The Dutch Courtesan

by John Marston

New Mermaids are modernized and fully-annotated editions of classic English plays. Each volume

• The playtext, in modern spelling, edited to the highest bibliographical and textual standards
• Textual notes recording significant changes to the copytext and variant readings
• Glossing notes explaining obscure words and word-play
• Critical, contextual and staging notes
• Photographs of productions where applicable
• A full introduction which provides a critical account of the play, the staging conventions of the time and recent stage history; discusses authorship, date, sources and the text; and gives guidance for further reading.

Edited and updated by leading scholars and printed in a clear, easy-to-use format, New Mermaids offer invaluable guidance for actor, student, and theatre-goer alike.

Genres: Drama, Plays, Fiction, Renaissance, Poetry, Classics

110 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1604

About the author

John Marston was an English poet, playwright and satirist during the late Elizabethan and Jacobean periods. His career as a writer lasted a decade, and his work is remembered for its energetic and often obscure style, its contributions to the development of a distinctively Jacobean style in poetry, and its idiosyncratic vocabulary.

Reviews

[David Sarkies · Rating 4 out of 5]

What to do with that bit on the side
5 May 2021

When I see the word courtesan I immediately think of a prostitute, but I think that is probably a bit simplistic. Okay, the Netherlands is quite well known for its prostitutes, especially the ones that stand in the booths and bang on windows attempting to catch the attention of the tourists who happen to be wandering by (and most of them simply go there because, well, it is definitely something pretty different, though I’ve heard that they plan on closing the whole place down soon).

However, a courtesan isn’t necessarily somebody that a nobleman has sex with on the side – the name actually suggests otherwise, namely that it is somebody (male or female), who works in the noble’s court. A lobbyist is probably a better way to describe them, or a public servant. This isn’t the case with this play though – Fransechina is clearly a prostitute and is basically Freevill’s bit on the side.

However, Frevill is getting married to a noblewoman and has decided to pass Fanceschina off to his mate Malheureux (though he wouldn’t be the first, and definitely not the last, nobleman who keeps a few women under the hood for those times that he wants something slightly different, and somebody substantially kinkier, not that noblewomen can’t be kinky, though I can’t speak from experience). The thing is that Malheureux is a bit of a prude, namely because he happens to be a Calvinist, but despite that he falls in love with Franceschina.

Yeah, it’s one of those plays, and the story is pretty interesting as well. It’s typical Elizabethan/Jacobean in that we have the higher class characters who are the protagonists, and the lower-class characters who happen to be the foils. However, it differs from Shakespeare’s quite a lot in that it is a lot grittier than his plays tend to be. This is why I like some of these plays because I tend to appreciate the grittier comedies somewhat more than the fairytale-like ones that Shakespeare tended to write.

Mind you, Franceschina isn’t too happy that he has been tossed out of Freevil’s house in favor of a proper wife, and sort of wants to get back at him. This is the thing with Malheureux – he is pretty malleable, and because he has fallen in love with Franceschina, he is basically willing to do whatever she wants him to do to earn her favour. Well, she wants him to kill Freevill, something that a strict Calvinist is probably not going to do (though theoretically, strict Calvinists could go on a full-on murder spree and still get into heaven because predestination).

I have to admit that this play does touch me in a way because, well, I was a bit (or should I say a lot) like Malheureux when I was much younger. Yeah, quite a prude, but falling for women a lot like Franceschina, and getting burnt in the process. There is also the idea of being handballed a woman that the boyfriend didn’t particularly want anymore, much in the way of the magical black book that gets passed to the younger brother when the owner finally gets married (though you don’t hear much about black books these days, probably because everything happens to be stored on our mobile phones, and that is if we actually make phone calls as opposed to using the countless number of apps that we have available).

Yeah, this play was quite fun, and it is definitely a shame that we don’t see it performed as much as the Shakespearian ones, but then again maybe, if I manage to get my hands on a bit of money, and a few willing actors and such, we could probably produce a more modern version of it, but keep the grittiness alive – I reckon that would work.

[Matthew · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Dutch Courtesan reads like a cross between Much Ado About Nothing and Measure for Measure. It has a schemer who seeks to destroy the happy couple, and it has incompetent law enforcers, just like Much Ado, but the moral world is that of Measure for Measure, where the characters unsuccessfully seek to repress their sexual appetites.

While Marston behaves as if the play is promoting a moral message, I am not sure that it truly is. It seems more like an ironic undermining of conventional morality. Freevill has been visiting Franceschina, the titular Dutch courtesan, but now wants to palm her off on his virtuous friend Malheureux so he is free to pursue a proper romantic relationship with Beatrice. No judgement is given against Freevill for any of this.

