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JACOBEAN AND RESTORATION DRAMA - Coggle Diagram

- - - - satirical comedy involving eccentric characters, each representing a temperament / humour of humanity. Based on the medieval theory of the four humours black bile or melancholy, yellow bile or choleric, and phlegm. According to this theory the balance or predominance of one of this fluids over the others in the body determined the disposition of an individual. Jonson's character became types = ridiculous and farcical caricatures representing personifications of vices (avarice, vanity, duplicity, ecc..)
        The theorynof the 4 humours related to the theory of four elements earth, air, fire and water, each having qualities in common with the four humours: dry, cold, moist and hot. Cold + dry= earth and melancholic type; hot+moist = air and the sanguine; hot+dry = fire and the choleric; cold+ moist= water and the phlegmatic
        
        Most important comedies:
        
        Every Man in His Humour 1598 comedy of intrigue, absurdities of the characters. The prologue contains an exposition of his theory of four humours
        
        Every Man out of His Humour 1599 sequel to the first comedy it portrays eccentric characters whose names indicate their humour (Buffone, Fastidius, Sordido)
        
        Cynthia's Revels 1600 satire on contemporary court types depicted through mythological characters, Cynthia = Queen Elizabeth
        
        The Poetaster 1601 dealing with the Wars of the Theatres, a controversy that represented the quarrels and rivalries of the dramatists of the time. It satirizes Dekker and Marston, 2 contemporary playwrights, under the name of Crispinus and Demetrius while Jonson himself figures as Horace
        
        Epicoene, or the Silent Woman 1609 a comedy in prose relating the story of a man unable to stand noise, who lives surrounded by silence but eventually decides to marry a young silent girl who turns to be an incessant talker
        
        The Alchemist 1610 a satirical comedy dealing with a pretended alchimist whose victims are attracted by the hope of easy gold
        
        Bartholomew Fair 1614 a satire on the hypocrisy of the Puritans and the licentiousness of London
        
        VOLPONE, OR THE FOX 1605
        greatest success
        
        plot
        
        Volpone is an avaricious Venetian man without heirs who is surrounded by equally greedy friends trying to secure his estate upon his death. With the help of his servant Mosca, he pretends to be dying and tricks his friends by inducting them to bring him expensive gifts in the expectation to become heirs. Eventually both Volpone and Mosca are exposed and punished by the Senate
        
        Features and interpretation
        
        It is about the sordid greed of the Venetian society which was the symbol of decadence, corruption and deceit in Renaissance England. The play makes use of fable-like symbolism in association of the characters'names with animals: a cunning Fox and a mischevious Fly trick carrion-birds such as Voltore (a vulture ), Corvino (a crow) and Corbaccio (a raven) into losing their feathers (their wealth). Moral purpose of the play is that avarice, hypocrisy and greed do not pay as they make everyone into a fool.
    - - Form of courtly entertainment involving music, dancing, singing and acting with allegorical and mythological content. It also made use of elaborate costumes and scenery. It derives its name from the French "masque" and Italian "mascherata"
        During his life Jonson wrote 30 masques, many of them for the King and in collaboration with Indigo Jones, pupil and follower of Andrea Palladio, who introduced in England the picture-stage framed in a proscenium arch, reproducing the Neoclassical style with the use of perspective. They were usually introduced by an anti-masque which staged the presence of the forces of evil in opposition to the following proper masque with the apparition of the nobility as order and harmony
        
        The Masque of Blackness 1605 written at the request of King James I's consort, Queen Anne of Denmark, who wished the masques to be disguised as Africans. She was one of the performers along with her court ladies who appeared in blackface makeup. The masque deals with the ladies arriving at the English Court to be "cleansed" of their blackness by King James. 1608 he also wrote the sequel The Masque of Beauty
        
        The Masque of Queens 1609 in honour of James I and Queen Anne
        
        Oberon, the Fairy Prince 1611 where he exalted the divine nature of the king
    - - Sejanus 1603
        
        Catiline 1611
        
        Both dealing with Roman history
- - - - Fletcher probably collaborated with Shakespeare in 2 plays: The two noble kinsmen and Henry VIII
- - - - The Old Bachelor 1693 revolving g around an old bachelor who despises women. Marriage, intrigues and disguises
        
        The Double Dealer 1694 a sentimental comedy
        
        Love for Love 1695 with mistaken impressions, disguises, deception and humourous situations. Complicated plot + clever dialogue. Themes: good government, sexual ethics, gender roles, difference tween being and seeming
        
        The Way of the World 1700
        His masterpiece written in reply to Jeremy Collier's essay
        
        Plot
        
        2 characters:Mirabell, a reformed libertine whose name suggests a person that loves beautiful things, and Milla and, a young heiress whose name stands for "the woman of thousands lovers". In order to get married and receive Millamant's dowry, Mirabell must receive the blessing of Millamant's aunt who has planned to marry her to her own nephew. Various complications lead to the happy ending for the young couple.
        
        Features and interpretation
        
        Culmination and turning point of Restoration comedy. Features:
        
        complex use of plot and sub-plot
        
        sharp satire of the artificially and follies of the Restoration
        
        stereotyped characters
        
        a refined witty language
        
        New sensibility reflecting the new values of the age. Millamant and Mirabell express a new idea of marriage seen as a social contract based on mutual respect, consent and independence. Millamant refuses the role traditionally attributed to wives and advances conditions of her own for the sake of her freedom, while Mirabell declares his "provisos" (condizioni), mocking the convention and habits of the ladies, such as wearing masks, strait-lacing (moralismo puritano) or playing the coquet. Although they dicuss their union in terms of a contract, they reveal their belief in true love in marriage.