The Guardian (play)
Encyclopedia
The Guardian is a Caroline era stage play, a comedy
written by Philip Massinger
, dating from 1633
. "The play in which Massinger comes nearest to urbanity and suavity is The Guardian...."
, on October 31, 1633. It was performed by the King's Men
at the Blackfriars Theatre
, and was acted at Court before King Charles I
on Sunday, January 12, 1634
.
, when it was included in an octavo
volume issued by Humphrey Moseley
that also contained Massinger's The Bashful Lover
and the Fletcher
/Massinger collaboration A Very Woman
. (When Moseley entered the play into the Stationers' Register
in 1653
, it was under the title The City Honest Man or The Guardian, a form that appears nowhere else.)
), a collection of traditional Bengali
tales, and The Fables of Pilpay
; the story was translated into Greek by Simeon Seth
, and also occurs in The Decameron
of Boccaccio
, where it is the eighth story of the seventh day. Massinger also exploited classical literature for his versification in the play, drawing upon the works of Seneca the Younger
(Hercules Furens), Terence
(Heauton Timonumenos), and Catullus
.
era, material from The Guardian was adapted into a droll
, titled Love Lost in the Dark, or the Drunken Couple (printed 1680
). Abraham Cowley
adapted Massinger's play into The Cutter of Coleman Street (staged 1661
, printed 1663
). Aphra Behn
borrowed from The Guardian for her play The City Heiress
(1682
). George Farquhar
was influenced by The Guardian when writing his play The Inconstant (1702
).
and its surrounding countryside. Durazzo is a local gentleman, in his fifties but still lusty, vigorous, and passionate about life. (One character describes him as "jovial and good;" another, less sympathetic, calls him an "angry old ruffian.") Durazzo serves as the legal guardian for his nephew Caldoro, and encourages him to live a life of "rich clothes...horses, games, and wenches" suitable for a gentleman. But Durazzo is disappointed with his nephew, considering him a "milksop" for his unrequited love for the maiden Calista. Calista prefers the rakish Adorio, who would be happy to serve as her lover—but the virtuous Calista wants a husband, and this is not what Adorio has in mind. Caldoro is not wholly spineless, though; in a confrontation with Adorio he strikes his rival, and the two are about to duel when they are separated by other characters.
Calista is the daughter of Severino and Iolante. Severino is a gentleman who had the misfortune to fight a duel with his brother-in-law Monteclaro and to leave the man (apparently) dead on the field of combat. Alphonso, the King of Naples, is adamantly opposed to duelling and refuses to pardon any duelist who has killed a rival. With no hope of pardon, Severino has retreated to the countryside to lead a crew of bandits. Iolante, remaining in Naples, nourishes a sycophantic relationship with her neighbor Calypso, who flatters Iolante at every turn for her virtue. Iolante is unhappy with her daughter Calista over the matter of Adorio and Caldoro; she threatens to lock Calista away from any contact with men. Iolante has a consistency problem, however: she has spied a visiting French nobleman called Laval, and, prompted by Calypso, has developed a passion for him. Calypso acts the part of a bawd, taking a letter to Laval and setting up an assignation between him and Iolante. Laval is wary and suspicious, but curious too. Simultaneously, Calista sends a letter to Adorio by her maid Mirtilla, explaining her restraint and appealing to Adorio to elope with her and marry her.
Adorio is having a change of heart after his near-duel with Caldoro (a psychological development typical of Massinger's dramaturgy). When Mirtilla brings him Calista's letter, he agrees to rescue and marry Calista. Mirtilla, beholding this, falls in love with Adorio herself. Meanwhile, Durazzo convinces Caldoro to take an aggressive approach to his problem and abduct Calista. These competing plot strains come together in a series of night scenes of elaborate mistakings and disguises. (Staged in low light in the enclosed Blackfriars, rather than the open daylight of the Globe Theatre
, these scenes could have been highly effective.) Calista sneaks out of her mother's house to meet Adorio, only to encounter Caldoro instead; and Caldoro, prompted by Durazzo, lets her believe that he is Adorio, and escorts her away. Shortly after, Adorio arrives to encounter Mirtilla, who is also fleeing Iolante's house; he mistakes the maid for Calista, and she allows the misapprehension and departs with him.
