The Blind Beggar of Alexandria
Encyclopedia
The Blind Beggar of Alexandria is an Elizabethan era stage play, a comedy
written by George Chapman
. It was the first of Chapman's plays to be produced on the stage; its success inaugurated his career as a dramatist.
at the Rose Theatre
; the records of theatre impressario Philip Henslowe
show that it premiered on February 12, 1596
. A popular hit, Blind Beggar was staged 22 times through April 159
7. (Performances of Blind Beggar on April 15, April 26, and May 13 of 1596 paid 40 shillings per day, a better and more consistent return than provided by most of the company's offerings that season.) The play was revived in 1601
and 1602
. The work was published after its initial run: it was entered into the Stationers' Register
on August 15, 1598, and appeared in print later that year, in a quarto
issued by the bookseller William Jones. (The play was less popular in print than on stage: the quarto was never reprinted. This set a pattern for Chapman's remaining dramatic career; with the exception of his masterpiece Bussy D'Ambois
, Chapman's plays rarely went through more than a single edition.) The printed text, unfortunately, is mangled, incomplete, and unusually short; it likely represents a version cut down for an abbreviated stage presentation, which emphasizes the farcical comedy at the expense of the romantic main plot.
tradition of Italy — perhaps more directly than most English plays so influenced: Chapman may have based Blind Beggar on a commedia that he witnessed first-hand during a trip to Italy. Not atypically for a play so influenced, the plot of Blind Beggar depends heavily on the comedic effects of disguise. Cleanthes, a swindler and pretended duke, has wooed the imperious Queen Aegiale, who rewards his temerity by banishing him. Cleanthes returns to Alexandria in the guise of the blind beggar and fortune-teller Irus. In that disguise and others — Leon the usurer, and the "mad-brain" aristocrat Count Hermes — Cleanthes manipulates people and events to turn in his favor (and for the sheer egotistical fun of it). He seduces Aegiale; he marries a pair of sisters in his different personas — and then tempts both of them to engage in adultery, though only with himself in other guises. He ends up king of Egypt, and disposes of his two sibling wives (now pregnant) as the mates of two captured kings.
Critics have recognized Cleanthes, a shepherd by birth who becomes a king, as a comic parody of Christopher Marlowe
's Tamburlaine. Even in a relatively light and slight project like Blind Beggar, a hint of Chapman's classical learning and inclination shows through. The pretend-beggar Irus is named after the bragging beggar who foolishly challenges Odysseus to a fight in the final book of The Odyssey. Some of the farcical comedy elements in Blind Beggar may be the work of an unknown play doctor rather than Chapman himself; the dedication printed in the first edition of his later comedy All Fools
(published 1605
) indicates that Chapman supervised the publication of that text himself, to prevent the appearance of a play "patch'd with others' wit." This may imply that earlier Chapman comedies, Blind Beggar and perhaps An Humorous Day's Mirth
, had been "patch'd" in just this way.
), another Admiral's play, is one prior instance, and others can be noted. Yet the popularity of Chapman's play gave an impetus to the comic device; disguise plays were produced frequently in its aftermath. The anonymous Look About You (printed 1600
), The Blind Beggar of Bethnal Green (1600) by Henry Chettle
and John Day
, Westward Ho
and Northward Ho
(c. 1604-5) by Thomas Dekker and John Webster
, and Ben Jonson
's Every Man in His Humour
(1598), Volpone
(1606
) and The Alchemist
(1610
) are among the various examples that can be cited.
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...
written by George Chapman
George Chapman
George Chapman was an English dramatist, translator, and poet. He was a classical scholar, and his work shows the influence of Stoicism. Chapman has been identified as the Rival Poet of Shakespeare's Sonnets by William Minto, and as an anticipator of the Metaphysical Poets...
. It was the first of Chapman's plays to be produced on the stage; its success inaugurated his career as a dramatist.
Performance and publication
The play was acted by the Admiral's MenAdmiral's Men
The Admiral's Men was a playing company or troupe of actors in the Elizabethan and Stuart eras...
at the Rose Theatre
The Rose (theatre)
The Rose was an Elizabethan theatre. It was the fourth of the public theatres to be built, after The Theatre , the Curtain , and the theatre at Newington Butts The Rose was an Elizabethan theatre. It was the fourth of the public theatres to be built, after The Theatre (1576), the Curtain (1577),...
