Conquest of Brute, Parts 1 and 2: Difference between revisions

 
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[[Day, John|John Day]], [[Chettle, Henry|Henry Chettle]] ([[1598]])
{{Play
 
|isStub=No
 
|isSparse=No
|dramatists=Chettle, Henry; Day, John
|year=1598
|wigginsNo=#1161
|attribution=Roslyn L. Knutson
}}
==Historical Records==
==Historical Records==
===Payments===
===Payments===
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Fol. 49 ([http://www.archive.org/stream/henslowesdiary00unkngoog#page/n152/mode/2up Greg I.93])
Fol. 49 ([https://archive.org/details/henslowesdiary00unkngoog/page/n153/mode/1up?view=theater Greg I.93])


:Lent the company the 30 of July 1598 to
:Lent the company the 30 of July 1598 to
Line 42: Line 47:
:in fulle payment the some of………… l<sup>s</sup>
:in fulle payment the some of………… l<sup>s</sup>


====For properties in Philip Henslowe's diary====
====For apparel in Philip Henslowe's diary====
 
[[category:Diuers thinges]]
Fol. 52<sup>v</sup> ([http://www.archive.org/stream/henslowesdiary00unkngoog#page/n160/mode/2up Greg 1.100])
Fol. 52<sup>v</sup> ([http://www.archive.org/stream/henslowesdiary00unkngoog#page/n160/mode/2up Greg 1.100])


Line 52: Line 57:
==Theatrical Provenance==
==Theatrical Provenance==


<Enter information about which company performed the play, and where/when it was performed, etc.>
The Admiral's men had the two parts of "Brute" in active repertory at the Rose in the fall of 1598. The company was purchasing costumes (coats) for parts (giants) as late as December, implying a run that would continue into January of 1599.  
 
<br><br>
 


==Probable Genre(s)==
==Probable Genre(s)==


<List possible genres of the play: if noted by a critic, cite them, e.g. "Comedy (Harbage)". If an original speculation, simply list the genre.>
Pseudo-history [[WorksCited|Harbage]][[category:Pseudo-history]]
 
<br><br>
 


==Possible Narrative and Dramatic Sources or Analogues==
==Possible Narrative and Dramatic Sources or Analogues==


<Enter any information about possible or known sources. Summarise these sources where practical/possible, or provide an excerpt from another scholar's discussion of the subject if available.>
The stories of pre-Christian Britain were told in Geoffrey of Monmouth's ''Historia regum Britanniae'' and [[WorksCited|Holinshed]].  
 
<br><br>
 


==References to the Play==
==References to the Play==


<List any known or conjectured references to the lost play here.>
None known.
<br><br>


==Critical Commentary==


[[WorksCited|Malone]] does not comment on Henslowe's listing of "The Conquest of Brute" except to refer readers to the entry for the purchase of the giants' coats (p. 310). [[WorksCited|Collier]] also has not comment on this play (p. 131). [[WorksCited|Fleay, ''BCED'']] makes no comment in the list of plays by Chettle (1.68, #11), but in the list of plays by Day, he notes that Chettle had sold the play for £2 (an indication that it was an old play) and "rewrote it in two parts" (1.106. #1). He considers the second part to carry the title, "Brute Greenshield" (1.68, #12).


==Critical Commentary==
[[WorksCited|Greg II]] uses the occasion of payments for "Brute" and Fleay's tagging Chettle's sale as for an old play to say that "'to buy a book' ... did not necessarily means more than to give in earnest or in part payment thereof," citing examples from elsewhere in Henslowe's records to illustrate his point. Further, he identifies the sums paid between Oct 12 and 22, which total £6 as evidence that Chettle had written a second part. He is not persuaded by Fleay's assignment of payments for properties to "[[Brute Greenshield|Brute Greenshield]]"; he considers whether the second part of "Brute" addressed the founding of Bath to be an "open question."


<Summarise any critical commentary that may have been published by scholars. Please maintain an objective tone!>
'''Sharpe''' addresses the two-part "Conquest of Brute" in the context of the Admiral's English chronicle plays as well as "Brute Greenshield." His focus is to side with Greg's scepticism (vs. Fleay's opinion) that "any one play, even in two parts" could include all of the stories that stretch from Brute's landing in England to Brute Greenshield's adventures five generations later, including the "magician-king Bladud, Greenshield's great-grandson, who made the hot baths at Bath by necromancy, and broke his neck at Troynovant (Londond) in an attempt to fly" (pp. 104-5, esp. p. 105).


'''Teramura''' takes a repertorial approach to the saga of Brute and his descendants, entwining the plays that dramatize the birth narrative of Britain as told in the story of Brute and his descendents with those such as the two-part "Hercules," "Troy," and "Agamemnon" that belong to the most famous conquest narratives of the ancient world. Thus the theatrical Brute is "not simply a figure of beginnings, but also one of historical transition: the story of Trojan settlement in Britain represented the bridge that linked England directly to the mythical Mediterranean of Homeric and Virgilian epic" (p. 128). Teramura reads these offerings as bringing to the stage at the Rose a "view of national history" that arises from the "Trojan and Galfridian" narratives of conquest, revenge, and catastrophe.


[[WorksCited|Wiggins, ''Catalogue'' #1161)]] puzzles over the "anomalously high" sums paid for "Brute" (as had Fleay and Greg) and offers two options: the old playbook revised, and the payments split over two playbooks.
<br><br>


==For What It's Worth==
==For What It's Worth==


<Enter any miscellaneous points that may be relevant, but don't fit into the above categories. This is the best place for highly conjectural thoughts.>
Information welcome.
 