Severino has sneaked into Naples to visit his home and his wife — and bumps into Laval, coming to keep his appointment for a tryst with Iolante. Laval mistakes Severino for a watchman, and retreats. Severino enters his house by a secret way, and finds his wife in her nightgown, with a banquet and wines laid out; she is clearly expecting a lover. Enraged, he binds Iolante with scarves and searches the house for the lover. In his absence, Calypso finds Iolante, unties her, and takes her place. Severino returns, still angry, having found no lover but realized that his daughter and her maid are missing; in his anger, he torments the woman he thinks is his wife, wounding her arms and her nose with his dagger. In his momentary absence, Iolante returns and takes Calypso's place; when Severino comes back, she feigns prayer, and makes him believe that her wounds have been miraculously healed, as a sign of her innocence and chastity. A repentant Severino takes Iolante to his bandit cave.
After riding off into the country, the two pairs of mismatched lovers eventually discover their errors. Caldoro is able to make a good impression on Calista, and begins to win her favor; Mirtilla placates the angry Adorio, and in a moment of mutual exhaustion they fall asleep under a tree, his head in her lap. They are discovered this way by Caldoro, Calista, and Durazzo, and the sight cures Calista of her infatuation with Adorio. Soon both parties are captured by the "banditti," who lead them to Severino's hideaway along with a third set of travellers, who include Laval and a disguised King Alphonso. In the final scene, the last misunderstandings are cleared way: Laval is revealed to be the supposedly dead Monteclaro, who had been rescued from near death and brought back to health by a travelling French nobleman. With the problem of the fatal duel resolved, the King can pardon Severino and restore him to civil society. Caldoro and Calista are now a happy couple, ready to be wed. Adorio resists the idea of marrying a servant girl — but Severino reveals that Mirtilla is actually of gentle birth, and equips her with a dowry that resolves Adorio's qualms.
Here in The Guardian, Massinger takes the English Renaissance stage convention of disguise and mistaken identity and carries it (Caldoro for Adorio, Mirtilla for Calista, Calypso for Iolante, Monteclaro/Laval, and the disguised King) about as far as any dramatist of the era ever managed to do.
Massinger uses his play to criticize the contemporary craze for duelling
, which he also writes against in A Very Woman. The play's Robin-Hood
style bandits provide opportunity for social commentary on other issues as well (most prominently in Act II, scene 4).
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 Philip Massinger
Philip Massinger
Philip Massinger was an English dramatist. His finely plotted plays, including A New Way to Pay Old Debts, The City Madam and The Roman Actor, are noted for their satire and realism, and their political and social themes.-Early life:The son of Arthur Massinger or Messenger, he was baptized at St....
, dating from 1633
1633 in literature
The year 1633 in literature involved some significant events.-Events:*On May 21, Ben Jonson's masque The King's Entertainment at Welbeck is performed....
. "The play in which Massinger comes nearest to urbanity and suavity is The Guardian...."
Performance
The play was licensed for performance by Sir Henry Herbert, the Master of the RevelsMaster of the Revels
The Master of the Revels was a position within the English, and later the British, royal household heading the "Revels Office" or "Office of the Revels" that originally had responsibilities for overseeing royal festivities, known as revels, and later also became responsible for stage censorship,...
, on October 31, 1633. It was performed by the King's Men
King's Men (playing company)
The King's Men was the company of actors to which William Shakespeare belonged through most of his career. Formerly known as The Lord Chamberlain's Men during the reign of Queen Elizabeth, it became The King's Men in 1603 when King James ascended the throne and became the company's patron.The...
at the 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...
, and was acted at Court before King Charles I
Charles I of England
Charles I was King of England, King of Scotland, and King of Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution in 1649. Charles engaged in a struggle for power with the Parliament of England, attempting to obtain royal revenue whilst Parliament sought to curb his Royal prerogative which Charles...
on Sunday, January 12, 1634
1634 in literature
The year 1634 in literature involved some significant events.-Events:*January 1 - The King's Men perform Cymbeline at the court of King Charles I of England.*January 22 - The King's Men perform Davenant's The Wits at the Blackfriars Theatre....
.
Publication
The Guardian was not published until 16551655 in literature
The year 1655 in literature involved some significant events.-Events:*May - Jeremy Taylor is imprisoned for four months at Chepstow Castle.*August 6 - The Blackfriars Theatre is demolished....