; the records of theatre impressario Philip Henslowe
Philip Henslowe
Philip Henslowe was an Elizabethan theatrical entrepreneur and impresario. Henslowe's modern reputation rests on the survival of his diary, a primary source for information about the theatrical world of Renaissance London...
show that it premiered on February 12, 1596
1596 in literature
-Events:*The first complete edition of The Faerie Queene in six books is published.*James Burbage buys the disused Blackfriars Theatre from Sir William More for £600; yet he is prevented from using it for theatrical productions by the opposition of wealthy and influential neighbors.* Lord Hunsdon...
. A popular hit, Blind Beggar was staged 22 times through April 159
1597 in literature
-Events:*February - Pembroke's Men contract with Francis Langley to play the next year at his new Swan Theatre. Their season goes disastrously wrong in July, when they stage the scandalous play The Isle of Dogs, which provokes the authorities to close all of the London theatres for the remainder of...
7. (Performances of Blind Beggar on April 15, April 26, and May 13 of 1596 paid 40 shillings per day, a better and more consistent return than provided by most of the company's offerings that season.) The play was revived in 1601
1601 in literature
The year 1601 in literature involved some significant events.-Events:*February 7 - The Lord Chamberlain's Men stage a performance of Shakespeare's Richard II at the Globe Theatre. The performance is specially commissioned by the plotters in the Earl of Essex's rebellion of the following day...
and 1602
1602 in literature
The year 1602 in literature involved some significant events.-Events:*February 2 - The King's Men perform Twelfth Night at the Middle Temple.*May 4 - Richard Hakluyt is installed as prebendary of Westminster....
. The work was published after its initial run: it was entered into the Stationers' Register
Stationers' 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 15, 1598, and appeared in print later that year, in a 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"...
issued by the bookseller William Jones. (The play was less popular in print than on stage: the quarto was never reprinted. This set a pattern for Chapman's remaining dramatic career; with the exception of his masterpiece Bussy D'Ambois
Bussy D'Ambois
The Tragedy of Bussy D'Ambois is a Jacobean stage play written by George Chapman. Classified as either a tragedy or "contemporary history," Bussy D'Ambois is widely considered Chapman's greatest play, and is the earliest in a series of plays that Chapman wrote about the French political scene in...
, Chapman's plays rarely went through more than a single edition.) The printed text, unfortunately, is mangled, incomplete, and unusually short; it likely represents a version cut down for an abbreviated stage presentation, which emphasizes the farcical comedy at the expense of the romantic main plot.
Plot
Chapman's comedy derives from the commedia dell'arteCommedia dell'arte
Commedia dell'arte is a form of theatre characterized by masked "types" which began in Italy in the 16th century, and was responsible for the advent of the actress and improvised performances based on sketches or scenarios. The closest translation of the name is "comedy of craft"; it is shortened...
tradition of Italy — perhaps more directly than most English plays so influenced: Chapman may have based Blind Beggar on a commedia that he witnessed first-hand during a trip to Italy. Not atypically for a play so influenced, the plot of Blind Beggar depends heavily on the comedic effects of disguise. Cleanthes, a swindler and pretended duke, has wooed the imperious Queen Aegiale, who rewards his temerity by banishing him. Cleanthes returns to Alexandria in the guise of the blind beggar and fortune-teller Irus. In that disguise and others — Leon the usurer, and the "mad-brain" aristocrat Count Hermes — Cleanthes manipulates people and events to turn in his favor (and for the sheer egotistical fun of it). He seduces Aegiale; he marries a pair of sisters in his different personas — and then tempts both of them to engage in adultery, though only with himself in other guises. He ends up king of Egypt, and disposes of his two sibling wives (now pregnant) as the mates of two captured kings.
Critics have recognized Cleanthes, a shepherd by birth who becomes a king, as a comic parody of Christopher Marlowe
Christopher Marlowe
Christopher Marlowe was an English dramatist, poet and translator of the Elizabethan era. As the foremost Elizabethan tragedian, next to William Shakespeare, he is known for his blank verse, his overreaching protagonists, and his mysterious death.A warrant was issued for Marlowe's arrest on 18 May...
's Tamburlaine. Even in a relatively light and slight project like Blind Beggar, a hint of Chapman's classical learning and inclination shows through. The pretend-beggar Irus is named after the bragging beggar who foolishly challenges Odysseus to a fight in the final book of The Odyssey. Some of the farcical comedy elements in Blind Beggar may be the work of an unknown play doctor rather than Chapman himself; the dedication printed in the first edition of his later comedy All Fools
All Fools
All Fools is an early Jacobean era stage play, a comedy by George Chapman that was first published in 1605. The play has often been considered Chapman's highest achievement in comedy: "not only Chapman's most flawless, perfectly balanced play," but "also his most human and large-minded." "Chapman...
