The Lovers' Progress
Encyclopedia
The Lovers' Progress, also known as The Wandering Lovers, or Cleander, or Lisander and Calista, is an early seventeenth-century stage play, a tragicomedy
written by John Fletcher
and Philip Massinger
. As its multiple titles indicate, the play has a complex history and has been a focus of controversy among scholars and critics.
The consensus interpretation of this evidence is that Fletcher wrote a solo play titled The Wandering Lovers, which was acted in late 1623 or early 1624 by the King's Men. A decade later, Massinger revised that play into a new version, alternatively known as Cleander or Lisander and Calista. This revised version was later published in the Beaumont and Fletcher folios of 1647 and 1679 as The Lovers' Progress.
, in his wide-ranging study of authorship problems in Fletcher's canon, argued for this division:
and often reprinted. The first English translation appeared in 1617
.
, are two among a number of possible examples. For printer/widows like Islip, Ellen Cotes, widow of Richard Cotes and sister-in law of Thomas Cotes
, can be cited, along with Alice Warren and Sarah Griffin.
. The survivor will marry Olinda.
The third woman is a servant, Calista's waiting woman Clarinda. She is identified as "a lustful wench," and in modern terms could be called a sexually liberated woman; but the prevailing norms of her society, and her dependent social place, force her to conceal her active sexuality. Clarinda's subplot inverts and mocks the conventions of courtly love that the main-plot characters take seriously; she has a foolish suitor named Malfort that she manipulates — allowing him to kiss her foot, and later, her hand — while she enjoys a sexual relationship with Leon, her pretended cousin.
Lisander is not only Cleander's friend, but becomes something of a hero to his family. Lisander saves Calista's father Dorilaus when the old man is set upon by bandits; and he later resolves the duel between Clarange and Calista's brother Lidian. (Serving as Clarange's second, he fights along with, and is wounded with, the others; but he then brings the duel to a halt by appealing to the long-standing friendship between the principals.) Lisander asks for a clandestine meeting with Calista, and Clarinda facilitates it, for her own reasons. Calista and Lisander meet quietly in the night; Calista is still in love with Lisander, and he tries to steer their relationship toward a sexual culmination — but Calista stands upon her honor and refuses. Cleander almost catches the two together; and while Lisander is sneaking out of the sleeping house, he trips and discharges his pistol, waking everyone; but he is not caught.
Dorilaus and Cleander visit a familiar inn, and are surprised to learn that their old acquaintance, the inn's Host, has recently died. Yet they hear him sing a song, and then meet his ghost. Cleander is superstitiously moved and frightened by the incident, and sees it as a malevolent omen; he asks the ghost to warn him if he is soon to die — and the ghost agrees.
Calista suspects Clarinda's lapse from chastity, and confronts her; but Clarinda boldly responds by threatening to expose her mistress's meeting with Lisander. Calista is deeply distressed — but decides again to stand upon her honor. She dismisses Clarinda from her service, and dares her to do her worst. This contradicts Clarinda's plans and expectations; but she manages to retain her place by appealing to Cleander's brother Beronte. (Clarinda says that "Monsieur Beronte my Lords Brother is / Oblig'd unto me for a private favour"...leaving the audience to speculate of the nature of that favor.)
Lisander gets involved in serious trouble: he kills two men in another duel, one of whom is a favorite of the King; and he must flee for his life. He leaves his broken sword behind him on the "field of honor;" it is picked up and repaired by Leon. The ghost of the Host comes to Cleander and warns him that his time has come. Cleander becomes aware of the affair between Leon and Clarinda; in a confrontation, Leon kills Cleander with Lisander's sword. Clarinda has him leave the sword behind, so that Lisander will be suspected; and Clarinda moves to revenge herself on Calista by exposing her meeting with Lisander. Calista must face the law as an apparent accessory to her husband's murder.
Lidian has endured a change of heart after being wounded in the duel with Clarange (a feature typical of the dramaturgy of Fletcher and Massinger). He is now living in the countryside as a hermit. Clarange comes to him disguised as a friar, and convinces him that he, Clarange, is dead. Lidian goes to Olinda to give her the news and comfort her; Clarange follows, and by being the second to arrive claims Olinda's hand by her own stricture. Lidian is outraged, feeling he's been tricked.
