: 1. His supposed low station (cf. Cassandra, 17, 77+, 124; Cleopatra, Part I, pp. 247, 381, etc.); 2. Hostility to his family (cf. Cassandra, 397, etc.; Cleopatra, Part I, p. 298; Part II, p. 197, etc.); 3. The promise of the heroine to another (cf. Cas- sandra, 137, 347+, etc.; Cleopatra, Parti, pp. 129, 225; Part II, pp. 493, 513, etc.). V. The hero is either: 1. Banished (cf. Cassandra, 111, 171, etc.; Cleopatra, Part I, pp. 138, 224, 384; Part II, p. 139, etc.); or 2. Imprisoned (cf. Cassandra, 51, 78, 141, 397, etc.; Cleopatra, Part I, pp. 256, 299; Part II, pp. 485, 514, 545, etc.). VI. The hero is brought back or freed: 1. Through his own efforts (cf. Cassandra, 144, 406, etc.; Cleopatra, Part I, pp. 309+, 265, etc.); or 2. By the heroine (cf. Cassandra, 144; Cleopatra, Part I, p. 311; Part II, pp. 35, 544, etc.); or 3. By his captors who need his services (cf. Cassan- dra, 79+, 556; Cleopatra, Part I, p. 264, etc.). VII. The hero further illustrates his prowess by: 1. Taking the weaker side in combats (this is a very frequent way of introducing heroes) ; 60 Herbert Wynford Hill 2. Going to the opposite side, carrying victory with him (Cassandra, 29; Cleopatra, pp. 150, 227+; Part II, pp. 145+, etc.); 3. Killing or humiliating his rivals (Cassandra, 123, 138-f-, 203, 418, 551, etc.; Cleopatra, Part I, pp. 140, 230; Part II, pp. 41, 146, 201, etc.); 4. Saving the life of the heroine (Cassandra, 167, 178, 203, 494; Cleopatra, Part II, pp. 91, 463+, and note below under "X"). VIII. The hero further illustrates his chivalry by courtesy to his enemies (Cassandra, 108, 379, 433, etc. ; Cleopatra, Part II, pp. 367, 446+, 550+, etc.). IX. The heroine is carried off by: 1. The hero (Cassandra, 426; Cleopatra, Part I, p. 217, etc.); 2. Unscrupulous rivals (Cassandra, 435, 439, etc.; Cleopatra, Part I, pp. 396+, 408+, 494, 529; Part II, pp. 95, 112, 463, 488, etc.); 3. Pirates (Cleopatra, Part I, pp. 75, 206; Part II, pp. 53,258); or 4. She is shipwrecked (Cleopatra, Part I, pp. 211, 473, 523; Part II, pp. 114, 344, 523). X. She is rescued : 1. By the hero (Cassandra, 178, 438,493; Cleopatra, Part I, pp. 204, 414, 533; Part II, pp. 463+, etc.); 2. By her own efforts (Cassandra, 445; Cleopatra, Part I, p. 211, etc.). XI. The wicked woman: 1. Attempts to kill the heroine (Cassandra, 243+, 553+); 2. Stirs up the heroine's jealousy by slandering the hero or making love to him (Cassandra, 25+, 84+). La Calprenede's Romances 61 XII. The unscrupulous rival: 1. Attempts to kill the hero (Cassandra, 225, 551, 557+, etc.; Cleopatra, Part I, p. 140; Part II, pp. 360+, 462+); 2. Slanders him or the heroine (Cassandra, 195, 229+; Cleopatra, Part I, p. 102; Part II, pp. 358+, etc.). XIII. The difficulties are solved wholly or in part by: 1. The hero, who conquers his enemies or reveals his identity (Cassandra, 557, 562; Cleopatra, Part II, pp. 526+, etc.); 2. The ruler, who gives in or is killed (Cassandra, 433; Cleopatra, Part II, pp. 567+, 570, etc.); 3. The generous rival, who sacrifices himself for the hero; 4. The wicked woman, who assists the hero (Cas- sandra, 557). The Indian Queen^ In January, 1664, The Indian Queen appeared at the Theatre Royal "with great splendour and marked success. "^ The play was the joint production of Dry den and his brother- in-law. Sir Robert Howard. Just how much of the play Dryden wrote is difficult to estimate, but probably a con- siderable portion.^ The play was first published under the cover of Four New Plays, together with The Surprisal, The Committee, The 1 The title-page of this first edition reads: "The Indian Queen, a Tragedy, London, Printed for H. Herringman, at the Blew Anchor in the Lower Walk of the New Exchange. 1665." 2 EveljTi (February 5, 1664) compliments it as the best play he has seen in a mercenary theater. Pepys (February 1, 1664) thought it was spoiled by the rhyme. For an account of some of the splendors of scenery read the epilogue. ' Cf. preface to The Indian Emperor, where Dryden referring to The Indian Queen says, "part of which poem was writ by me." 62 Herbert Wynford Hill Vestal Virgin. The incidents and situations are those of La Calpren^de's romances, and their arrangement is much the same. They are as follows: 1. The hero through misfortune reduced from his right- ful rank falls violently in love with the daughter of the obdurate ruler. 2. The hero performs wonders: (a) in battle; (6) in preserving the kingdom from ruin. 3. The hero scorns all rewards save the hand of the heroine. 4. The heroine's hand is denied him because of his sup- posed low station. 5. The hero is threatened with imprisonment. 6. But he escapes. 7. The hero further illustrates his prowess by: (a) going to the other side carrying victory with him; (6) saving the life of the heroine; (c) saving the life of the obdurate ruler. 8. The ruler^ claims the captive king and heroine, and, the hero objecting to this, 9. Puts him into chains. 10. The wicked woman: (a) attempts to kill the hero: but (6) falls in love with him and cannot carry out her purpose. 11. The wicked woman tries to kill the heroine. 12. The unscrupulous rival tries to kill the hero. 13. In a single scene the wicked woman and the unscrupu- lous rival mutually protect the hero and the heroine from each other. 14. The hero and the heroine are freed by the generous rival. 15. The hero and the generous rival fight a duel. 1 Not the obdurate ruler of " 1," but the usurping Queen of Mexico. As a stock character she corresponds to the wicked woman of the romances. La Calpeenede's Romances 63 16. The hero and the heroine are recaptured and con- demned to die before the altar. 17. The generous rival sacrifices himself to save the hero and the heroine. 18. The wicked woman cuts the bonds of the hero, and arms him with a dagger. 19. The hero kills the unscrupulous rival. 20. A revolution puts the hero in power. 21. The wicked woman stabs herself. These situations and incidents are arranged in the order of presentation in the play given; given the notation of the composite romance they will fall into the following pattern: I; II 4, 6; III; IV 1; V 2; VI 1; VII 2, 4; II 5; (8 not conventional); V 2; (10 not conventional); XI 1; XII 1; (13 not conventional); XIII 3; (15 conventional although not listed) ; (16 conventional in part but not listed) ; XIII 3; XIII 4; VII 3; (20 conventional but not listed); (21 conventional but not listed). Sixteen of them fall into the Romance pattern. Five of these sixteen occur in the main plots and in the two support- ing plots of both Cassandra and Cleopatra, and the others repeatedly in the main or supporting plots. The remaining five of the twenty-one parallel more or less closely single incidents and situations found in one or the other of the two romances.^ One of these five follows the romance in such detail as to indicate that it was drawn directly from La Cal- 1 These five are listed respectively in our outline 8, 10, 13, 16, 18. The eighth is paralleled in Cleopatra where Tigranes refvises Artaban the right to dispose of Elisa and her mother. The tenth is paralleled in Cassandra by Roxana, who experiences similar difflculty with the hero; and cf. also Cleopatra, Part II, p. 295. The sixteenth is common enough in La Calprenede except for the added detail of the place of the execution — before the altar. This featiu-e is introduced as local color. [In Heliodorus Aethiopica (pp. 256 +) Theagenes and Cariclea are condemned to die as sacrifices before the altar.] The eighteenth is closely paraUeled in Cassandra (p. 557), where Koxana sets the hero free and arms him. 64 Herbert Wynford Hill prenede; this is the one listed as 13, where the wicked woman and the unscrupulous rival mutually protect the hero and heroine from death at the hands of the other. For the wicked woman to attempt the life of the heroine, or for the unscrupulous rival to attempt the life of the hero is nothing unusual; in fact, these are the commonest of stock incidents. Nor is the motive back of the attempt un- usual; either the wicked woman or the unscrupulous woman frequently attempts to force the love of the hero or heroine respectively by threatening the mistress or lover. But so far as I know La Calprenede in Cassandra was the first to weave the two together. In the management of the scene the play follows the romance closely. In both, the scene occurs in prison; the hero and heroine are prisoners; the unscrupulous rival draws his sword to kill the hero, and is prevented from killing the hero by the wicked woman's similarly threatening the heroine; the hero and heroine scoff at death for themselves, but fear it for the other; the wicked woman and the unscrupulous rival now change places, the one protecting the hero, the other the heroine; the scene closes with no one being hurt. Such sequences of detail could hardly be accidental. The characters also are the stock characters of Cleopatra and Cassandra. In Montezuma we have the type of hero identical with Oroondates and Artaban — invincible, match- less, of dauntless spirit and ungovernable pride. His fortunes are those of Artaban rather than of Oroondates : he has been raised obscurely, ignorant of his high birth; as a free lance he goes from one side to the other carrying victory. The Inca is the counterpart of La Calprenede's obdurate ruler. Acaces is the stock generous rival carried to extremes; Traxalla is the unscrupulous rival, less fully developed. Zempoalla is the type of the unscrupulous woman rival for La Calprenede's Romances 65 the hand of the hero. And the heroine is the starry-eyed beauty, languishing, but courageous when need be, and faithful at all costs. The Indian Emperor^ The Indian Emperor, which Dryden wrote as a sequel to The Indian Queen, was received even more favorably and ran through more editions. In the preface dedicating the play to Princess Anne, Dryden begins by saying, ''The favour which Heroick Plays have lately found upon our Theatres, has been wholly deriv'd to them from the counte- nance and approbation they have received at Court" — a statement in the conventional, self-deprecatory vein, but possessing a certain element of truth. Dryden himself, however, was as much responsible as any other single writer for establishing the vogue of the heroic play. In the prologue we are informed that The Scenes are old, the Habits are the same, We wore last year before the Spaniards came. This is ridiculously apposite; the two plays are wonder- fully alike, although not so much in the habits and scenes as in the situations and incidents. The types of characters are the same although of surprising descent. It is with no small astonishment that we identify our Artaban — hero of The Indian Queen — with the Montezuma of history. As soon as the machinery gets under way we discover the real 1 The first edition was published 1667. The editions available to me were, 1668 (2d ed.), 1670 (3d ed.), 1681, 1686, 1692, 1694, 1696, 1703, 1709, 1710, 1732. The British Museum Catalogue enumerates the editions, 1667. 1668, 1670, 1686, 1703. The title-page of the second edition (1668) reads: "The Indian Emperour, or. The Conquest of Mexico by the Spaniards. Being the Sequel of The Indian Queen. By John Dryden Esq; The Second Edition. Dum relego scripsisse pudet, quia plurima cemo Me quoque, qui feci, judice digna lini. — Ovid, London, Printed for H. Herringman, at the Sign of the Blew Anchor in the Lower walk of the New Exchange. 1668," 66 Herbert Wynford Hill Artaban in the character of Cortez, and our Statira-Cleopa- tra-Orazia, heroine under the dusky skin of an Indian princess. The situations and incidents are as follows: The main plot, — 1. The ruler is in love with the wicked woman. 2. The hero falls violently in love with the daughter of the ruler. 3. The heroine prevails upon the hero to exercise clem- ency toward the enemy. 4. The unscrupulous rival attempts treacherously to kill the hero. 5. The hero saves the life of the unscrupulous rival. 6. The hero humiliates the unscrupulous rival in a duel, 7. But courteously grants him his life when he has him at his mercy. 8. The hero kills the unscrupulous rival. 9. The hero is captured and imprisoned. 10. The wicked woman attempts to kill the hero but falls in love with him and cannot carry out her purpose. 11. The wicked woman stirs up the jealousy of the heroine by making love to the hero. 12. The wicked woman attempts to kill the heroine. 13. The heroine is saved by the hero. 14. The hero is rescued by his own men, who have been treacherously admitted to the prison. 15. The heroine is put into a tower by the hero for safe keeping. 16. The ruler is captured by the hero's forces. 17. The ruler is tortured. 18. The hero saves the ruler's life. 19. The ruler, facing ruin and realizing the perfidy of his mistress, the wicked woman, stabs himself. La Calprenede's Romances 67 20. The wicked woman in a tower-top within sight of the hero again attempts the life of the heroine. 21. The heroine is saved by fate, the wound proving not fatal. 22. The wicked woman stabs herself. The subplot. — 1. The heroine is loved by two suitors, the hero and the unscrupulous rival. 2. The heroine promises her hand to the one who dis- plays most courage in battle. 3. The hero is captured in battle. 4. He is freed by the hero of the main plot. 5. The heroine tempts her suitors to sacrifice honor for love, (a) The hero refuses; (b) The unscrupulous rival makes the sacrifice. 6. The unscrupulous rival joins with one of the enemy in a vow to help each other win the objects of their passion. 7. The unscrupulous rival captures the heroine and the hero. 8. The unscrupulous rival tries to force the hand of the heroine by threatening the life of the hero.^ 9. The unscrupulous rival and his confederate discover the object of their passion to be one and the same woman, the heroine.^ 10. The confederate kills the unscrupulous rival. 11. The hero kills the confederate. In the notation of the composite romance the main plot will read: (1 not conventional); I; (3 conventional but not listed); XII 1; VIII; VII 3; VIII; VII 3; V 2; (10 not conventional); XI 2; XI 1; VII 4; (14 not conventional); IX 1 (with modifications) ; (16 conventional but not listed) ; 1 Cf . Cassandra, 552+; Cleopatra, Part II, p. 510, etc. 2 Boyle in Tryphon, acted at Lincoln's Inn Fields, 1668 (pr. 1669), uses the same situation with the characters Demetrius, Tryphon, Stratonice. 68 Herbert Wynford Hill (17 not conventional); II 5; (19 not conventional); XI 1 (with modification); (21 and 22 not conventional). In the main plot, then, fifteen of the situations and inci- dents are conventional with La Calprenede. Of the remain- ing seven, two are found in Cassandra or Cleopatra.^ Of the remaining five all but one (Number 22) have parallels more or less close in Cassandra or Cleopatra. Number 14 is the commonest of conventional incidents except for the means used to secure admission to the prison. There is a torture scene in Cleopatra, Part I, pp. 438+. Number 19 is paralleled in Cleopatra Part II, p. 278, except for the detail of the per- fidious mistress.2 For the heroine to recover from a wound is not unusual. Twelve of these are found in The Indian Queen. Number 22 is the only one common to the two plays not found in the romances. In the subplot the initial situation and most of the inci- dents are conventional. The complication effected through making two unscrupulous rivals join forces to win the object of their passion not knowing that she is one and the same, has no original in Cassandra or Cleopatra.^ The struggle between love and honor is of course a common heroic- romance theme ;^ Dry den introduced it into the subplot to ennoble the conduct of the hero of the main plot under similar temptation. 1 These are numbers 1 and 10. Number 10 has been discussed above under The Indian Queen, 10. Number 1 has a parallel in the love of Alexander for Roxana in Cassandra. » The incident, however, bears a much closer resemblance to the death of Traxalla in The Indian Queen (Act V, scene 1). 5 Boyle in Tryphon acted in the following year (1668, printed 1669) used the same complication for the characters Demetrius, Tryphon, Stratonice. The characters in Boyle's play are for the most part the stock heroic-romance characters, and many of his incidents and situations are conventional. * In Cleopatra, Part II, pp. 437 +, there is a scene that approaches the scene in The Indian Emperor where AUbech tempts Guyomar. La Calprenede's Romances 69 The characters of The Indian Emperor are the stock heroic-romance characters already famiUar to us through the pages of The Indian Queen. Montezuma, the hero of The Indian Queen, is translated into the obdurate ruler of The Indian Emperor. Cortez is the conventional heroic- romance hero; Cydaria is in all respects the conventional heroic-romance heroine; Almeria is the worthy successor to Zempoalla, her unscrupulous mother. In the subplot, Guyomar the hero, Odmar the unscrupulous rival, and Ali- bech the heroine, are sufficiently typical to need no introduc- tion. These types soon appear again in Dryden^s next play. The Conquest of Granada, and with renewed youth and increased enthusiasm perform similar exploits. The Conquest of Granada In 1670 there appeared at the Theatre Royal Dry den's The Conquest of Granada. In 1672 it was published,^ and so great was the demand that the next year another edition appeared, and by 1704 it had run through its sixth edition.^ The situations and incidents of the main plot are as follows : 1. The hero through misfortune reduced from his right- ful rank falls violently in love with the protegee of the obdurate ruler.^ 1 The title-page of the first edition reads: "The Conquest of Granada By The Spaniards: In Two Parts. Acted at the Theatre-Royall. Written by John Dryden Servant to His Majesty. Major rerum mihi nascitiu* Ordo; Majus Opus moveo. — ^Virg. Aeneid 7. In the Savoy, Printed by T. N. for Henry Herringman, and are to be sold at the Anchor in the Lower Walk of the New Exchange. 1672." 2 The editions in their order were: 1672, 1673, 1678, 1687, 1695, 1704; unless otherwise specified, the page references are to the first edition. 8 The circumstances attending the falling in love are exactly those of Cassandra where Oroondates falls in love with Statira, whom he has captured, and those of Cleopatra where Artaban falls in love with EUsa, whom he has captured (cf. Cassandra, 7 +, and Cleopatra, Part I, pp. 217 +). The first view the audience has of the hero is where he involxmtarily rushes to the aid of the weaker party in combat; this is La CalprenSde's favorite way of introducing his heroes; in fact, all of his principal heroes are so introduced and many minor heroes. 70 Herbert Wynford Hill 2. The hero performs wonders: (a) in amusement con- tests;^ (6) in single or mixed combats; (c) in battle; (d) in preserving the kingdom from ruin; (e) in rescuing the heroine from his unscrupulous rival.^ 3. The hero scorns all rewards save the hand of the heroine. 4. The heroine's hand is denied him because of the promise of her hand to another.^ 5. The hero is imprisoned.^ 1 The incident of the bull fight was probably suggested, as Langbaine claims, by Guzman's Juego de Toros y Cannas, the story of Ozmin and Doraxia, Part I, pp. 82 +. Amusement contests such as tournaments and gladiatorial combats are to be foimd in La Calpren6de's romances. A curious criticism of this incident is found in a pamphlet pubUshed in 1673, The Censure of the Rota, written by Richard Leigh: "Amongst severall other late Exercises of the Athenian Vertuosi in the Coffee- Academy instituted by Apollo for the advance- ment of Gazette Philosophy Merciu-y's, Diumalls, etc; this day was wholly taken up in the Examination of the Conquest of Granada; a Gentleman on the reading of the First Part, and therein the Description of the Bull-baiting, said, that Almanzor's playing at the Bxill was according to the Standard of the Greek Heroes, who, as Mr. Dryden had learnedly observed [Essay of Dramatique poetry, p. 25] were great Beef-Eaters. And why might not Ahnanzor as well as Ajax, or Don Qmxot worry Mutton, or take a BuU by the Throat, since the Author had elsewhere explain' d himself e by telling us the Heroes were more noble Beasts of Prey, in his Epistle to his Conquest of Granada, distinguishing them into wild and tame, and in his play we have Almanzor shaking his chaine, and frightening his keeper p. 28. broke loose, p. 64. and tearing those that would reclaim his rage, p. 135. To this he added that his Bulls excell'd others Heroes, as far as his own Heroes surpassed his Gods: that the Champion Bull was divested of flesh and blood, and made immortal by the poet, and bellow'd after death; that the fantastique Bull seem'd fiercer than the true, and the dead bellowings in Verse, were louder then the living; .... a third went on and told them Fighting Scenes and Representations of Battells were as necessary to a Tragedy as Cudgells, and broken pates to a Country Wake; that an Heroick Poem never soimded so nobly, as when it was heightened with Shouts, and Clashing of Swords, and that Drums and Trumpets gain'd an absolute Dominion over the minds of the Audience: (the Ladies and Female Spirits)." » Cf. Cleopatra, Part I, pp. 213-48, where Artaban imder similar circmn- stances recaptures Elisa from Phraates. 8 She is betrothed to the ruler himself. Under the same circumstances Artaban is refused Elisa because the ruler is in love with her (cf. Cleopatra, Part I, pp. 248+). 4 This time because of his audacious request. Earlier in the play he has been captured by the ruler. Time and again he is on the point of being captured. All of this is in the most approved heroic-romance vein. La Calprenede's Romances 71 6. He is freed through the intercession of the heroine, 7. But banished. 8. The hero has previously illustrated his prowess by- changing sides ;^ now his mere absence is sufficient to bring defeat to the ruler. 9. The hero is brought back:^ (a) through the need of his services; (6) through the demand of the people;^ (c) through the command of the heroine.^ 10. Through the gift of a scarf to the hero, the heroine increases the jealousy of the ruler. ^ 11. The hero further illustrates his prowess: (a) by rescuing the ruler from the enemy;® (6) by protecting the heroine. 12. The unscrupulous rival attempts to abduct the heroine.^ 1 The first time on the refusal of the ruler to free a captive, and a second time for the same reason. In the second case the captive is the heroine, and the hero returns to the side of the legitimate ruler to recaptiu-e the heroine from the usurping niler. This course is closely paralleled by Artaban's conduct in Cleopatra, Part I, pp. 213-48. Dryden in his Essay on Heroic Play* prefaced to The Conquest of Granada, justified Almanzor by appeal to Homer and Tasso. As further justification, early in the play, we note that Almanzor has contracted the habit of changing sides before his appearance in Granada. 