Women Beware Women
Encyclopedia
Women Beware Women is a Jacobean tragedy
written by Thomas Middleton
, and first published in 1657
.
on September 9, 1653 by the bookseller Humphrey Moseley
, along with two other Middleton plays, More Dissemblers Besides Women
and No Wit, No Help Like a Woman's. In 1657 Moseley published Women Beware Women together with More Dissemblers in an octavo
volume titled Two New Plays. Both the Register entry and the first edition's title page assign Women Beware Women to Middleton — an attribution which has never been seriously questioned and which is accepted by the scholarly consensus. No performances of the play in its own era are known. The octavo text of the play is prefaced by a commendatory poem by Nathaniel Richards, author of The Tragedy of Messalina (published 1640).
Thomas Dekker's play Match Me in London (written c. 1612, but printed in 1631) has a plot that is strongly similar to Women Beware, though with a happy ending rather than a tragic conclusion.
was first the mistress and then the second wife and Duchess of Francesco I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany
. The story of Bianca's elopement with her first husband, her affair with the Duke, her first husband's death and her marriage to the Duke, is adapted by Middleton for his play. The subplot of Hippolyto and Isabella in Middleton's play is strongly similar to the plot of a French novel that was published in 1597
but not translated into English until 1627
, the year of Middleton's death. Scholars are divided as to whether Middleton was familiar with the novel in manuscript form prior to its 1627 printing, or whether the translator of the book was influenced by Middleton's play.
— but the same chess-game device also appears in John Fletcher's
play The Spanish Curate
, which was acted in 1622. Here again, scholars are divided as to which play preceded and influenced which. It is also possible that both writers independently derived the chess device from the same source. T. S. Eliot
, a student of Jacobean drama, refers to the Women Beware Women chess game in The Waste Land
, Part II, line 137.
For modern critics, Women Beware Women has regularly been paired with The Changeling
as constituting Middleton's two noteworthy late achievements in the genre of tragedy — though Women Beware has usually been judged the lesser of the two works. The bloody masque
that concludes the play has been called a "ridiculous holocaust." With growing critical attention over the years, however, the estimation of Women Beware Women has intensified; the play is now judged to be among Middleton's greatest works. "Women Beware Women displays Middleton's maturest understanding of the relation of power to desire, and of political culture to civil society."
, London; it was directed by Marianne Elliott
and starred Harriet Walter
as Livia and Vanessa Kirby
as Isabella.
at the Royal Court Theatre
in 1986, in which the first two-thirds of Middleton's play were preserved but the ending was entirely revamped; among other changes, Sordido rapes Bianca before her wedding. Barker stated that he was rejecting Middleton's Jacobean Puritanism, writing in his programme note that "Middleton says lust leads to the grave. I say desire alters perception ... Middleton knew the body was the source of politics. He did not know it was also the source of hope."
Tragedy
Tragedy is a form of art based on human suffering that offers its audience pleasure. While most cultures have developed forms that provoke this paradoxical response, tragedy refers to a specific tradition of drama that has played a unique and important role historically in the self-definition of...
written by Thomas Middleton
Thomas Middleton
Thomas Middleton was an English Jacobean playwright and poet. Middleton stands with John Fletcher and Ben Jonson as among the most successful and prolific of playwrights who wrote their best plays during the Jacobean period. He was one of the few Renaissance dramatists to achieve equal success in...
, and first published in 1657
1657 in literature
The year 1657 in literature involved some significant events.-Events:* Prohibition of young male actors in Japan.* Madame de la Fayette becomes friends with Madame de Sévigné.-New books:*François Hédelin, abbé d'Aubignac - Pratique du théâtre...
.
Date
The date of authorship of the play is deeply uncertain. Scholars have estimated its origin anywhere from 1612 to 1627; 1623–24 has been plausibly suggested. The play was entered into the Stationers' RegisterStationers' 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 September 9, 1653 by the bookseller Humphrey Moseley
Humphrey Moseley
Humphrey 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...
, along with two other Middleton plays, More Dissemblers Besides Women
More Dissemblers Besides Women
More Dissemblers Besides Women is a Jacobean stage play, a tragicomedy written by Thomas Middleton, and first published in 1657.The play's date of authorship is uncertain, though it is usually dated c. 1615. It is thought to have been acted in 1619, and was performed at Court on 6 January 1624 by...
and No Wit, No Help Like a Woman's. In 1657 Moseley published Women Beware Women together with More Dissemblers in an octavo
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"...
volume titled Two New Plays. Both the Register entry and the first edition's title page assign Women Beware Women to Middleton — an attribution which has never been seriously questioned and which is accepted by the scholarly consensus. No performances of the play in its own era are known. The octavo text of the play is prefaced by a commendatory poem by Nathaniel Richards, author of The Tragedy of Messalina (published 1640).
Thomas Dekker's play Match Me in London (written c. 1612, but printed in 1631) has a plot that is strongly similar to Women Beware, though with a happy ending rather than a tragic conclusion.
Sources
Middleton based the plot of his play on actual events. Bianca CappelloBianca Cappello
Bianca Cappello was an Italian noblewoman who was the mistress, and afterward the second wife, of Francesco I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany.-Biography:...
was first the mistress and then the second wife and Duchess of Francesco I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany
Francesco I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany
Francesco I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany was the second Grand Duke of Tuscany, ruling from 1574 to 1587.- Biography :...
