[Eoin Price]

Finally got round to reading this. I’m getting a lot of King Lear but it’s of course also very obviously not like Lear and I like its tonal ambiguities. I’m registering Lear partly because, despite my aspirations to the contrary, I simply know Shakespeare’s plays better than I do those of other writers (even if I like to think I’m fairly well-versed in early modern theatrical culture). So, the Lear-ishness jumps out and overrides other reference points (though I take completely the points David, Ellie, and Pete have made about The Maid of Honour, Locrine etc.) One thing I’m getting from an intertheatrical connection with Lear is the opening emphasis on a loquacious woman, when Shakespeare gives us a woman who is famously unwilling to speak. Auerlius has got a speech about humanity that gave me Lear vibes too (though not Lear opening scene vibes). But this very clearly isn’t the Lear universe, and I love that.

I also wanted to pick up on the point Pete makes about Aurelius’ speech. I agree it’s rich with theatrical possibilities: a lovely gift for an actor. I like to think of Middleton (Rowley’s collaborator, elsewhere, of course) as the great artist of the aside (Nora has written beautifully about his asides in The Changeling). There’s something Middletonian, I think, about this speech. I think of Middleton’s asides as being really supple and inventive. He loves to play with the form. David mentioned that this play is close in date and setting, to Middleton’s Hengist. I haven’t read Hengist for a while, but he’s doing some lovely things with asides there too, as I recall. What are Rowley’s asides like, people who know Rowley’s work better?

[Eoin Price]

Hello. My name is Eoin and I am pleased to join this group. It has been a very long time since I read this play.

I’m interested in the politics of printing and performing 16th and 17th century plays and in reprints and revivals of early modern drama in later centuries, including our own. My pronouns are he/him/his. When I am not doing early modern stuff I like to watch sports, especially football, or to complain about sports, especially football (or soccer, if you prefer).

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