2 With Part II the central situation is somewhat changed by the mar- riage of the heroine to the ruler. The situation in Part I more closely resem- bles the groimd pattern of Cleopatra; in Part II, the pattern of Cassandra, where the heroine is married to the ruler. 3Cf. Cleopatra, Part II, p. 312, and Cleopatra, Part II, pp. 498-505; where Caesario and Artaban are in similar demand. 4 The impUcit obedience of the hero to every command of the heroine save where honor is involved is the stock trait of La Calprengde's heroes. Dryden had also in mind Achilles. 5 In his presentation of a jealous husband Dryden was not influenced to any considerable extent by La Calprenede. In Cleopatra the jealousy of the hero is aroused through the steaUng of a scarf from the heroine. The theme of the jealous husband is presented by La Calpren6de in the following histories: Theander and Alcione (Cassandra, 218-37); Tyridates and Mari- amne (Cleopatra, Part I, pp. 1-32, 438-50); and Zenodorus (Cleopatra, P&vt II, p. 248). « Oroondates rescues from drowning the husband of the heroine; cf . Cassandra, 99 +. ^ Cf. above, this same synopsis, under 2e. 72 Herbert Wynford Hill 13. She is rescued by the generous suitor for the hand of the wicked woman. 14. The wicked woman: (a) makes love to the hero; (h) charges the heroine with adultery.^ 15. The heroine is cleared of the charge: (a) by a trial- by-combat ;^ (6) by the dying confession of the unscrupulous rival. 16. The difficulties are solved by: (a) the death of the unscrupulous rival at the hands of the hero; (6) the death of the ruler killed in battle; (c) the death of the wicked woman; (d) the revelation of the identity of the hero.^ The incidents in the notation of the heroic romance will read: I; II 2 (modified); II 3, 4, 6, X 1; III; IV 3; V 2; VI 2; VI; VII 2 (modified; cf. note on 8); VI 3, (9b and 9c, cf. note); (10, cf. note); II 5 (lib conventional); 1X2 (modified); (13 not conventional); XI 2 (modified); (14b cf. note); (15a, b, not in Cassandra or Cleopatra); VII 3, XIII 2, (16c not in Cassandra or Cleopatra); XIII 1. Of these twenty-eight situations and incidents, seven- teen fall into the conventional pattern; and, with slight modification, five more. Two additional ones have parallels in one or the other of the romances. Of the remaining four, one is not conventional but unimportant, and three are conventional with other romances, although not occurring in Cassandra or Cleopatra. The outline as presented above includes the situations and incidents of the main plot which immediately concern the fortunes of the hero and heroine. In developing the main plot Dryden elaborated the character of the wicked woman 1 In the story of Tyridates-Mariamne {Cassandra, 438-50), the wicked woman charges the heroine with adultery. 2 This is no new device, but was not used by La CalprenSde. 3 Although this is a stock method of solving difficulties, Dryden is in- debted for this incident to Almahide, the bloody-heart birthmark estabUsh- ing the relationship. La Calprenede's Romances 73 by introducing additional incidents concerned chiefly with her character. Although these should be included in the main plot it has seemed best for the sake of clearness to list them separately. 1. The wicked woman is loved by two suitors, one gener- ous, the other unscrupulous.^ 2. She persuades the unscrupulous suitor by the promise of her hand to join an insurrectionist party in deposing his brother from the throne.^ 3. The conspiracy failing, (a) the unscrupulous rival, repulsed, seeks to retrieve his fortunes by joining the Spanish against his brother; (6) the wicked woman takes refuge in a fortress outside the city. 4. The wicked woman plays fast and loose with her two suitors as one or the other gets the upper hand.^ 5. The noble suitor, after making many sacrifices for the sake of his love, (a) kills his unscrupulous rival; (&) and disillusioned by her hardheartedness, turns against her. 6. The wicked woma^n accuses him of adultery with the heroine. 7. When he is cleared of this charge she betrays the town to the enemy. 8. For her perfidy she is made Queen of Granada, in which capacity she rules for a few moments gloating over her slaves.* 9. And over the noble suitor who has been captured. 10. The suitor stabs her. 11. And then himself. 1 In this assignment Dryden has duplicated the portion of the heroine. 2 This temptation is a modification of the theme of the sacrifice of honor to love. For a discussion of this see above The Indian Queen, subplot 5. 3 Cf. Almahide, III, iii, 60. * The brevity of her rule puts this in a class by itself. In Boyle's Herod the Great, probably written after The Conquest of Granada, the wicked woman rules an equally brief period. 74 Hekbert Wynford Hill The subplot presenting the story of the loves of Ozmyn and Benzayda has little bearing on the main plot, and it does not conform to the heroic-romance pattern. It is as follows : The Subplot^— 1. The hero^ is in love with the daughter of a hostile house. ^ 2. The hero performs wonders: (a) in amusement con- tests; (6) in mixed combats. 3. The hero kills the brother of the heroine.^ 4. The hero is captured by the hostile faction. 5. The heroine refuses to be his executioner. 6. The hero is saved by: (a) the turning of the tide of battle; (&) and by the heroine, who unbinds him and gives him arms.^ 7. The lovers flee.^ 8. They are captured by the Spanish. 9. The hero is saved from execution by the queen. 10. The hero protects the heroine's father from his own; The Spanish forces arriving he protects his own father from them.^ 11. The heroine's father is captured by the hero's father, (a) The hero offers himself in exchange; (6) the heroine disguised as a man offers herself in exchange ; (c) the heroine's 1 The Ozmyii-Benzayda plot does not appear in Almahide. Some parts of it were taken from Ibrahim. 8 Ozmyn, not Almanzor; the heroine is Benzayda. » This is a variation of the conventional romance situation where the hero is in love with the daughter of the hostile ruler. * In William Jo3mer's The Roman Empress, published 1671, the hero kills the heroine's twin brother. B Cf . Cleopatra, Part I, pp. 311+ ; Part II, pp. 544+, In Ibrahim the daughter of the emperor saves the hero condemned to die. « The flight of the lovers has a parallel in Ibrahim. 1 Both Oroondates (Cassandra, 41) and Artaxerxes (Cassandra, 379) save the lives of the heroines' fathers hostile to them, and both take arms against their own fathers. Dryden has made more of filial love than La Calprenede. La Calprenede^s Romances 75 father wishes to die to save the others;^ (d) the hero's father is won over by their sublime spirit of self-sacrifice and yields consent to the union of the lovers. 12. The hero assists the hero of the main plot in the trial- by-combat. La Calpren^de uses a definite set of stock characters for his main and subordinate plots. In developing a full- fledged plot he begins with the set of characters immediately surrounding the hero, and enlarges by the simple process of duplicating this set; thus we find given to the heroine a generous and unscrupulous rival and a supporting heroine, who in her turn has a generous and unscrupulous rival, and if the plot will warrant, a supporting heroine of her own with attached generous and unscrupulous rivals. The supporting hero is fitted out in the same way with an obdurate ruler, a generous and imscrupulous rival, and possibly a supporting hero of his own, with attached obdurate ruler and a generous and unscrupulous rival. Dry den in The Conquest of Granada uses the same set of stock characters and builds up his set of characters in much the same way. Almanzor had his beginning in the characters of Monte- zuma and Cortez.2 This statement in no way contradicts Dryden's own assignment of the source of his hero to Achilles, Rinaldo, and Artaban, inasmuch as his acquaintance with 1 Cf. Cleopatra, Part II, pp. 564 +, and Davenants' Love and Honour for similar scenes of cumulative self-sacrifice. 2 Martin Clifford (Notes upon Mr. Dryden's Poems in Four Letters, London, 1687, p. 7) wrote: *' But I am strangely mistaken if I have not seen this very Almanzor of yours in some disguise about this Town, and passing under another name. Prethee tell me true, was not this Huflf-cap once the Indian Emperour, and at another time did he not call himself Maximne ? Was not Lyndaraxa once called Almeria, I mean imder Montezuma the Indian Emperour? I protest and vow they are either the same, or so alike, that I can't for my heart distinguish one from the other." (Clifford's criticisms are very biased and inferior, and here he has the names slightly mixed, but there is a certain point to his criticism.) 76 Herbert Wynford Hill these three antedates the writing of the earlier plays. Dryden's words are '} I must therefore avow, in the first place, from whence I took the character. The first image I had of him, was from the Achilles of Homer; the next from Tasso's Rinaldo (who was a copy of the former), and the third from the Artaban of Monsieur Calprenede, who has imitated both. In spite of Dryden's statement that he is more in love with Achilles and Rinaldo than with Cyrus and Oroondates it is perfectly evident that Almanzor more nearly resembles the latter than the former. As we have already observed, Almanzor is introduced in the same way that La Calprenede's principal heroes are introduced — taking the part of the weaker side in a combat; and from the same motive, an inborn sense of honor. We are straightway informed of the hero that in a recent war, This, sir, is he, who for the elder fought, And to the juster cause the conquest brought. And Ahdalla, who is addressing the king, goes on to say that, Honour's the only idol of his eyes. In addition to this fine sense of honor Almanzor possesses two other dominant traits, enumerated by Dryden in the dedicatory preface i^ I designed in him a roughness of character, impatient of injuries; and a confidence in himself e, almost approaching to an arrogance. This roughness takes the form of fierceness inspiring awe and reverence in the hearts of his friends and paralyzing with terror his foes.^ With a glance he controls factions uncon- 1 Essay on Heroic Plays prefaced to The Conquest of Granada, Scott and Saintsbiiry ed. of 1883, Vol. IV, p. 26. 2 First ed. 3 Oroondates, the hero of Cassandra, possessed this quality to an extreme degree. La Calprenede's Romances 77 trollable by the king.^ He bears two basilisks in his fierce eyes which frighten armies and control thrones. At his mere appearance foes melt away Uke dew before the sun. Even to those he loves his eyes are as Ughtning.^ He is impatient of restraint: when the guards move to seize him, he commands (Act I, scene 1, 1st ed., p. 8), Stand off; I have not leisure yet to dye.' And this is his attitude toward all save the heroine. He addresses Boabdelin (Act V, scene 1, p. 58): 1 Dryden defends this extravagance in the closing pages of the Essay on Heroic Plays. 2 Act III, scene 1. First ed., p. 27, Almahide exclaims: Mark but how terrible his Eyes appear! And yet there's something roughly noble there. Which, in vmfashion'd nature, looks Divine; And Uke a Gemm does in the Quarry shine. And implores him, .... I beg the grace You would lay by those terrours of your face. Till calmness to your eyes you first restore I am afraid, and I can beg no more. » When the king refuses to free his prisoner, he bursts out: He break my promise and absolve my vow! *Tis more than Mahomet himself can do. Chafing imder the restraint of all-consmnuig love, he addresses Almahide (Act III, scene 1, p. 29): I wonnot love you, give me back my heart. But give it as you had it fierce and brave; It was not made to be a woman's slave: But Lyon-Uke has been in desarts bred And, us'd to range, will Ne're be tamely led. He informs BoabdeUn that (Act I, scene 1, p. 8): My laws are made but only for my sake. He boasts to Abdalla (Act III, scene 1, p. 33) : I am immortal; and a God to thee. If I would kill thee now, thy fate's so low That I must stoop 'ere I can give the blow But mine is Qx'd so far above thy Crown, That all thy men Pil'd on thy back can never pull it down. But at my ease thy destiny I send. By ceasing from this hour to be thy friend. Ijike Heav'n I need but onely to stand still; And, not conctirring to thy life, I kill. Thou canst no title to my duty bring: I'm not thy Subject, and my Soul's thy king. Farewell, when I am gone There's not a starr of thine dare stay with thee: I'le whistle thy tame for time after me: And whirl fate with me whereso'ere I fly. As winds drive storms before 'em in the sky. 78 Herbert Wynford Hill Accept great King, tomorrow from my hand The captive head of conquer'd Ferdinand You shall not only what you lost regain But 'ore the Byscayn Mountains to the Mayn, Extend your sway, where never Moor did reign. We are comforted by the assurance of Abenamar — What in another Vanity would seem, Appears but noble confidence in him No Haughty boasting, but a manly pride. In these traits Almanzor resembles Artaban in detail. Artaban is the soul of honor. He possesses a certain *' roughness of character" — in fact, we may continue with Dryden's words — "impatient of injuries; and a confidence of himself e, almost approaching arrogance.'' As in the case of Almanzor the roughness is ascribed in part to his having been reared outside of the court^ in obscurity. Artaban, like Almanzor, inspires fear by his terrible eyes; he controls armies with a glance, puts terror into the hearts of his foes, paralyzing them by his mere presence.^ The 1 Cf. p. 366, the passage beginning, "With truth I may say he nourished me like Achilles," etc. 2Cf. Vol. I, pp. 218, 224; Vol. II, pp. 90, 546. The hero of Cassandra possesses a majesty so sublime that although in prison and at the mercy of an imscrupulous foe his appearance saves him: The Majesty of the Prince .... appear'd in so sublime a degree, that the affrighted Cassander thought he saw fire in his eyes and marks of Divinity in his face. And indeed he was so much dismai'd that his arm which he had lifted up, simk down without effect, and he stood with his heart frozen by a thousand terrors. — {Cassandra, p. 551). In Cleopatra, Part II, Caesario tells how, when weak and defenceless through the loss of blood, lying on the battlefield, he is threatened by a woman fiirious through the loss of her lover, his beauty causes the upraised dagger to fall from her hand. When the king refuses to free the prisoners the hero has captured he insolently addresses the king {Cleopatra, Part I, p. 224): Think not King of the Medes, said he, that I can either shrink at your threats, or be bought with those benefits wherewith you upbraid me: No, both the one and the other are too much below me, and so long as I carried this sword about me (that put the Crown upon your head and cut you out a condition to talk like a Master upon the King of Parthia's Territories, that a few months since had scarce a comer of your own to secure you) I shall teach it to defend me against all my Enemies; and gather fairer Flowers of Dignity and Honour in the wide field of the World, than any I can hope from such a King as you. At the close of these words he turned his back upon the King without paying the least reverence to his person, and holding his hand upon the La Calprenede's Romances 79 first sight the heroine has of him impresses her — as Almahide at her first meeting with Almanzor — with "a natural fierceness" and with "the sparkling vivacity of his eyes."^ He is impatient of restraint. Not only in these general traits has Dryden imitated La' Calprenede's hero, but in the manipulation of some of the scenes. Let us take, for example, the handling of the scene where the hero, having saved the kingdom from ruin, asks as his only reward the hand of the heroine.^ Artaban skilfully opens the interview by reference to his recent victories and boastful assurance of conquests in the future; and the king, instructed by the proofs of a fortunate experience how capable he was to change his words into actions, listened to the same language from him, as he would have done to an oracle, which might have been interpreted from another mouth as the effects of a vain presumption. • Almanzor opens the interview in the same way and we are assured of the hero: You can perform, brave warrior, what you please Fate listens to your voice, and then decrees. In both the play and the romance the king now deplores his inability to reward the hero adequately and begs him to name a gift in some measure worthy of such high desert. guard of his sword went out of the Chamber with an action so terrible, as of all these that were near the King, there was not a man so hardy as to oppose his passage, or had courage enough to come near him. Like Almanzor, " fierce as Libian Lyon to all besides," he is in the heroine's presence "ever gentle and submissive." "Bom to disesteem the whole world," he boasts to Phraates (Cleopatra, Part I, p. 246): Sir, I do make you a promise of their mine, to be paid in less than is requisite to take exact survey of their Provinces, and if I do not lay both these Crowns at your feet, before Time be two years older, blot out the name of Artaban from your memory, and caU me Impostor. 1 Cf. Vol. I, 218. 2 The same occurs in Cleopatra, Part I, p. 246; in The Conquest of Granada, Part I, Act V (scene 2), p. 57 (in the first edition this act is not divided into scenes). 80 Hekbert Wynford Hill Artaban, unwilling to let so fair an opportunity escape him, replies, No, Sir, said he, I will not always dwell upon these terms of refusal, and if till now, by so long forbearing to ask recompence, I have pas'd in your thoughts for a modest man, I shall doubtless now, by demanding one of too high a value, incur the censure of an insolent; Sir, you have that at your disposal, that carries a capacity, not only of rewarding my former services (they are too cheap and worthless to give me any right to so rich a salary) but indeed of overpaying (like a great and bounteous king) all the rest that I am prepared to render you. Almanzor replies in similar vein {The Conquest of Gra- nada, 1st ed., p. 58) : When I shall have declared my high request. So much presumption there will be confest. That you will find your gifts I do not shun; But rather much o'er-rate the service done. Artaban continues {Cleopatra, Part I, p. 246) : if I have rashly raised the wings of my desires that way, I do but take the just dimensions of your greatness, a figure of speech which Dryden puts into the mouth of Boabdelin in his reply to Almanzor's speech last quoted above (1st ed., p. 58) : Give wing to your desires, and let 'em fly Secure, they cannot mount a pitch too high.^ Boabdelin refuses the hero's request for the heroine, and continues (1st ed., p. 60): Dare not henceforth ungrateful me to call; What'ere I ow'd you, this has cancell'd all. My patience more than payes thy service past; 1 Cf. also Almahide, III, iii, 73: Give aU the swinge to your desires, as far as mortal wish can reach, they cannot soar too high a pitch. La Calprenede's Romances 81 But know this insolence shall be thy last. Hence from my sight, and take it as a grace Thou liv'st, and art but banished from the place. — a speech which bears some resemblance to the speech of the king in the romance on this occasion (p. 247) : Say no more, said he, with a furious look, that I am ungrateful for the Services thou hast render'd me, and in Ueu of that grand reward thy fancy hopes did aim at, receive thy Hfe at the hands of my unmeritted mercy, which thy Insolence has forfeited: till now I never suffered reproach or menace from any mortal person, and thou alone hast put my patience to a proof, that would have been fatal to any other. Almahide is an excellent copy of the heroines of La Cal- prenede; beautiful, highly serious, gentle, and languishing, she is, however, capable of heroic deeds. Furthermore, she possesses marked wifely constancy; in the possession of this last trait she differs from the heroine of Almahide, and follows rather the example of the heroine of Cassandra. La Cal- prenede's heroine, as Dryden's, was in love with the hero before her marriage to the ruler; after her marriage she gives to the ruler the full measure of wifely constancy, defending him to the hero, and rejoicing in the preservation of his life by the hero. Parisatis, the supporting heroine of Cassandra, is equally constant under similar circumstances. Almahide of the romance is anything but the type of wifely constancy; her constant attitude toward the ruler, her husband, was of rebellion. Her attitude is well displayed in the following letter to her lover, written after her marriage : I am not Boabdelin's, but by constraint, and therefore while you observe your Engagements to me, I will be better than my word to you. I know it as much afflicts you to be out of that Company you were wont to enjoy, as it grieves me to want my Trusty Slave. However, lay next your heart as much of me, as 82 Herbert Wynford Hill I can at present afford, till my Destinies have otherwise dispos'd of me. Do nothing that may injure yourself or me; but above all things, have a care of that Life, which is so precious to Almahide Lyndaraxa was probably originally intended to be the stock unscrupulous rival of the heroine, but this capable and fascinating woman develops so rapidly under the hand of the entranced author that she quite outstrips her type and challenges in interest the heroine herself. Dryden may have drawn some suggestions for this character from Cadige in Almahide;^ but no one can read The Indian Queen and The Indian Emperor without feeling that the character had its beginning in the two wicked women, Zempoalla and Almeria, the latter especially having much in common with Lyndaraxa. In elaborating this character, Dryden gives her two suitors, one noble, the other unscrupulous. Dryden^ criticizes Davenant for scanting his images: The Laws of an Heroick Poem did not dispence with those of the other, but rais'd them to a greater height: and indulg'd him a farther liberty of Fancy, and of drawing all things as far above the ordinary proportion of the Stage, as that is beyond the common words and actions of humane life: and therefore in the scanting of his Images, and design, he comply'd not enough with the great- ness and Majesty of an Heroick Poem. 1 She [Cadige] finding herself courted by the Prince of the Moors, and one that was in a fair way of dispossessing his Brother, in regard his Ambition was always contriving against him, as she was a Woman of a haughty and aspiring Spirit. Does Andalla court thee? said she to herself, wherefore then dost thou not submit to the Brother of a King? Is it because thou wouldst not be true to Amat ? .... Is it not better to be a Queen and cease to love the inconstant Amat, than to be faithful, and continue only bare Cadige ? Well, let him be King first. When Andalla puts her the question (p. 61), "Were my Brother dead and I King would you then accept of my affections ? " She replies; " I would accept of yours or any man's affection upon that condition." She is as little troubled as Lyndaraxa at the news of the death of one of her suitors. At the close she happily marries Andalla. 