Wit in a Madness: Difference between revisions
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Richard Brome (?1623-40) | [[Brome, Richard|Richard Brome]] (?1623-40) | ||
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===Stationers' Register=== | ===Stationers' Register=== | ||
19 March 1639/40. Entered to Constable: | 19 March 1639/40. Entered to Constable: | ||
:three Playes called. Sparagus Garden. The Antipodes. & Witt in a Madnes. [by Ric ''deleted'']. | :three Playes called. Sparagus Garden. The Antipodes. & Witt in a Madnes. [by Ric ''deleted''].<br><br> | ||
17 February 1647/8. The administrators of the estate of Alice Constable, widow of Francis Constable, transferred to Richard Thrale twenty copyrights including: | 17 February 1647/8. The administrators of the estate of Alice Constable, widow of Francis Constable, transferred to Richard Thrale twenty copyrights including: | ||
:14. Sparagus Garden a play. 15. The Antipodes a play. 16. Witt in a Madnes. a play. | :14. Sparagus Garden a play. 15. The Antipodes a play. 16. Witt in a Madnes. a play.<br><br> | ||
9 September 1653. Entered to Moseley, forty-one plays of which the second and third are: | 9 September 1653. Entered to Moseley, forty-one plays of which the second and third are: | ||
:Witt in Madnesse [brace] | :Witt in Madnesse [brace] | ||
:The Louesick Maid, or the honour of Young Ladies. by [brace] Rich: Brome. | :The Louesick Maid, or the honour of Young Ladies. by [brace] Rich: Brome.<br><br> | ||
11 April 1681. Dorothy Thrale, administratrix of Richard Thrale, assigned ''The Sparagus Garden, The Antipodes'', and ''Wit in a Madness'', with thirty-nine other titles, to Benjamin Thrale. | 11 April 1681. Dorothy Thrale, administratrix of Richard Thrale, assigned ''The Sparagus Garden, The Antipodes'', and ''Wit in a Madness'', with thirty-nine other titles, to Benjamin Thrale. | ||
(Cited from Bentley, 3.78 and 3.92) | (Cited from Bentley, 3.78 and 3.92) | ||
==Theatrical Provenance== | ==Theatrical Provenance== | ||
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Looking at the records from 1639/40, 1647/8, and 1681, Bentley (3.92) cast doubt on whether ''Wit in a Madness'' was necessarily by Brome at all. But the 1653 entry, seemingly overlooked by Bentley in this particular context, seems to resolve that doubt. | Looking at the records from 1639/40, 1647/8, and 1681, Bentley (3.92) cast doubt on whether ''Wit in a Madness'' was necessarily by Brome at all. But the 1653 entry, seemingly overlooked by Bentley in this particular context, seems to resolve that doubt. | ||
Harbage dates it c.1635-40, and accordingly lists it under the year 1637; but "1637" has since been repeated in online sources (such as Wikipedia) as if unqualified fact. Shaw (17-18) prefers the conjectural date 1638-9. Steggle (118-23) notes that a major difficulty with the 1635-40 theory is that in his 1640 legal deposition Brome claimed only to have written seven new plays for the King's Revels/Queen Henrietta's Men in that period. All seven of these seem to be already accounted for. | Harbage dates it c.1635-40, and accordingly lists it under the year 1637; but "1637" has since been repeated in online sources (such as Wikipedia) as if unqualified fact. Shaw (17-18) prefers the conjectural date 1638-9. Steggle (118-23) notes that a major difficulty with the 1635-40 theory is that in his 1640 legal deposition Brome claimed only to have written seven new plays for the King's Revels/Queen Henrietta's Men in that period. All seven of these seem to be already accounted for. | ||
In "Elizabethan-Restoration Palimpsest", Harbage speculates that Thomas D'Urfey's city comedy ''The Richmond Heiress, or a woman once in the right'' (1693), which features a heroine who feigns madness, "levied upon Brome's lost ''Wit in Madness''" [''sic''] (309). | In "Elizabethan-Restoration Palimpsest", Harbage speculates that Thomas D'Urfey's city comedy ''The Richmond Heiress, or a woman once in the right'' (1693), which features a heroine who feigns madness, "levied upon Brome's lost ''Wit in Madness''" [''sic''] (309). | ||
