282 ANTHONY MUNDAY.-HENRY CHETTLE. [LECT. XII. ANTHONY MUNDAY's name frequently occurs among the dramatic authors of this period, but of his life very little is known. He appeared before the public as a dramatic writer as early as 1579, and was concerned in the production of fourteen plays; and such was the reputation to which he attained that Francis Meres, in 1598, calls him the 'best plotter' among the writers for the stage. One of his dramas, Sir John Oldcastle, was written in conjunction with Drayton and others, and was printed in 1600, with the name of Shakspeare on the title-page! The Death of Robert, Earl of Huntington, printed in 1601, was Munday's most popular play, and it is said he was assisted in it by Chettle. The pranks of Robin Hood and Maid Marian in merry Sherwood, are thus gayly set forth :-- Wind once more, jolly huntsmen, all your horns, Be heard among ye; but whatever fall, Of instrumental music, we have found The winged quiristers, with divers notes, For thy steel glass, wherein thou wont'st to look, At court, a flower or two did deck thy head, Now, with whole garlands it is circled; For what in wealth we want, we have in flowers, HENRY CHETTLE is as little known as Munday. It is supposed by Collier that he had written for the stage before 1592, when he published Greene's posthumous works, 'A Groat's Worth of Wit.' He was a very prolific writer, and was engaged in the composition of no less than thirtyeight plays, during the six years that followed from 1597. Amongst his plays, the names of which have descended to us, is one on the subject of Cardinal Wolsey, which probably was the origin of Shakspeare's 'Henry the Eighth.' The best drama of this author, that we now possess, is a comedy called Patient Grissell, taken from the Italian of Boccaccio. The humble charms of the heroine are thus finely described: See where my Grissell and her father is, Methinks her beauty, shining through those weeds, Did but the proud world note her as I do, She would cast off rich robes, forswear rich state, Our remarks upon the early part of English dramatic literature, have now brought us down to Marlow, who was by far the mightiest of Shakspeare's precursors. CHRISTOPHER MARLOW was the son of a shoemaker, and was born at Canterbury, Kent, in 1562. He was educated at Bennet College, Cambridge, and took his master's degree in 1587. He had, however, previous to this, commenced his career as a dramatist, and written his tragedy of Tamberlaine the Great, which was successfully brought upon the stage, and long continued a favorite. Though there is in the play much rant and fustian, still it has passages of great beauty and wild grandeur, and the versification justifies the compliment afterward paid by Ben Jonson, in the words, Marlow's mighty line.' His finely modulated and varied blank verse, observable even in this early play, is one of his most characteristic features. The success of 'Tamberlaine' induced Marlow to commence the profession of an actor; but he was soon incapacitated for the stage by accidentally breaking his leg. Marlow's second play, the Life and Death of Dr. Faustus, exhibits a far wider range of dramatic power than his first. The hero studies necromancy, and makes a solemn disposal of his soul to Lucifer, on condition of having a familiar spirit at his command, and unlimited enjoyment for twenty-four years; during which period Faustus visits different countries, 'calls up spirits from the vasty deep,' and revels in luxury and splendor. At length the time expires, the bond becomes due, and a party of evil spirits enter, amid thunder and lightning, to claim his forfeited life and person. Such a plot afforded scope for deep passion and variety of adventure, and Marlow has constructed from it a powerful though irregular play. Scenes and passages of terrific grandeur, and the most thrilling agony, are intermixed with low humor and preternatural machinery, often ludicrous and grotesque. The ambition of Faustus is a sensual, not a lofty ambition. A feeling of curiosity and wonder is excited by his necromancy and his strange compact with Lucifer; but we do not fairly sympathize till all his disguises are stripped off, and his meretricious splendor is succeeded by horror and despair. Then, when he stands on the brink of everlasting ruin, waiting for the fatal moment, imploring, yet distrusting repentance, a scene of enchaining interest, fervid passion, and overwhelming pathos, carries captive the sternest heart, and proclaims the full triumph of the tragic poet. To illustrate these remarks, we shall here introduce the closing scene of the play. The last fatal midnight approaches, and Faustus is left alone: Now hast thou but one bare hour to live, A year, a month, a week, a natural day, O lente, lente, currite, noctis equi. The stars move still, time runs, the clock will strike, And see a threat'ning arm, and angry brow. My limbs may issue from your smoky mouths, [The Watch strikes.] Why wert thou not a creature wanting soul? All beasts are happy, for when they die, [The Clock strikes Twelve.] It strikes, it strikes; now, body, turn to air, First Sch. Come, gentlemen, let us go visit Faustus, For such a dreadful night was never seen Since first the world's creation did begin; Such fearful shrieks and cries were never heard. Pray heaven the Doctor have escaped the danger. Sec. Sch. O help us heavens! see, here are Faustus' limbs All torn asunder by the hand of death. Third Sch. The devil whom Faustus serv'd hath torn him thus: For 'twixt the hours of twelve and one, methought I heard him shriek and call aloud for help; At which same time the house seem'd all on fire With dreadful horror of these damned fiends. Sec. Sch. Well, gentlemen, though Faustus' end be such As every Christian heart laments to think on; Yet, for he was a scholar once admired For wondrous knowledge in our German schools, We'll give his mangled limbs due burial: And all the scholars, cloth'd in mourning black, Shall wait upon his heavy funeral. Chorus. Cut is the branch that might have grown full straight, And burned is Apollo's laurel bough That sometime grew within this learned man: Faustus is gone! Regard his hellish fall, Whose fiendful fortune may exhort the wise Whose deepness doth entice such forward wits To practice more than heavenly power permits. The classical taste of Marlow is shown in the fine apostrophe to Helen of Greece, whom the spirit of Mephostophilis conjures up between two Cupids' to gratify the sensual gaze of Faustus: Was this the face that lanched a thousand ships, And burn'd the topless towers of Ilium? Before 1593, Marlow produced three other dramas, the Jew of Malta, the Massacre of Paris, and a historical play, Edward the Second. The last of these is a noble drama, and contains a number of ably drawn characters and splendid scenes. We subjoin part of the death-scene at the close of the play-a scene which Charles Lamb says, 'moves pity and terror beyond any other scene, ancient or modern.' It may challenge comparison with Shakspeare's death of Richard the Second; but with all his power, Marlow could not interest us in his hero as the great dramatist does in the gentle Richard: SCENE,-BERKLEY CASTLE. THE KING IS LEFT ALONE WITH LIGHTBORN, A MURDERER. Edw. Who's there? what light is that? wherefore com'st thou ? Edw. Small comfort finds poor Edward in thy looks. Villain, I know thou com'st to murder me. Light. To murder you, my most gracious lord! Far is it from my heart to do you harm. The queen sent me to see how you were us'd, For she relents at this your misery: And what eyes can refrain from shedding tears, Edw. Weep'st thou already? list awhile to me, Light. O villains! Edw. And there, in mire and puddle have I stood One plays continually upon a drum. They give me bread and water, being a king; And there unhors'd the Duke of Cleremont. Light. O speak no more, my lord! this breaks my heart. Lie on this bed and rest yourself awhile. Edw. These looks of thine can harbour nought but death: I see my tragedy written in thy brows. Yet stay awhile, forbear thy bloody hand, And let me see the stroke before it comes, That even then when I shall lose my life, My mind may be more steadfast on my God. Light. What means your highness to mistrust me thus? 1 His keepers. |