Osric: Difference between revisions

 
(17 intermediate revisions by 2 users not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
{{Play
{{Play
|isStub=No
|isSparse=No
|dramatists=Anon. Play Titles A
|year=1597
|year=1597
|venue=Rose
|venue=Rose
|company=Category:Admiral's
|company=Admiral's
|probableGenres=History?
|probableGenres=History
|documentarySources=Performance Records (Henslowe's Diary)
|documentarySources=Performance Records (Henslowe's Diary)
|wigginsNo=867
|wigginsNo=867
Line 15: Line 18:
Fol. 26  [http://www.archive.org/stream/henslowesdiary00unkngoog#page/n110/mode/2up (Greg 1.51)]:
Fol. 26  [http://www.archive.org/stream/henslowesdiary00unkngoog#page/n110/mode/2up (Greg 1.51)]:
<br>
<br>
 
[[category:Candlemas]]
{|
{|
| ffebreary||||||||||||||||
| ffebreary||||||||||||||||
Line 51: Line 54:
{{Play/Probable Genres}}
{{Play/Probable Genres}}
<br><br><br>
<br><br><br>
== Possible Narrative and Dramatic Sources or Analogues ==
== Possible Narrative and Dramatic Sources or Analogues ==
No one has identified an historical or literary character who is persuasively the Osric for whom the play was named; consequently no source material has been suggested as the basis of the dramatic narrative. [[WorksCited|'''Wiggins''']] considers several Anglo-Saxon kings, but acknowledges that "the relative dearth of specific narrative about them" is a problem (''Catalogue'', #867)
No one has identified an historical or literary character who is persuasively the Osric for whom the play was named; consequently no source material has been suggested as the basis of the dramatic narrative. [[WorksCited|Wiggins, ''Catalogue'' (#867)]] considers several Anglo-Saxon kings but acknowledges that "the relative dearth of specific narrative about them" is a problem: Osric of Deira, A.D. 625-35; Osric of Northumberland, A.D. 718-29; and Osbert, c. 849-63.
<br><br><br>
<br><br>


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


Information welcome.
Information welcome.
<br><br><br>
<br><br>


== Critical Commentary ==
== Critical Commentary ==
Without a plausible historical or literary character named "Osric," scholars have been inclined to identify the play with another title. [[WorksCited|'''Fleay''']] suggested ''A Knack to Know a Knave'', which contains a character named Osric (''BCED'', 2.301 [#147]). '''Gurr''', following threads spun by [[WorksCited|'''Greg II''', #101, #265]], lumps it with another lost play, "Marshall Osric," written for Worcester's company in 1602 by Thomas Heywood and Wentworth Smith with the conjecture that the latter was "a rewrite" of the 1597 Admiral's play (p. 227, #64, n.63.  
Without a plausible historical or literary character named "Osric," scholars have been inclined to identify the play with another title. [[WorksCited|Malone]] does not offer an opinion (p. 299), nor does [[WorksCited|Collier (p. 85)]]. [[WorksCited|Fleay]], however, suggests ''A Knack to Know a Knave'', which contains a character named Osric (''BCED'', 2.301 [#147]). [[WorksCited|Greg II]] rejects that connection, offering with tepid interest "another play on the same story" as ''A Knack to Know a Knave'' "of which a fragment survives in MS" as well as the also lost "[[Marshal Osric|Marshal Osric]]," which was written for Worcester's company in 1602 by Thomas Heywood and Wentworth Smith (#101, p. 182;  #265, p. 230).
<br><br><br>
 
'''Gurr''', following Greg's offhand observation, repeats a possible link of "Osric" with the later lost play, "[[Marshal Osric|Marshal Osric]]," adding the conjecture that the 1602 play was "a rewrite" of the Admiral's 1597 play (p. 227, #64, n.63).  
<br><br>


== For What It's Worth ==
== For What It's Worth ==
As [[WorksCited|'''Wiggins''']] points out, "Osric" belongs to the set of apparently old plays brought to the stage briefly by the Admiral's men without a hint of their previous stage lives (''Catalogue'', #785, #953, #973, and #1022). As he observes ruefully, "no single hypothesis [on their provenance] will necessarily cover them all" (#867).


<br><br><br>
 
[[WorksCited|Fleay, ''BCED'']], in a collective note on Henslowe's plays from 1594 to 1597 that are not marked "ne," avers that they all "must have belonged to the Admiral's men on 3 June 1594 [and] have been originally produced before June 1592" (2, p. 302).
 
