The Prince of Parthia
Encyclopedia
The Prince of Parthia by Thomas Godfrey was the first play written by an American to be presented in the United States
by a professional cast of actors, on April 24, 1767. It was first published in 1765.
tragedy
. It mostly follows the unities of time (happens in a short amount of time, usually 24 hours), place (happens in one place) and plot (one or few plot lines). It also has a five-act structure, and most of the characters follow decorum. However, with verisimilitude (or, the appearance of truth), the play is lacking. The idea that the entire plot line could happen within 24 to 48 hours is astonishing.
In the first act, Phraates, an officer at court, and Gotarzes, a prince, discuss Prince Arsaces’ triumphal return from foreign wars. But, there is trouble at home. Vardanes, Arsaces’ brother, is jealous of his marital successes, and Thermusa, Arsaces’ stepmother and the Queen of Parthia wants to avenge her son Vonones who was killed by Arsaces for treason. Vardanes and his officer, Lysias, decide to use Thermusa’s vengeance to destroy Arsaces. Meanwhile, Evanthe, who's dad, King Bethas, has been imprisoned, is in love with Arsaces. But Artabanus, the King of Parthia, has illicit feelings for Evanthe. The plot then moves in to Act Two; when Vardanes and Lysias hear Arsaces tell Bethas that he loves Evanthe, they decide to tell King Artabanus that Arsaces is a traitor for sympathizing with Parthian enemies. And that is all; like most plays with a five-act structure, there are usually one or two acts that are just one scene. This keeps the five-act structure, but does not mess with the believability of the plot.
By the time the plot reaches Act Three, Thermusa is very angry because she knows King Artabanus is lusting after someone else. She tells this to Vardanes, who decides to use this to destroy Arsaces and take the throne of Parthia for himself. Arsaces asks for Evanthe’s hand in marriage in front of King Artabanus. Artabanus decides to let Arsaces have Evanthe because he promised Arsaces anything he wanted for being such an awesome child. Evanthe tells Arsaces that King Artabanus loves her, to which he replies that he loves her more. Vardanes then tells King Artabanus that Arsaces is a traitor.
Act Four takes a sharp plot turn, which causes some incongruities. Phraates tells Gotarzes that he overheard Vardanes and Lysias talking about how they killed King Artabanus in his sleep. Vardanes and Lysias plan on blaming Arsaces, while Phraates and Gotarzes plan on telling the general Barzaphernes about who actually killed the king. Arsaces has been accused of the regicide and thrown in prison along with Bethas. They bond over their fear for Evanthe’s safety. Thermusa enters the prison to kill Arsaces, but she sees a bloody ghost of King Artabanus, which causes her to “brain” herself against the wall, committing suicide. Barzaphernes appears and releases Arsaces. Together, they plan to get Vardanes and make Parthia right once more.
In the exciting conclusion of Act Five, Vardanes comes on to Evanthe, but she does not like it. Before Vardanes can hurt Evanthe, Lysias runs in and tells Vardanes that Arsaces has escaped and knows of Vardanes’ plot. Then, a huge battle occurs, pitting Vardanes, Lysias and all of their followers against Arsaces, Barzaphernes, Phraates, Gotarzes and their men. Cleone, Evanthe’s maid, watches the battle from a window. Cleone believes Arsaces was killed in the battle by Vardanes, but it was really Phraates. Cleone tells this to Evanthe, who drinks a vial of poison. When Arsaces, who has taken down Vardanes, hears of Evanthe’s death, he impales himself on Barzaphernes’ sword. In the end, only Barzaphernes and Gotarzes live.
, Julius Caesar
, King Lear
, Macbeth
, Hamlet
and Othello
. One of the more striking parallels in the play is the Ghost scene with Queen Thermusa and Arsaces – it directly parallels the Ghost scene in Hamlet with Queen Gertrude and Hamlet. Consider the following:
Prince of Parthia, IV.5
Thermusa: Save me – oh! – save me- ye eternal pow’rs –...
Arsaces: Your eyes seem fix’d upon some dreadful object, Horror and anguish cloath your whiten’d face. And your frame shakes with terror; I hear you speak as seeming earnest in discourse, yet hear no second voice.
Thermusa: What! Saw’st thou nothing?
Arsaces: Nothing.
Thermusa: Nor hear’d?—
Arsaces: Nor hear’d.
Compare that scene from The Prince of Parthia to this scene from William Shakespeare's Hamlet
Hamlet, III.4
Hamlet: Save me, and hover o’er me with your wings, you heavenly guards!...
Queen: Alas, how is’t with you, That you do bend your eye on vacancy, And with the incorporal air do hold discourse? Fort at your eyes your spirits wildly peep ... Whereon do you look? ... To whom do you speak this?
Hamlet: Do you see nothing there?
Queen: Nothing at all; yet all that is I see.
Hamlet: Nor did you nothing hear?
Queen: No, nothing but ourselves.