, when it was included in an octavo
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 issued by Humphrey Moseley
Humphrey Moseley
Humphrey Moseley was a prominent London publisher and bookseller in the middle seventeenth century.Possibly a son of publisher Samuel Moseley, Humphrey Moseley became a "freeman" of the Stationers Company, the guild of London booksellers, on 7 May 1627; he was selected a Warden of the Company on...
that also contained Massinger's The Bashful Lover
The Bashful Lover
The Bashful Lover is a Caroline era stage play, a tragicomedy written by Philip Massinger. Dating from 1636, it is the playwright's last known extant work; it appeared four years before his death in 1640....
and the Fletcher
John Fletcher (playwright)
John Fletcher was a Jacobean playwright. Following William Shakespeare as house playwright for the King's Men, he was among the most prolific and influential dramatists of his day; both during his lifetime and in the early Restoration, his fame rivalled Shakespeare's...
/Massinger collaboration A Very Woman
A Very Woman
A Very Woman, or The Prince of Tarent is an early seventeenth-century stage play, a tragicomedy written by Philip Massinger and John Fletcher...
. (When Moseley entered the play 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...
in 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....
, it was under the title The City Honest Man or The Guardian, a form that appears nowhere else.)
Sources
For the plot of his play, Massinger drew upon traditional story and folktale materials that are expressed in various forms throughout world literature. The Iolante/Calypso subplot can be traced as far back as The Heetopades (HitopadeshaHitopadesha
Hitopadesha is a collection of Sanskrit fables in prose and verse written in the 12 century C.E. It is an independent treatment of the Panchatantra...
), a collection of traditional Bengali
Bengali language
Bengali or Bangla is an eastern Indo-Aryan language. It is native to the region of eastern South Asia known as Bengal, which comprises present day Bangladesh, the Indian state of West Bengal, and parts of the Indian states of Tripura and Assam. It is written with the Bengali script...
tales, and The Fables of Pilpay
Panchatantra
The Panchatantra is an ancient Indian inter-related collection of animal fables in verse and prose, in a frame story format. The original Sanskrit work, which some scholars believe was composed in the 3rd century BCE, is attributed to Vishnu Sharma...
; the story was translated into Greek by Simeon Seth
Simeon Seth
Simeon Seth or Symeon Seth was an 11th-century Jewish Byzantine doctor, scholar, and grand Chamberlain under Emperor Michael VII Doukas, originally from Antioch...
, and also occurs in The Decameron
The Decameron
The Decameron, also called Prince Galehaut is a 14th-century medieval allegory by Giovanni Boccaccio, told as a frame story encompassing 100 tales by ten young people....
of Boccaccio
Giovanni Boccaccio
Giovanni Boccaccio was an Italian author and poet, a friend, student, and correspondent of Petrarch, an important Renaissance humanist and the author of a number of notable works including the Decameron, On Famous Women, and his poetry in the Italian vernacular...
, where it is the eighth story of the seventh day. Massinger also exploited classical literature for his versification in the play, drawing upon the works of Seneca the Younger
Seneca the Younger
Lucius Annaeus Seneca was a Roman Stoic philosopher, statesman, dramatist, and in one work humorist, of the Silver Age of Latin literature. He was tutor and later advisor to emperor Nero...
(Hercules Furens), Terence
Terence
Publius Terentius Afer , better known in English as Terence, was a playwright of the Roman Republic, of North African descent. His comedies were performed for the first time around 170–160 BC. Terentius Lucanus, a Roman senator, brought Terence to Rome as a slave, educated him and later on,...
(Heauton Timonumenos), and Catullus
Catullus
Gaius Valerius Catullus was a Latin poet of the Republican period. His surviving works are still read widely, and continue to influence poetry and other forms of art.-Biography:...
.
Adaptations
During 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...
era, material from The Guardian was adapted into a droll
Droll
A droll is a short comical sketch of a type that originated during the Puritan Interregnum in England. With the closure of the theatres, actors were left without any way of plying their art. Borrowing scenes from well-known plays of the Elizabethan theatre, they added dancing and other...
, titled Love Lost in the Dark, or the Drunken Couple (printed 1680
1680 in literature
The year 1680 in literature involved some significant events.-Events:* The spring/summer production of Nathaniel Lee's Theodosius at Dorset Garden features Henry Purcell's earliest theatre music....