2 Essay on Heroic Plays, pref. to 1st ed. La Calprenede's Romances 83 There is no scanting of images or design in The Conquest of Granada; everything is sufficiently beyond the common words and actions of human life. In giving range to his fancy there is little restraint; he allows the utmost freedom, frequently passing the bounds of good taste ancient or modern. In the development of the plot he carries incidents through to the bitter end and wrings the last possibility out of every situation. Each morsel of emotion is rolled under the tongue until the final intoxicating drop of sweet- ness is drawn out. When the author mounts the winged steed of imagery there are gambols and cavortings marvelous and dizzying to behold. Love is Uke a tempest that outrides the wind; a lethargy that seizes the will; it lures the unfortunate victim on to his ruin even as a skater sees the water near yet cannot stop himself in his career. Almanzor's falling in love is described by himself.^ I'me pleas'd and pain'd, since first her eyes I saw, As I were stung with some Tarantula Armes, and the dusty field, I less admire; And soften strangely in some new desire; Honour burns in me, not so fiercely bright; But pale, as fires when mastered by the light. Ev'n while I speak and look, I change yet more; And now am nothing that I was before. I'm numm'd, and fix'd, and scarce my eyeballs move; I fear it is the Lethargy of Love! 'Tis he; I feel him now in every part: Like a new Lord he vaunts about my Heart; Surveys, in state, each corner of my Brest, While poor fierce I, that was, am dispossessed. I'm bound; but I will rowze my rage again: And, though no hope of Liberty remaine, I'll fright my Keeper when I shake my chaine. iP. 28. 84 Hekbert Wynford Hill — where love is tarantula, a lethargy, a lord, and a jailor in rapid succession. A few lines farther on, love is a tempest, and then Almanzor discovers: I'm all o're love: Nay, I am Love; Love shot, and shot so fast. He shot himself into my brest at last. Abdalla says of Ljnidaraxa (1st ed., p. 23) : Her tears, her smiles, her every look's a Net. Her voice is hke a Syren's of the Land; And bloody Hearts lie panting in her hand. In these excesses Dryden is following the heroic poems of the day rather than the heroic romances of La Calprenede. In his use of a war background Dryden was following the prevailing heroic practice. The war situation he drew from Almahide III, 111.^ For the use of supernatural agencies, such as the ghost, and the voice from heaven, precedents are not wanting in La Calprenede's romances, although there is no trace of indebtedness.^ In the intro- duction of songs and the Zambra dance he was catering to the taste fostered by the contemporary stage. In the use of wit combats he was following the school of Scudery rather than of La Calprenede. With The Conquest of Granada the type of the heroic play was well established; the succeeding plays follow closely the same lines, the characters, situations, and incidents being repeated time and again with slight variation. Lee perhaps more than any other writer gave to the heroic play its popu- larity. Otway in two plays Alcibiades and Don Carlos 1 Quineault uses the same situation in one of his plays which was trans- lated and published in 1659 by Sir William Lower under the title, The Noble Ingratitude. It is curious to note that the play has two names in common with The Conquest of Granada neither of which is found in Almahide; these are Almansor and Linderache. 2 In his Essay on Heroic Plays, Dryden defends the use of specters and magic, claiming, "for ought we know, they may be in nature." Of. also The Indian Emperor, Act II, scene 1. La Calprenede's Romances 85 gave variety to the type by introducing a tragic conclusion. It would be interesting to note the stock situations and incidents in the whole group and enumerate their occurrence in each of the plays. However, in presenting the influence of La Calprenede it has seemed best to confine the discus- sion to those plays that present specific evidence of borrow- ings from Cassandra and Cleopatra. These plays we will discuss in the order of their appearance. Herod and Mariamne Three years after the appearance of The Conquest of Granada, there was acted at the Duke's Theater another play inspired by Cleopatra.^ This play Herod and Mari- amne'^ w^as written by Samuel Pordage, an author whose indebtedness to La Calprenede in a later play written in 1678 — The Siege of Babylon — ^we shall note in its place. Although not published until 1673, the play was written some eleven years earlier, as we are told in the prologue to the 1674 edition: This play was pretty once for aught we know, When 'twas first writ, a dozen years agoe. A dozen years agoe, and in its prime; And n'ere launcht out till now. No author is assigned in either the editions of 1673 or 1674. Settle, who was responsible for the staging and publishing 1 Of the success of the play we leam from the preface to Fenton's Mari- amne: "We have Reason to suspect this was of no great reputation because a merry Story is recorded of it." The story presents Rochester's advice to bum the play. 2 The title-page of the first edition reads: "Herod and Mariamne. A Tragedy. Acted at the Duke's Theatre, Stulta est dementia, cimi tot ubique Vatibus occuras, perturae parcere chartae. — Juven. London, Printed for WiUiam Cademan, at the Popes Head in the Lower Walk of the New Exchange in the Strand, 1673." Another edition came out the following year. 86 Herbert Wynford Hill of the play writes in the "Epistle Dedicatory to the Princess Elizabeth Dutchess of Albemarle":^ .... the hasty Representation of it did not give me time to put a finishing hand to it, the first Copy of it being given me by a Gentleman, to use and form as I pleas'd, I humbly implore, that, what the present wants may be supplyed by the Zeal and Obedience of, etc. There can be no doubt, however, as to the authorship, for Pordage in the title-page of The Siege of Babylon advertises himself as the author of the Tragedy of Herod and Mariamne (cf. below, footnote to p. 116). The play follows the history of Tyridates and Mariamne in La Calpren^de's Cleopatra, in situations, in incidents, minute details and phrasing.^ It is doubtful that Pordage had ever seen Josephus, Philo-Judaeus, Eberus, or Egysippus: all the points which the play has in common with the his- tories are found in the romance; the points wherein the play differs from Cleopatra are not taken from history; and in the numerous places where Pordage departs from history he follows La Calprenede.^ 1 From the 1673 edition. 2 Langbaine writes: "For the plot, I think the author has follow'd Mr. CalprenSde's Cleopatra a Romance in the Story of Tyridates; but for the true History consult Josephus, Philo-Judaeus, Eberus, Egysippus, etc." 3 Boyle and Fenton wrote plays on the same subject. Although Boyle was doubtless famihar with La Calprenede's romance, his play Herod the Great (pubUshed posthiunously 1694) shows Uttle trace of any influence. The two plots bear little resemblance, the characters do not strongly resemble those of the romance, and the hero is not drawn to the full heroic lines of La Calpre- nede's heroes. He exhibits Uttle courage imtil the close where, in a fit of mad despair at the death of the Queen, he kills her murderer, the King. He is a pleasing character, but lacks the vigor and fierceness of the romance type. Mariamne of all the characters most nearly approaches the type of the romance : she is beautiful, languishing, yet proud and imperious. Although in love with the hero, she is faithful to her husband, whom she detests, even saving his life at the risk of her own. In the bounds of his wickedness the ruler falls Uttle short of Lee's Nero. Salome strongly resembles Lyndaraxa of The Conquest of Granada. Fenton's Mariamne by its lateness (1723) faUs outside the bounds set for our discussion. It is interesting chiefly for a curious preface entitled: "The History of Herod and Mariamne coUected and compiled from the best La Calprenede's Romances 87 With the connivance of Sohemus, Tyridates visits Mari- amne and declares his love for her. Salome, the King's sister, persecutes Tyridates with her love, and, failing to win him, she sets about planning his ruin and that of Mariamne. On Herod's return she accuses Tyridates of being Mariamne's accepted lover, and Herod joins her in plotting the destruc- tion of the innocent pair. Tyridates narrowly misses being poisoned and is forced to flee for refuge to a temple. Through the influence of a Roman legate he wins the privilege of leaving the kingdom unharmed. Sohemus reveals to Mariamne that Herod had commanded her death in case Herod did not return from his visit to Augustus; and in an unguarded moment Mariamne reproaches Herod with this cruelty, with the result that Sohemus is sent to the rack, and Mariamne to prison. This brings us to Act V. Thus far the action follows that of Cleopatra. From this point on, with the exception of the trial scene, which is copied from the romance, Pordage follows neither La Calprenede nor history. Mariamne is executed. Tyridates returns at once on hearing of this and kills Herod, he himself receiving his death wound. ^ The extent of the author's indebtedness to La Calprenede may best be shown by citing a few parallel passages. Historians and serving to illustrate the Fable of Mr. Fenton's Tragedy of that name." Under this head the writer has gathered several pages verbatim from La Calprenede's story of Herod and Mariamne in Cleopatra. Evidently he considered La Calprenede the best among the historians, for he quotes no other so copiously. There is no good evidence that Fenton based any of his play on La Cal- prenede's accoimt. He follows Josephus much more closely throughout. He does not introduce a lover for Mariamne. The King's jealousy is aroused by Mariamne's upbraiding him for his command to put her to death in case of his death in battle. This leads him to suspect Sohemus as a rival in the affections of the Queen. The use of the poisoned bowl to heighten the King's suspicions of his wife is taken from Josephus. It does not occur in La Cal- prenede. 1 For this departure from history in hastening the death of Herod, Genest severely criticizes Pordage. It is interesting to note that Boyle used much the same conclusion in Herod the Great. Herbert Wynford Hill Herod and Mariamne Cleopatra (Part I) Mariamne expresses her attitude toward Herod, an attitude maintained throughout the play and the romance. I, iii, p. 51 P. 13 Mar, But yet that monster is [Mar.] .... (as much mon- my Husband still. star as he is) he is yet my hus- band. Tyridates, her lover, is more impatient. P. 11 [Tyrid.] And can the Gods permit the most perfect piece that ever they put their hands to, to be given up to the Cruel- ties of such an Inhumane? I, iv, p. 8 Tyrid. Oh, Gods! how can you thus unmov'd behold The best piece ever made of humane mold; The work of your own hands, giv'n up to be A subject for a Monster's Cruelty. Now Herod is her Persecutor grown, I him no longer my Protector own; P. 13 [Tyrid.] Till now .... in the person of Mariamne's Perse- secuter I found my Protector; but at last, Madame, the resent- ments of what I owe him, have quitted what they held within me. Tyridates disguised as a guard visits Mariamne in her prison chamber. I, vi, p. 10 (Stage directions) *'Tyr. run- ning to her Kneels" Mar. Defend me Heav'n, what's this I here behold! One of my Guard so Impudent and Bold! P. 12 [Tyridates telling the story] I fell upon my knees The Queen finding this Action too famihar (and too passion- ate for a Guard) at first repulst me. Then recognizing him: 1 The page references, unless otherwise stated, are to the edition of 1673. La CalprenIide^s Romances Herod and Mariamne Tyridates, ha! what does your rashness mean ? Do not you know 'tis Death to see the Queen? Tyr. Madam, I do: but dan- gers I defy, And I could wish them far more great, and nigh. I no occasion had till now to show How httle I do value Life for you. Throughout this scene, the play closely paraphrases the romance. One more parallel must be quoted : Cleopatra Ah! Tyridates, what mean you? To what a Danger have you exposed yourself ? [Tyrid.] Danger, Madame, Ah! that the Gods would con- front me with a thousand times more, that I might find occa- sion to show you how mean a thing I think my life in relation to your service. Tyr. Ah, wou'd the Gods! that Tyridates cou'd Buy off Your Sufferings Madame with his Blood: Or end Your Troubles with his Punishment, By all the Deaths that Herod could Invent. How fair would be my Fate to pay to you My Life; to whom all Hearts, aU Lives are due: P. 11 [ Tyr.] Ah, might it please the Gods, cried I, wholly trans- ported, that your evils might be bought off with the cruellest death that Herod is capable of inventing, with what glad heart should I run to embrace those glorious torments — how fair would be my Destiny to pay down my life for this adorable Princess, to whom all Lives, all Hearts ought to be sacrificed! Salome confesses her love to Tyridates in a picture gallery. After brief reference to the history of Pharaoh, David, and Solomon she proceeds: II, iv, p. 18 Salom. Whilst thus you pass your judgment Sir on them; Consider that yourself you do Condemn. P. 18 [Salome] You have said enough to convince yourself .... you should consider what you owe to Princesses, 90 Herbert Wynford Hill Herod and Mariamne You to a Princess have appeared too Rude, And for true Love return'd in- gratitude. Though she has left no Reahns to visit you, Yet that which is more hard, she does pursue. Thus the scene continues loosely paraphrasing the scene in the romance. Salome leaves in a rage threatening: You'l be no more with such Your perplexities shall no Discourses vext. more be redoubled by a Dis- Cleopatra who ('tis true) have neither abandoned Realms, nor trav- ersed Provinces to see you; but abandoned for yoiu* sake a Liberty more dear than Em- pires, .... And since you with affection are opprest. That Importunity shall be re- dres't: course so disobliging; and since you are opprest with Affection, there shall be care taken to free you of that importunity. Herod leaves Mariamne in a garden with Tyridates for her entertainment. As Herod departs Mariamne says: HI, i, p. 21 Had Herod known, you did my Love pursue. He would not now have given my hand to you. And since you did to me your Thoughts commit, I ought my self too, to have hinder'd it. But that I judg'd I might with- out offence; Either to yours, or my own Innocence. Did I believe you harbour in your Breast A thought to my Dishonour I'de Detest You as a Monster, and my Mor- tal Foe. P. 16 If the King knew your in- tentions, he would not put me into your hands with so much confidence, and since they were known to me, I ought to have hindered it ... . and prob- ably I had too, if I had not believed I might permit your converse .... without inter- essing what I owe to him or to my self .... I did believe you could harbour a thought to my dishonour, I would look upon you as a Monster, as a Mortal Enemy. La Calprenede's Romances 91 The remainder of this dialogue follows the conversation of the romance. Salome entering, Tyridates scorns her and Mariamne speaks : Herod and Mariamne III, i, p. 23 Are you so Cruel then to Ladys grown! Cleopatra P. 19 Are you so cruel then to Ladies that love you? [I] cannot countenance yours without incurring the same sin you condemn in Salome. That sin which you in Salome condemne; Would you Mariamne, should in you esteem? Herod enters and, coldly received by Mariamne, com mands : III, i, p. 24 Hence scornful Woman, from my Presence go: Since not your Husband, you, your King shall Know: Your Fathers Destinies you do forget. P. 17 (another scene) Go, get you out of my Chamber, and if you do not remember the destiny of your Fathers, remember that I promise to make you know him for your King, whom you now scorn to acknowledge for your Husband. Salome now stirs up the King's wrath against Tyridates: P. 24 Her aversion doth not spring III, i, p. 27 'Tis not her Kindred's Blood moves thus her mind. No; her disdain is of another kind. To you a Rock she unrelenting stands. Yet Tyridates' s Love, her heart commands. from a resentment for the death of her Kindred That Rock so insensible to your Caresses, is not so imre- lenting to others, for that Par- thian .... does doubtless love her with better luck than you. In a fury Herod rushes to Mariamne's chamber; her great beauty calms him: 92 Herbert Wynford Hill Cleopatra P. 26 those tempests which rage .... grew calm in a moment; of one terrible as a Lion, in a few minutes he became mild and tractable. Herod and Mariamne III, ii, p. 28 Herod, I that with horrid thoughts of Rigour came. Am of a suddain, how I know not, Tame. Sure 'tis not I — I am no Lyon now — The Furies humbly to that Sweetness bow. These parallels, chosen from many, illustrate Pordage's method. In passing, the reader might notice especially Pordage's paraphrase of Mariamne's letter to Tyridates (of. H. and M., Ill, iv; compare with Cleopatra, p. 27) of Tyridates' speech to Herod at the Temple gate (H. and ikf., III, vi, p. 35, Cleopatra, p. 31); of Mariamne's speech to Tyridates when he visits her for the last time {H. and M., IV, i, p. 38; Cleopatra, p. 32). Herod's speech, when he learns of Mariamne's knowledge of his orders to kill her, illustrates well the close attention with which Pordage must have read the romance: IV, ii, p. 42 P. 440 I am Betray 'd! Undone! I am betrayed, I am undone Those who my Trust into my .... all those whom I thought Bosome drew. Forsake me and betray my Secrets too. To what Extremities am I reduc'd, By Slaves and a Disloyel Wife abused. worthy of my friendship and my confidence, ingratefully unite themselves to mine me. Ah! envious Heaven! Ah! disloyal Wife! Ah! ungrateful! and perfidious Servants! to what extremities do you reduce me ? Act V departs from the romance. In Mariamne's trial scene, however, Pordage paraphrases Cleopatra. The speech of one of the judges will sufficiently illustrate his indebted- ness: La Calprenede's Romances 93 Herod and Mariamne IV, ii, p. 53 Madam! we know What to your Birth and quality we owe: Which hitherto we with respect have paid. The King on us has this In- junction laid: To whom it is our Duty to obey; And you as well as we should homage pay: You'l guilty seem, if you do this refuse. Queens ought to clear them- selves when Kings accuse. Cleopatra P. 443 We have rendered what we owed to your birth and quahty, as long as it hath pleased the King to permit us and we have not sought an employment which yet we could not refuse, when he was pleased to lay it upon us: but seeing that by his absolute will we have been appointed to it, and that the authority which you have had over us, ought to submit to his, you will not find it strange, if it please you, that we examine you upon the accusations which he himself lays against you. Mariamne's speech before she is led away to execution closely paraphrases that in the romance: V, iii, p. 57 Mar. The blood of Philon and Sohemus shed. Will pull down Vengeance on his guilty head: And if my Death is stain'd by any guilt, 'Tis 'cause imprudently their blood I spilt. For Tyridates, I confess 'tis true, I render'd what was to his Vertue due. Acknowledgments and Inno- cent esteem. And that was all I ever gave to him. P. 447 Tell him that the blood of Joseph and Sohemus, which he hath shed, will cry for ven- geance against him: and that if I be culpable at my death, it is because, that by my impru- dence, I have caused the ruine of those innocent persons: As for Tyridates, I thank God, I feel no remorse of conscience that can accuse me of the least fault against my Husband, and I hold no other thoughts for his person but of acknowledg- ment and esteem as due his vertue. 94 Herbert Wynford Hill Pordage has copied without change the names and traits of La Calprenede's characters. Tyridates has taken on some of the traits of Artaban; and Salome is consider- ably heightened. If as the author claims the play was written in 1662, Salome is distinctly the predecessor of Lyndaraxa. Otherwise the characters are those of the romance. Gloriana^ In 1676 Gloriana was acted at the Theatre Royal. This was the third of Lee's plays.^ The two preceding — Sopho- nisba and Nero — are treatments of historical subjects in thoroughly romantic fashion .^ Lee wrote plays drawn from three of La Calprenede's romances, Cassandra,^ Cleopatra,^ and Pharamondf and in nearly all of his plays there are signs of the influence of the French romancer.''' Gloriana was the first of his plays, how- ever, indebted in a marked degree to La Calpren^de. This, 1 First published 1676. The title-page of the first edition reads: "Gloriana, or the Coiirt of Augustus Caesar. Acted at the Theatre- Royal, By Their Majesties Servants. Quibus haec, sint qualiacimque Arridere velim, doliturus si placeant spe Deterius nostra. — Hor. Sat. 10. By Nat Lee, London, Printed for J. Magnes and R. Bentley, in Russell-street in Covent-Garden, near Piazza's, Anno Dom. MDCLXXVI. Other editions were published in 1699, 1734. 2 The title-page of the 1699 edition of Gloriana has at the bottom a list of "the works of Mr. Nathaniel Lee, in the Order they were written, viz — Sophonisba; or Hannibals Overthrow, Nero, Gloriana; or the Court of Augustus Caesar, Alexander THE Great, Mithridates King of Pontus, Theodosius; or the Force of Love, Caesar Borgia, Lucius Brutus, Constantine, Oedipus King of Thrace, Duke of Guise, Massacre of Paris, Princess of Cleves," 8 Lee makes temperate Scipio fret and rave And Hannibal, a whining Amorous Slave. * The Rival Queens. 6 Gloriana. « Theodosius, or the Force of Love, acted at the Duke's Theatre, 1680. ' La Calprenede's influence is most pronounced in the earlier plays ending with Theodosius, 1680. Lucius Junius Brutus, 1681, was influenced by Scudery's Clelia; The Princess of Cleve, by Madame de la Fayette's Princess of Cleves. La Calprenede's Romances 95 as all the plays influenced by La Calpren^de up to this time, was from Cleopatra. Langbaine^ writing of the source says, "The Plot I take to be rather founded on Romance than History, as the Reader will find by comparing the Play with the Romance of Cleopatra, in the several Stories of Caesario, Marcellus and Julia; Part 1 Book 3. Part 5 Book 3. Ovid, Cypassis and Julia, Part 7 Book 3." In the handling of the story, however, Lee shows slight dependence on his source; he exercised as much freedom as with the historical material of the two earher plays Nero and Sophonisba. The completed play resembles no plot in all La Calprenede. There is, to be sure, a Caesario in Cleopatra, who bears marked resemblance to the hero of the play, and Gloriana bears even more resemblance to Candace the heroine of the Caesario story in Cleopatra; but their fortunes are widely diverse and their end far different: in Cleopatra the hero and heroine are happily married ; in Gloriana they suffer death. Marcellus is the Marcellus of the romance ridicu- lously exaggerated, but Julia is hardly recognizable : in the romance she is simply inconstant, in the play reflections are cast upon her morals; in the romance she is unmarried and in love with the hero, in the play she is married to Marcellus and nothing is said of her love for the hero. As for the plot the hints he gathered from La Calprenede were for separate incidents and situations rather than for the story as a whole. The important incidents and situations of Gloriana are as follows : 1. The hero, enemy to the ruler, and supposedly dead, returns to the court of Augustus and is captured. (This follows the Caesario-Candace story in Cleopatra, Part II, p. 485.) 