Playwright and Minister
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PLAYWRIGHT AND MAN OF GOD: RELIGION AND CONVENTION IN THE COMIC PLAYS OF JOHN MARSTON by Blagomir Georgiev Blagoev A thesis submitted in conformity with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Graduate Department of English University of Toronto © Copyright by Blagomir Georgiev Blagoev (2010) PLAYWRIGHT AND MAN OF GOD: RELIGION AND CONVENTION IN THE COMIC PLAYS OF JOHN MARSTON Blagomir Georgiev Blagoev Doctor of Philosophy Graduate Department of English University of Toronto 2010 ABSTRACT John Marston’s literary legacy has inevitably existed in the larger-than-life shadows of his great contemporaries William Shakespeare and Ben Jonson. In the last two centuries, his works were hardly taken on their own terms but were perceived instead in overt or implicit comparison to Shakespeare’s or Jonson’s. As a result, Marston’s plays acquired the lasting but unfair image of haphazard concoctions whose cheap sensationalism and personal satire often got them in trouble with the authorities. This was the case until recently, especially with Marston’s comic drama. Following revisionist trends, this study sets out to restore some perspective: it offers a fresh reading of Marston’s comic plays and collaborations—Antonio and Mellida, What You Will, Jack Drum’s Entertainment, The Dutch Courtesan, The Malcontent, Parasitaster, Eastward Ho, and Histrio-Mastix—by pursuing a more nuanced contextualization with regard to religious context and archival evidence. The first central contention here is that instead of undermining political and religious authority, Marston’s comic drama can demonstrate consistent conformist and conservative affinities, which imply a seriously considered agenda. This study’s second main point is that the perceived failures of Marston’s comic plays—such as tragic ii elements, basic characterization, and sudden final reversals—can be plausibly read as deliberate effects, designed with this agenda in mind. The significance of this analysis lies in its interpretation of Marston’s comedies from the angle of religious and political conformism, which argues for an alternative identity for this playwright. The discussion opens with a presentation of Marston’s early satirical books as texts informed by a moderate Church of England Protestantism, yet coinciding at times with some of Calvin’s writings, and by a distrust of the individualistic tendencies of the English Presbyterian movement as well as the perceived literal ritualism of the old Catholic faith. On this basis, it then proceeds to reveal an identical philosophy behind Marston’s comic plays and collaborations. Antonio and Mellida and What You Will are interpreted to dramatize the human soul’s dependence on God’s favourable grace; Jack Drum’s Entertainment and The Dutch Courtesan to insist on the acknowledgement of God in romantic desire; The Malcontent and Parasitaster to present the dangers of the political immorality; and Eastward Ho and Histrio-Mastix to argue for the necessity of edifying occupations for the wayward human will. In its conclusion, this study further highlights Marston’s bias for political and religious individual obedience to established hierarchies and his suspicion of the early modern forces of change. The conformist identity that emerges from the present discussion is consistently supported by the archival evidence surviving from the playwright’s life. Thus, Marston’s comic drama can be interpreted as the result of carefully considered and skilfully implemented political and religious ideas that have been neglected so far. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Like its subject, my study of Marston’s comic drama has benefited from a variety of influences and contributions, for all of which I am sincerely grateful. Most importantly, however, this project would not have materialized were it not for the generous funding and employment opportunities I received through the PhD program at the Department of English, University of Toronto. With respect to the project’s completion, I am deeply indebted to my doctoral supervisors, Alexander Leggatt and Jill Levenson, for their infectious enthusiasm and knowledgeable guidance, and to my committee advisors, David Galbraith and Leslie Thomson, for their liberal help with the intricacies of early modern religion and the practicalities of early modern theatre. For invaluable reviews of the finished draft, I thank my external examiner, Helen Ostovich, and my departmental appraiser, Anne Lancashire. Of course, any errors that may remain here are entirely my own. Perhaps less obvious but nonetheless significant has been the inspiration I have derived from members of the wider academic community, both at the University of Toronto and beyond. Elizabeth Harvey helped me secure a travel grant to examine the Marston holdings at the British and Bodleian libraries, a research trip which eventually led to the first publication related to this study. For its appearance in print, I am also grateful to Helen Ostovich (again) and the anonymous readers at the Early Theatre journal. I owe yet further debts to Rob Carson for consultations on various philosophical concepts; to Tim Perry for his indispensable help with early modern Latin; and to Zubin Meer for his fascinating lectures on the politics of eighteenth-century literature. My knowledge of the much wider context of this project has likewise profited from seminars iv with Ian Lancashire, Randy McLeod, John Baird, and Brian Corman, whom I was fortunate to have as instructors, and from conversations with Chris Matusiak, Katie Larson, Chris Hicklin, Scott Scofield, Piers Brown, Chris Chapman, Igor Djordjevic, Lindy Ledohowsky, Zach Pickard, Chris Trigg, Alex Peat, Rebecca Tierny-Hynes, and Darryl Domingo, who were the fellow students one wishes for. As for my rather prodigal interest in English Renaissance Drama, I blame that on Evgenia Pantcheva, my MA supervisor at the University of Sofia, Bulgaria, and my director in a very unconventional student production of The Taming of the Shrew. In addition to my academic acknowledgements, I must also mention the thoughtful assistance I have received throughout my doctoral work from the administrative staff at the University of Toronto: particularly from Deidre Lynch, Tanuja Persaud, Gillian Northgrave, Cecilia Martino, and Dona Sabo at the Department of English, as well as from Arianna Capotorto and (again) Brian Corman at the School of Graduate Studies. I am also thankful to Rebecca Spagnolo, Assistant Dean of Graduate House, and Beverley Lewis, Examinations Supervisor at the Faculty of Arts and Science, for a number of timely non-academic work positions. Finally, I would like to thank my father, Georgi Georgiev, and my mother, Violina Metodieva, for their unconditional support through all my years of school. I must also mention an inspiring journey across the United States, courtesy of Alice Humphreys and Douglas Humphreys of Great Bend, KS, which eventually secured my admission to the Program in English and American Studies at the University of Sofia. Further thanks go to my brother, Drago Blagoev, and to my good friends, Rob Vitale, Igor Valentovitch, v Nikolai Naidenov, and John Geary for some choice comic relief during my studies of comedy. Yet my greatest personal debt of all remains to my partner, Julia Roebothan, whose kindness and patience know no bounds. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT....................................................................................................................... ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................ iv NOTE ................................................................................................................................. 1 INTRODUCTION............................................................................................................. 2 Premise and Scope ................................................................................................ 2 Critical Review...................................................................................................... 8 Religion in Marston’s Poetry ............................................................................. 12 Marston’s Religious Context.............................................................................. 27 The New Comedy and Morality Modes: Tragedy, Irony, and Religion ........ 38 Marston’s Comic Plays....................................................................................... 46 CHAPTER 1: The Faculty of the Soul.......................................................................... 53 Antonio and Mellida (1599-1600) ....................................................................... 53 What You Will (1601) .......................................................................................... 71 CHAPTER 2: Romantic Relationships......................................................................... 97 Jack Drum’s Entertainment (1600) .................................................................... 97 The Dutch Courtesan (1603-1604).................................................................... 116 CHAPTER 3: Political Rulers ..................................................................................... 146 The Malcontent (1600-1604) ............................................................................. 146 Parasitaster, or the Fawn (1604-1606).............................................................. 169 CHAPTER 4: Moral Education .................................................................................