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The Devil's Charter
Excerpt from The Devil's Charter
It is natural to suppose that Barnes would make use of the English translation rather than of the Italian original, and this indeed seems to have been the case. In two passages at least the phraseology somewhat recalls Fenton's work, though the resem blance is not particularly striking (of. Notes on 11. 138, and in lines 2214-6 there is a reference to a saying of St. Gregory which may have been borrowed from a passage inserted in the English translation and not to be found in any other version it does not, however, occur in F enton in connection with the same scene as in Barnes, and is too well known for much to be built upori its pre sence. More satisfactory evidence is aflorded by the occurence in Tin Diails Charter of forms of proper names identical with those used by F enton, who, translating from Chomedey, generally gives the names in a French guise.
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.
It is natural to suppose that Barnes would make use of the English translation rather than of the Italian original, and this indeed seems to have been the case. In two passages at least the phraseology somewhat recalls Fenton's work, though the resem blance is not particularly striking (of. Notes on 11. 138, and in lines 2214-6 there is a reference to a saying of St. Gregory which may have been borrowed from a passage inserted in the English translation and not to be found in any other version it does not, however, occur in F enton in connection with the same scene as in Barnes, and is too well known for much to be built upori its pre sence. More satisfactory evidence is aflorded by the occurence in Tin Diails Charter of forms of proper names identical with those used by F enton, who, translating from Chomedey, generally gives the names in a French guise.
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.
173 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1970
27 people want to read
About the author
Barnabe Barnes
16 books1571-1609
Barnabe Barnes was an English poet.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barnabe...
Barnabe Barnes was an English poet.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barnabe...
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
June 8, 2012
Wonderfully bloody and twisted, this early Jacobean retelling of the story of the Borgia's rise and fall from power is a very fun read. The concept is that Roderigo Borgia signs a contract (charter) with the Devil to become Pope Alexander VI. The scene itself is complete with a contract signed in blood and demons dancing around the stage. If you can get through a few excessively long (and mostly unnecessary) monologues towards the beginning, the play settles into a fast-paced series of intrigues (and intrigues-within-intrigues), murders, incest, and sodomy which culminates in Roderigo being dragged down to Hell kicking and screaming by a pack of demons. The play certainly has its flaws (mostly being too long, as well as the aforementioned monologues), but it is genuinely funny and, above all, vastly entertaining. Does it cater a bit to the low brow blood and guts, nasty drama aspects of the crowd? Sure. But honestly, that's not always a bad thing. This is an easy crowd-pleaser which can help make Shakespeare-era drama accessible to a much wider audience. Plus, it's just a hell of a lot of fun.
October 7, 2015
This is worth reading for the stage directions alone. Classic early modern tragedy in the same style as Doctor Faustus or Philaster. Incest, poisonings, devilish contracts, fratricide, inconvenient ghosts, Barnes has it all.
October 15, 2024
Barnabe Barnes famously was criticised for not being as good as his contemporaries, and yet the quarto of this play claims that it was played before King James. God knows what he made of it.
A mash up of Dr Faustus, it also seems to be prefiguring Macbeth in so many ways, with the death of Banquo a shortened (and better) version of the murder of Candy, Lucrezia a forerunner of Lady Macbeth, the murder of Kate's children a version of the Lady MacDuff scene, and ghosts appearing to Pope Alexander much like they do to Macbeth, etc etc.
And then the last act goes all (sub) Doctor Faustus. Indeed, one gets the feeling Barnabe Barnes had been reading Marlowe (there is lots of "mighty line" in this play) but decided to cut all the subtlety and ambiguity.
So, this is not very good, but it is great fun, and it rattles along like the billy-o.
A mash up of Dr Faustus, it also seems to be prefiguring Macbeth in so many ways, with the death of Banquo a shortened (and better) version of the murder of Candy, Lucrezia a forerunner of Lady Macbeth, the murder of Kate's children a version of the Lady MacDuff scene, and ghosts appearing to Pope Alexander much like they do to Macbeth, etc etc.
And then the last act goes all (sub) Doctor Faustus. Indeed, one gets the feeling Barnabe Barnes had been reading Marlowe (there is lots of "mighty line" in this play) but decided to cut all the subtlety and ambiguity.
So, this is not very good, but it is great fun, and it rattles along like the billy-o.
August 20, 2020
So memorable I forgot I'd read it a year ago! This is a strange play - very strong anti-Catholic agenda (written less than two years after the Gunpowder Plot) but strangly broken-backed, with two acts dedicated to the French invasion of Italy, the rest to family affairs (literally) and murders amongst the Borgia family, guest-starring the Devil.
Read as part of the Shakespeare Institute's "Extra Mile" online readathon in the lockdown summer of 2020.
Read as part of the Shakespeare Institute's "Extra Mile" online readathon in the lockdown summer of 2020.
October 9, 2024
Justifiably little-known, though it does have its moments.
Read as part of the Shakespeare Institute's 2019 reading marathon, #websterthon
Re-read as part of the REP complete read-through of the entire King's Men repertoire. You can really see what Webster got from it, and where Barnes nicked some of his best bits.
Read as part of the Shakespeare Institute's 2019 reading marathon, #websterthon
Re-read as part of the REP complete read-through of the entire King's Men repertoire. You can really see what Webster got from it, and where Barnes nicked some of his best bits.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews