Poetry (1) by Robert Herrick

PRIMARY SOURCE: (circa 1648)

1. "To the Virgins to Make Much of Time"
2. "To Marigolds"
3. “His Prayer to Ben Jonson”
4. "Delight in Disorder”

Context

• Publication: Born to a well-to-do London goldsmith and educated at St. John's and Trinity. Consorts with Ben Jonson at the Devil Tavern. Employed as a deacon and chaplain on Buckingham's expedition against Ile de Re, 1627.Vicar of Dean Prior in Devonshire, 1629-47. Enters poems in the Stationers' Register, 1640. Expelled from vicarage for Royalist sympathies, returns to London. Publishes Hesperides in 1648. Returns to Devonshire in 1660, dies in 1674. EEBO link.
• Scholarship: Scholars have read Herrick for the Son of Ben poems, as well as his connections to the Royalist faction. Herrick's poetry resembles a neo-classical interest in sexuality and beauty.
• Why I'm reading it: The counter-canon, illustrated title page.

Content

• Form:

1. "To the Virgins to Make Much of Time"
   Ballad meter, abab; four stanzas.
2. "To Marigolds"
   Iambic pentameter, couplets.
3. “His Prayer to Ben Jonson”
   Iambic trimeter in ballad style, abab; three stanzas.
4. "Delight in Disorder”
   Iambic tetrameter; couplets.

• Genre:

1. "To the Virgins to Make Much of Time"
   Commendation
2. "To Marigolds"
   Erotic nature poem
3. “His Prayer to Ben Jonson”
   Elegy, prayer
4. "Delight in Disorder”
   Love lyric?

• Conceit:

1. "To the Virgins to Make Much of Time"
   Life as a day; people should marry young, since they will have old age to tarry.
2. "To Marigolds"
   Marigolds should open to the sun and be maids when he goes away. Marigold flowers = lady parts
3. “His Prayer to Ben Jonson”
   Herrick's poems are prayers to Saint Ben, whose writing is in Herrick's psalter.
4. "Delight in Disorder”
   A little disorder in a woman's dress is more attractive than a perfect outfit.

• Other notes:

The Roaring Girl by Thomas Middleton and Thomas Dekker

PRIMARY SOURCE: The Roaring Girl (1611)
Context

• Publication: Written by Decker and Middleton for Prince Henry's Men; performed in 1611. Printed by Nicholas Okes for Thomas Archer. The title-page features an illustration of Moll. EEBO link.
• Scholarship: Scholars are interested in the gender-epistemology invoked by a character like Moll. Is she a proto-feminist, or an exceptional character that rather reaffirms the norm (as per Greenblatt)? Her Amazonian nature resembles established stereotypes, as well as Spenser's Brittomart.
• Why I'm reading it: The counter-canon, social satire.

Content

• Form: Iambic pentameter couplets. Five acts.
• Genre: Comedy.
• Conceit: 
• The titular character, Moll Cutpurse, is modeled on Mary Frith. She famously wore men's clothing, roared, associated with criminals, and came before the court many times for theft.
• In the main plot, Sir Alexander Wengrave prevents his son, Sebastian, from marrying Mary Fitzallard, because of her small dowry. Sebastian pretends to love Moll Cutpurse, to make Mary look acceptable in comparison. Moll gently rebuffs Sebastian and confirms her chastity. Sir Alexander falls for Sebsatian's trick, but hates Moll as a thief and so hires a spy, "honest Ralph" Trapdoor, to defame Moll. Moll takes on Trapdoor as a servant, but then learns of Sebastian's plot and agrees to help. Moll diverts Trapdoor's plots with cunning, but defends him from a gang nevertheless. In the end, Trapdoor confesses his plot and apologizes. Moll and Sebastian create one final ruse for Sir Alexander and Sir Fitzallard, showing them the value of the Mary-Sebastian match. Sir Alexander sees the true virtue in Moll, and Sebastian may marry Mary.
• In one subplot, Laxton seduces Mrs. Gallipot for thirty pounds from Mr. Gallipot. Mrs. Gallipot becomes disillusioned with Laxton and confesses to her husband, denouncing Laxton.
• In another subplot, Goshawk tries to Mrs. Openwork, but Mr. and Mrs. Openwork outmaneuver Goshawk and expose him.
• Other notes:
• In the closing soliloquy, Moll anatomizes her own face and then relates it to the plot.
• Mneumonic: Wen(grave) Seb(astian) Mar(y) Moll Tra(pdoor) La(xton) Gal(lipot) Go(shawk) Op(enwork).
• When sybarite marriages mollify a transvestite lad, gallantry guards obedience.

Philaster by Beaumont & Fletcher

PRIMARY SOURCE: Philaster (prod. 1609)
Context

• Publication: Printed in 1620 by Nicholas Okes for Thomas Walkley. Transferred to Hawkins in 1638, and then quickly to Mead & Meredith, then Leake. Printed in 7 quartos total. The 1620 title page exists in two states. EEBO link.
• Scholarship: Scholars read Philaster as the first tragicomical collaboration between Beaumont and Fletcher. Fletcher is believed to have turned the play into a tragicomedy, "not so called in respect of mirth and killing, but in respect it wants deaths, which is enough to make it no tragedy, yet brings some near it, which is enough to make it no comedy, which must be a representation of familiar people, with such kind of trouble as no life be questioned" (quoted in Strauss).
  Scholars also like to compare Philaster to Cymbeline, Arcadia, and Othello.
• Why I'm reading it: The Canon, illustrated title page, the court, formalism.

Content

• Form: Mixed prose with iambic pentameter. Five acts. 
• Genre: Tragicomedy.
• Conceit: The King of Calabria has deposed the King of Sicily, but the heir to the Sicilian throne, Philaster, remains at court. Brash Philaster is supported the people and the courtiers Lord Dion, Cleremont, and Trasilene. The King of Calabria has no male heir, but plans to marry his daughter Arethusa to Pharamond, a Spanish prince. Arethusa loves Philaster and hates Pharamond, who is conceited. Philaster sends his servant, Bellario, to serve Arethusa and to carry their romance.
  Pharamond "attempts the virtue of Galathea" (Strauss), and while she leads him on, she refuses the rude stuff. Arethusa exposes Pharamond's affair with a loose courtier, Megra. Pharamond spreads the rumor that Arethusa has an affair with Bellario. Philaster is fooled by Pharamond's rumor, so during a hunt, he stabs Arethusa. A passing country gentleman discovers them. He fights Philaster, and they wound each other. Other nobles from the court discover Arethusa. Arethusa and Philaster recover.
  Philaster is discovered and sentenced to death. The King puts Philaster under Arethusa's guardianship.  Arethusa marries Philaster, so the King orders both to be executed.
  The citizens rebel and capture Pharamond. Bellario reveals herself to be Eufrasia, Lord Dion's daughter in love with Philaster. Pharamond leaves for Spain. Philaster is now the King's heir, and is restored to the crown.
• Other notes: Okes used a highly unique woodcut on the cover, depicting the scene of Philaster in the forest, ready to duel the gentleman.
• Mneumonic: Si(cily) Ca(labria) Phar(amond) Are(thusa) Phi(laster) Bell(ario) Eu(fasia) Meg(ra)
  Since callous pharoahs are fickle, belles utilize megalomania.

(NB: written with notes.)
Strauss, Gerald H. "Philaster." Masterplots, Fourth Edition (2010): 1-4. Literary Reference Center. Web. 4 Feb. 2013.