Humanistic Studies of the University of Kansas, Vol. 1 — John Shaqi
Humanistic Studies of the University of Kansas, Vol. 1Mitchell, Arthur
Philosophy
Humanistic Studies of the University of Kansas, Vol. 1
Mitchell, Arthur
Humanities
An examination of these three plays shows, in fact, how little Cibber
used _The False One_ in the construction of _Caesar in Egypt_. He was
no doubt familiar with the Beaumont and Fletcher play and used some
things from it, though very little in comparison with what he has
used from _Pompée_. He used it for hints in some particulars[32] just
as he did the _Pharsalia_, from which he apparently took the idea of
having one scene occur before the tomb of Alexander, and from which he
obtained the burning of Pharos.
One incident, the display of Pompey’s head, well illustrates the change
that had come since the days of Beaumont and Fletcher. In _The False
One_, the head was actually brought on the stage; but in neither Cibber
nor Corneille was the head actually displayed. The actual appearance
of the head would probably have been almost as distasteful to Cibber’s
audience as to Corneille’s.
His method of adaptation here is more like that in his alteration
of Shakspere than his method in _Ximena_ or _Cinna’s Conspiracy_.
He has crowded the incidents, has expanded the action and increased
its liveliness, has enhanced the value of the piece as a stage play,
without, however, improving its literary quality. He has a good deal
happen in one day, but manages to satisfy the technical demands of the
unity of time.
He increases the probability by the alteration of certain passages. For
instance, whereas both the _Pharsalia_, as completed by Rowe,[33] and
_The False One_, from one of which he took the incident, have Caesar
swimming from the island of Pharos with drawn sword in one hand and
documents in the other, Cibber has him swim with only the documents.
While this play is essentially an adaptation of Corneille, the general
atmosphere and effect are not those of French tragedy, but are rather
those of the minor Elizabethan tragicomedy. Its beginning and end have
a historical rather than a dramatic interest, so that the play produces
the effect of a love story with an impersonal enveloping action, which
is again more English than French.
_Papal Tyranny_ was acted at Covent Garden, February 15, 1745, when
it had a run of ten nights, and was published in the same year.
Shakspere’s _King John_, which had been played in 1737 and 1738, after
Cibber’s alteration had been talked of and withdrawn, was again revived
on February 20, 1745,[34] with Garrick as King John and Mrs. Theophilus
Cibber, then at the height of her popularity, as Constance. This was no
doubt done both to profit by the publicity Cibber’s work had brought
about, and to take as much credit as possible from Cibber, by showing
the lack of originality in his work.[35] According to Victor,[36]
Cibber’s profits from _Papal Tyranny_ amounted to four hundred pounds,
which probably includes what he received from acting Pandulph as well
as his author’s profits.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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