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John Fletcher's A Wife for a Month, originally performed in 1624,[1] was first published in the Beaumont and Fletcher Folio of 1647 where it appears as the third of the four plays in Section 6 (6F4-I2v). The quality of the F1 text varies considerably; routine printer's errors aside, much of it is orderly enough, but from time to time such aberrations occur as to suggest that somewhere behind the printer's copy lay an authorial draft heavily revised in some sections if not throughout. The irregular portions of the text are of exceptional interest for several reasons. They reveal Fletcher actually
There are several instances at which with more or less clarity one can see Fletcher at work on his first draft. The most certain of these occurs in IV.ii where F1 preserves a false start followed by an amplification and new development of the same essential idea. Prior to this scene Frederick, a lustful King of Naples, finding his advances to the lovely and chaste Evanthe scornfully rejected, has maliciously ordered her to marry Valerio, her true love, on three extraordinary conditions—a month after the wedding Valerio dies, Evanthe dies a day later unless she can find another husband willing to die a month after marrying her, and, wedded though they are, Valerio cannot touch the longing bride beyond a kiss. The third condition, revealed to Valerio after the marriage but before the bridal night, is unknown to Evanthe, and Frederick hopes her frustration arising from Valerio's apparent inability to perform the conjugal duties the bride so passionately expects will throw Evanthe into his arms. IV.ii is devoted to two efforts on Frederick's part to force Evanthe's surrender. First, without much difficulty Frederick persuades Cassandra, Evanthe's pliable old waiting-woman, to become his bawd, a preparation for IV.iii, in the first part of which Evanthe, after pretending a measure of acquiescence, disdainfully rejects Cassandra's persuasions in a triumphant reaffirmation of her chaste love for Valerio. Secondly, in a piece of action preceding but obviously parallel to Evanthe's encounter with Cassandra, Frederick through threats and cajolements attempts to convert the noble Valerio into a wittol. As Evanthe does later, Valerio pretends to accede, then rises to a spirited rejection. Frederick's two interviews, the first with Cassandra and the second with Valerio, are what Fletcher finally decided to deal with in IV.ii, but the following is what stands in F1 (6H2)[2]:
- 1. Frederick sends Podramo, a servant, to fetch Valerio. Podramo exits.
- 2. Cassandra enters after line 2. She is neither addressed nor needed for the action for some forty lines.
- 3. In a brief soliloquy Frederick explains why he has sent for
Valerio:
I know he wants no additions to his tortures,Short line [3], which is substantially duplicated by line [6], marks the original end of the passage; whether he actually wrote it or not, Fletcher evidently planned line [3] to read "Yet I must vex him further; here he comes." Because that was too curt, however, he cancelled line [3] in order a bit further to develop Valerio's situation and Frederick's motive in the succeeding lines. The word Valerio, flush right on line [8], seems to be a fragment of Valerio's entrance direction.
He has enough for humane blood to carry,
Yet I must vex him further;180
So many that I wonder his hot youth
And high-bred spirit breakes not into fury;
I must yet torture him a little further,
And make my selfe sport with his miseries,
My anger is too poore else. Here he comes, Valerio.
Now my young married Lord, how do you feele your self?
- 4. In the thirty-three line interview that follows, Frederick sarcastically asks how Valerio likes the delights of married life which Frederick's largess has opened to him. Valerio, vehement but dignified, accuses Frederick of tyranny and injustice. Valerio then exits, although no direction is provided. His exit line is "Is there not heaven above you that sees all?" [45]. This is followed by "Come hither Time, how does your noble Mistris?" (3), a line Frederick should address to Cassandra, but which, wanting a speech-prefix, seems continued to Valerio.