1 An Account of the Dramatic Poets, p. 322. 96 Herbert Wynford Hill 2. The hero is condemned to die. (This follows the romance Cleopatra, Part II, p. 544.) 3. The hero falls suddenly and violently in love with the heroine. (This clearly follows the conventional lines rather than the romance; in Cleopatra, Caesario renders his arms to Candace's triumphant beauty when she is eleven years old.) 4. The heroine, captive to the ruler, spurns his advances; he tries to force her to marry him. (Lee has here assigned to Augustus the role played by Tiribasus in the romance, Cleopatra, Part I, 175. Tiribasus usurps the throne of Candace and tries to force a marriage. The Augustus of the romance is at no time in love with Candace. From here to the close the ruler is drawn from Tiribasus rather than from Augustus.) 5. The hero rescues the heroine from the ruler. (This fol- lows the romance, Cleopatra, Part I, pp. 203 +, the ruler still in the role of Tiribasus.) 6. The hero and the heroine are recaptured by the ruler. (Here Lee departs from the romance; the heroine is recap- tured in Cleopatra, Part I, pp. 206 +, but by the pirate Zenodorus, not by the ruler.) 7. AH attempt by sacrifice to save the life of the hero : a) The hero's friend. (This is taken from the main plot of Cleopatra, where Marcellus offers to sacrifice himself for Coriolanus — Part II, p. 565 — as is the rest of this scene, where each wishes to sacrifice himself for the others, and where other members of the court plead for the hero. This is, however, conventional; cf. The Siege of Rhodes, and The Conquest of Granada. h) The lovelorn maiden sues successfully for the life of her hero. (This is apparently invented by the author.) c) The heroine offers to marry the ruler to save the hero's life. La Calprenede's Romances 97 8. The lovelorn maiden slanders the heroine and re- proached by the hero dies of a broken heart. (This is not in the romance.) 9. The friend of the hero, crazed with grief at his sister's death, threatens the hero; reproached by the hero he dies of a broken heart. (This is not from the romance.) 10. The hero hastens to Augustus' chamber, where the heroine, dagger in hand, is awaiting the ruler's coming. (This is not from the Caesario story of Cleopatra.y 11. The heroine accused by the hero of infidelity kills herself. (This is not from the romance.) 12. The ruler enters and kills the hero. (In the romance the hero kills Tiribasus.) As for the plot, then, Lee is not greatly indebted to his source: the first three acts present a radical working-over of some of the incidents and situations of the Caesario story, but the last two acts follow the story not at all, the end being tragic as in nearly all of Lee's plays. Nor is there any marked indebtedness of phrasing. Occasionally, however, a passage stuck in Lee's memory, and was carried over into the play; such is the following, where the hero addresses the ruler i^ Gloriana, p. 3 Cleopatra, Part II, p. 486 I am by birth what you adopted You are only by adoption what are I am by birth But there is no dependence on the text of Cleopatra; Lee probably never consulted the romance during the course of the writing of the play. The characters of Gloriana are more or less the stock characters familiar to us in the pages of The Conquest of 1 Cf. Pharamond, Part I, p. 270 and Part II, p. 134; Pharamond was not translated, however, until the following year. Rowe in The Ambitious Step- Mother presents a somewhat similar scene when Amestris stabs Mirza when he attempts to force her. * The scene and circumstances are the same in both. 98 Herbert Wynford Hill Granada. Caesario is the invincible, boastful hero of the Artaban-Almansor type. Like these he has been reared outside of court '} A Souldier, Fair one, bred to bloud, in Arms, In Winter Camps which mighty Action warms; I know not Courts, unskill'd in the soft trade By which address is to high Beauty made: He tells her friends,^ Ev'n in my childhood I was more than man, Bears in my Non-age slew, and Stags out-ran. He continues to tell her how he killed a lion, thus saving his mother's life; and his friend Leander not responding with sufficient enthusiasm, he replies, Fall! by my valour! saw him! is that all? Thou speaks't Leander as thou didst repine; Thou shouldst have said, it was an act Divine, A God-like act, to see a ruddy Boy With milk on's hps, the Royal beast destroy. With my gay Sword, brandish'd above my Crest, O'respread with Plumes, and with Queens favours dress'd I cros'd the Savage, eager for his prey, Who daunted with my aspect shun'd the fray: But I out-run him, though he got the start And flesh'd my little Rapier in his heart. This mighty slayer of beasts is insolent and defiant to the ruler, when captured, and even defies love, imploring Heaven never to forgive him if he yields. But when he meets the heroine, although ''with eyes quick rouling flame" the presence that daunted lions inspires her with awe, he himself cries out:^ Why beats my heart as I had poison ta'en ? What means my burning breast and giddy brain ? Swift thrilling cold with panick terrour flies, 1 Act II, p. 15, first edition. 2 Act II, p. 10, first edition. 5 Act III, p. 30, first edition. La Calprenede's Romances 99 And an unsual thaw dissolves my eyes; If Love thou art, I will not take the wound, My Armour shall thy pointed darts confound; I'le draw 'em, if they cannot be withstood; Though to the Feathers drinking in my blood; Then shake 'em at her eyes with fix'd disdain, And Hurl 'em to thy Godhead back again. Gloriana is the stock bright-eyed heroine, beautiful, languishing, but filled with dauntless courage. The hero describes her:^ But sure so bright a fiow'r on Earth ne're grew: Her lips, her cheeks must more than Roses be; What Stars her eyes, what moving Majesty? So sweet and so imperious too they move. Sparkling with beauty, Ghtt'ring all with Love. And later, 2 more fair then the red mornings dawn. Sweeter then Pearley dews that scent the lawn; Then blue ey'd Violets, or the damask Rose, When in her hottest fragrancy she glows. And the cool West her wafted odour blows.' She is utterly without fear of death, openly defying Augustus; she even longs for death :^ Methinks I long in those dark walks to tread. And wrap my seK about with honour'd Lead, Where all the Worthies of the Earth lye dead, Nor shall my Spirit in that pond'rous case Be kept, but shoot as rays through Chrystal pass; Through doors of death, with Mountains pil'd on Rocks, With thousand Bars, and with ten thousand Locks, Like Lightning she shall cut her sacred way Through all, and rise to everlasting day. 1 Act III, p. 29, first edition. 2 Act IV, p. 45, first edition. » Cf. Twelfth Night, opening lines. *P. 36. 100 Herbert Wynford Hill She is very cool as she waits, dagger in hand, the arrival of Augustus. And after she has stabbed herself she finds death less dreadful than the angry brow of the hero. Marcellus is borrowed from the main plot of Cleopatra, He is the type of the generous friend carried to absurd extremes. Narcissa is the conventional lovelorn maiden but pos- sessed of more spirit than most of her type. She faces Gloriana furiously: But I will be reveng'd, to pieces tear Those borrow'd eyes, and that inchanted hair. And in the end she dies with a lie on her lips unflinching, unrepentant, longing as her heaven that which alone can give her soul lasting peace — the love of the hero. Augustus is drawn from the character of Tiribasus rather than from history or than from the Augustus of the romance. He is a favorite type with Lee: nearly all of Lee's rulers are unscrupulous, lustful, and in love with the heroines; in Mithridates the king is in love with both of his son's mis- tresses. In the prologue to Nero^ Lee wrote, 'Tis a fine Age, a tearing thundering Age, Pray Heav'n this Thund'ring does not crack the Stage. Just how much of Lee's thundering was due to the age and how much to his own taste is hard to determine; both were in part responsible. As a young writer seeking money and reputation he naturally would pander to the styles most in vogue. To this tendency he was impelled also by the example and outspoken encouragement of Dryden.^ Fur- thermore, he possessed a natural impetuosity and fervor of temperament that made the assuming of a high heroic style very easy. The young man who threw himself headlong into 1 First edition, 1675. 2 Cf. below, p. 113. La Calprenede's Romances 101 the dissipation of the fast set of London discovered the riot- ous vein of the heroic style much to his liking. Thus we find a certain naturalness and ease that approaches poise in his most extreme outbursts, and, when he chooses to exercise restraint, a simple dignity that is delightful. The opening lines of Gloriana set the level of the style: Vast are the Glories, Caesar, thou has won, To make whose Triumphs up, the World's undone: The Indians from the Eastern parts remote. To thee the Treasure of their Shrines devote: Whole Trees of Coral, which they div'd for low. That in the walks of Neptune's Palace grow. With Tritons trumpeting on ev'ry bough; Pearls which the morning eyes of Thetis pay. When her cool'd Lover bolts through waves away; And Diamonds that the Sun each morning sheds. Driving his Chariot o're their sooty heads. And from this level he drops only at rare intervals. Figures of speech are frequent : Augustus is compared to a lion five times; Caesario speaking of the rescue of the heroine from Augustus says (p. 35) : I from the den of an old Beast of prey Snatch'd, while abroad he did for forage stray, By this he is returned, and finds her gone; By this the Groves resound, and Forests groan. The figures are often sustained through many lines as in the following, where Caesario addresses his friend (p. 12): Revenge and Friendship in my bosom clashed. Like Mountain billows, each the other dash'd; Still my uncertain soul each Tempest blinds Like a dark vessel driv'n by Polar winds: But you like a propitious God arise. On the blue Ocean shine the Azure Skies, And now the beaten mind at Anchor lies. 102 Herbert Wynford Hill Marcellus replies: Methinks I wish that I had never known Vertue like yours; so high, that mine is none: You as some vast Hill touching Heav'n appear; I at your feet like a poor Valley near: Down from your cloudy top refreshings flow, Fast bounteous rills, that water me below: Valleys; but Vapours can to Heav'n return, And I with sighs your falling favours mourn. And he delights in balancing his figures; thus Caesario upbraids Gloriana:^ I came to seek for painted vertue here, For one exceeding false, exceeding fair; For one whose breast shone hke a Silver cloud. But did a heart compos'd of Thunder shrowd; For one more weeping than the face of Nile, Whose Uquid Chrystal hides the Crocodile; For one who like a God from Heav'n did pour Rich rain, but lust was in the golden showr; For one who Hke Pandora beauteous flew, But a long train of curses with her drew; For one who like a Rock of Diamonds stood. But hemm'd with death, and universal flood. At times the figures become grotesque as in the following (p. 2): And Crassus, who like some large Oak had stood The brush of warring winds, and showrs of blood. His Army round him hke an underwood; These Martial Rangers root and branches tore, And on their Crests his trickhng heart strings wore. or again, Caesario speaking (p. 36) : All! Hell-hound, all art thou resolv'd to have ? But tast my heart, 'tis Royal, rich and good. Each drop's more worth than Tuns of Vulgar blood. Cannot th' exhausted shore for once suffice ? I'le make it up with Rivers from their eyes; Tears will not make him drunk, the Slave replies. 1 p. 59. La Calprenede's Romances 103 This is Lee at his worst; in Gloriana he rarely touches his best, and the play never achieved any marked popu- larity. If Lee had stopped here, Addison would never have said of him, "Among our modern EngHsh poets there is none who is better turned for tragedy than Lee." The Rival Queens ^ For the material of his next play Lee turned to a subject treated by La Calprenede in Cassandra. Although written after Cassandra, Cleopatra had up to this time been most copied by the playwrights largely it may be supposed through Dryden's example. In the tremendous success, however, of Lee's The Rival Queens, brought out at the Theatre Royal in 1677, Cassandra came into its own, and three other plays based on the main plot of this romance now followed in rapid succession. These were Bankes's Rival Kings, 1677, Pordage's Siege of Babylon, 1678, and Cooke's Love's Triumph 1678.2 i"The Rival Queens, Or The Death of Alexander The Great. Acted at the Theatre-Royal. By Their Majesties Servants. By Nat. Lee, Gent. London, Printed for James Magnes and* Richard Bentley, at the Post-house in Russel-street in Covent Garden, near the Piazza's, 1677." Other editions used were those of 1677, 1684, 1690. 1694, 1699. 1702, 1704, 1768, 1785, 1793, 1805, 1808, 1811, 1815, 1818, 1832. Unless otherwise specified the page references are to the first edition, 1677. 2 Another play, Crowne's Darius King of Persia (pub. 1688), is on the same subject. There are many speeches that conform almost word for word to passages in Cassandra. In every case, however, where this is true both the play and the romance follow Ciu-tius (cf. University of Nevada Studies, II, 3, p. 46). Crowne assigns as his source Curtius. He apologizes for leaving out Statira and her two daughters, "well known to the World, whose misfor- times would have probably mov'd more compassion, than those of a strange Lady, obscurely descended from my Fancy, which I have introduc'd in their stead." And he gives as his reason for the omission: "But when I first con- triv'd and writ this Play, my Judgment was overborn by some I much regard; who told me, those Princesses had been already seen very often, their Beauties would now seem stale, and a new Pace be more agreeable." The reference here probably is to the presentation of the princesses by Lee, Bankes, and Pordage. Cf. dedicatory epistle, 1688 edition: "I find him in Curtius, a prince of valour, clemency, justice, and great moral virtues," etc.. referring to Darius. 104 Herbert Wynford Hill In the scintillating array of heroic plays of this period The Rival Queens was easily the brightest jewel; for one hundred and fifty years its radiance dazzled the eyes of admiring audiences. Colly Gibber said of it in his auto- biography: "There was no one tragedy for many years more in favour with the town than Alexander, ^^ but ascribes the success of the play to the merit of the actors/ espe- cially to Betterton whom he praises highly. ^ '^For the plot/' Langbaine writes, ''as far as the author has follow'd History, Consult Aman; Q.Curtius; Plutarch^ s Life of Alexander; Justin lib. 11, 12. Diodorus Siculus, lib. 17 and 18. Josephus lib. 11. cap. 8." These references are to historical accounts of some of the incidents of the play. An examination of these shows that Lee was indebted to only one of the accounts, that of Plutarch. Sidney Lee (D. of N.B.) says, ''De La Calprenede's novel Cassandre seems to have suggested some of the scenes." It did — or to be exact — Sir Charles CotterelFs translation furnished some suggestions for the principal plot and the outline for the subplot together with some of the phrasing. The main plot recounts Alexander's tribulations as the husband of two wives, Statira and Roxana, tells briefly of his tyrannical punishment of those who in any way opposed him, 1 "To what must we impute this its command of public admiration?" he asks. "Not to its intrinsic merit surely, if it swarms with passages like this I have shown you. If this passage has merit, let us see what figure it would make upon canvass — what sort of pictvu-e would rise from it. If Le Brim who was famous for painting the battles of this hero, had seen this lofty description, what one image could he have possibly taken from it ? In what colors would he have shown us ' glory perched upon a beaver ' ? How wovdd he have drawn 'fortune trembling ' ? Or, indeed, what use could he have made of ' pale fates, ' or immortals riding upon billows, with this bluster- ing god of his own making at the head of them ? Where then must have lain the charm that since made the public so partial to this tragedy? Why, plainly in the grace and harmony of the actor's utterance." 2 In expression of his contempt for the play he wrote a biu-lesque called The Rival Queans with the Humours of Alexander the Great, a Comical Tragedy, a one-act play performed on Jmie 29, 1710. This is wholly lacking in merit and pointless. La Calprenede's Romances 105 and ends with his death and that of Statira. This is not at all the story as handled by La Calpren^de. In Cassandra, Oroondates is the hero; it is through a bit of treachery that Statira is married to Alexander; both she and Roxana are in love with Oroondates, not with Alexander. Lee, by omit- ting Oroondates, shifts the affection of the two women to Alexander thus greatly heightening the jealousy between the two. In the romance Statira is not killed — a slave being killed in her place. It would seem that Lee followed history rather than La Calprenede, and yet there are certain indi- cations which will be taken up shortly pointing to the influ- ence of Cassandra. In the subplot the influence is at once apparent. Lysimachus is in love with Parisatis who is promised by Alexander to Hephestion. Lysimachus fights with his rival and for this and his temerity in frankly claim- ing Parisatis against the wishes of Alexander he is condemned to fight in single combat with a lion. In this combat he is successful, and for his bravery he is pardoned and given an equal chance for Parisatis. Hephestion fortunately dies and Lysimachus claims the lady of his heart's desire. This is practically the story as given by La Calprenede, and with the exception of the lion episode is not found in history. A few parallels will show how closely Lee follows his source, the romance. Lysimachus' request of King Alexander for Parisatis is a fairly close rendering of the original. The Rival Queens, II, p. 20 Cassandra, p. 136 Lysimachus opens his speech with E're you remove be pleas'd, I come, Sir, to beg of your dread Sir, to hear A Prince Majesty, what a Prince who ally'd to you by Blood. hath the honour to be of your blood hopes he may obtain. 106 Herbert Wynford Hill The Rival Queens Lysimachus continues his I never fail'd to obey your Majesty, Whilst you commanded what was in my power, Nor cou'd Hephestion fly more swift to serve, When you commanded us to storm a Town, Or fetch a Standard from the Enemy, But when you charge me not to love the Princess, I must confess, I disobey you, as I wou'd the Gods themselves, should they command. Alexander replies: In the mean time think not of Parisatis: For if thou dost, by Jupiter Ammon, By my own Head, and by King Philip's Soul, I'le not respect that Blood of mine thou shar'st. But use thee as the vilest Macedonian. Cassandra argument : I never failed of my obe- dience to your Majesty, while you required no other proofs of it, but such as were within my power; and Hephestion never obeyed you more readily than I, whenso're you com- manded us to assault a wall, or charge into a Battalion; when you forbad me to love Parisatis, I confess I disobeyed you, as I should have done the Gods themselves, if they had imposed the same command upon me. In the mean time I forbid you .... ever to look upon Parisatis; and I protest to you by Jupiter Hammon, and by the soul of King Philip, that if you disobey what I command, by all the authority I have over you, I will have no respect at all unto your birth, but will submit you to the severity of our Laws, as the meanest Macedonian. At the point where Alexander commands the guards to take Lysimachus prisoner, Lee follows La Calprenede closely. If he did not write with the romance before him, he certainly carried to the writing a vivid recollection of it, as the following parallels will indicate. La Calprenede's Romances 107 The Rival Queens, p. 25 Alexander. I charge you, kill him not, take him ahve; The dignity of Kings is now concerned. And I will find a way to tame this Beast. Sure we, at last, shall conquer this fierce Lion: Hence from my sight, and bear him to a Dungeon: Perdiccas give this Lion to a Lion. Cassandra, p. 141 .... commanding me to be taken ahve .... he said thus. .... The dignity of all Kings is concerned in my affront. .... I will find out punish- ments which shall be able to tame this rage Lysimachus is a Lyon, but we will use him hke a Lyon, and shall perchance be able to quench this fierceness. After these words he com- manded I should be carried to the dungeon .... (and later p. 142) Lysimachus (sales he) braves us hke a Lion; but we have tamed both Lions and Ele- phants, and will make his grave in the bellies of those beasts he imitates. In the messenger scene, where Clytus and Hephestion tell of the combat between Lysimachus and the lion, Lee follows La Calprenede very closely: The Rival Queens, p. 45 Heph. Unarm'd all but his hands, on which he wore A pair of Gauntlets; such was his desire. To shew in death the difference betwixt The bloud of the Aeacides, and common men. Clytus. At last the door of an old Lyons den Cassandra, p. 143 .... let one of your Guards lend me but his Gantlets" . . . . "my intention but onely to give you .... some knowledge of the difference there is between Lysimachus and ordinary per- sons .... The door of a Httle room where he was kept, being 108 Herbert Wynford Hill The Rival Queens Being drawn up, the horrid Beast appeared: Heph. When we arriv'd, just as the vahant Prince Cry'd out, Parisatis take my Ufe, Clytus. Then walking forward, the large Beast descry' d His prey, and with a roar that made us pale. Flew fiercely on him; but the active Prince Starting aside, avoided his first shock, With a slight hurt, and as the Lyon turn'd. Thrust Gauntlet, arm and all into his throat, And with Herculean force tore forth by th' roots The foaming bloudy tongue; and while the Savage, Faint with that loss, sunk to the blushing Earth To plough it with his teeth, yon conqu'ring Souldier Leap'd on his back, and dash'd his skull to pieces. Cassandra drawn up, that fierce creature no sooner saw the light, but he came out of his Den, Parisatis! (cryed I) receive this noble sacrifice 1 had not made an end of these words when the Lyon flew at me so fiercely, and so suddenly, that I had much ado to avoid the first encounter; but seeing his jaws open and frothy with foam and blood, I chopp'd my hand suddenly into his throat; my Gauntlet de- fended me from his teeth .... I took him by the tongue .... I tore it out by the very roots: The Lyon lost his strength by the extremity of that pain, and discharging the rest of his rage against the Earth, which he dig'ed up with his teeth, and watred with his blood, he gave me the leisure to beat his skull in pieces with my Gauntlets. La Calprenede got the suggestion of this remarkable method of killing a lion from Justin^ whose account runs as follows : 1 Justinus: Historiae Philippicae. lib. XV. Cap. 3. Protscher ed., 1827. The incident is barely referred to by Plutarch, Demetrius (Clough ed., V, 122) ; La Calprenede's Romances 109 Quod adeo aegre Alexander tulit, ut eum abiici ferocissimo leoni juberet. Sed cum ad conspectum eius concitatus leo impetum fecisset, manum amiculo involutam Lysimachus in os leonis immer- sit, abreptaque lingua, feram exanimavit. Quod cum nuntiatum regi esset, admiratio in satisf actionem cessit; careoremque eum propter constantiam tantae virtutis habuit. But there is no evidence that Lee consulted any other account than La Calprenede's. In the main plot there are a few points of resemblance which should be noted. Roxana's account of her falling in love with Alexander is taken partly from La Calprenede's account of Hermione's falling in love with Alexander and partly from La Calpre- nede's account of Roxana's first sight of Alexander. From neither source has Lee taken much of the phrasing, but the relationship is unmistakable. Hermione {Cassandraj 291) tells how she fell in love with Alexander. I heard his exploits recounted with admiration, and when they talk'd to me of the greatness of his courage, of that boiling, and generous ardour which made him rush headlong into the thickest of his Enemies, of his moderation in victory, of his gallant fashion, of his youth, and of the grace which accompanied all his actions, I felt my heart insensibly won. Roxana's account {The Rival Queens, p. 27) runs as follows : But when I heard of Alexander's Conquests, How with a handfull he had MilUons slain. Spoiled all the East, their Queens his Captives made, Yet with what Chastity, and God-like temper He saw their Beauties, and with pity bow'd; Methought I hung upon my Father's lips. by Pausanias, 1, 9, 5; by Pliny, H.N.