274:
predicament; the minister had written
Arbaces many letters during the king's years abroad, praising Panthea's beauty and her love for him. Panthea is also attracted to Arbaces, but her virtue restrains them both. The king becomes so desperate that he decides to murder Gobrius, rape Panthea, and then commit suicide. Meanwhile, Tigranes too falls in love with Panthea, even though this means he breaks his faith with Spaconia. Tigranes exercises the self-discipline and rationality that Arbaces struggles to achieve, and rededicates himself to Spaconia.
22:
270:. He intends to marry his sister Panthea to Tigranes. Meanwhile, he learns that his mother, Arane, who hates him, has plotted his assassination. The regent Gobrius has foiled the plot. Tigranes' fiancée Spaconia accompanies him into exile, hoping to avert Arbaces' plans for the marriage alliance. Tigranes promises her he will remain faithful.
312:
The play's prominence has earned it abundant attention from generations of critics. Its "distinctiveness" has been described as "a firestorm of theatrical tricks meant to indulge the erotic fantasies and jaded tastes of
Jacobean audiences..," combined with a "philosophical drama...of substantive
277:
Arbaces' dilemma is resolved when it is revealed that the situation is a complex hoax, staged by Arane and
Gobrius to give an heir to the childless old king who was Arbaces' predecessor. Arane's plots against her supposed son were intended to restore the rightful succession. Arbaces is in fact
273:
On his return
Arbaces finds that he now has a powerful sexual attraction to his beautiful sister, the princess Panthea, whom he hasn't seen since childhood. Much of the play depicts his increasingly desperate struggle against his incestuous passion. Arbaces blames the protector Gobrius for his
281:
Arbaces is presented as a mixed character, brave and formidable in battle, but boastful and somewhat vulgar. His character is explained by the trick of his birth: he cannot behave with the nobility of a king, because he isn't one by "blood." The
278:
Gobrius's son, and so
Panthea is not actually his sister. Gobrius had plotted that his son would become the legitimate king, by marriage with Panthea; Arbaces does marry the princess, but steps down from the kingship.
65:
The play's title became almost proverbial by the middle of the 17th century, and was used repeatedly in the polemical literature of the mid-century political crisis to refer to the problem and predicament of King
514:
216:
was well known for his portrayal of the protagonist, Arbaces; the 1676 quarto included a cast list that mentions Hart and other prominent actors of the era, including
636:
1225:
998:
62:
and first published in 1619. It has traditionally been among the most highly praised and popular works in the canon of
Fletcher and his collaborators.
507:
1230:
884:
500:
100:
1220:
1210:
213:
629:
266:, has been fighting in wars abroad for many years; he returns home in triumph, bringing with him Tigranes, the defeated king of
169:, in his survey of authorship problems in the Fletcher canon, provided this breakdown of the two dramatists' respective shares:
1134:
112:
204:
on 6 October 1647, only to be broken up by the authorities. As the play's publication history shows, it was popular after the
1240:
1139:
154:
1129:
835:
189:
142:
974:
705:
410:
The Later
Jacobean and Caroline Dramatists: A Survey and Bibliography of Recent Studies in English Renaissance Drama,
141:
a year later. A second quarto appeared in 1625, also from
Walkley; subsequent quarto editions followed in 1631 (from
1235:
544:
59:
34:
313:
political and ideological concerns." The play constitutes a study of the consequences of royal intemperance in an
333:
291:
286:
in the play is provided by the cowardly Bessus and his cronies; their subplot turns on the customs of honorable
1063:
863:
856:
737:
423:
The Plays of
Beaumont and Fletcher: An Attempt to Determine Their Respective Shares and the Shares of Others,
1167:
1053:
891:
800:
352:"Mixed Government and Mixed Marriage in "A King and No King": Sir Henry Neville Reads Beaumont and Fletcher"
217:
201:
124:
1089:
1105:
1016:
950:
905:
584:
524:
107:
during much of the 17th century, assert that the play was licensed in 1611 by
Herbert's predecessor Sir
91:
79:
47:
691:
492:
304:
The former might be regarded as the tragicomic version, and the latter the tragic, of the same story.
