Campaspe (play)
Encyclopedia
Campaspe is an Elizabethan era stage play, a comedy
by John Lyly
. Widely considered Lyly's earliest drama, Campaspe was an influence and a precedent for much that followed in English Renaissance drama
.
, most likely on January 1, 1584
(new style
); it was also acted at the first Blackfriars Theatre
. The company that performed the play is open to question: extant records assign the Court performance to "Oxford's boys," and the Blackfriars production to the Children of Paul's
, Lyly's regular company, and the Children of the Chapel
. One resolution for the conflicting assignments is the theory that the play was acted by a combination of personnel from the Paul's and Chapel companies as well as from the troupe of boy actors
maintained in the 1580s by the Earl of Oxford
.
Campaspe was first published in a 1584 quarto
printed by Thomas Dawson for the bookseller Thomas Cadman. Q1 exists in three different "states" or impressions, with slight differences among them. The first, Q1a, titles the play A moste excellent Comedie of Alexander, Campaspe, and Diogenes.In the subsequent impressions, Q1b and Q1c, the play's title is shortened to Campaspe. The running title of all three impressions (printed along the tops of the text's pages) is A tragical Comedie [sic] of Alexander and Campaspe. (Editors and scholars of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries generally referred to the play as Alexander and Campaspe; their twentieth-century counterparts tend to prefer the shorter title.)
A second quarto edition appeared in 1591
, printed by Thomas Orwin for the bookseller William Broome. The play would also be included in Six Court Comedies (1632
), the earliest collected edition of Lyly's plays, printed by William Stansby
for Edward Blount
. Blount's edition printed the texts of the plays' songs, which were omitted from the earlier quartos — including the often reprinted "Cupid and my Campaspe play'd..."; though scholars have questioned whether these songs are authentically Lylian in authorship.
(Alternatively, the three states of Q1, similar as they are, have been regarded as three separate quartos, Q1-3, and the 1591 edition as Q4.)
for the tale of Alexander the Great and Campaspe
. He also drew upon the work of Diogenes Laertius
and upon Thomas North
's 1580
translation of the Parallel Lives
of Plutarch
for information of the philosophers of ancient Greece
— he includes not only Diogenes
but also Plato
, Aristotle
, Cleanthes
, Crates
, Chrysippus
, Crysus, and Anaxarchus
. (The play must therefore have been written between 1580 and 1584.)
, Alexander falls in love with the beautiful Theban
captive, Campaspe. He grants the young woman her freedom, and has her portrait painted by the artist Apelles
. Apelles quickly falls in love with her too; when the portrait is finished, he deliberately mars it to have more time with his sitter. Campaspe in turn falls in love with Apelles. When Apelles eventually presents the completed portrait to Alexander, the painter's behavior reveals that he is in love with Campaspe. Alexander magnanimously resigns his interest in Campaspe so that the true love between her and Apelles can flower; he turns his attention to the invasion of Persia and further conquests.
Alexander also spends his time in Athens conversing and consorting with the philosophers of the era — most notably with Diogenes, whose famous tub is prominently featured onstage. Diogenes is little impressed with the conqueror. Aristotle and Plato share a conversation, and other philosophers appear as well. The play also features the witty pages that are a hallmark of Lyly's drama.
The play's prose style is heavily "euphuistic," sharing significant commonalities with Lyly's famous novel Euphues
(1578
). Notably, Apelles is a crucial figure in both works. This euphuistic style helps to support the view that Campaspe was Lyly's first venture at writing for the stage.
as well. Instead, Campaspe delivers a romantic historical tale purely for its entertainment value. His departure from the Medieval mindset provided a model for later (and better) writers to follow. The play has been called "the first romantic drama" of its era.
Thomas Nashe
quotes from Campaspe in his play Summer's Last Will and Testament (1592
).
Comedy
Comedy , as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse or work generally intended to amuse by creating laughter, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins are found in...
by John Lyly
John Lyly
John Lyly was an English writer, best known for his books Euphues,The Anatomy of Wit and Euphues and His England. Lyly's linguistic style, originating in his first books, is known as Euphuism.-Biography:John Lyly was born in Kent, England, in 1553/1554...
