Marriage A-la-Mode
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- This article is about the play by John Dryden; Marriage á-la-mode is also the name of a series of pictures by William Hogarth.
Marriage a la Mode (1672) is a comic play by John Dryden, first performed in London in 1673. It is written in a combination of prose, blank verse and heroic couplets. It has often been praised as Dryden’s best comedic endeavor and Sutherland accounts for this by observing that “the comic scenes are beautifully written, and Dryden has taken care to connect them with the serious plot by a number of effective links. He writes with . . . one of the most thoughtful treatments of sex and marriage that Restoration comedy can show.”[citation needed]
The play contains two songs, "Why Should a Foolish Marriage Vow" and "Whilst Alexis Lay Pressed." Both to Dryden's lyrics, by Robert Smith and Nicholas Staggins respectively[1] and printed in the 1673 book Choice Songs and Ayres for One Voyce to Sing to the Theorbo-Lute or Bass-Viol.
CAST:
POLYDAMAS, Usurper of Sicily.
LEONIDAS, the rightful Prince, unknown.
ARGALEON, favourite to POLYDAMAS.
HERMOGENES, foster-father to LEONIDAS.
EUBULUS, his friend and companion.
RHODOPHIL, captain of the guards.
PALAMEDE, a courtier.
PALMYRA, daughter to the Usurper.
AMALTHEA, sister to ARGALEON.
DORALICE, wife to RHODOPHIL.
MELANTHA, an affected lady.
PHILOTIS, woman to MELANTHA.
BELIZA, woman to DORALICE.
ARTEMIS, a court lady.
The setting is in Sicily. The plot concerns two separate storylines, one a romance between Palmyra and Leonidas, who were separated from their parents as babies and who were raised together by Hermogenes, who has kept their past a secret. When Hermogenes is recognized by the usurper-king Polydamas, he declares that Leonidas is Polydamas's son. However, as Leonidas's new position of prince then forbids him to marry Palmyra, much misery is brought to the couple. When the lovers refuse to stop seeing each other, Palmyra is sentenced to death. Hermogenes then steps forward and reveals that he was lying: Leonidas is his own son, he says, and he had lied in the hopes of bettering the boy by making him prince, and in fact Palmyra is the real child of Polydamas. After offering proof of this new claim, Palmyra is established as princess, but again this prevents her and Leonidas from marrying. Hermogenes then takes Leonidas aside and reveals to him the whole truth -- Leonidas is the son of the rightful king, whose throne was usurped by Polydamas. As soon as he learns this, Leonidas forms a rebellion against Polydamas, wins, and establishes himself the new king, finally allowing himself and Palmyra to be married.
The second storyline, which intertwines with the first, concerns Rhodophil and his friend Palamede. Palamede has fallen in love with Rhodophil's wife Doralice, and Rhodophil is in love with Palamede's fiancée Melantha. Each of the women seem to find their pursuers agreeable, and great care is taken by all parties to keep their meetings secret from each other, with disastrous results as the two couples seem to always choose the same locations and tactics for meeting. When finally the actions of everyone are discovered, Palamede and Rhodophil decide that since their tastes in women are so similar, each would be best sticking to his rightful claim. Palamede then manages to win the heart of Melantha, and amicably break off his relationship with Doralice.
[edit] Sources
Dryden borrowed from two plays in the canon of John Fletcher and his collaborators for Marriage A-la-Mode. He adapted his main plot from Beggars' Bush, and his subplot from Rule a Wife and Have a Wife.[2]
[edit] References
- ^ "Choice Songs and Ayres for One Voyce to Sing to the Theorbo-Lute or Bass-Viol", London, 1673, printed by W. Godbid.
- ^ Maguire, Nancy Klein. Regicide and Restoration: English Tragicomedy, 1660–1671. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1992; p. 57.
[edit] External links
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The Restoration comedy of manners
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| • Marriage A-la-Mode • The Country Wife • The Libertine • The Man of Mode • The Plain-Dealer • The Rover • | |
| • The Kind Keeper • The Rover, Part II • The Feigned Courtesans • The Lucky Chance • Bury Fair • Sir Anthony Love • | |
| • The Wives Excuse • The Old Bachelor • The Double-Dealer • Love For Love • She Ventures and He Wins • Love's Last Shift • | |
| • The Relapse • The Provoked Wife • Love and a Bottle • The Constant Couple • The Way of the World • The Perjured Husband • | |
| • The Beau Defeated • Sir Harry Wildair • The Basset Table • The Recruiting Officer • The Beaux' Stratagem • The Busybody |