This scene in The Prince of Parthia is directly modeled on the one from Hamlet. In both scenes, the ghost is only apparent to one character (Thermusa in Prince of Parthia and Hamlet in Hamlet) and it greatly affects the plotline as a whole.
The character development in the play as well is lacking. Arsaces is relatively flat for a titular character; he is obviously drawn from the Shakespearian characters of Macduff, Othello, Hamlet, Marc Anthony and Romeo. Even as the main character, it is hard to nail down exactly what Arsaces is like.
William E. McCarron explains, in the introduction of A Bicentennial Edition of Thomas Godfrey's The Prince of Parthia: a Tragedy, "Godfrey’s greatest weakness in characterizing Arsaces is his failure to give him a tragic flaw. If Othello is jealous in the extreme and Hamlet constantly indecisive, Arsaces always rightly praises Evanthe’s beauty and patiently endures unjust imprisonment. Some chink in Arsaces’ armor, however slight, would make him more credible as a tragic hero (36)."
Arsaces is just totally good, which does not make for good theatre. Evanthe is in the same boat. She is nothing like her inspiring characters Juliet, Desdemona and Ophelia. They each have streaks of strength running through them, whereas Evanthe is weaker. In the end of the play, “her lone remaining feat is to serve as lamenter for Arsaces’ downfall” (McCarron 37). Like Arsaces, she is extremely two-dimensional; there is nothing exciting there. However, the character of Vardanes was actually well written. He was drawn from Macbeth, Iago, Edmund and Tybalt. All of them are jealous of someone (Duncan, Othello, Edgar and Romeo, respectively), and have problems with ambition. Vardanes also uses people to get what he wants, including Thermusa (resembling Macbeth using Lady Macbeth) and Lysias (resembling Iago using Roderigo). On the whole, Vardanes is very carefully fleshed out, while the other two principle characters seem to get lost.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
by a professional cast of actors, on April 24, 1767. It was first published in 1765.
Plot
The Prince of Parthia is written to be a Neo-ClassicalNeoclassicism
Neoclassicism is the name given to Western movements in the decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that draw inspiration from the "classical" art and culture of Ancient Greece or Ancient Rome...
tragedy
Tragedy
Tragedy is a form of art based on human suffering that offers its audience pleasure. While most cultures have developed forms that provoke this paradoxical response, tragedy refers to a specific tradition of drama that has played a unique and important role historically in the self-definition of...
. It mostly follows the unities of time (happens in a short amount of time, usually 24 hours), place (happens in one place) and plot (one or few plot lines). It also has a five-act structure, and most of the characters follow decorum. However, with verisimilitude (or, the appearance of truth), the play is lacking. The idea that the entire plot line could happen within 24 to 48 hours is astonishing.
In the first act, Phraates, an officer at court, and Gotarzes, a prince, discuss Prince Arsaces’ triumphal return from foreign wars. But, there is trouble at home. Vardanes, Arsaces’ brother, is jealous of his marital successes, and Thermusa, Arsaces’ stepmother and the Queen of Parthia wants to avenge her son Vonones who was killed by Arsaces for treason. Vardanes and his officer, Lysias, decide to use Thermusa’s vengeance to destroy Arsaces. Meanwhile, Evanthe, who's dad, King Bethas, has been imprisoned, is in love with Arsaces. But Artabanus, the King of Parthia, has illicit feelings for Evanthe. The plot then moves in to Act Two; when Vardanes and Lysias hear Arsaces tell Bethas that he loves Evanthe, they decide to tell King Artabanus that Arsaces is a traitor for sympathizing with Parthian enemies. And that is all; like most plays with a five-act structure, there are usually one or two acts that are just one scene. This keeps the five-act structure, but does not mess with the believability of the plot.
By the time the plot reaches Act Three, Thermusa is very angry because she knows King Artabanus is lusting after someone else. She tells this to Vardanes, who decides to use this to destroy Arsaces and take the throne of Parthia for himself. Arsaces asks for Evanthe’s hand in marriage in front of King Artabanus. Artabanus decides to let Arsaces have Evanthe because he promised Arsaces anything he wanted for being such an awesome child. Evanthe tells Arsaces that King Artabanus loves her, to which he replies that he loves her more. Vardanes then tells King Artabanus that Arsaces is a traitor.
Act Four takes a sharp plot turn, which causes some incongruities. Phraates tells Gotarzes that he overheard Vardanes and Lysias talking about how they killed King Artabanus in his sleep. Vardanes and Lysias plan on blaming Arsaces, while Phraates and Gotarzes plan on telling the general Barzaphernes about who actually killed the king. Arsaces has been accused of the regicide and thrown in prison along with Bethas. They bond over their fear for Evanthe’s safety. Thermusa enters the prison to kill Arsaces, but she sees a bloody ghost of King Artabanus, which causes her to “brain” herself against the wall, committing suicide. Barzaphernes appears and releases Arsaces. Together, they plan to get Vardanes and make Parthia right once more.