. Widely considered Lyly's earliest drama, Campaspe was an influence and a precedent for much that followed in English Renaissance drama
English Renaissance theatre
English Renaissance theatre, also known as early modern English theatre, refers to the theatre of England, largely based in London, which occurred between the Reformation and the closure of the theatres in 1642...
.
Performance and publication
Campaspe is known to have been performed at Court before Queen Elizabeth IElizabeth I of England
Elizabeth I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. Sometimes called The Virgin Queen, Gloriana, or Good Queen Bess, Elizabeth was the fifth and last monarch of the Tudor dynasty...
, most likely on January 1, 1584
1584 in literature
-Events:*Master Thomas Giles takes charge of the Children of Paul's; this is the start of a close association with the works of John Lyly.-New books:*A Booke of Cookry*Giordano Bruno - La Cena de le Ceneri ...
(new style
Old Style and New Style dates
Old Style and New Style are used in English language historical studies either to indicate that the start of the Julian year has been adjusted to start on 1 January even though documents written at the time use a different start of year ; or to indicate that a date conforms to the Julian...
); it was also acted at the first Blackfriars Theatre
Blackfriars Theatre
Blackfriars Theatre was the name of a theatre in the Blackfriars district of the City of London during the Renaissance. The theatre began as a venue for child actors associated with the Queen's chapel choirs; in this function, the theatre hosted some of the most innovative drama of Elizabeth and...
. The company that performed the play is open to question: extant records assign the Court performance to "Oxford's boys," and the Blackfriars production to the Children of Paul's
Children of Paul's
The Children of Paul's was the name of a troupe of boy actors in Elizabethan and Jacobean London. Along with the Children of the Chapel, the Children of Paul's were the most important of the companies of boy players that constituted a distinctive feature of English Renaissance theatre.St...
, Lyly's regular company, and the Children of the Chapel
Children of the Chapel
The Children of the Chapel were the boys with unbroken voices, choristers, who formed part of the Chapel Royal, the body of singers and priests serving the spiritual needs of their sovereign wherever they were called upon to do so....
. One resolution for the conflicting assignments is the theory that the play was acted by a combination of personnel from the Paul's and Chapel companies as well as from the troupe of boy actors
Boy player
Boy player is a common term for the adolescent males employed by Medieval and English Renaissance playing companies. Some boy players worked for the mainstream companies and performed the female roles, as women did not perform on the English stage in this period...
maintained in the 1580s by the Earl of Oxford
Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford
Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford was an Elizabethan courtier, playwright, lyric poet, sportsman and patron of the arts, and is currently the most popular alternative candidate proposed for the authorship of Shakespeare's works....
.
Campaspe was first published in a 1584 quarto
Book size
The size of a book is generally measured by the height against the width of a leaf, or sometimes the height and width of its cover. A series of terms is commonly used by libraries and publishers for the general sizes of modern books, ranging from "folio" , to "quarto" and "octavo"...
printed by Thomas Dawson for the bookseller Thomas Cadman. Q1 exists in three different "states" or impressions, with slight differences among them. The first, Q1a, titles the play A moste excellent Comedie of Alexander, Campaspe, and Diogenes.In the subsequent impressions, Q1b and Q1c, the play's title is shortened to Campaspe. The running title of all three impressions (printed along the tops of the text's pages) is A tragical Comedie [sic] of Alexander and Campaspe. (Editors and scholars of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries generally referred to the play as Alexander and Campaspe; their twentieth-century counterparts tend to prefer the shorter title.)
A second quarto edition appeared in 1591
1591 in literature
-Events:*In the spring of the year, a dispute with James Burbage impels the Admiral's Men to leave The Theatre and move to Philip Henslowe's Rose Theatre.*Summer - Sir Walter Raleigh secretly marries Elizabeth Throckmorton....
, printed by Thomas Orwin for the bookseller William Broome. The play would also be included in Six Court Comedies (1632
1632 in literature
The year 1632 in literature involved some significant events.-Events:*On February 14, Tempe Restored, a masque written by Aurelian Townshend and designed by Inigo Jones, is performed at Whitehall Palace....