The whole plot comes to a head in the final trial scene. The King of France himself has come to rule on Calista's case. Clarinda present her false accusation; but Lisander surprises everyone by appearing in person to defend Calista's reputation. And Leon, captured and now repentant over his killing of Cleander, confesses everything. The evidence indicates that Lisander was the wronged party in the duel with the King's favorite, and King is convinced to pardon him; he "sentences" Lisander to marry the widowed Calista after a year of mourning. Olinda's fate is also resolved; it turns out that Clarange is not just a pretended friar but a real one. Having chosen the religious life, he yields his claim on Olinda to Lidian. Clarinda and Leon are left to their fates before the law.
----
The play is one of the relatively few works in Fletcher's canon that was not revived after the theatres re-opened in 1660
. The scene of the innkeeper's ghost, III,v, is one aspect of the play that has attracted notice from critics and readers.
On the play's title: the 17th-century folios rendered the title without punctuation: no apostrophe in Lovers. Editors of the 18th and 19th centuries generally chose to take "lover" as singular, and titled the play The Lover's Progress. Modern editors tend to prefer the more accurate plural — The Lovers' Progress — since the drama certainly offers its audience more than one lover. For a similar case, see Beggars' Bush
.
Tragicomedy
Tragicomedy is fictional work that blends aspects of the genres of tragedy and comedy. In English literature, from Shakespeare's time to the nineteenth century, tragicomedy referred to a serious play with either a happy ending or enough jokes throughout the play to lighten the mood.-Classical...
written by John Fletcher
John Fletcher (playwright)
John Fletcher was a Jacobean playwright. Following William Shakespeare as house playwright for the King's Men, he was among the most prolific and influential dramatists of his day; both during his lifetime and in the early Restoration, his fame rivalled Shakespeare's...
and Philip Massinger
Philip Massinger
Philip Massinger was an English dramatist. His finely plotted plays, including A New Way to Pay Old Debts, The City Madam and The Roman Actor, are noted for their satire and realism, and their political and social themes.-Early life:The son of Arthur Massinger or Messenger, he was baptized at St....
. As its multiple titles indicate, the play has a complex history and has been a focus of controversy among scholars and critics.
Facts and conclusions
The historical facts pertinent to the play, in chronological order, are these:- A play titled The Wandering Lovers was licensed for performance by Sir Henry Herbert, the Master of the RevelsMaster of the RevelsThe Master of the Revels was a position within the English, and later the British, royal household heading the "Revels Office" or "Office of the Revels" that originally had responsibilities for overseeing royal festivities, known as revels, and later also became responsible for stage censorship,...
, on December 6, 16231623 in literatureThe year 1623 in literature involved some significant events.-Events:*February 2 - The King's Men perform Twelfth Night at Court on Candlemas....
, as a work by John Fletcher. It was acted at Court on January 1, 16341634 in literatureThe year 1634 in literature involved some significant events.-Events:*January 1 - The King's Men perform Cymbeline at the court of King Charles I of England.*January 22 - The King's Men perform Davenant's The Wits at the Blackfriars Theatre....
. No play with that title has survived.
- A play by Massinger titled The Tragedy of Cleander was similarly licensed on May 7, 1634, and performed soon after by the King's MenKing's Men (playing company)The King's Men was the company of actors to which William Shakespeare belonged through most of his career. Formerly known as The Lord Chamberlain's Men during the reign of Queen Elizabeth, it became The King's Men in 1603 when King James ascended the throne and became the company's patron.The...
at the Blackfriars TheatreBlackfriars TheatreBlackfriars Theatre was the name of a theatre in the Blackfriars district of the City of London during the Renaissance. The theatre began as a venue for child actors associated with the Queen's chapel choirs; in this function, the theatre hosted some of the most innovative drama of Elizabeth and...
. Queen Henrietta MariaHenrietta Maria of FranceHenrietta Maria of France ; was the Queen consort of England, Scotland and Ireland as the wife of King Charles I...
saw it there on May 13 of that year. (The Lovers' Progress could be called a tragedy from the point of view of the character Cleander, since Cleander dies in Act IV.)
- Also in 1634, Sir Humphrey Mildmay noted in his diary that he'd seen a play he called Lisander and Calista. Lisander and Calista are characters in The Lovers' Progress.