). Abraham Cowley
Abraham Cowley
Abraham Cowley was an English poet born in the City of London late in 1618. He was one of the leading English poets of the 17th century, with 14 printings of his Works published between 1668 and 1721.-Early life and career:...
adapted Massinger's play into The Cutter of Coleman Street (staged 1661
1661 in literature
The year 1661 in literature involved some significant events.-Events:* The Book of Kells is presented to Trinity College, Dublin.* Controversial author James Harrington is arrested on a charge of conspiracy....
, printed 1663
1663 in literature
The year 1663 in literature involved some significant events.-Events:*February - The Académie des inscriptions et belles-lettres is founded in Paris....
). Aphra Behn
Aphra Behn
Aphra Behn was a prolific dramatist of the English Restoration and was one of the first English professional female writers. Her writing contributed to the amatory fiction genre of British literature.-Early life:...
borrowed from The Guardian for her play The City Heiress
The City Heiress
The City Heiress is a play by Aphra Behn produced in 1682. The play conforms to the general rules of Restoration comedy, but it also keeps Behn's own highly Royalist political point of view....
(1682
1682 in literature
The year 1682 in literature involved some significant events.-Events:* In London, the King's Company and the Duke's Company join to form the United Company.-New books:*John Bunyan - The Holy War...
). George Farquhar
George Farquhar
George Farquhar was an Irish dramatist. He is noted for his contributions to late Restoration comedy, particularly for his plays The Recruiting Officer and The Beaux' Stratagem .-Early life:...
was influenced by The Guardian when writing his play The Inconstant (1702
1702 in literature
The year 1702 in literature involved some significant events.-Events:* March 11 - First publication of the Daily Courant, The year 1702 in literature involved some significant events.-Events:* March 11 - First publication of the Daily Courant, The year 1702 in literature involved some significant...
).
Synopsis
The play is set in the city of NaplesNaples
Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...
and its surrounding countryside. Durazzo is a local gentleman, in his fifties but still lusty, vigorous, and passionate about life. (One character describes him as "jovial and good;" another, less sympathetic, calls him an "angry old ruffian.") Durazzo serves as the legal guardian for his nephew Caldoro, and encourages him to live a life of "rich clothes...horses, games, and wenches" suitable for a gentleman. But Durazzo is disappointed with his nephew, considering him a "milksop" for his unrequited love for the maiden Calista. Calista prefers the rakish Adorio, who would be happy to serve as her lover—but the virtuous Calista wants a husband, and this is not what Adorio has in mind. Caldoro is not wholly spineless, though; in a confrontation with Adorio he strikes his rival, and the two are about to duel when they are separated by other characters.
Calista is the daughter of Severino and Iolante. Severino is a gentleman who had the misfortune to fight a duel with his brother-in-law Monteclaro and to leave the man (apparently) dead on the field of combat. Alphonso, the King of Naples, is adamantly opposed to duelling and refuses to pardon any duelist who has killed a rival. With no hope of pardon, Severino has retreated to the countryside to lead a crew of bandits. Iolante, remaining in Naples, nourishes a sycophantic relationship with her neighbor Calypso, who flatters Iolante at every turn for her virtue. Iolante is unhappy with her daughter Calista over the matter of Adorio and Caldoro; she threatens to lock Calista away from any contact with men. Iolante has a consistency problem, however: she has spied a visiting French nobleman called Laval, and, prompted by Calypso, has developed a passion for him. Calypso acts the part of a bawd, taking a letter to Laval and setting up an assignation between him and Iolante. Laval is wary and suspicious, but curious too. Simultaneously, Calista sends a letter to Adorio by her maid Mirtilla, explaining her restraint and appealing to Adorio to elope with her and marry her.
Adorio is having a change of heart after his near-duel with Caldoro (a psychological development typical of Massinger's dramaturgy). When Mirtilla brings him Calista's letter, he agrees to rescue and marry Calista. Mirtilla, beholding this, falls in love with Adorio herself. Meanwhile, Durazzo convinces Caldoro to take an aggressive approach to his problem and abduct Calista. These competing plot strains come together in a series of night scenes of elaborate mistakings and disguises. (Staged in low light in the enclosed Blackfriars, rather than the open daylight of the Globe Theatre
Globe Theatre
The Globe Theatre was a theatre in London associated with William Shakespeare. It was built in 1599 by Shakespeare's playing company, the Lord Chamberlain's Men, and was destroyed by fire on 29 June 1613...
