LESS THAN IDEAL? THE INTELLECTUAL HISTORY OF MALE FRIENDSHIP AND ITS ARTICULATION IN EARLY MODERN DRAMA by WENDY ELLEN TREVOR A thesis submitted to The University of Birmingham for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Department of English College of Arts and Law The University of Birmingham October 2009 University of Birmingham Research Archive e-theses repository This unpublished thesis/dissertation is copyright of the author and/or third parties. The intellectual property rights of the author or third parties in respect of this work are as defined by The Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 or as modified by any successor legislation. Any use made of information contained in this thesis/dissertation must be in accordance with that legislation and must be properly acknowledged. Further distribution or reproduction in any format is prohibited without the permission of the copyright holder. This thesis examines the intellectual history of male friendship through its articulation in non-Shakespearean early modern drama; and considers how dramatic texts engage with the classical ideals of male friendship. Cicero’s De amicitia provided the theoretical model for perfect friendship for the early modern period; and this thesis argues for the further relevance of early modern translations of Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics, and in particular, Seneca’s De beneficiis, both of which open up meanings of different formulations and practices of friendship. This thesis, then, analyses how dramatists contributed to the discourse of male friendship through representations that expanded the bounds of amity beyond the paradigmatic ‘one soul in two bodies’, into different conceptions of friendship both ideal and otherwise. Through a consideration of selected dramatic works in their early modern cultural contexts, this thesis adds to our understanding of how amicable relations between men were arranged, performed, read and understood in the early modern period. Dedication This thesis is dedicated to the memory of my brother, James B. Walters, Jr. Acknowledgements I am grateful for the generous support received from the Overseas Research Scholarship Awards Scheme and The University of Birmingham School of Humanities Research Scholarship fund. I am also grateful to Julie Gardham and The University of Glasgow Special Collections for the kind permission to include the images from the MS Hunter 231 (U.3.4) manuscript. This work has benefitted in so many ways by so many people. I am deeply indebted to Dr. Tom Lockwood for the critical interest and enthusiasm that he expressed in the supervision of my work. His guidance, patience, wisdom and good humour have made all the difference. Dr.Valerie Rumbold was most helpful in supervising parts of this thesis and provided keen and valuable insights for which I am grateful. I am also grateful to Dr. Martin Wiggins for his support of the project and kind assistance at its early stages. I appreciate the kind support of the members of The Renaissance Drama Research group at The Shakespeare Institute and The Centre for Reformation and Early Modern Studies at the University of Birmingham. Special thanks are due to Professor Richard P. Cust for engendering a fondness for interdisciplinary work and for his generosity as a scholar. This thesis would not have been possible without the loving support of my friends and family. I am blessed to have them in my life. Heartfelt thanks to Ruth Collier, Kelley Costigian, Andy Kesson, Suzanne Seddon and Phil Stickley for their many kindnesses and for cheering me on numerous occasions. Val and Kat have been a source of inspiration over the last three years. My parents, Jan and Jim, have reminded me throughout my life that ‘it can be done’ and have supported me wholeheartedly in all of my endeavours. My sons Francis and Michael have, and continue to be, a source of encouragement, joy and love. My husband William has sustained me throughout this process and I am deeply grateful for his love and support. He is my best and constant friend. Table of Contents List of Figures Conventions and Abbreviations Introduction .........................................................................................................................1 Chapter 1 Constructing Early Modern Friendship .........................................................................14 Issues of Vernacular Translation .........................................................................................18 Translations of Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics and Cicero’s De Amicitia........................21 Influence of Senecan Moral Philosophy and Stoic Thought ...............................................38 Seneca’s De beneficiis and Friendship: Ideas and Translations.........................................48 Early Modern Mediation and Transmission of Ideas ..........................................................56 The Public Benefit and Use of Friendship...........................................................................66 Chapter 2 The Academic Ideal...........................................................................................................74 Writing the Ideal..................................................................................................................77 John Foxe’s Titus et Gesippus.............................................................................................81 Richard Edwards’ Damon and Pythias ...............................................................................99 Thomas Goffe’s The Tragedy of Orestes ..........................................................................111 Chapter 3 Practice Makes Perfect? ...............................................................................................127 Francis Bacon on Friendship .............................................................................................132 Michel de Montaigne and Ideal Friendship.......................................................................137 Endymion...........................................................................................................................143 Arden of Faversham ..........................................................................................................151 The Faithful Friends..........................................................................................................159 The Lady’s Trial ................................................................................................................169 Chapter 4 ‘Measuring Amity’: Benefit, Fidelity and Performance in Friendships of Utility ......................................178 Affinity, Beneficence, Honour and Reputation.................................................................185 Demonstrations of Fidelity ................................................................................................191 Timon: Audience, Performance, Narrative.......................................................................193 Beneficence and Friendship in Timon ...............................................................................196 Ingratitude, Discretion and Friendship in Timon...............................................................205 Beneficence, Friendship and Reputation in A Woman Killed with Kindness ...................210 The Symbiotics of Friendship in Timon and A Woman Killed with Kindness ..................225 Epistolary Performance of Friendship...............................................................................226 Chapter 5 A ‘Woe’ to Male Friendship? .........................................................................................237 Cultural and Theatrical Contexts.......................................................................................240 Shared Discourse and Codification of Friendship and Marriage ......................................243 Gynaikeion and the Co-existence of Friendship and Marriage in The English Traveler and The Rape of Lucrece............................................................252 Conclusion........................................................................................................................281 Bibliography.....................................................................................................................289 List of Figures 1. Seneca reading to a disciple (c. 1325-1335)....................................................................41 2. Plato, Seneca and Aristotle (c. 1325-1335) ....................................................................42 Conventions and Abbreviations Dates: The year is assumed to begin on 1 January. Dating of Plays: From the Annals of English Drama 975-1700, rev. edition (1964), unless otherwise noted. When no date of composition is available the range is given. References: Follow the Modern Humanities Research Association style. Spelling and Punctuation: Original spelling and punctuation have been retained except for i/j and u/v, which have been distinguished and ‘y’ which has been substituted with ‘th’. The abbreviations used for translations are given immediately after the first entry in the reference for each chapter. The following abbreviations are used in the references: Court The Court Of Chivalry 1634-1640 DNB The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography IEP Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy OED The Oxford English Dictionary SEP The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy Introduction In John Harington’s 1562 translation of Marcus Tullius Cicero’s De amicitia