), the earliest collected edition of Lyly's plays, printed by William Stansby
William Stansby
William Stansby was a London printer and publisher of the Jacobean and Caroline eras, working under his own name from 1610. One of the most prolific printers of his time, Stansby is best remembered for publishing the landmark first folio collection of the works of Ben Jonson in 1616.-Life:As for...
for Edward Blount
Edward Blount
Edward Blount was a London publisher of the Elizabethan, Jacobean, and Caroline eras, noted for his publication, in conjunction with William and Isaac Jaggard, of the First Folio of Shakespeare's plays in 1623....
. Blount's edition printed the texts of the plays' songs, which were omitted from the earlier quartos — including the often reprinted "Cupid and my Campaspe play'd..."; though scholars have questioned whether these songs are authentically Lylian in authorship.
(Alternatively, the three states of Q1, similar as they are, have been regarded as three separate quartos, Q1-3, and the 1591 edition as Q4.)
Sources
Lyly depended on the Natural History of Pliny the ElderPliny the Elder
Gaius Plinius Secundus , better known as Pliny the Elder, was a Roman author, naturalist, and natural philosopher, as well as naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and personal friend of the emperor Vespasian...
for the tale of Alexander the Great and Campaspe
Campaspe
Campaspe, the mistress of Alexander the Great and a prominent citizen of Larissa. She was painted by Apelles, who had the reputation in Antiquity for being the greatest of painters...
. He also drew upon the work of Diogenes Laertius
Diogenes Laertius
Diogenes Laertius was a biographer of the Greek philosophers. Nothing is known about his life, but his surviving Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers is one of the principal surviving sources for the history of Greek philosophy.-Life:Nothing is definitively known about his life...
and upon Thomas North
Thomas North
Sir Thomas North was an English translator of Plutarch, second son of the 1st Baron North.-Life:He is supposed to have been a student of Peterhouse, Cambridge, and was entered at Lincoln's Inn in 1557. In 1574 he accompanied his brother, Lord North, on a visit to the French court. He served as...
's 1580
1580 in literature
-Events:*Thomas Legge's Latin play about Richard III, Richardus Tertius, is acted by students at St John's College, Cambridge during March.-New books:*Book of Concord*Jean Bodin - De la demonomanie des sorciers*John Lyly - Euphues and his England...
translation of the Parallel Lives
Parallel Lives
Plutarch's Lives of the Noble Greeks and Romans, commonly called Parallel Lives or Plutarch's Lives, is a series of biographies of famous men, arranged in tandem to illuminate their common moral virtues or failings, written in the late 1st century...
of Plutarch
Plutarch
Plutarch then named, on his becoming a Roman citizen, Lucius Mestrius Plutarchus , c. 46 – 120 AD, was a Greek historian, biographer, essayist, and Middle Platonist known primarily for his Parallel Lives and Moralia...
for information of the philosophers of ancient Greece
Ancient Greece
Ancient Greece is a civilization belonging to a period of Greek history that lasted from the Archaic period of the 8th to 6th centuries BC to the end of antiquity. Immediately following this period was the beginning of the Early Middle Ages and the Byzantine era. Included in Ancient Greece is the...
— he includes not only Diogenes
Diogenes of Sinope
Diogenes the Cynic was a Greek philosopher and one of the founders of Cynic philosophy. Also known as Diogenes of Sinope , he was born in Sinope , an Ionian colony on the Black Sea , in 412 or 404 BCE and died at Corinth in 323 BCE.Diogenes of Sinope was a controversial figure...
but also Plato
Plato
Plato , was a Classical Greek philosopher, mathematician, student of Socrates, writer of philosophical dialogues, and founder of the Academy in Athens, the first institution of higher learning in the Western world. Along with his mentor, Socrates, and his student, Aristotle, Plato helped to lay the...
, Aristotle
Aristotle
Aristotle was a Greek philosopher and polymath, a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. His writings cover many subjects, including physics, metaphysics, poetry, theater, music, logic, rhetoric, linguistics, politics, government, ethics, biology, and zoology...
, Cleanthes
Cleanthes
Cleanthes , of Assos, was a Greek Stoic philosopher and the successor to Zeno as the second head of the Stoic school in Athens. Originally a boxer, he came to Athens where he took up philosophy, listening to Zeno's lectures. He supported himself by working as water-carrier at night. After the...