[[WorksCited|Wiggins, ''Catalogue'' (#867)]] uses the entry of "Osric" to gather together a set of apparently old plays brought to the stage briefly by the Admiral's men, 1595-97, without a hint of their previous stage lives. As he observes ruefully, "no single hypothesis [on their provenance] will necessarily cover them all." Those other plays are "[[Grecian Comedy|The Grecian Comedy]]," #785; "[[Martin Swarte, His Life and Death|Martin Swarte]]," #953; "[[Diocletian|Diocletian]]," #973; and "[[Time's Triumph and Fortune's|Time's Triumph]]," #1022.
<br><br>


== Works Cited ==
== Works Cited ==
Line 76: Line 85:
Site created and maintained by [[Roslyn L. Knutson]], Professor Emerita, University of Arkansas at Little Rock; 19 November 2019.
Site created and maintained by [[Roslyn L. Knutson]], Professor Emerita, University of Arkansas at Little Rock; 19 November 2019.
[[category:Roslyn L. Knutson]][[category:Admiral's]][[Category:Update]]
[[category:Roslyn L. Knutson]][[category:Admiral's]][[Category:Update]]
[[category:Henslowe's records]][[category:Rose]]
[[category:Henslowe's records]][[category:Rose]][[category:Unknown provenance]]

Latest revision as of 14:29, 24 August 2022

Anon. Play Titles A (1597)Property "Paratext" (as page type) with input value "{{{paratexts}}}" contains invalid characters or is incomplete and therefore can cause unexpected results during a query or annotation process.Property "Contributor" (as page type) with input value "{{{contributors}}}" contains invalid characters or is incomplete and therefore can cause unexpected results during a query or annotation process.Property "Partnering Institution" (as page type) with input value "{{{partneringInstitutions}}}" contains invalid characters or is incomplete and therefore can cause unexpected results during a query or annotation process.

Historical Records

Performance Records

Playlists in Philip Henslowe's diary


Fol. 26 (Greg 1.51):

ffebreary
1597
Candelmaseday
|3| tt at oserycke. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 01|09|03-02-01
Shrove mvnday |7| —— tt at oserycke. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 00|14|07-16-00




Theatrical Provenance

There is no doubt that a play Henslowe called "Osric" belonged to the Admiral's men during the late winter of 1597, but there is also no evidence to mark its introduction to the stage and identify its initial company owners. This title disappears from theater records after its brief appearance in February 1597.


Probable Genre(s)

History


Possible Narrative and Dramatic Sources or Analogues

No one has identified an historical or literary character who is persuasively the Osric for whom the play was named; consequently no source material has been suggested as the basis of the dramatic narrative. Wiggins, Catalogue (#867) considers several Anglo-Saxon kings but acknowledges that "the relative dearth of specific narrative about them" is a problem: Osric of Deira, A.D. 625-35; Osric of Northumberland, A.D. 718-29; and Osbert, c. 849-63.

References to the Play

Information welcome.

Critical Commentary

Without a plausible historical or literary character named "Osric," scholars have been inclined to identify the play with another title. Malone does not offer an opinion (p. 299), nor does Collier (p. 85). Fleay, however, suggests A Knack to Know a Knave, which contains a character named Osric (BCED, 2.301 [#147]). Greg II rejects that connection, offering with tepid interest "another play on the same story" as A Knack to Know a Knave "of which a fragment survives in MS" as well as the also lost "Marshal Osric," which was written for Worcester's company in 1602 by Thomas Heywood and Wentworth Smith (#101, p. 182; #265, p. 230).

Gurr, following Greg's offhand observation, repeats a possible link of "Osric" with the later lost play, "Marshal Osric," adding the conjecture that the 1602 play was "a rewrite" of the Admiral's 1597 play (p. 227, #64, n.63).

For What It's Worth

Fleay, BCED, in a collective note on Henslowe's plays from 1594 to 1597 that are not marked "ne," avers that they all "must have belonged to the Admiral's men on 3 June 1594 [and] have been originally produced before June 1592" (2, p. 302).

Wiggins, Catalogue (#867) uses the entry of "Osric" to gather together a set of apparently old plays brought to the stage briefly by the Admiral's men, 1595-97, without a hint of their previous stage lives. As he observes ruefully, "no single hypothesis [on their provenance] will necessarily cover them all." Those other plays are "The Grecian Comedy," #785; "Martin Swarte," #953; "Diocletian," #973; and "Time's Triumph," #1022.

Works Cited

Gurr, Andrew. Shakespeare's Opposites: The Admiral's Company 1594-1625. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009.




Site created and maintained by Roslyn L. Knutson, Professor Emerita, University of Arkansas at Little Rock; 19 November 2019.