Claricilla
Encyclopedia
Claricilla is a Caroline era stage play, a tragicomedy
written by Thomas Killigrew
. The drama was acted c. 1636 by Queen Henrietta's Men
at the Cockpit Theatre
, and first published in 1641
. The play was an early success that helped to confirm Killigrew's choice of artistic career.
on August 4, 1640
, and published the next year in a duodecimo
volume that also contained Killigrew's first play, The Prisoners
. The volume was printed by Thomas Cotes
for the bookseller Andrew Crooke
. The book included commendatory verses by William Cartwright and by Henry Bennet, 1st Earl of Arlington
.
The play was later included in Comedies and Tragedies, the collected edition of Killigrew's plays issued by Henry Herringman
in 1664
; in this collection it is dedicated to Killigrew's sister, Lady Shannon. This edition states that the play was written in Rome
, during Killigrew's Continental travels in 1635–36.
(In addition to the two printed texts, a manuscript of the play exists in the Castle Howard Library.)
, made sense in terms of his social and cultural millieu. Killigrew was aspiring to join a circle of dramatists associated with the English royal court and especially with the coterie around Queen Henrietta Maria
. That circle of playwrights included Cartwright, Lodowick Carlell
, and Sir John Suckling
(and, to a more qualified degree, Sir William Davenant
). They tended to produce tragicomedies tinged with themes of Platonic love
, the favored genre of the Queen's court. (For an extreme example of the Queen's type of drama, see The Shepherd's Paradise
.)
When Killigrew was no longer committed to that type of courtly drama, he would write a radically different kind of play, in his comedy The Parson's Wedding
.
In either spelling, the name may derive from "Chariclea," the name of the heroine in the Aethiopica
of Heliodorus
, one of Killigrew's sources for the plot of his play.
In a verse prologue to his play The Doubtful Heir
, James Shirley
notes the contemporary fashion for naming plays after their heroines. The examples he cites are Claricilla and Suckling's Aglaura
.
, when the London theatres were officially closed; the 1653
performance at Gibbon's Tennis Court
was raided by the authorities. The performance was allegedly betrayed by an actor. A contemporary source, the Royalist periodical Mercurius Democritus, hinted that the guilty party was William Beeston
. In its March 2-9 issue, the periodical blamed "An ill Beest, or rather Bird" for betraying the Claricilla actors, because they denied him a share in the proceeds — and indicated that this actor was involved in attempts to stage plays "in his own house." The "ill Beest" may signify Will Beeston; as for the "Bird," actor Theophilus Bird
was Beeston's brother-in-law and business associate. Beeston was then trying to resume dramatic performances at his "house," the Salisbury Court Theatre
. And Beeston controlled the rights to Claricilla, explaining why he would feel entitled to a share of the profits of any performance.
period, in December 1660
, with his King's Company
. Samuel Pepys
saw it on July 4, 1661. Pepys saw the drama again at the Cockpit on January 5, 1663, when it struck him as a "poor play," and on March 9, 1669, when he conceded in his Diary that "there are a few good things in it."
Tragicomedy
Tragicomedy is fictional work that blends aspects of the genres of tragedy and comedy. In English literature, from Shakespeare's time to the nineteenth century, tragicomedy referred to a serious play with either a happy ending or enough jokes throughout the play to lighten the mood.-Classical...
written by Thomas Killigrew
Thomas Killigrew
Thomas Killigrew was an English dramatist and theatre manager. He was a witty, dissolute figure at the court of King Charles II of England.-Life and work:...
. The drama was acted c. 1636 by Queen Henrietta's Men
Queen Henrietta's Men
Queen Henrietta's Men was an important playing company or troupe of actors in Caroline era London. At their peak of popularity, Queen Henrietta's Men were the second leading troupe of the day, after only the King's Men.-Beginnings:...
at the Cockpit Theatre
Cockpit Theatre
The Cockpit was a theatre in London, operating from 1616 to around 1665. It was the first theatre to be located near Drury Lane. After damage in 1617, it was christened The Phoenix....
, and first published in 1641
1641 in literature
The year 1641 in literature involved some significant events.-Events:*Pierre Corneille marries Marie de Lampérière.*Sir William Davenant is convicted of high treason.*Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon becomes an advisor to King Charles I of England....
. The play was an early success that helped to confirm Killigrew's choice of artistic career.
Publication
Claricilla was entered into the Stationers' RegisterStationers' Register
The Stationers' Register was a record book maintained by the Stationers' Company of London. The company is a trade guild given a royal charter in 1557 to regulate the various professions associated with the publishing industry, including printers, bookbinders, booksellers, and publishers in England...
on August 4, 1640
1640 in literature
The year 1640 in literature involved some significant events.-Events:*January 21 - Salmacida Spolia, a masque written by Sir William Davenant and designed by Inigo Jones, is performed at Whitehall Palace — the final royal masque of the Caroline era.*March 17 - Henry Burnell's play Landgartha...