1043:
981:
821:
744:
104:
67:
1215:
988:
877:
807:
719:
564:
246:
205:
197:
898:
828:
814:
751:
684:
670:
371:
251:
240:(1694) bears a strong resemblance to the Beaumont/Fletcher work. Also influenced by the play was
663:
1149:
1097:
1033:
1009:
919:
786:
712:
314:
193:
180:— a division that agrees with the conclusions of earlier researchers and commentators.
1176:
1144:
1026:
957:
677:
574:
551:
537:
363:
263:
137:
115:
on 26 December 1611, again in the following Christmas season, and again on 10 January 1637.
55:
30:
1081:
765:
656:
236:
964:
912:
594:
579:
478:
David Laird, "'A curious way of torturing': language and ideological transformation in
132:
84:
1204:
870:
793:
772:
569:
221:
146:
927:
599:
559:
438:
Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press, 1926; pp. 3, 16, 18, 35 and ff.
283:
209:
21:
779:
486:
edited by James Redmond; Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1990; pp. 107–8.
227:
108:
51:
589:
290:– and their comical violation. (Bessus was a well-known comic creation; Queen
166:
128:
367:
294:
refers to Bessus in a 25 February 1643 letter to her husband, Charles I.)
241:
375:
351:
224:. The play remained in the active repertory well into the 18th century.
149:), and 1693. Like other previously-printed Beaumont and Fletcher plays,
758:
267:
173:
Beaumont — Acts I, II, and III; Act IV, scene 4; Act V, 2 and 4;
399:
Cambridge, Massachusetts, Library of Harvard University, 1890; p. 9.
20:
287:
496:
412:
Lincoln, NE, University of Nebraska Press, 1978; pp. 59–60.
340:, 4 Volumes, Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1923; Vol. 3, p. 225.
300:
has a strong degree of commonality with the same authors'
95:), there is little doubt about the date and authorship of
212:
saw the play repeatedly in the early Restoration period.
188:
A staging of the popular drama was attempted during the
1193:† = Not published in the Beaumont and Fletcher folios
1158:
1120:
1073:
937:
845:
729:
646:
621:
608:
200:(1642–1660); a production was mounted at the
176:
Fletcher — Act IV, scenes 1-3; Act V, 1 and 3
425:New Haven, Yale University Press, 1927; pp. 167–9.
157:of 1647, but was included in the second of 1679.
127:on 7 August 1618. The first edition was the 1619
436:Beaumont and Fletcher on the Restoration Stage,
637:The Masque of the Inner Temple and Gray's Inn
508:
469:Logan and Smith, pp. 10, 12, 32-3, 37 and ff.
408:Terence P. Logan and Denzell S. Smith, eds.,
8:
999:Four Plays, or Moral Representations, in One
165:The authorship of the play is not disputed.
451:London, Palgrave Macmillan, 1998; pp. 83–4.
618:
515:
501:
493:
16:17th-century play by Beaumont and Fletcher
449:Early Women Dramatists, 1550–1800,
397:A Bibliography of Beaumont and Fletcher,
145:), 1639, 1655, 1661, and 1676 (all from
326:
111:. The drama was acted at Court by the
7:
1049:with Massinger, Chapman & Jonson
1226:Plays by John Fletcher (playwright)
1059:with Massinger, Ford & Webster
14:
155:first Beaumont and Fletcher folio
25:Title page of a 1676 printing of
630:The Knight of the Burning Pestle
78:Unlike some of the problematic
1231:Plays by Beaumont and Fletcher
123:The play was entered into the
1:
1171:(Shakespeare & Fletcher?)
946:with Beaumont & Massinger
1140:Beaumont and Fletcher folios
1130:English Renaissance theatre
836:Rule a Wife and Have a Wife
1257:
970:with Massinger & Field
1221:Plays by Francis Beaumont
1211:English Renaissance plays
1191:
885:The Custom of the Country
532:
131:issued by the bookseller
82:works (see, for example,
1093:(Middleton & Rowley)
1064:The Fair Maid of the Inn
975:The Honest Man's Fortune
864:The Little French Lawyer
738:The Faithful Shepherdess
395:Alfred Claghorn Potter,
350:Lesser, Zachary (2002).
1168:The History of Cardenio
1054:Rollo, Duke of Normandy
801:The Humorous Lieutenant
460:Logan and Smith, p. 33.
202:Salisbury Court Theatre
190:closure of the theatres
1090:Wit at Several Weapons
434:Arthur Colby Sprague,
302:Thierry and Theodoret.