- 5. Cassandra's presence is unmotivated, yet Frederick, having
recognized her at line 3, proceeds to enlist her services in the seduction of
Evanthe. The interview ends with Cassandra assuring Frederick that she
would never attempt Evanthe's chastity were it not that the lady's
acquiescence would save the lives of the lovers. Frederick answers at line
37:
Fred.Although F1 mislines, the verse scans (. . . evill | . . . Sir, | . . . fortunately, | . . . Valerio, | ). "Here comes Valerio," of course, duplicates a part of line [8].
For that I urge it too. (good, Sir,
Cass.
A little evill may well be suffered for a generall
Ile take my leave of your Majesty. Exit.
Enter Valerio.
Fred.
Go fortunately, be speedy too, here comes Valerio,
- 6. The contest between Frederick and Valerio ensues. The opening
dialogue has no counterpart in the earlier version of their encounter:
Fred.This, however, is followed by
. . . here comes Valerio,
If his affliction have allayed his spirit
My work has end. Come hither Lord Valerio,
How do you now?
Val.
Your Majesty may ghesse,
Not so well, nor so fortunate as you are,
That can tye up mens honest wills and actions.
Fred.Punctuation aside, these lines duplicate the opening lines of the dialogue summarized in paragraph 4 above except that the earlier version reads "live" for "lead" in line 50, "Your" for the incorrect "If" in line 52, and omits "Sir" in line 53. The subsequent seventy-nine lines of the conversation, however, differ from the earlier version.
You have the happinesse you ever aim'd at,
The joy, and pleasure.
Val.181
Would you had the like Sir.
Fred.
You tumble in delights with your sweet Lady,
And draw the minutes out in deare embraces,
You lead a right Lords life.
Val.
Would you had tryed it,
That you might know the vertue but to suffer,
If anger, though it be unjust and insolent
Sits hansomer upon you then your scorne, Sir.
From these elements it is possible roughly to reconstruct what happened. Fletcher seems to have begun the scene with only one situation in mind, a meeting of Frederick and Valerio during which the former would be further revealed as a despicable tyrant and the latter as an honorable and courageous sufferer. The idea was weak—the incident did not advance the action, and it merely reiterated aspects of character already established—yet in pursuit of it Fletcher wrote the dialogue for the encounter. He then had a better inspiration, parallel scenes of Frederick's attempt upon Valerio's honor and of Cassandra's upon Evanthe's, but to work the latter out he needed to make Cassandra Frederick's instrument. He retained Frederick's sending Podramo for Valerio, which was still serviceable; inserted Enter Cassandra beneath these lines to show that the Cassandra section was to follow; and presumably cancelled the original Frederick-Valerio dialogue, a cancellation which was not observed. Fletcher then wrote the Frederick-Cassandra section. The fact that Frederick's first speech to Cassandra ("Come hither Time," line 3) has no prefix suggests that some lines explaining her presence may have been provided; if so, they are lost. Fletcher then revised the Frederick-Valerio interview along different lines from the first version, but he naturally salvaged what he could from it, specifically lines 46-53. The first version is quite simple in its conception: Frederick taunts Valerio ("Hast thou not found a loving and free Prince . . . that has confer'd . . . such heapes of comfort on thee?") and Valerio replies by citing Frederick's enormities (you "are growne a tyrant"; you are "a shame to nature"; you have flung away my innocent life; in denying me conjugal rights, especially when my blood was high, you are guilty of "a studied and unheard of malice"). The second version is longer and more complicated: Valerio lets Frederick believe he has won ("What should I do with that I cannot use Sir [i.e., Evanthe]?"); agrees to persuade Evanthe to become Frederick's mistress in exchange for life, honors, and wealth; maneuvers Frederick into granting permission for Valerio to seduce the Queen; and finally explodes into a violent refusal to compromise his integrity or even to believe that such inhumanity as Frederick's
A more ambiguous instance of revision is found in II.v-vi. In II.v Valerio, happy and excited as he dresses for his wedding, explains to his friends Camillo, Cleanthes, and Menallo that he is perfectly content to die at the month's end, an early death for the love of a lady like Evanthe being far preferable to the vexations of an inglorious old age. In F1 (6G3) II.v concludes and II.vi begins as follows. Valerio is speaking:
A lusty one, 'twill make my blood dance too. Musick
Cam.