, and published the next year in a duodecimo
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"...
volume that also contained Killigrew's first play, The Prisoners
The Prisoners (play)
The Prisoners is a Caroline era stage play, a tragicomedy written by Thomas Killigrew. It was premiered onstage c. 1635, acted by Queen Henrietta's Men at the Cockpit Theatre; and was first printed in 1641...
. The volume was printed by Thomas Cotes
Thomas Cotes
Thomas Cotes was a London printer of the Jacobean and Caroline eras, best remembered for printing the Second Folio edition of Shakespeare's plays in 1632.-Life and work:...
for the bookseller Andrew Crooke
Andrew Crooke and William Cooke
Andrew Crooke and William Cooke were London publishers of the mid-17th-century. In partnership and individually, they issued significant texts of English Renaissance drama, most notably of the plays of James Shirley....
. The book included commendatory verses by William Cartwright and by Henry Bennet, 1st Earl of Arlington
Henry Bennet, 1st Earl of Arlington
Henry Bennet, 1st Earl of Arlington KG, PC was an English statesman.- Background and early life :He was the son of Sir John Bennet of Dawley, Middlesex, and of Dorothy Crofts. He was the younger brother of John Bennet, 1st Baron Ossulston; his sister was Elizabeth Bennet who married Robert Kerr,...
.
The play was later included in Comedies and Tragedies, the collected edition of Killigrew's plays issued by Henry Herringman
Henry Herringman
Henry Herringman was a prominent London bookseller and publisher in the second half of the 17th century. He is especially noted for his publications in English Renaissance drama and English Restoration drama; he was the first publisher of the works of John Dryden...
in 1664
1664 in literature
The year 1664 in literature involved some significant events.-Events:* Sir William Davenant's "dramatic opera" Macbeth, adapted from Shakespeare's play, premiers on November 5....
; in this collection it is dedicated to Killigrew's sister, Lady Shannon. This edition states that the play was written in Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
, during Killigrew's Continental travels in 1635–36.
(In addition to the two printed texts, a manuscript of the play exists in the Castle Howard Library.)
Genre
Killigrew's choice of the tragicomic genre for his first three plays, The Prisoners, Claricilla, and The PrincessThe Princess (Killigrew)
The Princess, or Love at First Sight is a Caroline era stage play, a tragicomedy written by Thomas Killigrew. The play was most likely written c. 1636, while Killigrew was travelling in Italy, and was acted on the stage c...
, made sense in terms of his social and cultural millieu. Killigrew was aspiring to join a circle of dramatists associated with the English royal court and especially with the coterie around Queen Henrietta Maria
Henrietta Maria of France
Henrietta Maria of France ; was the Queen consort of England, Scotland and Ireland as the wife of King Charles I...
. That circle of playwrights included Cartwright, Lodowick Carlell
Lodowick Carlell
Lodowick Carlell , also Carliell or Carlile, was a seventeenth-century English playwright, active mainly during the Caroline era and the Commonwealth period.-Courtier:...
, and Sir John Suckling
John Suckling (poet)
Sir John Suckling was an English poet and one prominent figure among those renowned for careless gaiety, wit, and all the accomplishments of a Cavalier poet; and also the inventor of the card game Cribbage...
(and, to a more qualified degree, Sir William Davenant
William Davenant
Sir William Davenant , also spelled D'Avenant, was an English poet and playwright. Along with Thomas Killigrew, Davenant was one of the rare figures in English Renaissance theatre whose career spanned both the Caroline and Restoration eras and who was active both before and after the English Civil...
). They tended to produce tragicomedies tinged with themes of Platonic love
Platonic love
Platonic love is a chaste and strong type of love that is non-sexual.-Amor Platonicus:The term amor platonicus was coined as early as the 15th century by the Florentine scholar Marsilio Ficino. Platonic love in this original sense of the term is examined in Plato's dialogue the Symposium, which has...
, the favored genre of the Queen's court. (For an extreme example of the Queen's type of drama, see The Shepherd's Paradise
The Shepherd's Paradise
The Shepherd's Paradise was a Caroline era masque, written by Walter Montagu and designed by Inigo Jones. Acted in 1633 by Queen Henrietta Maria and her ladies in waiting, it was noteworthy as the first masque in which the Queen and her ladies filled speaking roles...
.)
When Killigrew was no longer committed to that type of courtly drama, he would write a radically different kind of play, in his comedy The Parson's Wedding
The Parson's Wedding
The Parson's Wedding is a Caroline era stage play, a comedy written by Thomas Killigrew. Often regarded as the author's best play, the drama has sometimes been considered an anticipation of Restoration comedy, written a generation before the Restoration; "its general tone foreshadows the comedy of...
.