38:
1017:The Two Noble Kinsmen
951:Thierry and Theodoret
525:Beaumont and Fletcher
484:Drama and Philosophy,
368:10.1353/elh.2002.0037
338:The Elizabethan Stage
244:, when she wrote her
192:in the period of the
153:was omitted from the
92:Thierry and Theodoret
80:Beaumont and Fletcher
24:
1241:Charles I of England
1044:The Maid in the Mill
982:The Queen of Corinth
892:The Lovers' Progress
822:The Wild Goose Chase
135:, who would publish
125:Stationers' Register
105:Master of the Revels
74:Date and performance
1180:(possibly based on
989:The Knight of Malta
878:The Double Marriage
808:The Island Princess
720:The Noble Gentleman
565:William Shakespeare
421:E. H. C. Oliphant,
247:The Double Distress
232:A King and No King;
99:The records of Sir
97:A King and No King.
899:The Spanish Curate
829:A Wife for a Month
699:A King and No King
692:The Maid's Tragedy
480:A King and No King
308:Critical responses
298:A King and No King
230:was an admirer of
151:A King and No King
50:era stage play, a
43:A King and No King
39:
27:A King and No King
1236:Tragicomedy plays
1198:
1197:
1150:Humphrey Robinson
1116:
1115:
1098:The Laws of Candy
1034:Wit Without Money
920:The Elder Brother
787:The Loyal Subject
745:The Woman's Prize
713:The Scornful Lady
706:Love's Pilgrimage
447:Margarete Rubik,
315:absolute monarchy
262:Arbaces, King of
194:English Civil War
1248:
1177:Double Falsehood
1145:Humphrey Moseley
1027:The Night Walker
1004:with Shakespeare
619:
575:Thomas Middleton
552:Philip Massinger
538:Francis Beaumont
517:
510:
503:
494:
487:
476:
470:
467:
461:
458:
452:
445:
439:
432:
426:
419:
413:
406:
400:
393:
387:
386:
384:
382:
347:
341:
331:
56:Francis Beaumont
31:Francis Beaumont
1256:
1255:
1251:
1250:
1249:
1247:
1246:
1245:
1201:
1200:
1199:
1194:
1187:
1154:
1123:and publication
1122:
1112:
1082:The Nice Valour
1069:
939:
933:
847:
841:
766:Monsieur Thomas
725:
664:Cupid's Revenge
657:The Woman Hater
648:
642:
614:
612:
610:
604:
528:
521:
491:
490:
477:
473:
468:
464:
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416:
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403:
394:
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380:
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349:
348:
344:
332:
328:
323:
310:
292:Henrietta Maria
260:
237:Love Triumphant
218:Edward Kynaston
186:
163:
143:Richard Hawkins
121:
76:
17:
12:
11:
5:
1254:
1252:
1244:
1243:
1238:
1233:
1228:
1223:
1218:
1213:
1203:
1202:
1196:
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1192:
1189:
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1186:
1185:
1172:
1162:
1160:
1156:
1155:
1153:
1152:
1147:
1142:
1137:
1132:
1126:
1124:
1118:
1117:
1114:
1113:
1111:
1110:
1106:The Coronation
1102:
1094:
1086:
1077:
1075:
1071:
1070:
1068:
1067:
1060:
1057:
1050:
1047:
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1023:
1020:
1013:
1005:
1002:
995:
992:
985:
978:
971:
968:
961:
954:
947:
943:
941:
935:
934:
932:
931:
923:
916:
913:The Sea Voyage
909:
906:The Prophetess
902:
895:
888:
881:
874:
867:
860:
851:
849:
843:
842:
840:
839:
832:
825:
818:
811:
804:
797:
790:
783:
776:
769:
762:
755:
748:
741:
733:
731:
727:
726:
724:
723:
716:
709:
702:
695:
688:
681:
674:
667:
660:
652:
650:
644:
643:
641:
640:
633:
625:
623:
616:
606:
605:
603:
602:
597:
595:George Chapman
592:
587:
582:
580:William Rowley
577:
572:
567:
562:
556:
555:
548:
541:
533:
530:
529:
522:
520:
519:
512:
505:
497:
489:
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471:
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453:
440:
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414:
401:
388:
362:(4): 947–977.
