Endymion (play)
Encyclopedia
Endymion, the Man in the Moon is an Elizabethan era stage play, a comedy by John Lyly
. The play provides a vivid example of the cult of flattery in the royal court of Queen Elizabeth I
, and has been called "without doubt, the boldest in conception and the most beautiful in execution of all Lyly's plays."
, most likely on Candlemas, February 2, 1588
. Endymion was entered into the Stationers' Register
on October 4, 1591
, and was first published soon after in a quarto
printed by John Charlwood for Joan Broome (the widow of bookseller William Broome, who had published reprints of Lyly's Campaspe
and Sapho and Phao
earlier in 1591). It was published again in Six Court Comedies (1632
), the first collected edition of Lyly's plays issued by Edward Blount
.
Endymion is currently in a state of revival. The American Shakespeare Center's Young Company Theatre Camp produced the first Original staging practices production of Endymion, under the direction of Brett Sullivan Santry, in an estimated 400 years on August 9, 2009.
; yet its connection with the myth is slight, and the work is mainly the product of Lyly's own imagination and taste. Lyly also seems to have borrowed some hints from the dialogue between the Moon and Venus
written by Lucian
. Elements in the comic subplot derive from the Italian Commedia dell'arte
and the classical Latin comedy of Plautus
and Terence
.
. Eumenides concludes that his friend is "bewitched" and has lost his senses. Cynthia is predictably cool to Endymion's passion. Tellus, Endymion's former beloved, resents the change in his affections; she hires a sorceress named Dipsas to enchant Endymion into a deep sleep, from which he cannot be awakened. Cynthia learns of this development; the goddess confines Tellus to a castle for speaking harshly of Endymion (she does not yet know that Tellus is the cause of the enchantment). Corsites, the commander of the castle, falls in love with Tellus. Cynthia also sends Eumenides in search of a cure for his friend's magic-induced sleep.
Eumenides is in love with Semele, though she scorns his affections. Eumendies reaches a magic fountain that will answer any one question — but only one question — an inquirer asks of it; he debates whether he should expend his question on his friend's predicament, or his own. His sense of duty triumphs, and the fountain tells him that Endymion can only be awakened by a kiss from Cynthia. The goddess acquiecses, kisses and wakes Endymion. Tellus's treachery is revealed, and forgiven. The play ends with the marriages usual for comedy, with Eumenides, Tellus, and Dipsas all headed to the altar with appropriate mates. Endymion, however, cannot marry Cynthia; as a goddess, she is too far above his station on the mortal plane.
The play also has a comic subplot: Sir Tophas nourishes a foolish passion for the enchantress Dipsas, and he is the butt of the jokes and pranks of the crew of pages that constitute a standard feature of Lyly's drama.
, while Tellus was Mary, Queen of Scots. Twentieth-century critics have approached these hypotheses skeptically, arguing that if Lyly had ventured any such bold or obvious commentary on Elizabeth's personal life, his career at Court would have ended quickly. In contrast to historical interpretations, an overtly Christian
reading of the allegory has been advocated.
It is generally agreed that Endymion is the one of Lyly's plays that had the strongest influence on Shakespeare
, most obviously on Love's Labor's Lost and A Midsummer Night's Dream
.
Light on plot, characterization, and dramatic incident, but verbally rich, the play has more to offer a patient reader than a fan of drama. In the view of one commentator, Endymion, "with its radiating central image, its mathematical elaboration, its receding depths, its near motionless and queer timelessness," is "more a contemplation than a comedy."
John Lyly
John Lyly was an English writer, best known for his books Euphues,The Anatomy of Wit and Euphues and His England. Lyly's linguistic style, originating in his first books, is known as Euphuism.-Biography:John Lyly was born in Kent, England, in 1553/1554...
. The play provides a vivid example of the cult of flattery in the royal court of Queen Elizabeth I
Elizabeth I of England
Elizabeth I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. Sometimes called The Virgin Queen, Gloriana, or Good Queen Bess, Elizabeth was the fifth and last monarch of the Tudor dynasty...