Malheureux soon finds that his prudishness does not stand up against the sexually alluring Franceschina, and he is having difficulty controlling his lust. However, the vindictive courtesan wants revenge against Freevill, which she plans by getting Malheureux to kill him, and then be arrested in turn for the murder, ridding her of both of them.

Fortunately, Malheureux proves to be a loyal friend who puts his connection with Freevill above that of his lust. Freevill responds in a less admirable manner by deciding to teach Malheureux a lesson, in a way that seems rather mean in the circumstances.

Marston also throws in a sub-plot based around the thieving Cocledemoy, a wickedly amoral character who constantly outwits the foolish vintner Mulligrub, who wants him arrested. In a way, Cocledemoy represents the real moral centre of the play. While the other characters wear the cloak of virtue, Cocledemoy only dons it when he is in disguise and seeking to fool the easily duped Mulligrub. In other respects, he is quite open about pursuing his appetites, and does not have any affections towards courtly romance or puritanical virtue.

The other honest character is Crispinella, Beatrice’s spirited sister, who (amusingly enough) occupies the same role that Beatrice held for Hero in Much Ado About Nothing. Crispinella tells a few crisp truths about love, sex and marriage to her sister. Her cynicism shows an understanding that the conventional Beatrice cannot reach, but it may perhaps help Beatrice to accept the flawed Freevill.

Only Franceschina is truly villainous in this play. Her actions threaten to turn the play into a tragedy, but the other characters are too mild to let her do that. I do wish that Marston had made her a little more complex so that we could identify with her, but I suppose she is just there for the sake of plot contrivance. I am also a little dubious about whether her accent (as written down) has anything genuinely Dutch about it.

The Dutch Courtesan is a minor Jacobean play, and another reminder of what an amazing writer Shakespeare was to take the same kinds of material as his contemporaries and turn it into something far more remarkable. Marston is an unremarkable dramatist, but his works have a lively spark to them that makes them entertaining enough, even if they have not dated well.

[ML Character · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a thoroughly mean, fairly misogynistic (or at least complacently patriarchal) therefore fascinating city comedy. Two plots: 1) Freevill decides to give up his "Dutch courtesan" girlfriend, Franceschina, to go straight with a very respectable good girl (Beatrice) and he passes on said Dutchy to his friend Malheureux. Well, Fran is not cool with getting dumped and uses her feminine wiles and hackneyed hilarious "Dutch" accent (am honestly not sure if Dutch here is actually Dutch or actually German, ala "Pennsylvania Dutch" but anyway, rest assured, w's transposed to v's abound) to convince an instantly lust-smitten Mal to kill his friend Freevill to secure her love. So, yknow, women and their petty revenge plots requiring murder! Don't worry! Freevill and Mal conspire TOGETHER cos they're good friends to just PRETEND to have fought and meet up later after Mal gets to sleep with Fran as his murder prize. Only, maybe Freevill was a little more mad than Mal realized about all this, cos he purposefully doesn't carry out the plan-- instead of meeting at the pre-ordained spot, he hides out somewhere else so that Mal gets condemned to death for killing his friend and Mal can't find him to prove it was just a lie to get the girl. Here are the relevant points of casual misogyny: 1) Fran is a cold-hearted jezebel who wants anyone who doesn't adore her dead. 2) Beatrice is a pathetic pushover who doesn't care that while she was saving herself, Freevill was boinking Fran SO MUCH that she is willing to kill him. 3) it is apparently a GREAT idea that the two men get together and conspire so that only women suffer in this scenario and they both get to have everyone and everything they want. Lest it be thought I don't like this-- I do think it indexes terrible attitudes, but it's fascinatingly terrible and very illustrative. Okay, quickly B plot. Honestly, this one was fuzzier-- basically two guys have a falling out, and one plays every trick in the book on his erstwhile friend, to the extent that friend gets framed and arrested for theft and sentenced to death also. Yup, three people on death row and en route to execution in this comedy.
But then there's one last thing to remember: it was like 9 year olds who were acting all this out, so does that make the absolute awfulness of the violence and depravity funny? Honestly, probably. Not my favorite Marston, but super super interesting in its total cynicism.

[Shaun · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wondrous fun! Something of a mix between Much Ado About Nothing and , John Marston's city comedy is a lovely piece of early modern drama.

The plot weaves between a few romantic entanglements, mainly that of (Young) Freevill, son a knight and general gadabout. There is also a subplot that ends up being a dig against Catholics (standard fare for a Protestant dramatist like Marston). Overall, the play is a hoot. Marston may lack some of the depth that you get with Shakespeare's plays, but he leaves out none of the mirth. Freevill sets in motion a romantic ruse in order to get comeuppance on the Puritanical Malheureaux. Malheureaux becomes almost instantly enamored with the Dutch prostitute Francischina, who is herself in love with Freevill, who is betrothed to Beatrice. Hijinx ensue, and a man named Mulligrub gets robbed blind several times by the mirthful and devious Cocledemoy.