- A play titled The Lovers' Progress was published in the first Beaumont and Fletcher folioBeaumont and Fletcher foliosThe Beaumont and Fletcher folios were two large folio collections of the stage plays of John Fletcher and his collaborators. The first was issued in 1647, and the second in 1679. The two collections were important in preserving many works of English Renaissance drama.-The first folio, 1647:The 1647...
of 16471647 in literatureThe year 1647 in literature involved some significant events.-Events:* Thomas Hobbes becomes tutor to the future Charles II of England.* Plagiarist Robert Baron publishes his Deorum Dona, a masque, and Gripus and Hegio, a pastoral, which draw heavily on the poems of Edmund Waller and John Webster's...
. The Prologue and Epilogue to the play indicate that this extant text is a revision by another hand of an original work by Fletcher.
- On September 9, 16531653 in literatureThe year 1653 in literature involved some significant events.-Events:* James Shirley's masque Cupid and Death is performed on March 26.* Pierre Corneille retires from the theatre for six years.* John Evelyn buys Sayes Court, Deptford....
, bookseller and publisher Humphrey MoseleyHumphrey MoseleyHumphrey Moseley was a prominent London publisher and bookseller in the middle seventeenth century.Possibly a son of publisher Samuel Moseley, Humphrey Moseley became a "freeman" of the Stationers Company, the guild of London booksellers, on 7 May 1627; he was selected a Warden of the Company on...
entered a play he called The Wandering Lovers, or The Painter into the Stationers' RegisterStationers' RegisterThe 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...
. No work with this combined title and subtitle is known. Moseley had a habit, however, of exploiting the confusion inherent in titles and subtitles to register two separate plays for a single fee. (For examples, see The Bashful LoverThe Bashful LoverThe Bashful Lover is a Caroline era stage play, a tragicomedy written by Philip Massinger. Dating from 1636, it is the playwright's last known extant work; it appeared four years before his death in 1640....
, The GuardianThe Guardian (play)The Guardian is a Caroline era stage play, a comedy written by Philip Massinger, dating from 1633. "The play in which Massinger comes nearest to urbanity and suavity is The Guardian...."-Performance:...
, and A Very WomanA Very WomanA Very Woman, or The Prince of Tarent is an early seventeenth-century stage play, a tragicomedy written by Philip Massinger and John Fletcher...
.) The implication is that Moseley's entry refers to two separate plays, the Wandering Lovers that was licensed in December 1623, and Massinger's lost play The Painter.
- The Lovers' Progress was reprinted in the second Beaumont and Fletcher folio of 16791679 in literatureThis article lists some of the most significant events of the year 1679 in literature.-Events:*John Locke returns to England from France.*Étienne Baluze becomes almoner to King Louis XIV of France....
; in that collection it is supplied with a cast list from the original production by the King's Men, a list that cites Joseph TaylorJoseph Taylor (17th-century actor)Joseph Taylor was a 17th-century actor. As the successor of Richard Burbage with the King's Men, he was arguably the most important actor in the later Jacobean and the Caroline eras....
, John LowinJohn LowinJohn Lowin was an English actor born in the St Giles-without-Cripplegate, London, the son of a tanner. Like Robert Armin, he was apprenticed to a goldsmith. While he is not recorded as a free citizen of this company, he did perform as a goldsmith, Leofstane, in a 1611 city pageant written by...
, Robert BenfieldRobert BenfieldRobert Benfield was a seventeenth-century actor, noted for his longtime membership in the King's Men in the years and decades after William Shakespeare's retirement and death.Nothing is known of Benfield's early life...
, John UnderwoodJohn Underwood (actor)John Underwood was an early 17th century actor, a member of the King's Men, the company of William Shakespeare.-Career:Underwood began as a boy player with the Children of the Chapel, and was cast in that company's productions of Ben Jonson's Cynthia's Revels and The Poetaster...
, Thomas PollardThomas PollardThomas Pollard was an actor in the King's Men — a prominent comedian in the acting troupe of William Shakespeare and Richard Burbage....
, Richard SharpeRichard Sharpe (actor)Richard Sharpe was an actor with the King's Men, the leading theatre troupe of its time and the company of William Shakespeare and Richard Burbage...
, George BirchKing's Men personnelKing's Men personnel were the people who worked with and for the Lord Chamberlain's Men and the King's Men from 1594 to 1642...
, and John ThompsonJohn Thompson (actor)John Thompson was a noted boy player acting women's roles in English Renaissance theatre. He served in the King's Men, the acting troupe formerly of William Shakespeare and Richard Burbage.Thompson's career is notable for his length...
