Pompey

Anon. (1581)

Historical Records

Court Records

Accounts of the Office of the Revels

The children of Pawles

{

A storie of Pompey enacted in the hall on twelf nighte wheron was ymploied newe one great citty, A senate howse and eight ells of dobble sarcenet for curtens and .xviij. paire of gloves.

(Feuillerat 336)

* The duble Sarcenett maid into Curtyns and Implowid aboute Storie of pompay plaid by the Childring of powles/

*Thomas Skiner Orendge taffeta sarcenet at the xs the ell viij. ells

}

iiijli.

(Feuillerat 338)

Theatrical Provenance

Performed at Whitehall Palace by the Children of Paul's on Friday 6 January 1581.

Probable Genre(s)

Classical history (Harbage).

Possible Narrative and Dramatic Sources or Analogues

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References to the Play

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Critical Commentary

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For What It's Worth

Pompey was a very well-known historical personality in sixteenth- and seventeenth-century England and also frequently appeared in dramatic writings... However, in all the extant early modern English plays featuring him as a character, he is always used as a foil to Caesar, and if Pompey in the title of a play, Caesar also is. This is also true of the lost play on the subject; see Caesar and Pompey, Caesar and Pompey, Part 1 and Caesar and Pompey, Part 2. This play may have therefore constituted an interesting exception to this trend by making Pompey the focal point of attention, although it appears extremely likely that Caesar also made his appearance in this play. It is also intriguing to wonder what kind of Pompey we may have encountered here, whether the glorious or the weak one... Given that he is the title character, one would expect him to have been depicted with some sort of greatness, perhaps by contrast with a hostile depiction of Caesar, especially if the play encompassed Pompey's defeat at Pharsalus and his subsequent beheading.

Works Cited

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Site created and maintained by Domenico Lovascio, University of Genoa; updated 09 July 2015.