Exile and Restoration in John Crowne's the Destruction of Jerusalem by Titus Vespasian
2010; University of Iowa; Volume: 89; Linguagem: Inglês
ISSN
0031-7977
Autores Tópico(s)Philippine History and Culture
ResumoBanished is banish'd from world, And world's exile is death: then banished Is death mis-term'd. (Romeo and Juliet, 3.3.19-21) IN JANUARY 1677, The Destruction of by Titus Vespasian, written by John Crowne in two parts, premiered at Theatre Royal. (1) Performed by His Majesty's Servants, and later dedicated to Charles II's Catholic mistress, Duchess of Portsmouth, play is set against backdrop of siege of an insurgent and capture and destruction of Second Temple by Romans in 70 CE, and tells story of star-crossed lovers: Titus, Roman commander soon to be emperor, and Berenice, a Jewish princess. A tale of exotic cultures in conflict, with a hero divided between contradictory claims of desire and empire, Crowne's drama exhibits stock elements of tragedy in style of Elkanah Settles Empress of Morocco (1673) and John Dryden's Conquest of Granada (1670-71), widely regarded greatest of and valor plays popular on Restoration stage. The story of ill-fated affair between Titus and Berenice was something of a theatrical fashion in 1670s, with Pierre Corneille and Jean Racine in France producing plays on subject in same year (1670). Crowne's model was Racine, whose Berenice had been adapted by Thomas Otway for Duke's Company only previous year. (2) Both parts of The Destruction of met with such extravagant applause that play supposedly aroused envy of Crowne's patron, Earl of Rochester, who promptly commenced an enemy to bard he before had so much befriended. (3) Stuart Gillespie and David Hopkins describe it aptly a heroic extravaganza replete with sieges, battles, and feats of martial valor. (4) It boasted a stellar cast, with Edward Kynaston and Charles Hart playing Titus and Phraartes, and Mrs. Marshall and Mrs. Boutell in roles of Berenice and Clarona. The play incurred vast expense in scenes and cloathes with a series of magnificent sets: lavish Temple gates, chaotic streets of starving Jerusalem and the blazing Temple sinking to destruction in a sea of fire. (5) Despite its theatrical success, The Destruction of has been dismissed a cheap derivation lacking both Racine's complex psychology and Dryden's mastery of verse and dramatic structure. Consequently, scholars of Restoration drama overlook singular achievement of Crowne's tragedy: setting. The Destruction of is only play to set interracial love story of Titus and Berenice in war-torn Jerusalem. Unlike French plays and Otway's translation, which are set in Rome after events of 70 CE, Crowne's play positions doomed romance in during fall of Temple. (6) Historically, two events--the siege and affair--were not coterminous. The latter occurred a few years after, in Rome. Unlike Corneille, Racine, and Otway, who meticulously follow historical accounts, Crowne deliberately replaces Rome with so that fractured love story is superimposed upon saga of beleaguered city rife with conspiracy and rebellion. Furthermore, The Destruction of is only one of two seventeenth-century English plays--William Heminges's The Jewes Tragedy (1662) is other--to juxtapose Roman and Jewish society in Judea. (7) It is curious that scholars who express bafflement at success of Crowne's play should have neglected import of Jerusalem. (8) The editors of Crowne's works in nineteenth century attribute choice of setting to success of Conquest of Granada, surmising that Crowne hoped to be as successful with Jews and Romans Laureate [Dryden] had been with Moors and Spaniards. (9) Even critics who acknowledge play's theatrical appeal tend to dismiss setting mere excuse for flashy denouement. Arthur Franklin White identifies spectacular burning of Second Temple orchestrated with help of William Davenant reason for play's early popularity, but exhibits little interest in what may have signified for Crowne's audience. …
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