, Crates
Crates of Thebes
Crates of Thebes, was a Cynic philosopher. Crates gave away his money to live a life of poverty on the streets of Athens. He married Hipparchia of Maroneia who lived in the same manner that he did. Respected by the people of Athens, he is remembered for being the teacher of Zeno of Citium, the...
, Chrysippus
Chrysippus
Chrysippus of Soli was a Greek Stoic philosopher. He was a native of Soli, Cilicia, but moved to Athens as a young man, where he became a pupil of Cleanthes in the Stoic school. When Cleanthes died, around 230 BC, Chrysippus became the third head of the school...
, Crysus, and Anaxarchus
Anaxarchus
Anaxarchus was a Greek philosopher of the school of Democritus. Together with Pyrrho, he accompanied Alexander the Great into Asia. The reports of his philosophical views suggest that he was a forerunner of the Greek skeptics.-Life:...
. (The play must therefore have been written between 1580 and 1584.)
Synopsis
While in AthensAthens
Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...
, Alexander falls in love with the beautiful Theban
Thebes, Greece
Thebes is a city in Greece, situated to the north of the Cithaeron range, which divides Boeotia from Attica, and on the southern edge of the Boeotian plain. It played an important role in Greek myth, as the site of the stories of Cadmus, Oedipus, Dionysus and others...
captive, Campaspe. He grants the young woman her freedom, and has her portrait painted by the artist Apelles
Apelles
Apelles of Kos was a renowned painter of ancient Greece. Pliny the Elder, to whom we owe much of our knowledge of this artist rated him superior to preceding and subsequent artists...
. Apelles quickly falls in love with her too; when the portrait is finished, he deliberately mars it to have more time with his sitter. Campaspe in turn falls in love with Apelles. When Apelles eventually presents the completed portrait to Alexander, the painter's behavior reveals that he is in love with Campaspe. Alexander magnanimously resigns his interest in Campaspe so that the true love between her and Apelles can flower; he turns his attention to the invasion of Persia and further conquests.
Alexander also spends his time in Athens conversing and consorting with the philosophers of the era — most notably with Diogenes, whose famous tub is prominently featured onstage. Diogenes is little impressed with the conqueror. Aristotle and Plato share a conversation, and other philosophers appear as well. The play also features the witty pages that are a hallmark of Lyly's drama.
The play's prose style is heavily "euphuistic," sharing significant commonalities with Lyly's famous novel Euphues
Euphues (1578)
Euphues: The Anatomy of Wyt published in 1578 was a didactic romance written by John Lyly and followed two years later by Euphues and his England ; the term "Euphues" is derived from Greek meaning "graceful, witty". Lyly's mannered style is characterized by parallel arrangements and...
(1578
1578 in literature
-Events:*Alonso de Ercilla y Zúñiga is sent on a mission to Zaragoza by King Philip II of Spain.-New books:*Diogo de Paiva de Andrada - Defensio Tridentinae Fidei...
). Notably, Apelles is a crucial figure in both works. This euphuistic style helps to support the view that Campaspe was Lyly's first venture at writing for the stage.
Influence
Lyly provides no moral or ethical lesson in his Campaspe — thereby breaking away from the morality play tradition of earlier drama. And unlike most of his subsequent plays, Campaspe eschews allegoryAllegory
Allegory is a demonstrative form of representation explaining meaning other than the words that are spoken. Allegory communicates its message by means of symbolic figures, actions or symbolic representation...
as well. Instead, Campaspe delivers a romantic historical tale purely for its entertainment value. His departure from the Medieval mindset provided a model for later (and better) writers to follow. The play has been called "the first romantic drama" of its era.
Thomas Nashe
Thomas Nashe
Thomas Nashe was an English Elizabethan pamphleteer, playwright, poet and satirist. He was the son of the minister William Nashe and his wife Margaret .-Early life:...
quotes from Campaspe in his play Summer's Last Will and Testament (1592
1592 in literature
-Events:*Ulysses Redux, a Latin play by William Gager, is staged by the students of Christ Church, Oxford on February 5. Two days later, on February 7, the students revive Gager's 1583 Latin play Rivales...
).