, these scenes could have been highly effective.) Calista sneaks out of her mother's house to meet Adorio, only to encounter Caldoro instead; and Caldoro, prompted by Durazzo, lets her believe that he is Adorio, and escorts her away. Shortly after, Adorio arrives to encounter Mirtilla, who is also fleeing Iolante's house; he mistakes the maid for Calista, and she allows the misapprehension and departs with him.
Severino has sneaked into Naples to visit his home and his wife — and bumps into Laval, coming to keep his appointment for a tryst with Iolante. Laval mistakes Severino for a watchman, and retreats. Severino enters his house by a secret way, and finds his wife in her nightgown, with a banquet and wines laid out; she is clearly expecting a lover. Enraged, he binds Iolante with scarves and searches the house for the lover. In his absence, Calypso finds Iolante, unties her, and takes her place. Severino returns, still angry, having found no lover but realized that his daughter and her maid are missing; in his anger, he torments the woman he thinks is his wife, wounding her arms and her nose with his dagger. In his momentary absence, Iolante returns and takes Calypso's place; when Severino comes back, she feigns prayer, and makes him believe that her wounds have been miraculously healed, as a sign of her innocence and chastity. A repentant Severino takes Iolante to his bandit cave.
After riding off into the country, the two pairs of mismatched lovers eventually discover their errors. Caldoro is able to make a good impression on Calista, and begins to win her favor; Mirtilla placates the angry Adorio, and in a moment of mutual exhaustion they fall asleep under a tree, his head in her lap. They are discovered this way by Caldoro, Calista, and Durazzo, and the sight cures Calista of her infatuation with Adorio. Soon both parties are captured by the "banditti," who lead them to Severino's hideaway along with a third set of travellers, who include Laval and a disguised King Alphonso. In the final scene, the last misunderstandings are cleared way: Laval is revealed to be the supposedly dead Monteclaro, who had been rescued from near death and brought back to health by a travelling French nobleman. With the problem of the fatal duel resolved, the King can pardon Severino and restore him to civil society. Caldoro and Calista are now a happy couple, ready to be wed. Adorio resists the idea of marrying a servant girl — but Severino reveals that Mirtilla is actually of gentle birth, and equips her with a dowry that resolves Adorio's qualms.
Here in The Guardian, Massinger takes the English Renaissance stage convention of disguise and mistaken identity and carries it (Caldoro for Adorio, Mirtilla for Calista, Calypso for Iolante, Monteclaro/Laval, and the disguised King) about as far as any dramatist of the era ever managed to do.
Massinger uses his play to criticize the contemporary craze for duelling
Duel
A duel is an arranged engagement in combat between two individuals, with matched weapons in accordance with agreed-upon rules.Duels in this form were chiefly practised in Early Modern Europe, with precedents in the medieval code of chivalry, and continued into the modern period especially among...
, which he also writes against in A Very Woman. The play's Robin-Hood
Robin Hood
Robin Hood was a heroic outlaw in English folklore. A highly skilled archer and swordsman, he is known for "robbing from the rich and giving to the poor", assisted by a group of fellow outlaws known as his "Merry Men". Traditionally, Robin Hood and his men are depicted wearing Lincoln green clothes....
style bandits provide opportunity for social commentary on other issues as well (most prominently in Act II, scene 4).
Sources
- Barroll, John Leeds, ed. Medieval and Renaissance Drama in England: An Annual Gathering of Research, Criticism and Reviews. Volume 7, Madison/Teaneck, NJ, Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 1995.
- Clark, Ira. The Moral Art of Philip Massinger. Lewisburg, PA, Bucknell University Press, 1993.
- Garrett, Martin. Massinger: The Critical Heritage. London, Routledge, 1991.
- Gifford, William, ed. The Plays of Philip Massinger. One-volume edition, New York, H. B. Mahn, 1857.
- Logan, Terence P., and Denzell S. Smith, eds. The Later Jacobean and Caroline Dramatists: A Survey of Recent Studies in English Renaissance Drama. Lincoln, NE, University of Nebraska Press, 1978.
- McManaway, James G. "Philip Massinger and the Restoration Drama." Journal of English Literary History, Vol. 1 No. 3 (December 1934), pp. 276-304.
- Maxwell, Baldwin. Studies in Beaumont, Fletcher, and Massinger. Chapel Hill, NC, University of North Carolina Press, 1939.
- Oliphant, E. H. C. The Plays of Beaumont and Fletcher. New Haven, Yale University Press, 1927.
- Phelan, James. On Philip Massinger. Halle, E. Karras, 1878.