^ viii, 21; by Valerius Maximus, ix, 3; by Seneca: de Ira, iii, 17; and by Q. Curtius, viii, 1. Curtius refers to Lysimachus' killing a lion single handed while hunting in Syria and scoflfs at the story of the combat in the lion's den as a fable built upon the Syrian exploit. No one of these writers except Justin gives the details of the combat. 110 Herbert Wynford Hill La Calprenede (Cassandra, 90) brings Roxana and Alex- ander together at a banquet given by her father celebrating his own defeat at the hands of Alexander; Roxana is one of thirty ladies chosen to wait on the table, and attracts Alexander's attention by her beauty. Lee's account {The Rival Queens, p. 27) is the same except that the number of the ladies waiting on the table is raised to fifty. In the omens foreshadowing Alexander's death Lee secured his material from Plutarch in part; but even here La Calprenede's influence was considerable. Plutarch lays much stress on the fact that Alexander was disturbed by the omens; La Calprenede stresses the fact that Alexander was not disturbed by them; and Lee follows La Calprenede. The presentation of one omen occurring in all three will illustrate this — the battle of the crows. Plutarch writes of Alexander being warned by soothsayers not to enter Babylon. 1 Alexander however, took no thought of it, and went on, and when he came near the walls of the place, he saw a great many crows fighting with one another, some of whom fell down just by him. After this, being privately informed that ApoUodorus, the governor of Babylon, had sacrificed, to know what would become of him, he sent for Pythagoras, the soothsayer, and on his admit- ting the thing, asked him, in what condition he found the victim; and when he told him the liver was defective in its lobe, "A great presage indeed!" said Alexander. However, he offered Pythagoras no injury, but was sorry that he had neglected Nearchus' advice, and stayed for the most part outside the town, removing his tent from place to place, and sailing up and down the Euphrates. Besides this, he was disturbed by many other prodigies. After enumerating some of these, Plutarch proceeds: When once Alexander had given way to fears of supernatural influence, his mind grew so disturbed and so easily alarmed that, if the least unusual or extraordinary thing happened, he thought 1 Clough ed., IV, 250. La Calprenede's Romances 111 it a prodigy or a presage, and his court was thronged with diviners and priests whose business was to sacrifice and purify and foretell the future. So miserable a thing is incredulity and contempt of divine power on the one hand, and so miserable, also, superstition on the other, which like water, where the level has been lowered, flowing in and never stopping, fills the mind with slavish fears and foUies, as now in Alexander's case. La Calpren^de presents the incident as follows (Cas- sandra, 152): This reason made him hasten his Voyage, or rather the power of his destinies forced him in spite of presages, and the counsels of his friends. Being near the walls, a flock of crowes, after they had fought a great while before him fell some of them dead at his feet; but he mocked at that adventure, and told his Sooth-sayers, it was not able to daunt a gallant courage. He entred into that fatal Town, where he was received with great Pomp and mag- nificence. Lee's account in characteristic style runs thus: Perd. As Meleager, and my self in Field, Your Persian Horse about the Army wheel'd: We heard a noise, as of a rushing Wind, And a thick Storm the Eye of Day did bhnd: A croaking noise resounded through the air. We look'd, and saw big Ravens battling there: Each Bird of Night appear'd himself a cloud. They met, and fought, and their Wounds rain'd black Blood. Alexander replies: Be witness for me, all ye Powers Divine, If ye be angry, 'tis no fault of mine; Therefore let Furies face me, with a Band From Hell, my Virtue shall not make a Stand; Though all the Curtains of the Skie be drawn. And the Stars wink, young Ammon shall go on.^ And in this decision he remains firm throughout the play. 1 The Rival Queens, p. 19. 112 Herbert Wynford Hill In the account of the death of Statira, of Hephestion, and especially in that of Clytus, Lee faithfully renders Plutarch. When he wrote the account of the death of Alexander, however, he again fingered the pages of Cassandra. La Calprenede clearly follows Justin's account and Quintus Curtius' account of Alexander's death rather than Plutarch's; and, just as clearly, Lee follows La Calprenede rather than Justin or Curtius when introducing details not found in Plutarch. If Lee knew of Justin's or Curtius' accounts he evidently didn't take the trouble to look them up. One incident will sufficiently illustrate the chain of indebtedness, an incident not found in Plutarch, but occurring in Justin, and in Quintus Curtius, La Calprenede, and Lee. Justin, XII, 15 Sexto die praeclusa voce, exemptum di- gito anulum Perdic- cae tradidit: quae res glisamicorum dis- sensionen sedavit. La Calprenede, Cas- sandra, p. 153 and pulling a ring off from his finger he gave it to Perdic- cas commanding him to take care of his Burial, and to cause his body to be carried to the Temple of Jupiter Hammon: Perdiccas asked him last of all, when he desired to have those honours given him, which are due unto the Gods, and to those who like him, had gloriously acquired a place in the Heavens. When you (said he) are all happy, and in peace. Lee, The Rival Queens, p. 63 Alex. Perdiccas, take this Ring, And see me laid in the Temple of Jupiter Amman. Perd. When will you, sacred Sir, that we should give To your great mem- ory those Divine Honours, Which such exalted Virtue does de- serve ? Alex. When you are all most hap- py, and in peace. La Calprenede's Romances 113 The relationship is unmistakable. La Calpren^de followed Justin and Curtius, and Lee paraphrased La Calpren^de.^ The style of The Rival Queens is distinctly heroic. Dry- den wrote of the play (in verses prefaced to the edition of 1677): Such praise is yours, while you the Passions move, That 'tis no longer feign'd; 'tis real Love: Where Nature Triumphs over wretched Art; We only warm the Head, but you the Heart: Always you warm! and if the rising Year, As in hot Regions, bring the Sun too near, 'Tis but to make your Fragrant Spices blow, Which in our colder Climates will not grow. They only think you animate your Theme With too much Fire who are themselves all Phle'me; Prizes wou'd be for Lags of slowest pace, Were Cripples made the Judges of the Race. Despise those Drones, who praise while they accuse The too much vigor of your youthful Muse: That humble Stile which they their Virtue make, Is in your pow'r; you need but stoop and take. Your beauteous Images must be allow'd By all, but some, vile Poets of the Crowd: But how shou'd any Sign-post dawber know The worth of Titian, or of Angela ? Hard Features ev'ry Bungler can command; To draw true Beauty shews a Master's Hand. The line The too much vigor of your Youthful Muse sums up tersely and accurately the merits and deficiencies of Lee's style. Lee indulges in few descriptions. The incomparable Statira is not sketched more fully than in such phrases as 1 Curtius' account is even closer to that of La Calprenede (Book X) : "He took his ring off his finger, and gave it to Perdiccas, enjoining him to convey his body to Hanunon Perdiccas then desiring to know, when he would have his divine honours paid him ? he reply'd. When they them- selves were happy." — Digby's tr. (1747), Vol. II, p. 186. 114 Herbert Wynford Hill 'Hhe Star that guides my life'' spoken by Alexander who has just described her as all softness, All melting, mild, and calm as a rock'd Infant.^ There is no description of natural scenery although on one occasion Alexander longs for the country. Thus Palaces in prospect barr the Eye, Which pleas'd, and free, wou'd o're the Cottage fly; O're flow'ry Lands to the gay distant Skie. Farewell then Empire, and the Racks of Love; By all the Gods, I will to wilds remove. Stretch' d like a Sylvan God on Grass lye down, And quite forget that e're I wore a crown.^ The heroic feature of Lee's style consists largely in simple exaggeration. Sometimes the exaggeration has a point, as where Cassander purposely exaggerates Alexander's glory: All Nations bow their heads with homage down. And kiss the Feet of this exalted Man; The Name, the Shout, the Blast from every Mouth Is Alexander, Alexander bursts Your Cheeks, and with a crack so loud It drown's the Voice of Heaven, etc.^ And again in Alexander's boasting where Lee is following the precedent set by Artaban, Alamanzor, and other mighty heroes : When glory, Uke the dazzling Eagle, stood Perch'd on my Bever in the Granick Flood. When Fortun's self my Standard trembhng bore And the pale Fates stood frighted on the Shore When the Immortals on the Billows rode, And I my self appear'd the leading God.'* Again: Yes, I will shake this Cupid from my arms. If all the rages of the Earth can fright him; Drown him in the deep bowl of Hercules; I p. 24. 2 p. 26. 3 p. 6. 4 P. 18. La Calprenede's Romances 115 Make the World drunk, and then like Aeolus, When he gave passage to the struggling winds, I'le strike my Spear into the reeling Globe To let it bloud; set Babylon in a blaze, And drive this God of flames with more consuming fire.* Alexander's physical condition where he lies racked by fever at the point of death might account for his conception of the Horses of the Sun: .... hot, their Mangers full of coals. Their Mains are flakes of Lightning, curls of Fire, And their red Tails like Meteors whisk about.^ But the torments of the tender passion hardly save such passages as the following: Trembling, and horrour, pierce me cold as Ice. Is she not well ? what, none, none answer me ? Or is it worse ? Keep down ye rising Sighs, And murmur in the hollow of my Breast: Run to my Heart, and gather more sad Wind; That when the voice of Fate shall call you forth. Ye may, at one rush, from the Seat of Life, Blow the Blood out, and burst me like a Bladder.^ Fortunately excesses of this sort are not numerous; other- wise we should be tempted to agree with Lord Rochester in classing Lee ''a hot-brained fustian fool"; or to deplore with Granville^ ''how little notice is taken of the noble and sub- lime thoughts and expressions of Mr. Dry den and what ap- plause is given to the rants and fustian of Mr. Lee." How- ever, it must be admitted that Lee possesses certain elements of strength : his heroics are exuberant and spontaneous, and there is a certain point to even his wildest flights. It is far superior to his preceding plays : it possesses more restraint, the figures are better conceived and more fittingly applied, and there is less of the grotesque. Compared with the next play to be considered, The Rival Queens is a paragon of excellence. 1 p. 35. 2 P. 63. 3 P. 22 (Alexander speaking) . * Preface to Heroic Love, 1698 . 116 Herbert Wynford Hill The Siege of Babylon^ On November 2, 1677, another play dealing with the fortunes of the incomparable Statira was licensed, and not long after the performance of Lee's Rival Queens at the Theatre Royal, was presented at the Duke's Theatre. This play, The Siege of Babylon,'^ by Samuel Pordage, opens the story of Statira where Lee closes it. In the epilogue to The Siege of Babylon Statira says. At one House, I am, by Roxana, slain. But see, at this, I am alive again, And spite, of all her cruelty, and rage, I Live, am Queen, and Triumph, on the Stage. The unscrupulous Roxana holds Statira captive in Babylon, and the plot is concerned with her rescue by the hero Oroon- dates and his friends. The play opens with a duel between Lysimachus and Ptolomey for the hand of Parisatis, a modi- fication of the Lysimachus-Hephestion duel of the romance.^ Oroondates, the hero of the play as of the romance, scales the wall of Babylon single handed and is captured. He is brought before Roxana, who confesses her love for him. He rejects her. She attempts to kill him but is so overcome by his presence that she cannot strike the blow.^ She now 1 The title-page of the first and only edition reads, "The Siege of Baby- lon As it is Acted at the Dukes Theatre. Written by Samuel Pordage, of Lincoln's-Inn, Esq; Author of the Tragedy of Herod and Mariamne. Non tibi plus placeas, quia multis forte placebis: Id specta potius, quaUbus ipse places. — Manei. de Quat. Virt. Licensed, Nov. 2. 1677. Roger L'Estrange. London, Printed for Rich- ard Tonson, at his shop under Grays-Inn Gate next Grays-Inn-Lane, MDCLXXVIII." 2 Published 1678. The British Museum catalogue lists but the one edition. 3 Cf. also The Rival Queens and The Rival Kings. * The hero of Cassandra has a presence so sublime that (cf. p. 551) when bound and in prison the fire in his eyes and marks of divinity on his face dis- may the arm lifted against him so that it sinks without effect. In Cleopatra, Part II, p. 295, Caesario tells how his remarkable beauty causes the weapon of a furious woman to fall from her hand as she is on the point of killing him. La Calprenede's Romances 117 plots the death of Statira; and the details lead up to the chief scene in the play. This centers around a four-cornered situation, where Roxana threatens Statira with death; and Perdiccas threatens Oroondates, each being deterred by the threat of the other. Statira and Parisatis are put through a mock execution. Perdiccas, thinking Statira dead, releases the hero and helps him win the city. Roxana stabs herself, Perdiccas goes off to the wars, and Oroondates marries Statira. Such in brief is the main plot of the play. In all essential details it is the plot of the romance. Pordage attempted to crowd into the play two full- fledged duplicating plots from Cassandra — the Lysimachus- Parisatis plot and the Oroondates-Thalestris plot. Neither Lee nor Bankes succeeded in handling one duplicating plot — the Lysimachus-Parisatis plot — to much advantage; and Pordage's failure in attempting two is not to be wondered at. These subplots are so faintly sketched that a reader un- familiar with Cassandra would have great difficulty in follow- ing their hazy wanderings through the play. Their appear- ance at irregular intervals only furnishes unnecessary complications and confusion. The words of M.C. to his most Honoured Friend prefaced to ''Four New Playes" by Wm. Killigrew (1666) might be very well applied to the plot of Pordage's play: The whole Intrigue a Labyrinth, which you Through all the windings furnish with a Clue, By which the wandring Traveller is Ledde Through wayes past finding out but by your Thred The Plot and Scenes wrapt up in such disguise As when a fine Cloud darkens the bright skies. Pordage has not to any considerable extent borrowed the phrasing of La Calprenede, although at times he paraphrases rather closely. The following parallel extracts from the 118 Herbert Wynford Hill scene where the hero and heroine are threatened with death by their rivals will illustrate the nature of his indebtedness: The Siege of Babylon Act III, p. 32 Roxa. Ingrateful as thou art, thou shalt not dye Thy Life is safe enough, whilst I am by; For with my own, I will thy Life defend. And though thou hatest me, shew my self thy Friend. Oron. Since to Statira you 'ave such malice shown. You are to me most black, and odious grown: Ev'n Perdiccas, I love much more, than thee. And pardon, all his cruelties, to me. Because his care, and tender- ness I 'ave seen, In snatching, from thy Murth- 'rous hands, my Queen, When you, with so much wrath, and Rudeness prest. That dreadful Javelin, 'gainst her tender Breast. Cassandra P. 554 Thou shalt not die, (said she) [i.e. Roxana] and as un- grateful as thou art, I'le defend thy life as carefully as mine own. I give thee but little thanks for that care, (replied Oroondates) and all the suc- cour I can receive from thee, cannot but be very odious to me, after having seen thee present that Javelin against the breast of my Princess: I love Perdiccas a great deal better, for all he is so much my Enemy; and for his tenderness of my Queen, I easily pardon all his cruelty toward me; .... The style of The Siege of Babylon does not differ essen- tially from that of the earlier play founded on Cleopatra; it is simple rather than ornate, and direct rather than roundabout. There is no excess of figures of speech. Where figures are introduced, however, they are generally sustained through several lines as in the following passages, both drawn from the sea: La Calprenede's Romances 119 Madame, how like the Sea, when calm, you show, So soft your aspect, and so smooth, your brow; But once, this day, when you grew rough in Arms, You seem'd to me, Hke the Wild Seas, in Storms. The quiet Sea, does some soft pleasure yield, But its great power, in Tempests is beheld, His dreadful majesty, then best appears, When he shoots up his Waves, to the bright Stars You are more noble, in your dreadful Arms. 'Twas that fierce bravery, which I saw in you, That only could, my untam'd Heart, subdue.^ and the following: When the Sea's calm, the Air Serene, and clear, The Ship before the Wind, each Buoy can steer. But when the Winds, roar in their shatter'd shroudes, When Heaven's bright face, grows terrible, with cloudes And angry Seas, to moving Mountaines grow. The Pilot then his skill, and Art does show 'Tis now, Cassander, you must show your skill. And try, if you can save, as well as kill. Now you must shew, your courage, and your care, To every Guard, and every Watch repare: Statira was belov'd, and you will see Th' enraged Babylonians Mutiny: They will revenge her Death, on you, and me. If us, from threatning stormes, you now can save, You shall enjoy, the Fortune, of the Brave.^ The Rival Kings^ In the dedicatory preface to The Rival Kings Bankes makes capital of his indebtedness to La Calprenede. 1 Act I, scene 3, p. 15. 2 Act IV, p. 46. 3 Written by John Bankes, 1677. The title-page of the first edition reads: "The Rival Kings: or the Loves of Oroondates and Statira A Tragedy. Acted at the Theater-Royal. Written by Mr. Bankes. Divesne Prisco natus ab Inacho, Nil interest, au Pauper, & inflma De gente sub dio moreris, Victima nil miserantis Orci. — Horat. Lib. ii, Ode 3. London, Printed for L. C. in Goat Court on Ludgate Hill, 1677." The play is dedicated in high-flown language to the Right Honourable The Lady Katherine Herbert. Unless otherwise specified all page references are to this edition. The British Museum catalogue lists only this one edition. 