342:
334:E. K. Chambers
325:
324:
322:
319:
309:
306:
259:
256:
185:
182:
178:
177:
174:
162:
159:
133:Thomas Walkley
120:
117:
75:
72:
15:
13:
10:
9:
6:
4:
3:
2:
1253:
1242:
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986:
984:
983:
979:
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972:
969:
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962:
960:
959:
958:Beggars' Bush
955:
953:
952:
948:
945:
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871:The False One
868:
866:
865:
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859:
858:
853:
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850:
844:
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837:
833:
831:
830:
826:
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823:
819:
817:
816:
812:
810:
809:
805:
803:
802:
798:
796:
795:
794:Women Pleased
791:
789:
788:
784:
782:
781:
777:
775:
774:
773:The Mad Lover
770:
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767:
763:
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749:
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617:
607:
601:
598:
596:
593:
591:
588:
586:
583:
581:
578:
576:
573:
571:
570:James Shirley
568:
566:
563:
561:
558:
557:
554:
553:
549:
547:
546:
545:John Fletcher
542:
540:
539:
535:
534:
531:
526:
518:
513:
511:
506:
504:
499:
498:
495:
485:
481:
475:
472:
466:
463:
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431:
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418:
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411:
405:
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389:
377:
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365:
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279:
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234:his own play
233:
229:
225:
223:
222:Michael Mohun
219:
215:
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207:
203:
199:
195:
191:
183:
181:
175:
172:
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156:
152:
148:
147:William Leake
144:
140:
139:
134:
130:
126:
118:
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114:
110:
106:
102:
101:Henry Herbert
98:
94:
93:
88:
86:
81:
73:
71:
69:
63:
61:
60:John Fletcher
57:
53:
49:
45:
44:
36:
35:John Fletcher
32:
28:
23:
19:
1181:
1175:
1166:
1104:
1096:
1088:
1080:
1062:
1052:
1042:
1032:
1025:
1022:with Shirley
1015:
1008:
997:
987:
980:
973:
963:
956:
949:
928:A Very Woman
926:
918:
911:
904:
897:
890:
883:
876:
869:
862:
855:
846:Fletcher and
834:
827:
820:
813:
806:
799:
792:
785:
778:
771:
764:
757:
750:
743:
736:
718:
711:
704:
698:
697:
690:
683:
676:
669:
662:
655:
649:and Fletcher
635:
628:
615:conjectural)
613:attributions
600:John Webster
560:Nathan Field
550:
543:
536:
483:
479:
474:
465:
456:
448:
443:
435:
430:
422:
417:
409:
404:
396:
391:
379:. Retrieved
359:
355:
345:
337:
329:
311:
301:
297:
296:
284:comic relief
280:
276:
272:
261:
245:
235:
231:
226:
214:Charles Hart
210:Samuel Pepys
187:
179:
164:
150:
136:
122:
96:
90:
83:
77:
64:
42:
41:
40:
26:
18:
1121:Performance
1085:(Middleton)
1039:with Rowley
965:Love's Cure
815:The Pilgrim
780:The Chances
752:Valentinian
685:The Captain
671:The Coxcomb
228:John Dryden
206:Restoration
198:Interregnum
119:Publication
109:George Buck
85:Love's Cure
54:written by
52:tragicomedy
1216:1611 plays
1205:Categories
1135:King's Men
1010:Henry VIII
994:with Field
940:and others
590:Ben Jonson
381:18 January
321:References
184:After 1642
161:Authorship
113:King's Men
1109:(Shirley)
857:Barnavelt
848:Massinger
678:Philaster
585:John Ford
167:Cyrus Hoy
138:Philaster
68:Charles I
1182:Cardenio
938:Fletcher
730:Fletcher
647:Beaumont
622:Beaumont
376:30032051
288:duelling
258:Synopsis
242:Mary Pix
196:and the
48:Jacobean
1159:Related
759:Bonduca
527:" Canon
482:," in:
268:Armenia
1101:(Ford)
1074:Others
374:
264:Iberia
129:quarto
103:, the
37:(1619)
611:(some
609:Plays
523:The "
372:JSTOR
46:is a
383:2024
252:1701
220:and
58:and
33:and
364:doi
356:ELH
254:).
89:or
29:by
1207::
370:.
360:69
358:.
354:.
336:,
317:.
208:.
70:.
1184:)
1174:†
1165:†
1007:†
925:†
854:†
516:e
509:t
502:v
385:.
366::
250:(
87:,
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