(published 1605
1605 in literature
The year 1605 in literature involved some significant events.-Events:*January 1 - The Queen's Revels Children perform George Chapman's All Fools at Court....
) indicates that Chapman supervised the publication of that text himself, to prevent the appearance of a play "patch'd with others' wit." This may imply that earlier Chapman comedies, Blind Beggar and perhaps An Humorous Day's Mirth
An Humorous Day's Mirth
An Humorous Day's Mirth is an Elizabethan era stage play, a comedy by George Chapman, first acted in 1597 and published in 1599.Algernon Charles Swinburne called Chapman's play one of the finest comedies in English...
, had been "patch'd" in just this way.
Influence
The Blind Beggar of Alexandria was hardly the first disguise play to appear on the Elizabethan stage; the anonymous The Knack to Know an Honest Man (15941594 in literature
-Events:*The London theatres re-open in the spring, after two years of general inactivity due to the bubonic plague epidemic of 1592–94. Many of the actors who used to be Lord Strange's Men form a new organization, the Lord Chamberlain's Men, under the patronage of Henry Carey, 1st Baron...
), another Admiral's play, is one prior instance, and others can be noted. Yet the popularity of Chapman's play gave an impetus to the comic device; disguise plays were produced frequently in its aftermath. The anonymous Look About You (printed 1600
1600 in literature
The year 1600 in literature involved some significant events.-Events:*January 1 - The Admiral's Men perform Dekker's The Shoemaker's Holiday at Court....
), The Blind Beggar of Bethnal Green (1600) by Henry Chettle
Henry Chettle
Henry Chettle was an English dramatist and miscellaneous writer of the Elizabethan era.The son of Robert Chettle, a London dyer, he was apprenticed in 1577 and became a member of the Stationer's Company in 1584, traveling to Cambridge on their behalf in 1588. His career as a printer and author is...
and John Day
John Day (dramatist)
John Day was an English dramatist of the Elizabethan and Jacobean periods.-Life:He was born at Cawston, Norfolk, and educated at Ely. He became a sizar of Caius College, Cambridge, in 1592, but was expelled in the next year for stealing a book...
, Westward Ho
Westward Ho (play)
Westward Ho is an early Jacobean era stage play, a satire and city comedy by Thomas Dekker and John Webster that was first published in 1607...
and Northward Ho
Northward Ho
Northward Ho is an early Jacobean era stage play, a satire and city comedy written by Thomas Dekker and John Webster, and first published in 1607. Northward Ho was a response to Eastward Ho by Ben Jonson, George Chapman, and John Marston, which in its turn was a response to Westward Ho Northward...
(c. 1604-5) by Thomas Dekker and John Webster
John Webster
John Webster was an English Jacobean dramatist best known for his tragedies The White Devil and The Duchess of Malfi, which are often regarded as masterpieces of the early 17th-century English stage. He was a contemporary of William Shakespeare.- Biography :Webster's life is obscure, and the dates...
, and Ben Jonson
Ben Jonson
Benjamin Jonson was an English Renaissance dramatist, poet and actor. A contemporary of William Shakespeare, he is best known for his satirical plays, particularly Volpone, The Alchemist, and Bartholomew Fair, which are considered his best, and his lyric poems...
's Every Man in His Humour
Every Man in His Humour
Every Man in His Humour is a 1598 play by the English playwright Ben Jonson. The play belongs to the subgenre of the "humours comedy," in which each major character is dominated by an overriding humour or obsession.-Performance and Publication:...
(1598), Volpone
Volpone
Volpone is a comedy by Ben Jonson first produced in 1606, drawing on elements of city comedy, black comedy and beast fable...
(1606
1606 in literature
The year 1606 in literature involved some significant events.-Events:*May 27 - The English Parliament passes An Act to Restrain Abuses of Players, which tightens the censorship controls on public theatre performances, most notably on the question of profane oaths.*December 26 - Shakespeare's King...
) and The Alchemist
The Alchemist (play)
The Alchemist is a comedy by English playwright Ben Jonson. First performed in 1610 by the King's Men, it is generally considered Jonson's best and most characteristic comedy; Samuel Taylor Coleridge claimed that it had one of the three most perfect plots in literature...
(1610
1610 in literature
The year 1610 in literature involved some significant events.-Events:*Thomas Bodley makes an agreement with the Stationers' Company of London to put a copy of every book registered with them into his new Bodleian.-New books:...
) are among the various examples that can be cited.