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Harbage's idea, regrettably, is pure wishful thinking. | Harbage's idea, regrettably, is pure wishful thinking. | ||
Feigned madness, as a device, is present in plays of the period including ''Hamlet'', ''The Changeling''. and Brome's own ''The Court Beggar''. | Feigned madness, as a device, is present in plays of the period including ''Hamlet'', ''The Changeling''. and Brome's own ''The Court Beggar''. | ||
==Keywords== | ==Keywords== | ||
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==Works Cited== | ==Works Cited== | ||
:Harbage, Alfred. 'Elizabethan-Restoration Palimpsest'. ''Modern Language Review'' 35 (1940): 287-319. | <div style="padding-left: 2em; text-indent: -2em">Harbage, Alfred. 'Elizabethan-Restoration Palimpsest'. ''Modern Language Review'' 35 (1940): 287-319.</div> | ||
:Shaw, Catherine M. ''Richard Brome''. Boston: Twayne, 1980. | |||
<div style="padding-left: 2em; text-indent: -2em">Shaw, Catherine M. ''Richard Brome''. Boston: Twayne, 1980.</div> | |||
<div style="padding-left: 2em; text-indent: -2em">Steggle, Matthew. ''Richard Brome: Place and Politics on the Caroline Stage''. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2004.</div> | |||
Site created and maintained by Matthew Steggle: updated 4 December 2009. | Site created and maintained by [[Matthew Steggle]]: updated 4 December 2009. | ||
Revision as of 01:06, 6 December 2009
Richard Brome (?1623-40)
Historical Records
Stationers' Register
19 March 1639/40. Entered to Constable:
- three Playes called. Sparagus Garden. The Antipodes. & Witt in a Madnes. [by Ric deleted].
17 February 1647/8. The administrators of the estate of Alice Constable, widow of Francis Constable, transferred to Richard Thrale twenty copyrights including:
- 14. Sparagus Garden a play. 15. The Antipodes a play. 16. Witt in a Madnes. a play.
9 September 1653. Entered to Moseley, forty-one plays of which the second and third are:
- Witt in Madnesse [brace]
- The Louesick Maid, or the honour of Young Ladies. by [brace] Rich: Brome.
11 April 1681. Dorothy Thrale, administratrix of Richard Thrale, assigned The Sparagus Garden, The Antipodes, and Wit in a Madness, with thirty-nine other titles, to Benjamin Thrale.
(Cited from Bentley, 3.78 and 3.92)
Theatrical Provenance
King's Revels/Queen Henrietta's Men?
Probable Genre(s)
Comedy (Harbage)
Possible Narrative and Dramatic Sources or Analogues
None known.
References to the Play
None known.
Critical Commentary
Looking at the records from 1639/40, 1647/8, and 1681, Bentley (3.92) cast doubt on whether Wit in a Madness was necessarily by Brome at all. But the 1653 entry, seemingly overlooked by Bentley in this particular context, seems to resolve that doubt.
Harbage dates it c.1635-40, and accordingly lists it under the year 1637; but "1637" has since been repeated in online sources (such as Wikipedia) as if unqualified fact. Shaw (17-18) prefers the conjectural date 1638-9. Steggle (118-23) notes that a major difficulty with the 1635-40 theory is that in his 1640 legal deposition Brome claimed only to have written seven new plays for the King's Revels/Queen Henrietta's Men in that period. All seven of these seem to be already accounted for.
In "Elizabethan-Restoration Palimpsest", Harbage speculates that Thomas D'Urfey's city comedy The Richmond Heiress, or a woman once in the right (1693), which features a heroine who feigns madness, "levied upon Brome's lost Wit in Madness" [sic] (309).
For What It's Worth
Harbage's idea, regrettably, is pure wishful thinking.
Feigned madness, as a device, is present in plays of the period including Hamlet, The Changeling. and Brome's own The Court Beggar.
Keywords
Works Cited
Site created and maintained by Matthew Steggle: updated 4 December 2009.