120 Herbert Wynford Hill I bring [he writes] in my behalf too the Conqueror of the World, to lay before your feet, the greatest Man that ever was, who, were he living, wou'd become a Rival to his dear Ephestion, and behold in your Person, as well the sweet, serene, and obliging innocence of Parisatis, as the more lofty and Imperial Graces of his Statira. This great Man, Madam, the Author of the famous Cassandra thought never to be equall'd, but in the person of the most exquisite of Lovers, him therefore he has raised in the Character of Oroon- dates, to be a Rival to the mighty Alexander in the Romance, and here I have brought him to be so in you, and the rather, because I prefer him to the Hkeness of the young, hopeful, and gallant Partner of your seK, which I pray he may never cease to be, but early anticipate the extraordinary expectations of Mankind, and crown you with greater happiness then Fame and Fancy have yet created in the minds of the most Heroick Lovers. This, and whatever increases your fehcity shall be the perpetual wishes of, Madame, Your most Humble and Obedient Servant John Bankes In the prologue Bankes again refers to Cassandra: [The author] Bids me remember ere you be displeas'd How with Cassandra's fam'd Romance ye were pleas'd How many nights 't has kept you long awake Nay and have wept for Oroondates sake. It seems fairly evident that Bankes counted that the popularity of the romance would help create an interest in his play. So far as I know, all critics have accepted Bankes's statement of the case without further question. Langbaine hints vaguely that Bankes may have consulted Curtius and Justin,^ although there is not the slightest basis for any such conclusion. But no one appears to have recognized any indebtedness to Lee. Bankes in his epilogue 1 Langbaine's words are: "The play is founded chiefly on Cassandra a famed Romance in Pol. As to what concerns Alexander, I refer you to Curtius and Justin." La Calprenede's Romances 121 evidently anticipated that such indebtedness would be recognized and claims that his play was written a year before Lee's : But justly tax the Poets want of sence. That after your lov'd Alexander dare^ Bring this with all your Ukings to compare, A Play with scenes and Acting so admir'd As if the Souls they play'd had them inspir'd. So 'tis with her that has an ugly face, Proud of false charmes, and her affected grace. Sits by some cry'd up Beauty of the Town, And imitates each glance that's not her own. And when some Gallant from the Pit doth bow, how she snatches it and court'sies low! The careless Beauty then sits by the while. Kills with a frown and raises with a smile; — Yet this excuse upon the Authors score, This though come last, was writ a year before. a statement which contradicts Sidney Lee's explanation that *'he was tempted by the success of Lee's Rival Queens to write a similar tragedy in verse, entitled Rival Kings. ^^ There are, however, some striking resemblances between the two plays, resemblances of such a nature that they could hardly result from coincidence. Bankes opens the play with the presentation of the dis- satisfaction among Alexander's generals at his treatment of certain of their comrades, a number of whom he has killed in fits of ungovernable rage. The names of these, the order of the presentation, and the method of handling the scene are the same as in Lee's account. This in itself would not be convincing proof as both Plutarch and La Calprenede give most of the material; but in two trifling details is found evidence of Bankes's familiarity with Lee's play. The first of these is Cassandra's account of how Alexander 1 Lee's play was commonly known by its second title. Alexander the Great. 122 Herbert Wynford Hill ''struck me on the Face" the phrasing being identical in the two plays. The second is the detail that Parmenio was stabbed in his own garden or orchard. This detail of the place is not given by Plutarch or La Calpren^de but was added by Lee as an effective touch, and enlarged upon by Bankes, who makes a good deal of the fact that Parmenio was thus treasonably slain in his own garden. At the close of the play, in Alexander's death scene, Bankes imitates Lee in giving to Alexander delirious visions of battle. The phrasing is not the same, but the resemblance is unmistakable.^ The Rival Kings, p. 50 See, see the Battailes Joyn- Beat, beat the Drumes, BiLcephalus inrag'd he Champs and foames; Darius with his hooked Charriots comes. Wheres old Parmenio f Let more Trumpets sound; How his proud horse does beat the fearful ground! Haste, haste — Ephestion's rout- ed in the wing, — Now, now they have inclos'd him in a Ring — Heark how they shout and clap their hands for joy. The Gods have ravish'd my beloved Boy! 1 The speech was burlesqued by below, p. 158. The Rival Queens, p. 63 Sound, sound, keep your Ranks close, ay now they come; the brave dinn, the noble clank of Arms! Charge, Charge apace, and let the Phalanx move. Darius comes, — ha! let me in, none dare To cross my fury; — Philotas is unhors'd; Ay 'tis Darius, 1 see, I know him by the spark- ling Plumes, And his Gold Chariot drawn by ten white Horses: But like a Tempest thus I pour upon him. — He bleeds, with that last blow I brought him down He tumbles, take him, snatch the Imperial Crown. They fly, they fly,— foUow, follow, — ^Victoria, Victoria, Victoria, — let me sleep. Durfey in The Richmond IHeir ess; cf . La Calprenede's Romances 123 In other places throughout the play there are echoes from Lee as, for instance, the following: The Rival Kings, p. 43 The Rival Queens, p. 49 Alex. The hand that from my Alex. When from my reins the Bosom pul'd a Dart JaveUn's head was cut, .... Ne're felt me tremble with the Did I tremble? sudden smart; That Bankes rather than Lee was the borrower seems perfectly clear. There is no evidence that Lee saw Bankes's play before writing his own, whereas Bankes admits a knowledge of Lee's before he pubUshed his own. Aside from this, however, there is further evidence pointing to the same conclusion. His assignment of the chief role to Alexander was a blunder due to Lee's influence. A brief synopsis of the plots will help to establish this point. In La Cal- prenede's romance, Oroondates, the hero, in a night attack on the Persians invades the tent of Statira, daughter of Darius, and falls desperately in love with her at sight. Later he goes in disguise to the Persian court and wins her favor. She is, however, deceived by a rival into believing him false, and marries Alexander. Disguised as a gardener, Oroondates visits Statira now the wife of Alexander and is spurned. He rescues Alexander from drowning, and later resists the temptation to kill him when easy opportunity offers. Banished from Statira's presence he languishes in sickness for two months; then setting out to kill Alex- ander he hears that his rival is dead and that Statira has been executed. The romance from here on is concerned with the rescue of Statira who, it later appears, is still living. Here it would seem is abundant material for an exciting play. This is what Bankes did with it: Alexander having conquered Persia falls in love with the daughter of the ruler, but is scorned by her, she being in love 124 Herbert Wynford Hill with Oroondates. Oroondates visits Statira and is dis- covered by Alexander, who puts him under guard, but later generously pardons him and restores him his freedom and kingdom. Alexander further invites him to attend his wedding with Statira on the morrow. Before the morrow, however, Alexander is poisoned and Oroondates gets Statira. The part of Oroondates is purely a filling in part; he does absolutely nothing except wait around for the time when the heroine is to be awarded. Alexander holds the center of the stage from the beginning to the close. He is drawn elaborately in shifting moods: now controlled by fiery love, now by impetuous, ungovernable fits of temper. He is presented as noble and forgiving and above taking unfair advantage of a rival. The whole of the last act is concerned with his death, and the play closes not with a prophecy of happiness for Oroondates but of revenge for the death of Alexander. About the only resemblance between the plots of the play and the romance is in the central situation. Alexander is in love with Statira, who is in love with Oroondates, and even this requires modification, for in the romance Statira is married to Alexander and faithful to him until death. How a dramatist who was familiar with Cassandra could overlook such dramatic scenes as Oroondates coming upon Statira asleep, or disguised as a gardener, or hanging over the sleep- ing Alexander sword in hand, is difficult to conceive. Evi- dently he was dazzled by the success of the play of his contemporary. If he did not write the play under Lee's inspiration he certainly vigorously revised it after Lee's play came out. In the subplot as well there is indication of Lee's influence; Bankes imitates Lee in making Parisatis in love with Lysimachus; in Cassandra she prefers Hephestion, and La Calprenede's Romances 125 remains faithful to him until he dies of a surfeit. Bankes is original in his account of the rescue of Parisatis from the devouring flames and in making Hephestion die at the hands of Lysimachus. It is interesting to note that neither Lee nor Bankes makes effective use of the subplot. In The Rival Queens it has little bearing on the principal plot, but rather distracts attention; in The Rival Kings although it is a duplicating plot it overshadows the principal plot; Lysimachus is more of a hero than Oroondates. Although both adopted La Calprenede's machinery, neither knew how to manage it. Bankes's style is that of one who has given his nights and days to the reading of contemporary heroic plays like Lee^s rather than of La Calprenede's romances. He outdoes Lee in bombast and fustian, but it is with great effort. In the dedicatory preface to the Right Honourable The Lady Katherine Herbert he complains: How hard is it then for a young Writer to please this delicate Age, wherein every year the Wits study the fashion of Language to refine, and alter it, as they do their Cloathes; and true it is, that 'tis another thing to write the sence and speeches of Heroes that are dead, and make 'em speak as we please, govern'd by our fancy, then it is to reach the minds of those illustrious Persons that Poetry is forc'd to choose to be above its judges, the Patrons of Wit. A few specimens of his up-to-date garments will give a sufficiently accurate idea of their cut and finish. The costume flashes and sparkles with tinsel scintillations: the gorgeous splendor of the sun, the glitter of stars, the gleam of gems and gold, the sparkling flashing brilliance of the light upon the waters dazzles the sight. Where'er Alexander comes ''he fills the Skye with light," "clad in Armour made of shining Gold," he shoots "like a 126 Herbert Wynford Hill Star'* into a town, or '4ike a flaming horrour o're the World 'e Darts/' and "like a flaming Beacon he does fright Tame Nations." Parisatis is described as: Some dazzling Constellation from the Skye! Sure 'tis the rich Vermillion that does grace The evening Sun sent t' adorn this place/ She out-dazzles flames; as in the scene where Lysimachus rescues her : Where I beheld this Goddess on the floor, Yielding to flames, that did her eyes adore In a dark swoond, and yet her form so bright Her glorious beauty dazzl'd all the hght. I took this sacred burthen in one arm, And with the other scattered every harm; The Fire recoil'd, and hung upon the wall, Bowing its conquered head, and down did fall: Like the bright Taper, it did soon decay, That lost its splendor at the sight of day.^ and again: Her soul appears all glorious as her face, A shining Jewel in a Chrystal case.^ The sort of pathetic fallacy included in the next to the last passage quoted is thoroughly characteristic of Bankes's style; the passage first quoted describing Parisatis continues :^ Heark, how the Air with Gentle murmur steals. To catch the Odour on her Lips, that dwells, More sweet than Breath, sent from the CousUps Bed, Or fragrant Banks with purple Violets spred.^ 1 p. 20, beginning of Act III. 2 P. 4. 3 Act III, p. 24. * P. 20. 6 Cf . Twelfth Night, opening lines. La Calprenede's Romances 127 and a little farther on : Look back, beauteous daughter of the spring, Whose divine presence, whiles these walks she treads Makes chearful Birds with welcome Carrols sing, And drooping flowers hold up their grateful heads. Love's Triumph^ In 1678, Oroondates and Statira were forced again from the peaceful shades of their happy retirement to throw themselves at the princely feet of Her Highness The Most Illustrious Mary Princess of Orange.^ The play thus 1 "Loves Triumph or The Royal Union: A Tragedy. Written By Edward Cooke Esq; And Dedicated To Her Highness The Princess of Orange. .... amicus dulcis, ut sequum est, Cimi mea compenset vitiis bona: pluribus hisce (Si modo plura mihi bona sunt) inclinet: amari Si volet: hae lege, in trutina ponetur eadem. — HoR. Serm. Satyr. 3. London, Printed by Thomas James, and are to be sold by him at the Printing- Press in Mincing-lane, and William Leach at the Crown in Comhil. MDCLXXVIII." 2 The Epistle Dedicatory. To Her Highness The Most Illustrious Mary Princess of Orange reads: " .... Be pleased then to receive this Poem (an absolute stranger to the world, being never yet seen upon the publick theatre) with that generosity and grace you are always ready to bestow upon the imiortimate and fair: and such your Highness knows were Oroondates and Statira, who now being forc'd again from the peaceful shades of their happy retirement, do throw themselves at your princely feet, with the reverence and humility of idolaters, devoutly begging their Protection might be in yoiir Highness' umbrage as in the only place where they can best be secured from the envy, if I may not venture to say, malice of persecuting censors." The author proceeds to describe the Duchess in true heroic style: "There is in Your Highness' looks, such a shine and lustre of beauty, as is not to be resembled by anything below a divinity; and as the brightness and glory of it, like the sun, delights and refreshes the eyes of all mankind; so also you have mixt with it such a fierceness and grand air of majesty, that, like a divinity too, you cannot be beheld Avithout fear and trembUng." After continuing for some time in this vein, he turns to the description of her husband, truly a veritable Artaban or Oroondates: "He is so God-like in his vertues, and all his actions; a prince of such dazzling brightness in his glory and renown, as it is impossible to be exprest, except we set down whatever is accoimted excellent, and that he is. A Prince that knew how to conquer, before the world could reasonably imagine he was capable of wielding his sword. His coimtenance is so martial that it plainly expresses the great courage he hath, not to know what fear is in himself; and yet can strike a general dread and consternation in others; so that he needs not be obliged to the use of arms to conquer his enemies, for he can easily 128 Herbert Wynford Hill dedicated, Edward Cooke's Loves Triumph, was never acted, and only one edition was ever published. The play opens with Roxana's discovery that Statira, whom she had seen put to death, still lives, protected by Perdiccas. The plot follows in detail that part of Cassandra dramatized by Pordage except that the Artaxerxes-Berenice plot is sub- stituted for the Orontes-Thalestris plot. The play is a close dramatization of Cassandra; there is hardly a speech of any length that is not a paraphrase. There are a few short scenes of a few lines each not taken from Cassandra.^ But in all the other scenes the details are the same and in most of the scenes the words are closely paraphrased.^ In one place at least he has followed the romance word for word, where he gives Roxana's letter to Oroondates.^ A few parallel passages will show how faithfully Cooke rendered the romance: Perdiccas urges that Oroondates be freed. Roxana opposes it. Loves Triumph Cassandra Scene V, p. 6 P. 541 Perdiccas (speaking to Roxana): [Perdiccas speaking:] Madam, I think their satis- It is just, said he, that Oroon- faction must dates should be given you, and Not be despised, but given them, though you very well know by 'tis just. the confession I make you of gain the victory over them when ere he pleases but to employ the terror of his looks. But yet withal, he has such grace-full and winning charms, as none is able to behold him without admiration. Such justness and regularity is in his shape and meen, such sweetness in his motions, and such a generous con- descention in all his ways; that he does not so much make to himself slaves by the force of his valoiir, as he does cause all hearts to become tributary to him by his obliging and familiar address." 1 Act III, scenes 1, 2, 4, and 5; Act IV, scene 6; Act V, scenes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7. 2 This is true of Act I, scenes 3, 5, 8, and 9; Act II, scenes 1, 2, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, and 12; Act III, scenes 9 and 10; Act IV, scenes 1, 2, 3, 8, and 9; and in Act V, scenes 8, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, and 15. 8 Act II, scene 11. La Calpkenede's Romances 129 Loves Triumph And though you knew how much my int'rest does Dechne his freedom, and his fetters choose; Yet is their Virtue and high Merit such, To grant all they can ask is not too much. Cassandra my love, how great an interest I ought to have in detaining him, and what damage I shall receive by his hberty; I'le lay aside the consideration of my own repose, etc. Roxana proposes that Statira be given up in place of Oroondates : She would as weak before our walls appear. As now she does, being your close prisoner But Oroondates is a Scythian born And one our Absolute defeat has sworn: The greatest of our enemies will be, And we are ruin'd, if we set him free. Besides she's a woman, as weak without our Walls as in our Prison; .... but Oroon- dates is a Scythian that has taken arms for our destruction .... moreover he is the greatest and most terrible of your ene- mies, so that you cannot set him at liberty without contributing to your ruin. Seleucus exasperated at this speech breaks in: Do you no more our services regard ? Are slights for loyalty the due reward ? Is it because among the dead we lay. Mangled with wounds, and neer as cold as they; Whilst those, who now dispose of us, did flie, P. 542 What (said he with a louder voice than ordinary) is it thus you use us after what we have done for this party ? and have you so soon forgotten that we have preserved the glory of it by our Actions; is it because we were left among the dead all mangled with wounds, while those who now dispose of us sought their safety behind our Walls? 130 Herbert Wynford Hill Oroondates receives a letter: Loves Triumph My Lord! You are permitted to see my Rival, according to your desire, but it is not meant you should make use of the favour to the Ruin of those who grant it you. It is in your power to turn it to your advantage, if you use it as prudence would advise you; and in councelling Statira not to think of you any more: You ought to receive the coun- sel she will give you to loose all thoughts of her. This is the way you ought to follow, if you love her Hfe since it shall meerly depend upon the success of this Enterview. ROXANA Cassandra My Lord! You are permitted to see my Rival, according to your desire, but it is not meant you should make use of the favour to the Ruin of those who grant it you. It is in your power to turn it to your advantage, if you use it as prudence would advise you; and in councelUng Sta- tira not to think of you any more: You ought to receive the counsel she will give you to loose all thoughts of her. This is the way you ought to follow, if you love her life since it shall meerly depend upon the success of this Enterview. RoXANA The characters are faithfully reproduced; indeed here as in the plot the author seems to take it for granted that his audience is familiar with Cassandra. He follows La Cal- prenede's phrasing so closely that it is hard to identify his own style. The verse is stiff and labored, utterly lacking in ease and grace. Occasionally we get a glimpse of what he can do in such passages as the following where he has cut loose from the parent wing and ventured a few flights on his own pinions : Ye mighty Powers! how subtle are your wayes! How are they all encircled in the Rayes Of richest Mercies! As glistring Stars which oft obscur'd we find, Yet still remain the same the clouds behind.^ Act II. scene 12, p. 26. La Calprenede^s Romances 131 Again: 'Tis true but then when Angry heaven shrouds Its glory up in dark and sullen clouds, We ought to fear least from those clouds should break Such storms as may a fatal vengeance speak And now my Oroondates is in armes Nothing but tears can give me pleasing charmes.^ Or this, which reminds us of Bankes: I'll act the Phaeton of my Mrs Eyes, And with her Rayes I'll fire their Pallaces, And make one Comet of the spacious skies.'^ He had great difficulty in finding rhymes for his couplets. Such rhymes as esteem, him; queen, win; declare, fear; him, sublime; give, leave, greet the reader on every page, showing the extremity he was put to. The Young King^ The year following Loves Triumph there appeared at Dorset Garden Mrs. Behn's The Young King.^ This play is founded on one of the most interesting of the minor histories in Cleopatra, the story of Alcamenes and Mena- lippa.^ The main plot of the play follows the story as told by La Calprenede in all essential details. 1 Act I, scene 7, p. 9. 2 Act IV, scene 1, p. 39. « The Young King was first published 1683. Unless otherwise specified the page references are to this edition. The title-page reads: "The Yoxmg King: or, the Mistake. As 'tis acted at his Royal Highness The Dukes Theatre. Written by A. Behn. London: Printed for D. Brown, at the Black Swan and Bible without Temple-bar. T. Benskin in St. Brides Church-yard Fleet-street, and H. Rhodes, next door to the Bear-tavern near Bride-lane in Fleet-street. 1683." Another edition was published in 1698. * Genest (Vol. I, p. 273) assigns the performance to the latter end of 1679 on the basis that the "Epilogue is said to have been spoken at the Duke of Yorks second exile into Flanders." The play was written several years before; it was the first of the plays written by this ingenious author. 6 William Mears in his Catalogue of Plays (1713) mentions a tragedy called Alcameves and Menalippa, and ascribes it to William Philips. I hare been xmable to see a copy of this play. 132 Herbert Wynford Hill Thersander the son of the King of Scythia, disguised under the name of Clemanthis, visits the kingdom of the hostile King of Dacia. Among the Dacians he wins a wonderful reputation for valor, among other exploits saving the life of the general of the army. One day, sleeping near a murmuring spring in a beautiful grove, he is discovered by Cleomena, the lovely Princess of Dacia. He opens his eyes to this lovely vision and leaves his liberty at her feet. From now on he is willing to follow her "to th' utmost bounds of the Universe." She too falls in love but disdains him as he seems to be of low station. The ''General " whose life the hero has saved is less particular and offers the hero his daughter in marriage. Cleomena although disdainful becomes jealous of this daughter and banishes the unhappy Clemanthis. Thersander in his own character — and un- recognized by the Dacians as Clemanthis — enters, on the Scythian side, a battle against the Dacians; he saves his father's life and turns the tide of the battle in favor of the Scythians. He can no longer live outside the presence of Cleomena and again as Clemanthis he visits the Dacian court. The Dacians challenge Thersander to single combat, and select as their champion Clemanthis. Thus it happens that our hero faces a combat with himself. Nothing daunted, he selects a friend to represent himself as Clemanthis and he in the person of Thersander is to capture the pseudo- Clemanthis, the understanding being that neither is to be injured. This highly satisfactory program is broken into by an unforeseen difficulty : the friend representing Cleman- this is killed by rivals for the hand of Cleomena. Cleomena thinking that Thersander is the party guilty of the death of Clemanthis, and herself being trained in arms, enters in the armor of Clemanthis the arena against Thersander. La Calprenede^s Romances 133 Thersander wounds Cleomena and discovers her identity, but she recognizes in him only the slayer of her lover. She is set free and the King of Scythia proposes that the two nations be united by the marriage of Thersander and Cleomena. Cleomena is horrified at the proposal. In disguise she penetrates the Scythian lines and stabs Ther- sander. As he is dying he implores a visit from Cleomena; she yields at the last moment and discovers in Thersander her lover whom she has thought dead. She confesses her love to him, and he recovers. To this main plot from Cleopatra, Mrs. Behn added two subplots not from La Calprenede: a supporting plot built up around the friend killed as Clemanthis, and a rather coarse semi-comic plot based on the character of Orsames a young man who has never seen a woman.