Louisiana State University LSU Digital Commons LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses Graduate School 1997 Penitent Brothellers: Grace, Sexuality, and Genre in Thomas Middleton's City Comedies. Herbert Jack Heller Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses Recommended Citation Heller, Herbert Jack, "Penitent Brothellers: Grace, Sexuality, and Genre in Thomas Middleton's City Comedies." (1997). LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses. 6492. https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses/6492 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at LSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses by an authorized administrator of LSU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. INFORMATION TO USERS This manuscript has been reproduced from the microfilm master. UME films the text direct^ from the original or copy submitted. Thus, some thesis and dissertation copies are in typewriter frœe; while others may be from any type o f computer printer. The quality of this reproduction is dqiendent upon the quality of the copy submitted. Broken or indistinct prmt, colored or poor quality illustrations and photognq>hs, print bleedthrough, substandard margins, and improper alignment can adversety afifect reproductioiL hi the unlikety event that the author did not send UMI a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if unauthorized copyright material had to be removed, a note will indicate the ddetion. Oversize materials (e g., maps, drawings, charts) are reproduced by sectioning the original, b%inning at the upper left-hand comer and continuing from Idt to right in equal sections with small overlaps. Each original is also photographed in one exposure and is included in reduced form at the back o f the book. Photographs included in the original manuscript have been reproduced xerographicalty in this copy. Higher quality 6” x 9” black and white photographic prints are available for any photographs or illustrations appearing in this copy for an additional charge. Contact UMI directty to order. UMI A Bell & Ifowell Information Compaiy 300 North Zceb Road, Ann Arbor MI 48106-1346 USA 313/761-4700 800/521-0600 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. PENITENT BROTHELLERS: GRACE, SEXUALITY, AND GENRE IN THOMAS MIDDLETON'S CITY COMEDIES A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in The Department of English by Herbert Jack Heller B. A., Bryan College, 1985 M. A., Louisiana State University, 1989 June 1997 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. UMI Number: 9808749 Copyright 1997 by Heller, Herbert Jack All rights reserved. UMI Microform 9808749 Copyright 1997, hy UMI Company. Ail rights reserved. This microform édition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. UMI 300 North Zeeb Road Ann Arbor, MI 48103 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ©Copyright 1997 H erbert Jack Heller All rights reserved 11 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Acknowledgements Members of my dissertation committee include Dr. Gale Carrithers (Chair), Dr. Anna Nardo, Dr. Kevin Cope, and Dr. Carolyn Jones. I have enjoyed their encouragement, patience, and constructive suggestions through the long process of writing this study. I am most grateful for their guidance throughout. Extra thanks go to Dr. Carrithers for introducing me to Thomas Middleton’s works. Several scholars involved in Middleton studies have responded to my inquiries—Dr. Gary Taylor, Dr. Peter Sacdo, Dr. Mario DiGangi, and Dr. Paul Mulholland. Their help is appreciated. Thanks also to the SCCCL and SCMLA for giving me opportunities to present my research. A project like this is undertaken with the friendship, help, blessings, examples, and prayers of many friends. Deeply felt thanks go to the Wells family—John Henry, Shelley, and Amanda; the Smiths—Alvin, Kathy, Rachel, and Hannah; Karen Law; Keary Freeman; Dr. Janice Stein; the Kinchens; the McCoUisters; Skip Sharrer; David McPherson; the Louivieres; Laurie Matheme; Holly Rodick; Dr. Peter Yaukey; Brandt Hardy; Jeff DeNio; David Stonestreet; Greg and Ruth; Melinda and Billy; Nathanael and Fanny. Without moving back home, I would have never completed this work. My biggest thanks, therefore, go to my Mother and Father. With Love. Gloria in excelsis Deal 111 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Preface "Penitent Brothel" is the name of Thomas Middleton's best-known penitent, a character in A Mad World, My Masters, Middleton uses the term "brotheller" to describe Theodorus Witgood in A Trick to Catch the Old One (n. i. 3). Hence my coinage of "penitent brothellers" to refer to the penitents and converts in Middleton's comedies, the characters upon which this dissertation focuses. All of the texts which receive major consideration in this study have long been accepted as Middleton's works. However, I also refer to texts for which his authorship has only been accepted recently. Therefore, I am taking as his canon the list of works to be included in the upcoming collected works of Middleton, to be published soon by Oxford University Press. The play I refer to as The Second Maiden's Tragedy will be included as The Lady's Tragedy; the title I use comes from the edition I cite. In a few instances, I will note similarities between texts long accepted as Middleton's and those for which his audiorship has only recently been proposed; such observations, of course, strengthen the authorship arguments. However, I will not argue for the authorship of any text; the reader may refer to the editions cited and the discussions which will be in the Oxford edition. The editing principles of the texts I use vary in degrees of modernization of spelling and punctualtion. I have decided to keep the IV Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. spelling of each edition, even though this may present slight difficulties for the reader. I also use several texts for which there is no modem edition. For these only, I have modernized the usage of u, v, i, |, and s; I have also expanded the spelling of words for which the early modem abbreviation is no longer conunon: "couersant" becomes "conversant"; "yt" becomes "that" (unless "it" is intended). Any other changes are marked as such with brackets. Most Bible quotations come hom three different sources: the 1611 King James translation, Middleton's pamphletThe Two Gates of Salvation, and the Geneva Bible. The quotes given without a specific translation reference come from the King James version. V Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Table of Contents Acknowledgements ............................................................................................ iii P refo ce.................................................................................................................. iv A b stra c t ................................................................................................................v ii One: Thomas Middleton, Calvinist D ram atist............................................. 1 I. N o te s .......................................................................................................... 33 Two: Grace, Repentance, and Genre: A Mad World, My Masters, The Widow, and A Chaste Maid in Cheapside..........................................38 I. "Is it a tragedy plot, or a comedy plot, good mother?": Repentance and Genre in Middleton Criticism....................................38 n. From Brothel to Once-Dl: Penitent's Paradigmatic Conversion in A Mad World, M y M asters.................................................................59 nr. "That he might read his actions i'th' event?": The Patterns of R ep en tan ce.............................................................................................94 IV. Sir Walter Whorehoimd's Anti-Tragic Repentance........................... 105 V. N o te s ......................................................................................................... 124 Three: Marrying the Whore: The Hosea Paradigm in A Trick to Catch the Old One and Other Plays ........................................ 136 I. N o tes...........................................................................................................158 Four: Sodomy, Salvation, and the Stage: Satires, Michaelmas Term, and Tke Roaring G ir l.................................................................................... 161 I. Unspoken Things in the Historical, Literary, and Critical Contexts 161 n. "Time was I loved Pyander well": The Wide Indication of Sodomy in Middleton's Satires .......................................................... 180 m. Undoing Sodomy: Richard Easy's Redemption in Michaelmas T e r