, and has been called "without doubt, the boldest in conception and the most beautiful in execution of all Lyly's plays."
Performance and publication
The play's date of authorship is not known with certainty; it was acted at Greenwich Palace by the Children of Paul'sChildren of Paul's
The Children of Paul's was the name of a troupe of boy actors in Elizabethan and Jacobean London. Along with the Children of the Chapel, the Children of Paul's were the most important of the companies of boy players that constituted a distinctive feature of English Renaissance theatre.St...
, most likely on Candlemas, February 2, 1588
1588 in literature
-Events:*January 1 - The Children of Paul's perform at the court of Queen Elizabeth I of England, probably acting Lyly's Gallathea.*February 2 - The Children of Paul's return to the English court, probably with Lyly's Endymion....
. Endymion was entered into the Stationers' Register
Stationers' Register
The Stationers' Register was a record book maintained by the Stationers' Company of London. The company is a trade guild given a royal charter in 1557 to regulate the various professions associated with the publishing industry, including printers, bookbinders, booksellers, and publishers in England...
on October 4, 1591
1591 in literature
-Events:*In the spring of the year, a dispute with James Burbage impels the Admiral's Men to leave The Theatre and move to Philip Henslowe's Rose Theatre.*Summer - Sir Walter Raleigh secretly marries Elizabeth Throckmorton....
, and was first published soon after in a quarto
Book size
The size of a book is generally measured by the height against the width of a leaf, or sometimes the height and width of its cover. A series of terms is commonly used by libraries and publishers for the general sizes of modern books, ranging from "folio" , to "quarto" and "octavo"...
printed by John Charlwood for Joan Broome (the widow of bookseller William Broome, who had published reprints of Lyly's Campaspe
Campaspe (play)
Campaspe is an Elizabethan era stage play, a comedy by John Lyly. Widely considered Lyly's earliest drama, Campaspe was an influence and a precedent for much that followed in English Renaissance drama.-Performance and publication:...
and Sapho and Phao
Sapho and Phao
Sapho and Phao is an Elizabethan era stage play, a comedy written by John Lyly. One of Lyly's earliest dramas, it was likely the first that the playwright devoted to the allegorical idealization of Queen Elizabeth I that became the predominating feature of Lyly's dramatic canon.-Performance and...
earlier in 1591). It was published again in Six Court Comedies (1632
1632 in literature
The year 1632 in literature involved some significant events.-Events:*On February 14, Tempe Restored, a masque written by Aurelian Townshend and designed by Inigo Jones, is performed at Whitehall Palace....
), the first collected edition of Lyly's plays issued by Edward Blount
Edward Blount
Edward Blount was a London publisher of the Elizabethan, Jacobean, and Caroline eras, noted for his publication, in conjunction with William and Isaac Jaggard, of the First Folio of Shakespeare's plays in 1623....
.
Endymion is currently in a state of revival. The American Shakespeare Center's Young Company Theatre Camp produced the first Original staging practices production of Endymion, under the direction of Brett Sullivan Santry, in an estimated 400 years on August 9, 2009.
Sources
As the title indicates, the play is based on the classical tale of EndymionEndymion (mythology)
In Greek mythology, Endymion , was variously a handsome Aeolian shepherd or hunter or a king who ruled and was said to reside at Olympia in Elis, but he was also said to reside and was venerated on Mount Latmus in Caria, on the west coast of Asia Minor....
; yet its connection with the myth is slight, and the work is mainly the product of Lyly's own imagination and taste. Lyly also seems to have borrowed some hints from the dialogue between the Moon and Venus
Venus (mythology)
Venus is a Roman goddess principally associated with love, beauty, sex,sexual seduction and fertility, who played a key role in many Roman religious festivals and myths...
written by Lucian
Lucian
Lucian of Samosata was a rhetorician and satirist who wrote in the Greek language. He is noted for his witty and scoffing nature.His ethnicity is disputed and is attributed as Assyrian according to Frye and Parpola, and Syrian according to Joseph....