^ In addition to the characters so introduced there are a few characters not from Cleopatra, but none of importance — the fop-courtier, a sort of Sir Andrew, might be noticed. But the principal characters are taken bodily from the romance. The characters and the situations and the incidents are sufficiently familiar to the reader by this time to call for no further comment. There are however in the plots some new combinations, and a sprinkling of novelty such as to give it spice and interest. The story as told by La Calprenede is one of the most dramatic of his minor plots and very vividly presented. Mrs. Behn found the material so well suited to her purpose that the task of play writing was reduced to cutting the lines and putting them into blank verse. A few passages will illustrate the process. The Heroine discovers the hero asleep in a grove, his plumed cap lying near by: » Almanzor in Polezander is raised in the same ignorance. 134 Herbert Wynford Hill The Young King, I, ii, p. 8 Cleo. Must this be he must kill the King of Scythiaf For I must lay no claim to any other: Grant, Oh ye Gods, who play with Mortals thus, That him for whom ye have design'd your Slave, May look like this Unknown, And I'll be ever grateful for the Bounty. — But these are vain imaginary joys. Cleopatra, Part II, p. 128 [Men.] Is this he, to whom the Gods have destined the ruine of the King of Scythiaf . . . . If it please the Gods (con- tinued she) that he for whom heaven and my fortune reserves me, resemble this Unknown, how much shall I be obliged to their bounty? But alas (pur- sues she with a sigh) I feed upon vain imaginations. The hero awakes and, seeing her, addresses her: Ther. Great Goddess, pardon an unlucky Stranger, The errours he commits 'gainst your Divinity, Who, had he known this Grove had Sacred been, He wou'd not have prophan'd it by his presence. P. 8 Cleo. Rise, Sir, I am no Deity; Or if I were, I cou'd not be offended To meet so brave a man Ther. Can you be mortal! What happy Land contains you? Or what Men Are worthy to adore you? Cleo. I find you are a stranger to this place, You else had known me to be Cleomena. [Ale] Great Goddess, said he, pardon to a stranger the errour he may have committed against your Divinity; had I known this sacred place, I would not have prophan'd it by my presence. P. 129 [Men.] I am no Goddess, or, if I were, I could not be dis- pleased to meet you: [Ale.] What Land can con- tain her, or what men are worthy to adore her! [Men.] .... and were you no stranger .... you had possibly known the Princess Menalippa La Calprenede's Romances 135 The Young King Ther. The Princess Cleomena! my mortal Enemy! Cleo. You seem displeas'd at the knowledge of my name; But, give me leave to tell you, yours on me Wou'd have another Sense. Ther. The knowledge of your Name has not displeased me; But, Madam, I had sooner took you for The Soveraign of the world than that of Dacia; Nor ought you to expect less adoration From all that World, than those who're born your Slaves; — ^And amongst those devout ones number him. Whose happy Fate conducted to your Feet, And who'll esteem himself more fortunate. If by that little service he had rendered you, Clemanthis' Name have ever reach'd your Ear. Cleopatra .... MenaUppa, his mortal enemy. [Men.] I know not (said she) whether the knowledge of my name hath given you any dis- pleasure, but I should be very glad to learn yours. [Ale] the knowledge of your name hath not surprized me .... I should rather take you for the Sovereign of the Universe, than the Princess of Dacia; and you ought not to expect less homage from all men, than from those who are born your subjects; and amongst the most humble adorers of those marks of Di- vinity, which appear visible in you, you may number him whom his good fortune hath conducted to your Feet, and who will esteem himself exceed- ing glorious if that httle service, by which he hath endeavored to render you, the name of Alcimedon hath arrived at your ears. And so the scene runs, closely paraphrasing the scene in the romance. Mrs. Behn has also copied her landscape from La Calpren^de. , The Young King, II, iii, pp. 20+ Cleo. Look Clemanthis — on yonder tuft of Trees, Cleopatra, Part II, p. 132 The Princess shewed him a Spring, encompassed with some 136 Herbert Wynford Hill The Young King Near which there is a Httle mur- muring Spring, From whence a Rivolet does take its rise, And branches forth in Channels through the Garden; 'Twas near a place like that where first I saw Clemanthis. Ther. Madam, be pleas' d to add, 'twas also there Clemanthis left his Liberty at the Feet Of Divine Cleomena; And charg'd himself with those too glorious Chains, Never to be dismist but with his Life. Cleo. Stranger — before I pun- ish thy Preseumption, Inform me who it is that has offended: Who giving me no other knowl- edge of him, Than what his Sword has done — dares raise his eyes to me ? Cleopatra Trees, from whence a Rivulet took its rise, branching forth in many channels, through the Garden. It was (said she) near such a place as this that I first saw Alcimedon: .... and you may add, Madam, replied Alcammes, 'Twas in that place, that Al- cimedon left his liberty at the feet of the divine Menalippa, and charged himself with those glorious Chains which he will carry to his tomb. Stranger, said she, if I behold thy boldness with rigour, I should judge it worthy of pun- ishment, .... first let her know who is this audacious man, that without giving us any other knowledge than that of his Sword, dares lift his eyes to the Princess of Dacia. In her character presentation Mrs. Behn sticks closely to La Calprenede's interpretation. Note her presentation of the jealous rage of the heroine:^ 1 Note also in the speech of the heroine when she discovers her supposed lover dead (III, iv; Cleopatra, Part II, p. 155) and the hero's speech when he discovers he has been fighting against the heroine (,The Young King, IV, ii; Cleopatra, Part II, p. 157). The heroine's letter to the hero in answer to his proposal {The Young King, IV, v, p. 153) is patched up from lines taken from the letter in the romance {Cleopatra, Part II, p. 165). The trial of the heroine for her murderous assault on the hero {The Young King, V, 1), follows closely La Calprenede's Romances 137 The Young King, II, 4, p. 26 'Twas but even now, he lov'd me with such Ardor; And he, who promis'd me the Crown of Scythia Dars't thou become unjust, un- grateful Stranger! Who having rais'd thy Eyes to Cleomena Would sacrifice her to another Mistress: Traitor — hast thou the impu- dence to appear before me, Cleopatra, Part II, p. 138 .... this man who late loved me with so much ardor .... he who promised to Crown me Queen of Scythia, should be no other than a De- ceiver .... who having lifted his eyes to MenaUppa .... would now sacrifice her to Barzana's Daughter? Traytor, hast thou the impudence to present thy self before me ? the scene in the romance (Cleopatra, Part II, pp. 170+) . The reconciliation scene duplicates that of the romance: The Young King, Y, 4, p. 59 Cleo. Thersander, I am come to beg thy pardon, If thou art innocent, as I must be- lieve thee. And here before the King to make confession Of what I did refuse the Queen my Mother. Know then, I lov'd! and with a perfect passion. The most unfortunate of men, Clemanthis. His Birth I never knew, but do be- have It was Illustrious, as were his Actions; But I have lost him by a fatal accident, That very day he should have fought with you. Ther. No, I shaU never complain of Cleomena If she still love Clemanthis. Cleo. There needs no more to make me know that Voice. Oh stay, this joy too suddenly sur- prizes .... Oh, my Clemanthis! do I hold thee fast? Cleopatra, Part II, p. 177 [Alcamenes] I come to make that reparation which I owe to you if you are innocent .... I will make a confession of that before the King .... which I re- fused to confess .... to my own Mother .... I have loved with an innocent affection the valiant Al- cimedon. His birth was never known to me, though I am not ignorant that it was of the most illustrious amongst men; .... I have lost him by a dismal accident, on that day he shoidd have fought with you. Alcamenes cannot complain of Menalippa's cruelty, if MenaUppa still loves her Alcimedon. He spake only these few words and there needed no more to make MenaUppa know the beloved voyce of Alcimedon Throwing her arms about his neck, .... Alcimedon, said she! 138 Herbert Wynford Hill It would be impossible to follow a source so closely as does Mrs. Behn without catching some of the style. And in some of the places where she uses her own invention we find passages like the following in La Calprenede's vein. Urania describes Amintas: A tempting Face and shape: A Tongue bewitching, soft, and Breath as sweet As is the welcome Breeze that does restore Life to man half kill'd with heat before: But has a Heart as false as Seas in Calms, Smiles j5rst to tempt, then mines with its Storms.^ Whatever the reason, there was for nearly two decades a dearth of heroic plays. In 1695, however, Lee's The Rival Queens was revived with great magnificence and in the next two years appeared two plays taken from La Calprenede. These were The Neglected Virtue, 1696, and The Unnatural Brother, 1697. Neglected Virtue, or The Unhappy Conqueror^ No author is assigned. Mr. H[ildebrand] Horden, who wrote and spoke one of the prologues, in a prefatory note dedicating the play to the Honourable Sir John Smith, Baronet, admits responsibility for the publishing of the play, but modestly assigns the authorship to a friend. No one, however, can read the preface without leaning strongly to the opinion that Mr. Horden himself is the friend referred to. In the first place, the play was not very successful and was severely attacked by the critics; and there was accord- ingly little glory to be gained by coming forward as the author. In the second place, Horden writing of 'Hhose 1 Act I, scene 1, p. 4. « The title-page reads: "Neglected Virtue: Or, The Unhappy Con- querour. A Play, Acted at the Theatre-Royal. By His Majesty's Servants. London: Printed for Henry Rhodes in Fleet Street, Richard Parker, at the Royal-Exchange, Sam Briscoe, the Corner Shop of Charles-street, in Russell-' street, Covent-Garden, 1696." La Calpren^jde's Romances 139 wide-mouth'd Curs, the Criticks," says, " But since they have had their Ends in running it down, 'tis under the Shelter of your Name I desire a poor maim'd Thing, that did its best to shew them Sport, may lye secure from farther danger." A friend might thus violently assail the critics, but it is highly improbable that a friend would speak so deprecatingly of the play as to call it a ''poor maim'd Thing."^ The main plot of Neglected Virtue is based on one of the supporting plots of Cleopatra^ namely, that of Artaban and Elisa. The play has a rather weak subplot^ intended to furnish some comic elements related to the main plot very slightly. The main plot opens with the account of a battle between the Medes and Parthians, fought by Tigranes, king of the Medes, to win Alinda, daughter of Phraates, king of the Parthians. Artaban, the hero, has been banished because having won great victories for the Parthians he has the insolence to ask for the hand of Alinda. Checking his resentment he comes to the aid of Phraates in the nick of time to save him from defeat at the hands of Tigranes. To this point the play follows the plot as given by La Cal- prenede. Now, contrary to the romance, Phraates of the play yields temporarily to the suit of the hero. The action is straightway brought back into the lines of the romance through a false oracle,^ which sets Phraates against the marriage of his daughter to Artaban; as in the romance 1 John Mottley, in his " List of all the English Dramatic Poets" (appended to Whincop's Scanderberg, printed London, 1747) assigns the play to Horden, although on just what basis he does not state. 2 The comic subplot is from Fletcher according to the revised Langbaine (cf. p. 165, 1699 ed.; cf. also Genest, II, 83). 3 The oracle is worked up by the Queen who has fallen in love with Arta- ban. This situation of an imscrupulous queen in love with the hero is a con- ventional one in the romance and heroic plays. Cf. Cassandra, Cleopatra, Pharamond; Aurengzebe, The Indian Emperor, The Indian Queen, Alcibiades, Don Carlos, etc. 140 Herbert Wynford Hill Alinda is promised to Tigranes, and Artaban is banished. In both the play and the romance Artaban attacks and kills one of the guards, and being captured grows insolent. The King offers him his life as a reward for his services. Artaban rejects the offer and by boastful threats spurs the King on to take his life. He is again banished. He furiously desires to take up arms against Phraates but is restrained by a promise he has made not to fight against the father of the heroine. At the risk of his life he returns to see Alinda. Here the author of the play takes final leave of the plot of the romance. La Calprenede brings the hero and heroine together in a happy conclusion. All the chief characters of the play meet with violent death: Artaban kills Tigranes, Memnon kills the King and the Queen, the heroine poisons herself, and the hero falls upon his sword.^ With the exception of the Queen and Memnon the char- acters of the play are taken from Cleopatra,^ The bright- eyed heroine Alinda is thus described by Artaban :^ Thou art all Goodness, perfect Charity; Nor does the Aetherial Maid that bears that Name, With half thy Beams, and brighten'd Beauties shine; Oh! I cou'd look, and love, and gaze, and live. And bask my self within these Rays for ever: Thy Eye's my Sphere of Light, thy Breast my Globe; My Garden's in thy Face, and in thy Heart my Love."* She is courageous and faithful in adversity and most beauti- ful when in tears (Act IV, scene 2, p. 30) : 1 In making the conclusion tragic he was following the precedent set by Lee, who ends nearly all his plays in tragedy. Note especially the endings of Gloriana, Mithridates, and Caesar Borgia; cf. also the endings of Otway's Alcibiades and Don Carlos, Tate's Loyal General, etc. 2 Elisa of the romance is given the name Alinda; but the other characters as Phraates, Artaban, Tigranes, etc., retain the names given in Cleopatra. 8 Act II, p. 18, first edition. * For a good burlesque pictiu*e of this kind of description see frontispiece to La Calprenede's Romances 141 Whilst from her Eyes those Diamond quarries run, The teary Streams that Dew'd her Rosal cheeks, Which as they fell bending to kiss her Lips, Her sighs drove back, to seek their Grave below. The Queen of Sorrow ne'er was Dressed like her. So beautifull she seem'd, so full of Grace , Amidst her griefs, she might have charm'd a God. Sorel's Berger extravagant. Written on the fly-leaf of the edition before me is the following description: John Bucknall The Extravagant Sheperd's Rhapsody on his Paragon of Beauty. See Frontispiece. How shall I describe my Beauteous Fair, Net Work, the Tresses of her Silken Hair. Each Locke, attracting, strongly doth impart As if from every Plat there hung a Heart. Upon her forehead is Urchin Cupid's Seat, Her Eyebrows, Uke her coral Lips, bid Fools Retreat. Her killing Eyes, the Radient Sim outshines, Roses and Lillies on her Cheeks Combines. Her teeth, like Rows of Precious Pearls appear. Her Breasts, like Globes, that Monarchs would endear. Her Balmy Lips enflames the Lovers sign Her Neck, a Pillar of fairest Ivory Her Bosom is Love's Paragon to see; Which draws the Curtain, fringed with Vanity. Whatever Natm-e unto Me has freely Giv'n As free I'd yield, as I received from Heav'n Her Image is a Pattern for the Lover's Praise. Oft Flies are Burnt within the Candles blaze So to Conclude and make the most of Time Let Critics, feeling Read, and mend the Rhyme. T. H. Thompson St. James Westminstre, J. B. July, 1813 The prologue to Thomas Duflfet's The Empress of Morocco is a similar burlesque: As when some dogrel-monger raises Up Muse, to flatter Doxies praises. He talks of Gems and Paradises, Perfumes and Arabian Spices; Making up Phantastick Posies Of Eye-lids, Foreheads, Cheeks and Noses, CaUing them Lillies, Pinks and Roses Teeth Orient Pearl, and Coral Lips are. Necks Alablaster and Marble Hips are; Prating of Diamonds, Saphyrs, Rubies, What a Pudder's with these Boobies ? Dim eyes are Stars, and Red hair's Guinnies: And thus described by these Ninnies, As they sit scribbUng on Ale-Benches Are Homely dowdy Country Wenches So when this Plot quite purged of Ale is. In naked truth but a plain Tale is; And in such dress we mean to shew it, In spight of our daron'd Fustian Poet, Who has disguis'd it with dull Hist'ri's, Worse than his Brethren e're did Mistress. 142 Herbert Wynford Hill Artaban is a distinct copy of La Calprenede's Artaban. He is invincible and of godlike appearance and demeanor. He has a natural fierceness, which when he is roused to anger strikes terror to the hearts of all who see him. The Queen says, Oh Heavens! how he looks, a brave disdain Strikes hke the Darts of Lightning through his Eyes,i yet "Alinda's name can charm his utmost rage."^ He is possessed of unbounded self-confidence which results in mighty boasts. He tells Alinda: Say, brightest Pattern of the Deities, speak, And let me know what Dowries you expect. Name in what fertile soil you'll have a Throne; Be it beyond the Alps, or there where runs Pactolus Streams oe'r Sands of shining Gold. I'll lead my conquering Bands where the bold Foot Of Warriour never trod, oe'r Hills of Snow, Where Summer's Suns ne'r made a Chearful Day Or changing climates farther Eastward go; Where Nature in her Fire, expiring lies. And the parch'd Earth gapes for a blast of Air: May search lost Paradice, and place ye there.' And speaking to Tigranes he says: That Life of mine is sacred, placed so high In the large Throne of Fame; thy Httle Arm Can never rise to touch it, as well thou mays't Great Jove in yonder Starry Seat attempt, And from his Fellow-Gods, discard him thence, Bottle his Winds and stand his Thunder-bolts. » p. 25. 2 Cf. also p. 28: My very Rage luxuriant for thee grown is stopt, Like the great Thunderer .... By a kind Goddess, etc. » P. 15. La Calprenede^s Romances 143 The author does not follow La Calpren^de's phrasing closely but evidently wrote the play with the romance fresh in his mind, as occasional parallels like the following indicate Artaban being refused Alinda bursts forth: Neglected Virtue Cleopatra Act III, scene 1, p. 25 Part I, p. 247 Look o're my Breast, and see His all the fruit I can shew the Scars it wears; of the scars I wear for you and These Seams torn to defend the unfortunate Tigranes, from thy tottering Throne, whose lofty crest I plucked And tell me, tell me, deluded down Victory, to perch her upon fearfull King, your Standards, tumbled him Have I deserv'd such Infamous from his Throne returns ? The conversation throughout the rest of this scene has a general resemblance to that in Cleopatra. The style of Neglected Virtue has been fairly well indi- cated by the passages already quoted. In the serious portions of the play the style is that of La Calprenede carried to extremes. It is more flamboyant, more exaggerated, but still hauntingly like La Calprenede's. This is especially notice- able in the numerous figures drawn from Nature, such as the following : So have I seen two Sister-Streams that spread. Their Silver Currents from one Fountain's Head, Kiss, and take each their several way, through all The fertile Soyle where their soft Murmurs fall. Till having run their Course, they kindly greet. And in the Sea, their twin'd Embraces meet.^ The following is even more like La Calprendde although I can quote no close parallel (p. 15) : 1 Act II, p, 19. Cf. The lines in The Rehearsal: " So boar and sow," etc., a parody on Dryden's "So two fond Turtles," etc. 144 Herbert Wynford Hill Close by the Mossy Head of some Sweet Spring, Whence gentle Streams their murmuring Cadence make Thro' flowry Meads, Green Lanes, and Whispering Groves. I'd rather Hve with thee than in gay Courts, Those busie Markets of Revenge and Hate. The Unnatural Brother^ Filmer encouraged by the renewal of interest in La Cal- prenede now tried his hand at a play from this author. He selected for his plot the story of Theander and Alcione from the Cassandra. It is interesting chiefly as being the only play based on a minor history from Cassandra, all the plays heretofore from Cassandra being taken from the principal plot. Filmer's play was first acted at the Lincoln's Inn Fields in 1697, and published the same year. It met with very poor success and passed from the stage after the third per- formance. In the preface the author comments on the ill success of the play. On inquiry from his friends he discovers that the faults of the play are : That the Play was too grave for the Age, That I had made a choice of too few Persons, and that the Stage was never filled; there seldom appearing above two at a time, and never above three, till the end and winding up of the whole. He defends the play by appeal to the ancients, con- tinuing : These are the mighty faults that have so intirely Damned this Play: and yet if these must be thought faults now in our nicer Age, I am sure they were not thought such heretofore by the Antients;' for they generally made use of but few Persons, and never made it any part of their business to fill the stage. 