Ten if you please.
Val.
And wee'l be wondrous merry,
They stay sure, come, I heare the Musick forward, 50
You shall have all Gloves presently. Exit.
Men.
We attend Sir, but first we must looke to'the
Doores. Kn[o]cking within.
The King has charged us. Exeunt.
Enter two Servants. [II.vi]
1 Serv.
What a noyse do you keepe there, call my fellowes
A the Guard; you must cease now untill the King be
Enter'd, he is gone to'th Temple now.
2 Serv.
Looke to that back doore, and keep it fast,
They swarme like Bees about it, 4
Ent[e]r Camillo, Cleanthes, Menallo, Tony
following, and Foole following.
The King, Queene, Valerio, Evanthe, Ladies, Attendants, Camillo,
A Maske.
Cupid descends . . .
The discrepancy involving the three courtiers provides a clue to Fletcher's first intention, which must have been to send them off to the temple and have them reappear later as members of the wedding party. Originally II.v probably ended with this pentameter:
Men.
We attend Sir. Ex.
1 Serv.
What a noyse . . . . Knocking within.
Because it designates Frederick the King, the discovery direction seems to be in an early form, and it also seems that when "hark, the King comes" was written the idea of a discovery had been abandoned.[5] III.i, the scene
In the first of these passages discussed, line IV.ii [6] substantially duplicates line [3], the two being close enough in meaning to constitute a repetition-bracket, and as other repetition-brackets occur elsewhere in the play it is desirable to review briefly what has been made of these textual phenomena. The term was introduced briefly and rather casually by J. Dover Wilson to give a name to the repetition of the same line in a text, the second occurrence being fairly near the first (e.g., "But what is your affaire in Elsenoure?" Hamlet, 1603, B4:35 and B4v:5). Wilson assumed that the material between the duplicated lines was added to the basic text, but he did not explain how or why the duplication occurred.[6] The mechanics of the repetition-bracket were first discussed by Greg, who, comparing bracketed passages in The Honest Man's Fortune as they appear in the printed text of 1647 and in the Dyce manuscript, made the important observation that such repeated
Valerio has been holding forth on the delights of dying young. His peroration (6G3) is
Our great good parts, put wings to our soules:
Wee'l have a rouse before we go to bed friends, *
Pray ye tell me, ist a hansome Maske we have?
Cam.
We understand so.
Val.
And the young gent. dance?
Cle.
They do Sir, and some dance well.
Val.
They must before the Ladies,
Wee'l have a rouse before we go to bed friends, 47
A lusty one, 'twill make my blood dance too.
Another repetition-bracket is found in III.ii. The lusty bridegroom, revelling in anticipation of the wedding night, is brought word by Sorano of a new prohibition—if Valerio makes love to his bride, she dies. At the end of the scene Sorano speaks sarcastically (6G4):
And much may it do ye with it my deare Brother, 115
See ye observe it [the prohibition] well; you will find about ye
Many eyes set, that shall o're-looke your actions,
If you transgresse ye know, and so I leave ye,
Val.
Heaven be not angry, and I have some hope yet, 119
And when you please, and how allay my miseries. *
Enter Frederick.
To whom I kneele be mercifull unto me, 121
Looke on my harmelesse youth Angels of pitty, 120
And from my bleeding heart wipe off my sorrowes,
The power, the pride, the malice and injustice
Of cruell men are bent against mine innocence.
You that controwle the mighty wills of Princes, 125
And bow their stubborne arm[e]s, look on my weaknesse,
And when you please, and how, allay my miseries. Exit. 127
Fred.
Hast thou been with him? [III.iii]
Sor.
Yes . . . .