My major reservations about the play come from its often harsh tone against women, particularly Francischina. There are moments when Freevill speaks openly of the vileness of women, even as their bodies are a source of delight. Standard fare for its time, but still something to reflect on more seriously. The play does give some agency to its female characters - particularly the witty Crispinella, so there is that to look forward to.

Overall, I really enjoyed the play. Plays like these really need to engage conversations, because they can lose you in the mirth. I would recommend to anyone who is a fan of Shakespeare's comedies or anyone interested in English drama outside of Shakespeare.

[Yorgos · Rating 3 out of 5]

David Crane's introduction to the New Mermaids edition is far better than the actual play, sorry to say. It's a well-structured drama, and the literary forms are all there, but the images are uninspiring and the play is pretty shallow. Sometimes the language is suddenly good: this is when Marston is plagiarizing Montaigne. The subplot was popular for centuries after this play faded into obscurity, but it's not much more than the kind of farce Chaplin satirizes in The Circus. The main plot involves a bunch of nothing characters and the eponymous courtesan, who I grant is fun. Though I wish I did, sadly I think simple genre convention is a much stronger driver in this play's action than the grand theme Crane tries to push.

BUT. Crane's introduction is probably the best introduction to any early modern play I've ever read. Forced by New Mermaids to adopt their horrible section ordering, Crane manages to actually present a cohesive piece of writing. Humanistic, learned, easy and clear -- it's a sharp and thoroughly engaging analysis of the play. Maybe even more importantly, it's also great prose. In one part, Crane does something I would like to see every introduction to a play from this period do: he goes scene-by-scene and traces through what the first production probably looked like, how it 'played', and how contemporary audiences might have reacted. I don't entirely agree with his vision, and he does do a little too much summarizing for my taste, but this is something I would like to see in many more such introductions, as an aid to properly visualizing the action.

fun play. subplot sux, main plot fine but fun, lov u david Crane

[Tom · Rating 4 out of 5]

The men in The Dutch Courtesan are largely shits, the women basically cool. Crispinella is (for 1600) something of a feminist icon, cool, witty, cutting etc. Franceschina, the "courtesan", is really hard done by. Basically, Freevill, having sown his wild oats with her (and she seems to have thought it was a proper relationship), dumps her to pursue the richer and more respectable Beatrice. She then attracts his bestie Malheureux, and says she'll be his lover if he kills Freevill: he agrees, but then reneges on the promise still expecting to get his end away. Sex by deception: isn't there a word for that?

Nobody in this play comes out with any honour, except possibly Crispinella, and maybe her potential boyfriend Tysefew.

The only question is who we are supposed to like. I am on Franceschina's side. She has been completely shafted.

An interesting view of the 1600 sex industry, all performed by teenage boys. Hmmmm.

[Jordan St. Stier · Rating 4 out of 5]

A humorous and bawdy play, filled with enough thievery and whoring for a Pre-Code movie. Somewhat predictable in the plotline, the play, featuring clever satire, witty verse, and the 17th Century equivalent of a Dutch accent is ripe (and/or rife) with misadventures and malchance , and is a rather satisfyingly light read compared to contemporary tragedies and verbose polemics. In the words of Cockledemoy, Hang Toasts!

[Gill]

Some pretty unsavoury characters; the worse get their come-uppance, though the title character is perhaps not wholly deserving her fate. Lots of highly entertaining scenes, some of which were popularlyrevived well into the Restoration period.

Read as part of the Shakespeare Institute 2019 readathon, #Websterthon

[Shannon Jones · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not bad but a bit of a weird one, even for the Renaissance. Foreign prostitute gets her comeuppance for . . . being foreign? Erm . . . hold that thought

[Ingrid · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great play showing 3 models of marriage and coming down in favor of the newer model with the more outspoken woman; might be good to teach together with Shakespeare's "Shrew."

[Moon · Rating 3 out of 5]

"I may cack in my pewter" is such a wonderful phrase it is a shame t'is not more versatile.

[Potato · Rating 3 out of 5]

Franceschina was a girlboss who deserved better

[Drab · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's Marston. Etc.

[Eda Naz]

Crispinella is such a feminist icon

[Alan · Rating 3 out of 5]

1988 notebook: plain speaking – Crispinella’s opinion of men. The man of snow. The low life of London. The constant flow of obscenity: farts, whores and buttocks. Knavery, wit, gulling, beer, wines, brothels and disease. Marston revels in it.

[William · Rating 3 out of 5]

This play is nearly an adaptation of Much Ado About Nothing, with huge chunks that deliberately steal from it. Its version of the "Kill Claudio" moment is hilarious.