1 The title-page reads as follows: "The Unnatural Brother. A Tragedy, it was acted by His Majesties Servants, at the Theatre in Little Lincolns- Inn-Pields. London. Printed by J. Orme, for Richard Wilkin, at the Kings- Head in St. Paul's Church-yard. MDCXCVII." La Calprenede's Romances 145 Motteux attempted to revive a part of the play in his Novelty;^ the fourth act, called The Unfortunate Couple, being a condensation of the last part of Filmer's play with some slight changes. Motteux appears to have selected The Unnatural Brother largely for the reason that it had already been studied by the company, and yet he makes bold to praise the play in his preface. Then I wanted nothing but a Tragedy to have something of every kind [he naively explains]. But, as I said already, the best Tragedians were engaged in other Plays. At last I bethought my self of one already studied, called The Unnatural Brother, written by an ingenious Gentleman, and acted 6 months ago,, tho not with the success it deserved. Yet the latter Part was extremely applauded : So I was perswaded to make bold with it, as I do, with thankful Acknowledgment; but rather, because I could easily contract the most moving Part of the Story into the Compass of one Act, with some Additions; yet without mutilating my Author's Sense, for which I have all the Veneration imaginable. This presentation evidently met with no better reception than the original, if we may believe Gildon^ who disposes of it briefly as ''The Novelty; every word stolen and then Damned.'' The characters in The Unnatural Brother with the excep- tion of Leonora correspond closely to those of Cassandrd. Leonora is original with Filmer. Grammount plays the role of Theander, the honest loving husband who is led astray by villains. Montigny takes the part played by Cleonimus in the romance — the friend faithful to the end in spite of everything, Dampierre, La Calprenede's Astiages, and Beaufort, Bagistanes. Filmer departs from the romance, however, in making Dampierre the major villain. In i"The Novelty Every Act a Play Being a Short Pastoral. Comedy, Masque, Tragedy, and Farce after the Italian manner. As it is Acted at the New-Theatre in Little Lincoln's Inn-flelds. etc. London, 1697." 2 Charles Gildon, A Comparison Between the Two Stages, etc., 1702. 146 Herbert Wynford Hill Cassandra Bagistanes is the leading spirit; he it is who through inhuman cunning and bloodthirstiness leads all on to destruction.^ The following table will help to keep the reader straight on the relation of the characters in the two accounts : The Characters op The Corresponding The Unnatural Brother Characters in Cassandra Beaufort, Governour of Lyons Bagistanes, Governour of Baby- lon Grammount, Nephew to the Theander, Nephew to Bagis- Governour tanes Dampierre, Brother to Gram- Astiages, Brother to Theander mont Montigny, Friend to Gram- Cleonimus, Friend to Theander mount Elvira, Wife to Grammount Alcione, Wife to Theander Leonora, Sister to Grammount Lysette, Woman to Elvira A Maid, Woman to Alcione Nearly all of the incidents and situations of the play are taken from the romance, as the following comparative lists will show:^ 1 There are foior wicked brothers in Cleopatra, Ptolemey, Artaxes, Adal- lus, and Phraates. but no one of these appears to have influenced Filmer. 2 In the preface Fihner acknowledges his indebtedness to the Cas- sandra: "But I had almost forgot to acquaint the Reader with one objection more, against this Play, than what I have mentioned. On the third day, there was a certain Lady in one of the Boxes, who thought she could not more effectually decry it, than by declaring aloud that it was nothing but an old story taken out of Cassandra, And I readily grant it: yet can by no means aUow that to be a fault. Mr. Dryden has said too much in the defense of such an innocent piece of theft, and extremely well justified the thing, both by his Arguments and Practice. All I desire of that Lady, by way of amends, is, that if ever these Papers have the happiness to reach her hands, she would be pleased to renew her acquaintance with the story of Alcinoe [evidently for Alcione] in that Romance, and compare it with this Play: And then I dare be bold to aflftrm, she will not think me over-much beholding to it: But may perhaps be so charitable, as to entertain a more favourable opinion of the Play, and of the Poet." La Calprenede's Romances 147 The Unnatural Brother 1. Beaufort tells Dampierre of his lust for Elvira; they plot to seduce her. 2. Montigny is beloved by Leonora. 3. Dampierre interrupts a conversation between Leonora and Elvira in the garden. 4. Leonora runs away. Dampierre attempts to ravish Elvira but is prevented by the timely arrival of Montigny. 5. Dampierre accuses Mon- tigny to Grammount of attempt- ing to ravish Elvira. 6. Montigny learning of Dam- pierre's treachery shields him from Grammount because Dam- pierre is Grammount' s brother. 7. One of Elvira's maids cor- rupted by Dampierre confesses falsely to tearing up a love note from Elvira to Montigny. 8. Grammount accuses El- vira of inconstancy; she stabs herself. 9. Lysette, the maid, con- fesses to her treachery. 10. She is poisoned by Dam- pierre. 11. Grammount stabs him- self and dies. 12. Elvira dies. 13. Dampierre is condemned to die by torture. 14. Beaufort retires to a her- mitage. Cassandra The same. This situation is original with Filmer; there is no Leo- nora in Cassandra. Astiages comes upon Alcione in a garden, and presents inde- cent proposals from Bagistanes. Bagistanes attempts to ravish Alcione in his treasure chamber but is prevented by the timely arrival of Cleonimus. The same. The same. The same. The same. The same. Not in the romance. The same. Alcione recovers. Not in the romance. Not in the romance. 148 Herbert Wynford Hill Although Filmer thus faithfully renders La Calprenede's account, he does not slavishly follow his phrasing. At no point has he taken passages word for word, although in some cases he has paraphrased closely. It appears that the story in the romance was fresh in his mind, but he certainly did not work with the pages of Cassandra open before him. A few passages will serve to show to what extent he depended upon his source : The Unnatural Brother Act IV, p. 35 The scene is before Gram- mount's house. The stage di- rections read: Enter Grammount and a page before him with a Flam- beau. A noise of opening a door and Lysette enters who seeing Grammount pretends to avoid him. He stops her and turning up her hood sees her tearing a Letter with her Teeth. Gram. Hah! Who art thou that stealest Away so guiltily ? Nay, I must see, Lysette! Whither away at this unseason- able time of night, And what paper's that thou Humblest so ? Lyset. Alas! I am undone, Pardon me; sir. Oh Pardon me I beseech you. Gram. Would'st have me pard'n thee e're I know thy fault, Confess, and then perhaps thou mays' t deserve it. Lyset. Oh never, never, all that I desire. Cassandra Pp. 229+ When he was close by his own house, he by the light of a Torch which one of his servants carried before him, saw one of the maids come out, .... gods! (said she) I am un- done, and at the same time, she tore a Paper which she had in her hand, and thrust the pieces hastily into her mouth. (Theander speaks) Whither goest thou and whither wert thou carrying that paper which I saw thee tear just now? Ah; Sir (said she) I beseech you pardon me; and repeating those words twice or thrice, she appeared to be strucken with so great an astonishment that Theander' s was redoubled by it. Speak (said he) and if thou wilt have me pardon thee con- fess thy fault to me presently. La Calprenede's Romances 149 The Unnatural Brother Is that you would be so just, as to believe Me only guilty, for on my life My Lady's innocent. Gram. Hah! thy Lady, speak, what of her? Lyset. Why, she I do declare to all the world Is innocent, by all that's good she is. Nay were I to die next minute, My Tongue should end my story with that truth. Gram. I ask not of her inno- cence, but tell me. And tell me truely, as thou hop'st for any Mercy from me, whither wert thou Stealing with that Letter, and what Were the contents of it? Lyset. For Heaven sake, and for your own, Sir, Press me no further, here on my knees I beg you would not. Gram. Ha! Do'st thou dally with me ? Come, speak quickly, or by heaven thou diest. Lyset. Do with me what you please. But force me not, I do beseech you. To a Confession that — Gram. What! Speak I say, tell me. Cassandra That subtil wench wiping her eyes, and seeming to tremble, Ah! Sir, (reply'd she) my obe- dience is guilty, but yet both my Lady, and I are more inno- cent in effect than in appear- ance, and if I tore this letter, it was my fear that made me imprudently commit that fault. But from whom, and to whom wert thou carrying it, demanded Theander hastily? 150 Herbert Wynford Hill The Unnatural Brother What was that Paper, to whom directed, And from whom ? Lyset. Alas I die for fear. Gram. If thou continuest ob- stinate. Not all the world shall save thee from my Fury. Lyset. It was — Gram. What was it, speak I say? Lyset. It was a Letter — Gram. From whom ? Lyset. It was a Letter from my Lady — Gram. Well said, to whom ? Lyset. To — Yet, Sir, excuse me I conjure you. Gram. Hah more trifling, out with it boldly, or — Lyset. 'Twas to Montigny, Sir, Your best, and dearest friend, Montigny. Gram. To Montigny! Was it to Montigny, that El- vira sent thee With that Letter at this un- seasonable hour?i Cassandra My Lady (answered sent it to Cleonimus. she) Theander quite confounded, or rather quite beside himself, eyeing the wench from head to foot. Did Alcione (said he) send thee to Cleonimus at this time of the night and in the dark as I met thee ? The Death Scene The Unnatural Brother, p. 44 Gram. (To Elvira) No, fear not too hasty, or too hard A sentence from my mouth. False as thou art, A.V. Cassandra, P. 232 [Thea.] Fear not any worse usage from my resentment than what you have already received; my grief may well send me to my grave, but it In Lee's Caesar Borgia there is a similar incident. La Calprenede's Romances 151 The Unnatural Brother I cannot hate, where once I loved so well. Live then Elvira live long, but live a Stranger to Grammount. And that thou may'st Uve Happily, wipe from thy mem- ory the Dearest passages of some few past years, And see thou quite forget, there ere was such A wretch i'th world as I am. (After both have stabbed them- selves) P. 49 Elv. Oh my Grammount! My love can pardon thee any- thing. Yet 't was unkind, to give me thus A second wound, a wound more grievous To the poor Elvira, than the first Which gave her death. Cassandra shall never make me injure her I have too dearly and too per- fectly loved .... live without my friendship P. 233 [Ah.] Theander, dear cruel Theander, was not my death painful enough, without your making it a thousand times more sensible, by being guilty of yours ? It is easy to understand the ill success of The Unnatural Brother. The play has no snap or vim; from start to finish the action drags along at an intolerably slow pace. Where the situations demand swift, incisive action, there are to be found needless explanation and philosophical digressions. Grammount near the close of the play facing the destruction of his home, speaks thus: What is that thing caU'd Happiness, which Men With so much noise and eager zeal pursue 152 Herbert Wynford Hill So many several ways, each hoping to Attain it in the possession of some Distant longed-for Blessing, tho' all alike In vain ? For even that darhng Blessing Plac'd in a nearer light, and once enjoy'd, Loses but too much of its wonted lustre; Or else, encountered with rude Crosses from Abroad, is lost and buried in a thick And dismal Cloud of rank uneasie Cares. There's no such thing then as a happy man On this side of the Grave. Look on me, all You vain Pretenders, look on me, and own At last this Truth; for all the dearest Joys Of Life did seem to court and flatter me: Yet all those Joys are in one moment dampt, All vanisht, all lost to me for ever.^ There is little bombast; the blank verse, although prosy, carries the thought simply and with considerable dignity. Figures of speech are not numerous, although occasionally outbursts like the following occur: Elvira: From those dark Clouds which in thy Face appear, My boading heart foretells a rising Storm Of grief within thy Breast, speak, my Grammount, What ruder cares, to thy Elvira yet Unknown, sit heavy on thy drooping Soul P and again: Honour! thou strange fantastick airy thing. Thou losing bargain to the bravest Souls, Thou easie purchase, costly to maintain, Thou cloke to bold ambition's restless hopes; No more, to thy capricious humours will I blindly bow, nor court thee as a slave .^ But in the main the style is not ornate nor unpleasing. Like the action of the play it is plodding, unexciting, colorless. 1 Act V, p. 41. 2 Act I, p. 8. 3 Act I, p. 9. La Calpkenede's Romances 153 the decline of the heroic style In 1702 Mr. Betterton addressed an audience at the New Theatre m Lincolns Inn Fields in the following words: An Ancient Poet will appear to Night, Rais'd from Elysium to the Realms of Light. The softest Charmer of a Charming Age, Assumes the Buskin and ascends the Stage, To move your passions and your Hearts engage. But oh! How hardly will he reach his Aim, When Love and Honour are his only Theme ? There was a time, when all those Passions felt, And soothing Bards could stubborn Heroes melt. An Amorous Monarch fill'd a peaceful Throne, And laughing Cupids Perch'd upon his Crown. Still in some Breasts the British Spirit rose Which scorns all chains but what the Fair impose. Then Altemira might have hop'd Success, A tender Audience sharing her Distress. Then Heroes, govern'd by severer Rules, Had not been laugh'd at for Romantick Fools, But in this Iron-Age your Souls to move, In vain we try by Honour or by Love. The certain way to please your Vitious Tast, Are Streams of Blood and Volleys of Bombast. Dancers and Tumblers now the Stage Prophane, Musick and Farce alone our Plays sustain. And Art and Nature leave the trifling Scene .^ The complaint was not a new one. In 1668 Edward Howard^ bewails the prevalence of farce, and heroic plays: Works that have their measures adorned with Trappings of Rhime, which how'ere they have succeeded in wit or design, is still thought musick, as the Heroick Tone now goes. The other extream which deserves some Reflection; and which far more debases the Dignity of the Stage, is that of Farce or 1 Prologue by Henry St. John, Esq., prefaced to Charles Boyle's revision of Roger Boyle's Altemira, London, 1702. 2 In a preface to The Usurper, London, 1668. (The play was licensed August 2, 1667.) 154 Herbert Wynford Hill Scommatick Plays, which have so tickled some late Audiences, with I know not what kind of JoUity, that true Comedy is fool'd out of Countenance, and instead of Humor and wit (the Stages most Legitimate issue) leaves it to the inheritance of Changlings. No less Articke seems to many, the wresting in of Dances, when unnatural and improper to the business of the Scene and Plot, as if by an unintelligible Charm of their Muses, the Actors were like Fairies conjur'd up, that the play might vanish in a Dance. Nearly every preface or prologue to heroic play or tragedy during the Restoration period contains some fling at farces and light comedy. During the early part of the period the extreme types — the farces and heroic plays were the most popular both appealing to the eye and ear through the inter- spersion of songs and spectacles. Those who professed to write true comedy attacked the heroic play and the farces. Roger Boyle in Mr. Anthony wrote: The way to please you is easie if we knew't A Jigg, a Song, a Rhime or two will do't Damn'd Plays shall be adorn' d with mighty Scenes, And Fustian shall be spoke in huge machines; And we will purling Streams and Fire-works show.^ In 1680 Dryden wrote in a prologue to Tates' Loyal General: The Plays that take on our Corrupted Stage, Methinks resemble the distracted Age; Noise, Madness, all unreasonable Things, That strike at Sense, as Rebels do at Kings! The stile of Forty One our Poets write. And you are grown to judge like Forty Eight. Such Censures our mistaking Audience make, That 'tis almost grown Scandalous to Take! They talk of Feavours that infect the Brains, But Non-sence is the new Disease that reigns. Weak Stomacks with a long Disease opprest, "Licensed August 27, 1689; published, 1690; the quotation is from the Epilogue. La Calprenede^s Romances 155 Cannot the Cordials of strong Wit digest: Therefore thin Nourishment of Farce ye choose, Decoctions of a Barly-water Muse: A Meal of Tragedy wou'd make ye Sick, Unless it were a very tender Chick. Some Scenes in Sippets wou'd be worth our time, Those wou'd go down; some Love that's poach'd in Rime; etc. Mrs. Behn who had written in 1677 (cf. Prologue and the Epilogue to The Rover, 1677 ed.) : In short the only Witt that's now in Fashion, Is but the gleanings of good Conversation. Oh, Sir, in my young days, what lofty Wit, What high strain'd Scenes of Fighting there were writ in 1687 (Prologue to the Emperor of the Moon, 1687 ed.) complains : Long and at vast Expence the industrious Stage Has strove to please a dull ungrateful Age: With Hero's and with Gods we first began And thunder'd to you in Heroick Strain. Some dying Love-sick Queen each Night you injoy'd, And with Magnificence, at last were cloy'd: Our Drums and Trumpets frighted all the Women; Our fighting scar'd the Beaux and Billet Deux Men. So Spark in an Intrigue of Quality, Grows weary of his splendid Drudgery; Hates the Fatigue, and cries a Pox upon her. What a damn'd bustle's here with Love and Honour. In 1698 Motteux wrote: I have no reason to complain of the reception which this Tragedy met with, tho it appeared first at a time not very favorable to Composures of this kind, and divested of all things that now recommend a Play most to the Liking of the Many. For it has no Singing, no Dancing, no mixture of Comedy, no Mirth, no change of Scene, no rich Dresses, no Show, no Rants, no Similes, no Battle, no Kilhng on the Stage, no Ghost, no Prodigy; and what's yet more, no Smut, no Profaneness, nor Immorahty.^ 1 Preface to Beauty in Distress, a Tragedy, London, 1698. 156 Herbert Wynford Hill David Craufurd in the Epilogue to Love at First Sight (published London, 1704) wrote: Well Sirs — you now expect an Epilogue, But this same Bard of ours is such a Rogue, I durst have Sworn he was possess'd to day, No Rhimes he cry'd no, not to save my play; I ask'd his Reason why ? 'Sdeath Sir, quoth he. Go but to Drury-Lane, and there you'll see. Gay Decorations to Amuse the Town, While parting Lovers do their Fate bemoan; And Hug, and Sigh, and Weep, and Sob alone. Wax Tapers, Gaudy Cloaths, rais'd Prizes too, Yet even the Play thus Garnish' d wou'd not do : So Poysonous Druggs, by Empericks gilded are, So Strumpets varnish o're Unwholsome Ware. While you with Neghgence my Muse receive And but a slender Entertainment give, But look you Sir, Said I, the Case is plain, You have no Pompous Lines to swell the Scene; As the last Poet did in Drury-Lane, No Angels Wings, to sprout where Serpents grew, No Hills, nor Dales, nor Groves of Lovely Hue, No Vehicles with Milk white Steed's so rare. So Beautiful so sweet or Debonair, With Royal Innocence they may Compare, No Perfumes, Rocks, not Grots; — and so forth, Sir. The writers of farces were pretty well content with their own success and paid little attention to the attacks of the writers more seriously inclined. There are, however, a few direct attacks or replies ; and once in a while there appeared a satire or burlesque of the heroic style. The use of rhyme in tragedy was, of course, attacked by writers who ap- proved the other features of the heroic play. Robert Howard who had assisted Dryden in The Indian Queen opposed Dryden' s contention for rhyme, ^ in the preface to 1 Cf. Dedicatory letter prefaced to The Rival Ladies, 1664, La Calprenede's Romances 157 Foure New Plays; Dryden replied to this in his Essay of Dramatic Poetry, 1668; Howard answered in the preface to the Great Favourite, 1668; and Dryden closed the debate in his Defence of an Essay, etc., prefaced to the second edition of The Indian Emperor, 1668.^ Edward Howard in The Women^s Conquest,^ wrote in 1671: Verse that ends in Rhime is generally now the Mode of Heroick Plays, but whether so natural and proper, I will not controvert, otherwise then by declaring my opinion, that I like it not so well as I do Verse without it, and I conceive I have reason enough on my side; for who can believe that words must not of necessity lose much of their grace, and emphasis, when delivered in Rhime, which limits so much of both to it self"; etc. through several pages. ^ Satires and burlesques of the heroic style appeared from time to time.^ One of these we might note in pass- ing, a burlesque of Alexander's speech in the closing scene of Lee's Rival Queens.^ This was written by Thomas Durfey and prefixed to the 1693 edition of The Richmond Heiress under the heading of a ''Song, by way of Dialogue between a Mad-man and a M ad-woman' ': He: Behold the Man that with Gigantick might Dares Combat Heaven again; i Ct. D. of N.B., under Robt. Howard. 2 The Womens Conquest: A Tragi-Comedy, London, 1671. 3 Cf. also Lord John CaryU's Sir Solomon, 1671: "There is more Wit in tliis Dance than in a dozen of your modem Plays: they with their gingle of Rhime and Plajdng with Words, go just Uke the Chimes of St. Bart'elmy: and please the Ladies ears, but effect not the imderstanding at all." And WilUam Joyner in The Roman Empress, 1671, speaks slurringly of the "gingliag Antithesis of Love and Honour." * One of the earliest and most famous of the burlesques was The Re- hearsal, satirizing especially The Conquest of Granada, and also Marriage d la Mode, Love in a Nunnery, Tyrannic Love, The Maiden Queen, The Wild Gallant, The Amorous Prince, The Villain, etc. In Prance numerous satirical dramas had been written; the most famous of these was Moli6re's Les prScieuses ridicules, 1659; this was leveled especially against ScudSry's CUlie. 5 Cf. above, p. 122. 158 Herbekt Wynford Hill Storm Jove^s bright Palace, put the Gods to flight, Chaos renew, and make perpetual Night. Come on ye fighting Fools, that petty Jars maintain I've all the War of Europe in my Brain. She: Who's he that talks of War, When Charming Beauty comes: Within whose Face divinely fair, Eternal Pleasure blooms When I appear the Martial God, A Conquer'd Victim Ues, Obeys each Glance, each awful Nod, And fears the Lightning of my kiUing Eyes, More than the fiercest Thunder in the Skies. He: Now, now, we mount up high. The Suns bright God and I, Charge on the Azure downs of ample Sky. See, see, how the Immortal Cowards run: Pursue, pursue, drive o'er the Burning Zone: From thence come rowUng down. And search the Globe below with all the gulphy Main, To find my lost, my wandring Sense again. By the end of the century the heroic romance had run its course. In the early part of the eighteenth century the romances were still read^ and there are references to them occasionally in plays.^ But they belonged to the past; the people were getting tired of Artabans and Statiras, and awakening to an interest in people and affairs less remotely connected with their daily life. 1 Cf. Addison, Spectator. * Cf. Steele's Tender Husband. THIS BOOK IS DUE ON THE LAST DATE STAMPED BELOW AN INITIAL FINE OF 25 CENTS W.LU INCREASE TO 50 CENTS ON THE pou^^^ ICeroue" '° ""^ °" ^"^ seventh"":™ ''fS 24 1933 INTER LIBRARV^ LOAN om mum m^ii mtm NON.RENEWA8LE LD 21-50m-l,'3 RETURN TO the circulation desl< of any University of California Library or to the NORTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY Bldg. 400, Richmond Field Station University of California Richmond, CA 94804-4698 ALL BOOKS MAY BE RECALLED AFTER 7 DAYS * bSto NRL^ '' ''''''''' '' '"''"'^ • Renewals and recharges may be made 4 days prior to due date DUE AS STAMPED BELOW SEP 7 2005 ^ DD20 12M 1-05