. This list has been interpreted to indicate a premier production of The Lovers' Progress in the 1623–24 period, after the death of King's Man Nicholas TooleyNicholas TooleyNicholas Tooley was a Renaissance actor in the King's Men, the acting company of William Shakespeare.Recent research has shown that Tooley was born in late 1582 or early 1583; his birth name was not Tooley but Wilkinson...
in June 1623 but before the death of John Underwood in October 1624 — or around the time of The Wandering Lovers.
The consensus interpretation of this evidence is that Fletcher wrote a solo play titled The Wandering Lovers, which was acted in late 1623 or early 1624 by the King's Men. A decade later, Massinger revised that play into a new version, alternatively known as Cleander or Lisander and Calista. This revised version was later published in the Beaumont and Fletcher folios of 1647 and 1679 as The Lovers' Progress.
Authorship
Given the major stylistic and textual differences in the habits of Fletcher and Massinger, scholars have been able to distinguish the two men's hands in the existing version. Cyrus HoyCyrus Hoy
Cyrus Hoy was a literary scholar of the English Renaissance stage who taught at the University of Virginia and Vanderbilt University, and was the John B. Trevor Professor of English at the University of Rochester...
, in his wide-ranging study of authorship problems in Fletcher's canon, argued for this division:
- Massinger — Act I, scene 1; Act III, 1 and 4; Act IV; Act V;
- Fletcher — Act II; Act III, 2-3 and 5-6;
- Massinger and Fletcher — Act I, 2 (Massinger, first half, to Dorilaus's entrance; Fletcher, the remainder).
Source
The primary source for the plot of The Lovers' Progress was the Histoire trage-comique de nostre temps, sous les noms de Lysandre et de Caliste, a popular prose romance by Vital d'Audiguier that was first published in 16151615 in literature
The year 1615 in literature involved some significant events.-Events:*January 6 - Mercury Vindicated from the Alchemists, a masque written by Ben Jonson and designed by Inigo Jones, is performed at Whitehall Palace....
and often reprinted. The first English translation appeared in 1617
1617 in literature
The year 1617 in literature involved some significant events.-Events:*March 4 - Shrovetide riot of the London apprentices damages the Cockpit Theatre...
.
Islip
The text of The Lovers' Progress in the 1647 folio was one of those set into print by Susan Islip — a rare instance of a woman printer in that era. Widows sometimes continued the businesses of their late husbands; among booksellers, Alice Moseley, widow of Humphrey Moseley, and Elizabeth Allde, widow of Edward AlldeEdward Allde
Edward Allde was an English printer in London during the Elizabethan and Jacobean eras. He was responsible for a number of significant texts in English Renaissance drama, including some of the early editions of plays by William Shakespeare.-Life:Edward Allde was part of a family of professional...
, are two among a number of possible examples. For printer/widows like Islip, Ellen Cotes, widow of Richard Cotes and sister-in law of Thomas Cotes
Thomas Cotes
Thomas Cotes was a London printer of the Jacobean and Caroline eras, best remembered for printing the Second Folio edition of Shakespeare's plays in 1632.-Life and work:...
, can be cited, along with Alice Warren and Sarah Griffin.
Synopsis
The play is set in France. Its plot depends on an unusual narrative structure: a standard romantic triangle, tripled. There are three female characters, and each enjoys (or suffers) the romantic attentions of two men. Two, Calista and Olinda, are gentlewomen. Calista has already made a choice between her two suitors, and is married to Cleander; but her other suitor, Cleander's close friend Lisander, is still in love with her, and she still loves him. Calista's friend Olinda, however, cannot choose between Lidian (who is Calista's brother) and Clarange. (Lidian and Clarange are also close friends.) In despair, Olinda sends both her suitors away, and states that she will marry the man who returns to her last. The two men, applying their own culture's standard of judgement to this odd stricture, decide to settle the matter quickly — with a duelDuel
A duel is an arranged engagement in combat between two individuals, with matched weapons in accordance with agreed-upon rules.Duels in this form were chiefly practised in Early Modern Europe, with precedents in the medieval code of chivalry, and continued into the modern period especially among...
. The survivor will marry Olinda.
The third woman is a servant, Calista's waiting woman Clarinda. She is identified as "a lustful wench," and in modern terms could be called a sexually liberated woman; but the prevailing norms of her society, and her dependent social place, force her to conceal her active sexuality. Clarinda's subplot inverts and mocks the conventions of courtly love that the main-plot characters take seriously; she has a foolish suitor named Malfort that she manipulates — allowing him to kiss her foot, and later, her hand — while she enjoys a sexual relationship with Leon, her pretended cousin.