The name
In the original 1641 edition, the play's title and the heroine's name is spelled "Claracilla." The spelling was changed to "Claricilla" in the 1664 collection. Normally, scholars would give the original spelling priority; yet since there are indications that Killigrew oversaw Herringman's 1664 collection, the revised spelling appears to have the authority of the creator, and many scholars have accepted it on that basis.In either spelling, the name may derive from "Chariclea," the name of the heroine in the Aethiopica
Aethiopica
Aethiopica or Theagenes and Chariclea is an ancient Greek romance or novel. It was written by Heliodorus of Emesa and is his only known work.-Author:...
of Heliodorus
Heliodorus of Emesa
Heliodorus of Emesa, from Emesa, Syria, was a Greek writer generally dated to the third century AD who is known for the ancient Greek novel or romance called the Aethiopica or sometimes "Theagenes and Chariclea"....
, one of Killigrew's sources for the plot of his play.
In a verse prologue to his play The Doubtful Heir
The Doubtful Heir
The Doubtful Heir, also known as Rosania, or Love's Victory, is a Caroline era stage play, a tragicomedy written by James Shirley and first published in 1653...
, James Shirley
James Shirley
James Shirley was an English dramatist.He belonged to the great period of English dramatic literature, but, in Lamb's words, he "claims a place among the worthies of this period, not so much for any transcendent genius in himself, as that he was the last of a great race, all of whom spoke nearly...
notes the contemporary fashion for naming plays after their heroines. The examples he cites are Claricilla and Suckling's Aglaura
Aglaura (play)
Aglaura is a late Caroline era stage play, written by Sir John Suckling. Several aspects of the play have led critics to treat it as a key development and a marker of the final decadent phase of English Renaissance drama.-Performance:...
.
The 1653 performance
Claricilla was one of the rare plays surreptitiously acted during the InterregnumEnglish Interregnum
The English Interregnum was the period of parliamentary and military rule by the Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell under the Commonwealth of England after the English Civil War...
, when the London theatres were officially closed; the 1653
1653 in literature
The year 1653 in literature involved some significant events.-Events:* James Shirley's masque Cupid and Death is performed on March 26.* Pierre Corneille retires from the theatre for six years.* John Evelyn buys Sayes Court, Deptford....
performance at Gibbon's Tennis Court
Gibbon's Tennis Court
Gibbon's Tennis Court was a building off Vere Street and Clare Market, near Lincoln's Inn Fields in London, England. Originally built as a real tennis court, it was used as a playhouse from 1660 to 1663, shortly after the English Restoration...
was raided by the authorities. The performance was allegedly betrayed by an actor. A contemporary source, the Royalist periodical Mercurius Democritus, hinted that the guilty party was William Beeston
William Beeston
William Beeston was a 17th century actor and theatre manager, the son and successor to the more famous Christopher Beeston.-Early phase:...
. In its March 2-9 issue, the periodical blamed "An ill Beest, or rather Bird" for betraying the Claricilla actors, because they denied him a share in the proceeds — and indicated that this actor was involved in attempts to stage plays "in his own house." The "ill Beest" may signify Will Beeston; as for the "Bird," actor Theophilus Bird
Theophilus Bird
Theophilus Bird, or Bourne, was a seventeenth-century English actor. Bird began his stage career in the Stuart era of English Renaissance theatre, and ended it in the Restoration period; he was one of the relatively few actors who managed to resume their careers after the eighteen-year enforced...
was Beeston's brother-in-law and business associate. Beeston was then trying to resume dramatic performances at his "house," the Salisbury Court Theatre
Salisbury Court Theatre
The Salisbury Court Theatre was a theatre in 17th-century London. It was located in the neighbourhood of Salisbury Court, which was formerly the London residence of the Bishops of Salisbury. Salibury Court was acquired by Richard Sackville in 1564; when Thomas Sackville was created Earl of Dorset...
. And Beeston controlled the rights to Claricilla, explaining why he would feel entitled to a share of the profits of any performance.
In the Restoration
Killigrew produced a revivial of Claricilla early in the RestorationEnglish Restoration
The Restoration of the English monarchy began in 1660 when the English, Scottish and Irish monarchies were all restored under Charles II after the Interregnum that followed the Wars of the Three Kingdoms...
period, in December 1660
1660 in literature
The year 1660 in literature involved some significant events.-Events:* January 1 - Samuel Pepys starts his diary.* February - John Rhodes reopens the old Cockpit Theatre in London, forms a company of young actors and begins to stage plays...
, with his King's Company
King's Company
The King's Company was one of two enterprises granted the rights to mount theatrical productions in London at the start of the English Restoration. It existed from 1660 to 1682.-History:...
. Samuel Pepys
Samuel Pepys
Samuel Pepys FRS, MP, JP, was an English naval administrator and Member of Parliament who is now most famous for the diary he kept for a decade while still a relatively young man...
saw it on July 4, 1661. Pepys saw the drama again at the Cockpit on January 5, 1663, when it struck him as a "poor play," and on March 9, 1669, when he conceded in his Diary that "there are a few good things in it."