<br><br>
 


==Works Cited==
==Works Cited==
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[[category:Henslowe's records]][[category:All]][[category:Serial/Sequel plays]][[category:Update]][[category:Rose]]
[[category:Henslowe's records]][[category:All]][[category:Serial/Sequel plays]][[category:Update]][[category:Rose]]


Site created and maintained by [[your name]], affiliation; updated DD Month Y
Site created and maintained by [[Roslyn L. Knutson]], affiliation; updated 11 October 2022.


[[category:Plays]][[category:Update]][[category:Admiral's]][[category:John Day]][[category:Henry Chettle]]
[[category:Plays]][[category:Update]][[category:Admiral's]][[category:John Day]][[category:Henry Chettle]][[category:Props]]
[[category:Costumes]][[category:Day, John]][[category:Chettle, Henry]][[category: Geoffrey of Monmouth]][[category:English history]][[category:English kings]][[category:Classical]]

Latest revision as of 14:18, 13 October 2022

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Historical Records

Payments

To playwrights in Philip Henslowe's diary

Fol. 49 (Greg I.93)

Lent the company the 30 of July 1598 to
bye a Boocke of John daye called the con
queste of brute wth the first fyndinge of the
bathe the some of….. xxxxs


Fol. 50 (Greg I.95)

Lent vnto hary cheattell the 8 of [aguste] 1598
in earneste of a Boocke called Brute
the some of………………………………. ixs
Lent vnto hary cheattell the 9 of [aguste] septmbȝ 1598 in
earneste of a Bocke called Brute at the
a poyntment of Johne synger the some of…..... xxs
Lent vnto hary cheattell the 16 of septmbȝ 1598
in earneste of a Boocke called Brute………vs

Fol. 51 (Greg I.97)

Lent vnto the companey the 12 of octobȝ 1598
to geve harey cheattell in parte of payment for
<for> his playe called Brutte some of…. xs
Layde owt for the company the 18 of octobȝ
1598 for a boocke called Brutte the
some of to harey chettell……. iijll
Lent vnto the company the 22 of octobȝ 1598 to
paye harey cheattell for his boocke called Brute
in fulle payment the some of………… ls

For apparel in Philip Henslowe's diary

Fol. 52v (Greg 1.100)

dd vnto same Rowley the 12 desembȝ 1598
to bye diuers thinges for to macke cottes
for gyants in brvtte the some of… xxiiijs

Theatrical Provenance

The Admiral's men had the two parts of "Brute" in active repertory at the Rose in the fall of 1598. The company was purchasing costumes (coats) for parts (giants) as late as December, implying a run that would continue into January of 1599.

Probable Genre(s)

Pseudo-history Harbage

Possible Narrative and Dramatic Sources or Analogues

The stories of pre-Christian Britain were told in Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia regum Britanniae and Holinshed.

References to the Play

None known.

Critical Commentary

Malone does not comment on Henslowe's listing of "The Conquest of Brute" except to refer readers to the entry for the purchase of the giants' coats (p. 310). Collier also has not comment on this play (p. 131). Fleay, BCED makes no comment in the list of plays by Chettle (1.68, #11), but in the list of plays by Day, he notes that Chettle had sold the play for £2 (an indication that it was an old play) and "rewrote it in two parts" (1.106. #1). He considers the second part to carry the title, "Brute Greenshield" (1.68, #12).

Greg II uses the occasion of payments for "Brute" and Fleay's tagging Chettle's sale as for an old play to say that "'to buy a book' ... did not necessarily means more than to give in earnest or in part payment thereof," citing examples from elsewhere in Henslowe's records to illustrate his point. Further, he identifies the sums paid between Oct 12 and 22, which total £6 as evidence that Chettle had written a second part. He is not persuaded by Fleay's assignment of payments for properties to "Brute Greenshield"; he considers whether the second part of "Brute" addressed the founding of Bath to be an "open question."

Sharpe addresses the two-part "Conquest of Brute" in the context of the Admiral's English chronicle plays as well as "Brute Greenshield." His focus is to side with Greg's scepticism (vs. Fleay's opinion) that "any one play, even in two parts" could include all of the stories that stretch from Brute's landing in England to Brute Greenshield's adventures five generations later, including the "magician-king Bladud, Greenshield's great-grandson, who made the hot baths at Bath by necromancy, and broke his neck at Troynovant (Londond) in an attempt to fly" (pp. 104-5, esp. p. 105).

Teramura takes a repertorial approach to the saga of Brute and his descendants, entwining the plays that dramatize the birth narrative of Britain as told in the story of Brute and his descendents with those such as the two-part "Hercules," "Troy," and "Agamemnon" that belong to the most famous conquest narratives of the ancient world. Thus the theatrical Brute is "not simply a figure of beginnings, but also one of historical transition: the story of Trojan settlement in Britain represented the bridge that linked England directly to the mythical Mediterranean of Homeric and Virgilian epic" (p. 128). Teramura reads these offerings as bringing to the stage at the Rose a "view of national history" that arises from the "Trojan and Galfridian" narratives of conquest, revenge, and catastrophe.

Wiggins, Catalogue #1161) puzzles over the "anomalously high" sums paid for "Brute" (as had Fleay and Greg) and offers two options: the old playbook revised, and the payments split over two playbooks.

For What It's Worth

Information welcome.

Works Cited

Site created and maintained by Roslyn L. Knutson, affiliation; updated 11 October 2022.