Lisander is not only Cleander's friend, but becomes something of a hero to his family. Lisander saves Calista's father Dorilaus when the old man is set upon by bandits; and he later resolves the duel between Clarange and Calista's brother Lidian. (Serving as Clarange's second, he fights along with, and is wounded with, the others; but he then brings the duel to a halt by appealing to the long-standing friendship between the principals.) Lisander asks for a clandestine meeting with Calista, and Clarinda facilitates it, for her own reasons. Calista and Lisander meet quietly in the night; Calista is still in love with Lisander, and he tries to steer their relationship toward a sexual culmination — but Calista stands upon her honor and refuses. Cleander almost catches the two together; and while Lisander is sneaking out of the sleeping house, he trips and discharges his pistol, waking everyone; but he is not caught.
Dorilaus and Cleander visit a familiar inn, and are surprised to learn that their old acquaintance, the inn's Host, has recently died. Yet they hear him sing a song, and then meet his ghost. Cleander is superstitiously moved and frightened by the incident, and sees it as a malevolent omen; he asks the ghost to warn him if he is soon to die — and the ghost agrees.
Calista suspects Clarinda's lapse from chastity, and confronts her; but Clarinda boldly responds by threatening to expose her mistress's meeting with Lisander. Calista is deeply distressed — but decides again to stand upon her honor. She dismisses Clarinda from her service, and dares her to do her worst. This contradicts Clarinda's plans and expectations; but she manages to retain her place by appealing to Cleander's brother Beronte. (Clarinda says that "Monsieur Beronte my Lords Brother is / Oblig'd unto me for a private favour"...leaving the audience to speculate of the nature of that favor.)
Lisander gets involved in serious trouble: he kills two men in another duel, one of whom is a favorite of the King; and he must flee for his life. He leaves his broken sword behind him on the "field of honor;" it is picked up and repaired by Leon. The ghost of the Host comes to Cleander and warns him that his time has come. Cleander becomes aware of the affair between Leon and Clarinda; in a confrontation, Leon kills Cleander with Lisander's sword. Clarinda has him leave the sword behind, so that Lisander will be suspected; and Clarinda moves to revenge herself on Calista by exposing her meeting with Lisander. Calista must face the law as an apparent accessory to her husband's murder.
Lidian has endured a change of heart after being wounded in the duel with Clarange (a feature typical of the dramaturgy of Fletcher and Massinger). He is now living in the countryside as a hermit. Clarange comes to him disguised as a friar, and convinces him that he, Clarange, is dead. Lidian goes to Olinda to give her the news and comfort her; Clarange follows, and by being the second to arrive claims Olinda's hand by her own stricture. Lidian is outraged, feeling he's been tricked.
The whole plot comes to a head in the final trial scene. The King of France himself has come to rule on Calista's case. Clarinda present her false accusation; but Lisander surprises everyone by appearing in person to defend Calista's reputation. And Leon, captured and now repentant over his killing of Cleander, confesses everything. The evidence indicates that Lisander was the wronged party in the duel with the King's favorite, and King is convinced to pardon him; he "sentences" Lisander to marry the widowed Calista after a year of mourning. Olinda's fate is also resolved; it turns out that Clarange is not just a pretended friar but a real one. Having chosen the religious life, he yields his claim on Olinda to Lidian. Clarinda and Leon are left to their fates before the law.
----
The play is one of the relatively few works in Fletcher's canon that was not revived after the theatres re-opened in 1660
1660 in literature
The year 1660 in literature involved some significant events.-Events:* January 1 - Samuel Pepys starts his diary.* February - John Rhodes reopens the old Cockpit Theatre in London, forms a company of young actors and begins to stage plays...
. The scene of the innkeeper's ghost, III,v, is one aspect of the play that has attracted notice from critics and readers.
On the play's title: the 17th-century folios rendered the title without punctuation: no apostrophe in Lovers. Editors of the 18th and 19th centuries generally chose to take "lover" as singular, and titled the play The Lover's Progress. Modern editors tend to prefer the more accurate plural — The Lovers' Progress — since the drama certainly offers its audience more than one lover. For a similar case, see Beggars' Bush
Beggars' Bush
For the old military barracks in Dublin, Ireland, see Beggars BushBeggars' Bush is a Jacobean era stage play, a comedy in the canon of John Fletcher and his collaborators that is a focus of dispute among scholars and critics.-Authorship and Date:...
.