. Elements in the comic subplot derive from the Italian Commedia dell'arte
Commedia dell'arte
Commedia dell'arte is a form of theatre characterized by masked "types" which began in Italy in the 16th century, and was responsible for the advent of the actress and improvised performances based on sketches or scenarios. The closest translation of the name is "comedy of craft"; it is shortened...
and the classical Latin comedy of Plautus
Plautus
Titus Maccius Plautus , commonly known as "Plautus", was a Roman playwright of the Old Latin period. His comedies are the earliest surviving intact works in Latin literature. He wrote Palliata comoedia, the genre devised by the innovator of Latin literature, Livius Andronicus...
and Terence
Terence
Publius Terentius Afer , better known in English as Terence, was a playwright of the Roman Republic, of North African descent. His comedies were performed for the first time around 170–160 BC. Terentius Lucanus, a Roman senator, brought Terence to Rome as a slave, educated him and later on,...
.
Synopsis
The opening scene presents a conversation between Endymion and his friend Eumenides, in which Endymion confesses that he has fallen in love with the Moon goddess, CynthiaSelene
In Greek mythology, Selene was an archaic lunar deity and the daughter of the Titans Hyperion and Theia. In Roman mythology, the moon goddess is called Luna, Latin for "moon"....
. Eumenides concludes that his friend is "bewitched" and has lost his senses. Cynthia is predictably cool to Endymion's passion. Tellus, Endymion's former beloved, resents the change in his affections; she hires a sorceress named Dipsas to enchant Endymion into a deep sleep, from which he cannot be awakened. Cynthia learns of this development; the goddess confines Tellus to a castle for speaking harshly of Endymion (she does not yet know that Tellus is the cause of the enchantment). Corsites, the commander of the castle, falls in love with Tellus. Cynthia also sends Eumenides in search of a cure for his friend's magic-induced sleep.
Eumenides is in love with Semele, though she scorns his affections. Eumendies reaches a magic fountain that will answer any one question — but only one question — an inquirer asks of it; he debates whether he should expend his question on his friend's predicament, or his own. His sense of duty triumphs, and the fountain tells him that Endymion can only be awakened by a kiss from Cynthia. The goddess acquiecses, kisses and wakes Endymion. Tellus's treachery is revealed, and forgiven. The play ends with the marriages usual for comedy, with Eumenides, Tellus, and Dipsas all headed to the altar with appropriate mates. Endymion, however, cannot marry Cynthia; as a goddess, she is too far above his station on the mortal plane.
The play also has a comic subplot: Sir Tophas nourishes a foolish passion for the enchantress Dipsas, and he is the butt of the jokes and pranks of the crew of pages that constitute a standard feature of Lyly's drama.
The critical response
It is universally recognized that Endymion is to a major degree allegorical, and that Cynthia represents Queen Elizabeth. Nineteenth-century critics tended to assign other roles in the play to historical figures of Elizabeth's court: Endymion, perhaps, was Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of LeicesterRobert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester
Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester, KG was an English nobleman and the favourite and close friend of Elizabeth I from her first year on the throne until his death...
, while Tellus was Mary, Queen of Scots. Twentieth-century critics have approached these hypotheses skeptically, arguing that if Lyly had ventured any such bold or obvious commentary on Elizabeth's personal life, his career at Court would have ended quickly. In contrast to historical interpretations, an overtly Christian
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
reading of the allegory has been advocated.
It is generally agreed that Endymion is the one of Lyly's plays that had the strongest influence on Shakespeare
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
, most obviously on Love's Labor's Lost and A Midsummer Night's Dream
A Midsummer Night's Dream
A Midsummer Night's Dream is a play that was written by William Shakespeare. It is believed to have been written between 1590 and 1596. It portrays the events surrounding the marriage of the Duke of Athens, Theseus, and the Queen of the Amazons, Hippolyta...
.
Light on plot, characterization, and dramatic incident, but verbally rich, the play has more to offer a patient reader than a fan of drama. In the view of one commentator, Endymion, "with its radiating central image, its mathematical elaboration, its receding depths, its near motionless and queer timelessness," is "more a contemplation than a comedy."