. The story of Bianca's elopement with her first husband, her affair with the Duke, her first husband's death and her marriage to the Duke, is adapted by Middleton for his play. The subplot of Hippolyto and Isabella in Middleton's play is strongly similar to the plot of a French novel that was published in 1597
1597 in literature
-Events:*February - Pembroke's Men contract with Francis Langley to play the next year at his new Swan Theatre. Their season goes disastrously wrong in July, when they stage the scandalous play The Isle of Dogs, which provokes the authorities to close all of the London theatres for the remainder of...
but not translated into English until 1627
1627 in literature
The year 1627 in literature involved some significant events.-New books:*Jean-Pierre Camus - Hyacinthe*George Hakewill - An Apologie or Declaration of the Power and Providence of God*Marin Mersenne - Traité de l'harmonie universelle...
, the year of Middleton's death. Scholars are divided as to whether Middleton was familiar with the novel in manuscript form prior to its 1627 printing, or whether the translator of the book was influenced by Middleton's play.
Chess
The device of the chess game exploited by Middleton in Women Beware has an obvious commonality with his own A Game at ChessA Game at Chess
A Game at Chess is a comic satirical play by Thomas Middleton, first staged in August 1624 by the King's Men at the Globe Theatre, notable for its political content.-The play:...
— but the same chess-game device also appears in John Fletcher's
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...
play The Spanish Curate
The Spanish Curate
The Spanish Curate is a late Jacobean era stage play, a comedy written by John Fletcher and Philip Massinger. It premiered on the stage in 1622, and was first published in 1647.-Date and source:...
, which was acted in 1622. Here again, scholars are divided as to which play preceded and influenced which. It is also possible that both writers independently derived the chess device from the same source. T. S. Eliot
T. S. Eliot
Thomas Stearns "T. S." Eliot OM was a playwright, literary critic, and arguably the most important English-language poet of the 20th century. Although he was born an American he moved to the United Kingdom in 1914 and was naturalised as a British subject in 1927 at age 39.The poem that made his...
, a student of Jacobean drama, refers to the Women Beware Women chess game in The Waste Land
The Waste Land
The Waste Land[A] is a 434-line[B] modernist poem by T. S. Eliot published in 1922. It has been called "one of the most important poems of the 20th century." Despite the poem's obscurity—its shifts between satire and prophecy, its abrupt and unannounced changes of speaker, location and time, its...
, Part II, line 137.
Reception
Little is known of the play's performances and reception in Middleton's time; Nathaniel Richards, who wrote a preface to the 1653 edition, stated that he had seen it, but no other records of performance survive.For modern critics, Women Beware Women has regularly been paired with The Changeling
The Changeling (play)
The Changeling is a Jacobean tragedy written by Thomas Middleton and William Rowley. Widely regarded as "among the best" tragedies of the English Renaissance, the play has accumulated a significant body of critical commentary....
as constituting Middleton's two noteworthy late achievements in the genre of tragedy — though Women Beware has usually been judged the lesser of the two works. The bloody masque
Masque
The masque was a form of festive courtly entertainment which flourished in 16th and early 17th century Europe, though it was developed earlier in Italy, in forms including the intermedio...
that concludes the play has been called a "ridiculous holocaust." With growing critical attention over the years, however, the estimation of Women Beware Women has intensified; the play is now judged to be among Middleton's greatest works. "Women Beware Women displays Middleton's maturest understanding of the relation of power to desire, and of political culture to civil society."
Revivals
The play was never revived in the eighteenth or nineteenth centuries, but productions became relatively common after the 1950s. The most recent major production was at the Olivier stage of the Royal National TheatreRoyal National Theatre
The Royal National Theatre in London is one of the United Kingdom's two most prominent publicly funded theatre companies, alongside the Royal Shakespeare Company...
, London; it was directed by Marianne Elliott
Marianne Elliott
For the theatre director, see Marianne Elliott .Marianne Elliott is an Irish historian....
and starred Harriet Walter
Harriet Walter
Dame Harriet Mary Walter, DBE is a British actress.-Personal life:She is the niece of renowned British actor Sir Christopher Lee, as the daughter of his elder sister Xandra Lee. On her father's side she is a great-great-great-granddaughter of John Walter, founder of The TimesShe was educated at...
as Livia and Vanessa Kirby
Vanessa Kirby
Vanessa Kirby is a British actress on both stage and more recently screen, she is due to play Estella in the BBC's adaptation of Great Expectations with Ray Winstone.-Career:...
as Isabella.
Adaptation
A modern adaptation by Howard BarkerHoward Barker
Howard E. Barker is a British playwright.-The Theatre of Catastrophe :Barker has coined the term "Theatre of Catastrophe" to describe his work...
at the Royal Court Theatre
Royal Court Theatre
The Royal Court Theatre is a non-commercial theatre on Sloane Square, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. It is noted for its contributions to modern theatre...
in 1986, in which the first two-thirds of Middleton's play were preserved but the ending was entirely revamped; among other changes, Sordido rapes Bianca before her wedding. Barker stated that he was rejecting Middleton's Jacobean Puritanism, writing in his programme note that "Middleton says lust leads to the grave. I say desire alters perception ... Middleton knew the body was the source of politics. He did not know it was also the source of hope."