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The Royal Master
Excerpt from The Royall As It Was Acted in the New Theater in Dublin, and Before the Right Honorable the Lord Deputie of Ireland, in the Castle
About the Publisher
Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com
This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
About the Publisher
Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com
This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
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March 31, 2019
The Royal Master (first published in 1638) is one of the earliest--perhaps the first--of the plays James Shirley wrote for the Werburgh Street Theatre in Dublin. Like all of Shirley's plays, it possesses a well-constructed plot and features flowing, seemingly effortless, blank verse. The main plot, involving an evil favorite's conspiracy against the King of Naples, is interesting--although overly complicated--but the good humor of the subplot and the sweetness of its two young people are what makes this play extraordinary.
The subplot features the fifteen year old maiden Simphorosa and her devoted--and hilariously golden-tongued--suitor Octavio. Simphorosa mistakenly believes that the king, who is wooing her by proxy for his favorite Montalto, is instead wooing her to be Queen of Naples, and her starry-eyed naivete (and her presumption) make her a pleasure to watch. I liked her devoted Octavio too, for his wordy, comically elaborate, wooing is also completely sincere. The Dublin audience must have liked him too: although Octavio is a citizen of Naples, he has surely kissed the Blarney Stone.
Displaying 1 of 1 review