One more repetition-bracket remains to be considered. Near the end of the play Valerio, although his life actually has been preserved, is thought by Frederick and Evanthe to have been executed, and in accordance with Frederick's earlier conditions Evanthe has twenty-four hours in which to find a new husband. In V.iii four unsuitable suitors are introduced, but their courtship is swiftly concluded when they learn the consequences of marrying the lady. Evanthe, speaking to Frederick, attempts to bring matters to an end (6I1v):
Come, your sentence, let me dye, you see Sir, 157
None of your valiant men dare venture on me,
A Moneth's a dangerous thing.
Enter Valerio disguis'd.
Fred.
Away with her, let her dye instantly. *
Evan.
Will you then be willing
To dye at the time prefixt, that I must know too, 160
And know it beyond doubt.
Fred.
What if I did wench?
Evan.
On that condit[i]on if I had it certaine,
I would be your any thing, and you should injoy me, 163
. . .
I would dye with you, but first I would so torter ye, 169
And cow you in your end, so dispise you,
Still make ye feare, and shake, dispised, still laugh at ye.
Fred.
Away with her, let her dye instantly. 173
Cam.
Stay, there's another, and a Gentleman . . . .
Five examples of revision have now been examined. Two—II.v.42 ff. and IV.ii.1 ff.—seem reasonably certain to have been changes made during composition; three—II.v.47 ff., III.ii.114 ff., and V.iii.157 ff.—are less certainly, but probably, the same. All are marked by prominent irregularities in the text. It stands to reason, then, that the play contains other revisions not so marked or at least less obviously so, although in these cases the evidence may be revealing only authorial carelessness or the misinterpretation of the manuscript by some agent of transmission. In I.ii, for example, Camillo, Cleanthes, and Menallo are having the usual expository conversation about vice and corruption in the kingdom of Naples when they are interrupted by the entrance of Frederick and his henchmen. Convinced by her rejection of Frederick that Evanthe has another lover, Sorano has sent Podramo, his servant, to fetch Evanthe's cabinet, which the three will rifle for clues to Evanthe's secret. The text runs (6G1):
Pod.
So do I too. The King with his contrivers, 49
This is no place for us. Exeunt Lords.
All the signs examined so far point to a heavily worked-over authorial manuscript as the F1 copy, yet, as Cyrus Hoy noticed, A Wife for a Month, together with Rule a Wife and The Woman's Prize, exhibits the lowest number of Fletcher's favorite ye's of all his unaided work, an indication that the F1 copy was not the working draft directly but a transcript of it. The scribe, Hoy thinks, was Edward Knight, who was actively employed as bookkeeper of the King's Men by 1624 and whose transcript of the Bonduca foul papers shows a considerable reduction of the ye's present in the F1 text of that play, a derivative of the prompt-book.[13] As no comprehensive study of Knight's characteristics has as yet been made, one cannot be very definite about the identity of the scribe, but the chances are that Hoy is right. Knight would have been readily available to work for Fletcher, of course; as for more specific evidence, in A Wife for a Month "gent." stands not only for "gentleman" but also, quite uncommonly, for "gentlewoman" (II.vi.16; 6G3v), as it does in Knight's transcript of The Honest Man's Fortune;[14] the spelling of off is "of" as it is in one of Knight's additions to The Soddered Citizen (MSR, line 2210), in The Honest Man's Fortune (I.i.234), and in his transcript of Bonduca (MSR, lines 487, 1336, 1560, etc.); and the spelling of too is occasionally "to" as it is occasionally in Bonduca (lines 121, 897). There is a fairly good possibility, then, that Knight copied Fletcher's draft, preserving in his rendition many of the discrepancies it contained, including duplicate versions of some sections of the text and other details indicating that while writing the play Fletcher changed his mind several times about how the action was to develop. While some of Fletcher's alterations may have baffled Knight, it looks very much as though he never set out to create a finished
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