Massinger, Philip, 1583-1640 -- Criticism and interpretation
M.: Act I., 1, 2; Act V., 1, 2.
A. H. B. thinks that Massinger revised and completed it after Fletcher’s
death, but says nothing about Beaumont.
A. H. C.: There are traces of Massinger in Act I., 1 and Act V., 1, in
which scenes we find careful metre and a good many parentheses. While Act
I., 2 resembles Massinger, it seems to me to have a lighter touch than
his. In Act V., 1 we find a speech or two very much in his manner, and
characteristic also is the skill with which an ambiguity is prolonged for
some time in this scene, and then dissipated. I doubt if he wrote Act V.,
2.
11. _The Sea Voyage._ (Massinger, Fletcher.)
M.: Act II., 1, 2; Act III., 1, from “Enter Rosellia”; Act V., 1, 2, 3, 4.
A. H. B. says nothing about Massinger here. Macaulay doubts if he had any
share in the play.
A. H. C.: The metre is throughout too rough for Massinger. The plot does
not recall his work in any way.
12. _The Double Marriage._ (Massinger, Fletcher.)
M.: Act I., 1; Act III., 1; Act IV., 1, 2; Act V., 2, to “Enter Pandulfo.”
A. H. B. agrees.
Macaulay assigns all Act I. to Massinger.
A. H. C: I find no trace of Massinger in this improbable play.
13. _The Beggars’ Bush._ (Massinger, Fletcher.)
M.: Act I., 1, 2, 3; Act V., 1, latter part; V., 2, lines 1-110.
A. H. B. does not think Massinger’s part is clearly marked.
Macaulay assigns to Massinger Acts I., II., III., and V.
A. H. C.: I find no trace of Massinger. Neither the plot is lucid nor the
expression. The commercial scenes and the beggars’ slang are both unlike
anything in Massinger, and alien to his courtly mind.
14. _The False One._ (Massinger, Fletcher.)
M.: Act I.; Act V.
A. H. B. agrees.
A. H. C.: Massinger wrote Act I., a good deal of Act IV., and Act V. There
is hardly a scene except the Masque in Act III., 4 which reads like
Fletcher’s unaided work. The dignified rhetoric throughout the play has
the stamp of Massinger; more than that, the character-drawing is like his.
The outspoken Sceva reminds us of the old courtier Eubulus in _The
Picture_. The rudeness of Eros to Septimius in Act III., 2, reminds us of
Donusa in _The Renegado_. The continual changes of mind on the part of
Septimius are an effect which Massinger loves. (_Cf._ also Arsinoe and
Photinus in Act V., 4.)
15. _The Prophetess._ (Massinger and Fletcher.)
M.: Acts II., IV., V., 1, 2.
A. H. B. thinks Massinger’s share “very considerable.”
A. H. C.: Fletcher wrote Act I., 1, 2, and the Geta scenes (Act I., 3; Act
III., 2; Act IV., 3, 5; Act V., 3). Perhaps some hack wrote the choruses
(Act IV., 1; Act V., 1) or are they inherited from an old play? The main
part of the play is due to Massinger. He certainly had a hand in Act III.,
1. Maximinian is a skilfully drawn character on his lines.
16. _The Little French Lawyer._ (Massinger and Fletcher.)
M.: Act I.; Act III., 1; Act V., 1, from “Enter Cleremont,” with traces of
his hand in other scenes.
A. H. B. agrees.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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