In the exciting conclusion of Act Five, Vardanes comes on to Evanthe, but she does not like it. Before Vardanes can hurt Evanthe, Lysias runs in and tells Vardanes that Arsaces has escaped and knows of Vardanes’ plot. Then, a huge battle occurs, pitting Vardanes, Lysias and all of their followers against Arsaces, Barzaphernes, Phraates, Gotarzes and their men. Cleone, Evanthe’s maid, watches the battle from a window. Cleone believes Arsaces was killed in the battle by Vardanes, but it was really Phraates. Cleone tells this to Evanthe, who drinks a vial of poison. When Arsaces, who has taken down Vardanes, hears of Evanthe’s death, he impales himself on Barzaphernes’ sword. In the end, only Barzaphernes and Gotarzes live.
Shakespearean "Inspiration"
As one can see, there are many plot lines taken from Shakespearian plays. The main six that “inspired” Godfrey were Romeo and JulietRomeo and Juliet
Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy written early in the career of playwright William Shakespeare about two young star-crossed lovers whose deaths ultimately unite their feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular archetypal stories of young, teenage lovers.Romeo and Juliet belongs to a...
, Julius Caesar
Julius Caesar (play)
The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, also known simply as Julius Caesar, is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in 1599. It portrays the 44 BC conspiracy against...
, King Lear
King Lear
King Lear is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. The title character descends into madness after foolishly disposing of his estate between two of his three daughters based on their flattery, bringing tragic consequences for all. The play is based on the legend of Leir of Britain, a mythological...
, Macbeth
Macbeth
The Tragedy of Macbeth is a play by William Shakespeare about a regicide and its aftermath. It is Shakespeare's shortest tragedy and is believed to have been written sometime between 1603 and 1607...
, Hamlet
Hamlet
The Tragical History of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, or more simply Hamlet, is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1599 and 1601...
and Othello
Othello
The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in approximately 1603, and based on the Italian short story "Un Capitano Moro" by Cinthio, a disciple of Boccaccio, first published in 1565...
. One of the more striking parallels in the play is the Ghost scene with Queen Thermusa and Arsaces – it directly parallels the Ghost scene in Hamlet with Queen Gertrude and Hamlet. Consider the following:
Prince of Parthia, IV.5
Thermusa: Save me – oh! – save me- ye eternal pow’rs –...
Arsaces: Your eyes seem fix’d upon some dreadful object, Horror and anguish cloath your whiten’d face. And your frame shakes with terror; I hear you speak as seeming earnest in discourse, yet hear no second voice.
Thermusa: What! Saw’st thou nothing?
Arsaces: Nothing.
Thermusa: Nor hear’d?—
Arsaces: Nor hear’d.
Compare that scene from The Prince of Parthia to this scene from William Shakespeare's Hamlet
Hamlet, III.4
Hamlet: Save me, and hover o’er me with your wings, you heavenly guards!...
Queen: Alas, how is’t with you, That you do bend your eye on vacancy, And with the incorporal air do hold discourse? Fort at your eyes your spirits wildly peep ... Whereon do you look? ... To whom do you speak this?
Hamlet: Do you see nothing there?
Queen: Nothing at all; yet all that is I see.
Hamlet: Nor did you nothing hear?
Queen: No, nothing but ourselves.
This scene in The Prince of Parthia is directly modeled on the one from Hamlet. In both scenes, the ghost is only apparent to one character (Thermusa in Prince of Parthia and Hamlet in Hamlet) and it greatly affects the plotline as a whole.
The character development in the play as well is lacking. Arsaces is relatively flat for a titular character; he is obviously drawn from the Shakespearian characters of Macduff, Othello, Hamlet, Marc Anthony and Romeo. Even as the main character, it is hard to nail down exactly what Arsaces is like.
William E. McCarron explains, in the introduction of A Bicentennial Edition of Thomas Godfrey's The Prince of Parthia: a Tragedy, "Godfrey’s greatest weakness in characterizing Arsaces is his failure to give him a tragic flaw. If Othello is jealous in the extreme and Hamlet constantly indecisive, Arsaces always rightly praises Evanthe’s beauty and patiently endures unjust imprisonment. Some chink in Arsaces’ armor, however slight, would make him more credible as a tragic hero (36)."
Arsaces is just totally good, which does not make for good theatre. Evanthe is in the same boat. She is nothing like her inspiring characters Juliet, Desdemona and Ophelia. They each have streaks of strength running through them, whereas Evanthe is weaker. In the end of the play, “her lone remaining feat is to serve as lamenter for Arsaces’ downfall” (McCarron 37). Like Arsaces, she is extremely two-dimensional; there is nothing exciting there. However, the character of Vardanes was actually well written. He was drawn from Macbeth, Iago, Edmund and Tybalt. All of them are jealous of someone (Duncan, Othello, Edgar and Romeo, respectively), and have problems with ambition. Vardanes also uses people to get what he wants, including Thermusa (resembling Macbeth using Lady Macbeth) and Lysias (resembling Iago using Roderigo). On the whole, Vardanes is very carefully fleshed out, while the other two principle characters seem to get lost.