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"PRINCESS OF CLEVES, THE" (NATHANIEL LEE).
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Analyzes 1682 British comedy's themes, characters, author, style, early performances.... More...
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Paper Abstract:
Analyzes 1682 British comedy's themes, characters, author, style, early performances.
Paper Introduction:
This paper is an examination of Nathaniel Lee's comedy, The Princess of Cleves, first produced in late 1681 or early 1682 during the Restoration period of the British theater and adapted from Madame de La Fayette's novel of the same name, which was published in France in 1678 and was based on true events of the French court. Lee used the plot and characters of the novel (adding some of his own invention) to create a much bawdier, more satirical look at marriage, virtue, and hypocrisy in society than the novel attempted. His play is wildly entertaining but also quite disturbing in the portrait it paints of an immoral rake and the destruction - some of it tragic, much of it farcical - he wreaks in the lives and marriages of those around him.
In Lee's play, the central character is not the Princess of Cleves but the man she secretly loves, Duke Nemours, a man "built
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Lee used the plot and characters of thenovel (adding some of his own invention) to create a much bawdier, moresatirical look at marriage, virtue, and hypocrisy in society than the novelattempted. Nettleton argues that Lee's mental state was his ultimate undoing asan artist: "In him lived the promise of poetry, but the 'magnificentdeath' which his genius conceived brought him to a dissolute's grave. . Shakespeare'sFalstaff, though a popular character with Elizabethan audiences, ultimatelypays for his dissolute lifestyle, while Nemours thrives on his immorality.Nettleton argues, "Restoration comedy . The comic characters are nothing if not witty. Soon she hears, "'Tisblazed at court - Nemours confessed/He is beloved by one of such nicevirtue,/That, fearing lest the passion might betray her,/She owned,confessed, and told it to her husband" (3.2.77-8 ), and the court gossipsinstantly suspect that she is the lady in question. 89-173.Nettleton, George Henry. black, sanguine, brawny; a Roman nose; long foot; and a stiff - calf of aleg" (1.1.89-91), as Lee has Saint-Andre describe him. In fact, Lee seems toimply that this verbal sparring remains the only way these couples cancommunicate. Four Restoration Marriage Plays. The role of the princess was played by Elizabeth Barry, whoselover and early patron had been the man on whom many supposed Lee modelledhis characterization of Nemours. The next marriages Lee presents are those of Saint-Andre and Elianorand of Poltrot and Celia. . The lady's tragedy, seen byRestoration audiences as a touching but somewhat foolish adherence torighteousness, might now appear noble. He fell deeply in love with her, and she agreed to the union withoutreturning his love. Nemours is thesurvivor, looking for his next bout of pleasure. New York: Macmillan, 1914. In fact, her final words of hope,which many critics view as a dramatic departure from the finality of theoriginal story, could be played as those of a woman of tender feelings whodoes not wish to disillusion the man she once loved passionately but nowsees as a robust but shallow creature. He is an attractivefigure with a roving eye, and Tournon takes advantage of the presence oftwo dissatisfied wives, Elianor and Celia, who are looking to revengethemselves on their ungrateful husbands, to offer tempting targets forNemours' seductions. M. Nemours chooses to hear her wordsas a promise. He produced his first play in1675; in the mode of the day, his first three tragedies were written inrhyme, but he eventually adopted a combination of blank verse and prose forhis later works. She proposes seeking sexual adventure in part to retaliateagainst her husband's callous declaration that he is looking for amistress, yet part of her seems as casually drawn to affairs as is herhusband. Instead, she turns him away, saying, "You were the cause/OfCleves' untimely death, I swear I think/No less than if you had stabbed himthrough the heart" (5.3.129-131). Thesecouples jibe at each other and threaten to seek lovers simply because theyknow this will provoke a reaction in their spouse. Tournon's deceptions are even royally decreed; she is merelycarrying out the queen's commands by raising Marguerite's jealousy. . . .. To meet a gallant abroad in asummer's evening and laugh away an hour or two in a garden bower, wherenobody sees nor nobody knows - methinks 'tis so pretty and harmless"(2.2.136-14 ). She knows that Nemours will probably not make a goodpartner. Beneath its amusing dialogue and well-drawncomic characters is a sad and moving story of the consequences wrought bygenuine passion and the hollowness of false love. Lee is not an overtly didacticwriter, yet he does suggest lessons that the astute audience might drawfrom his portrayal of a time when "open honesty was made a sin"(Prologue.8). I'll wager my state I bed her eighteen months threeweeks hence at half an hour past two in the morning" (5.3.255-257). Nevertheless, hiswritings, long languishing in obscurity, are beginning to be reexamined,although Armistead observes, "What George Saintsbury noticed in the earlyyears of this century remains true today: 'no English playwright ofanything like his merit has been so shamefully neglected'" (13). . Andre, and Poltrot are bound the expand" (151). John Wit, Earl of Rochester, had been anoted court wit whose licentious ways had led to his untimely death theyear before at age 33. Many of the men in theplay admire him and emulate his methods; ultimately, however, most of themreturn to their wives or the women who love them. Nemours says, "'Tis hard to be in love and be wise" (1.3.179).Although he professes himself most drawn to Marguerite, especially after adalliance in which she was in disguise and he thought her to be a new andfascinating mystery woman, he hardly knows real love. The Princess of Cleves appeared on stage during a remarkable periodin the development of drama. Lee's character is more of a charming rogue;he proudly announces, "You sneak with [your obscenity] under your cloakslike tailors and barbers; and I, as a gentleman should do, walk with it inmy hand" (2.3.36-37). She admires him, saying, "Was ever man so worthy to beloved,/So good, so gentle, soft a disposition,/As if no gall had mixed inhis creation" (1.3.114-116). Lee uses LaFayette's characters but adds several of his own, as well as a bawdy,farcical subplot and an ending twist that makes the story turn out quitedifferently than originally intended. He counsels his friendBellamore, "Stick to clean pleasures, deep sleep, moderate wine, sincerewhores, and thou art happy" (1.1.17-18). She calls him "nature'smasterpiece among men" (3). She tells him, "You have a sense too nice for long enjoyment"(5.3.168). Nemours, the rascal until the end, does not believe the parting willbe permanent, saying to his friend, "'Believe that you shall never see memore.' She lies. Nemours himself has discovered another object on whom to focus hisattentions, the virtuous and conscience-stricken Princess of Cleves. The author who makes the story of Nemours and his princess so muchhis own enjoyed a colorful career and a reckless life. Her mourning for him is genuinegrief. Thiswas typical of Lee's writing. One of Tournon'sschemes involves enticing Nemours with Elianor and Celia, who are marriedto Saint-Andre and Poltrot, all of whom are ripe for extramaritalexcitement. interested in how social and politicalpatterns develop out of certain configurations of passion" (177). To her endless sorrow, Nemours saved the lifeof her husband-to-be, and, although engaged to be married, the princessfound herself caught in the passionate throes of first love. The first example is that of the marriage of the prince and princess. Michael Cordner. Madame de LaFayette's portrait is more noble than Lee's. His mistress and his secret fiancee is Marguerite,Princess of Jainville, but he is hardly a faithful lover. New York: New American Library, 1678/1989.Lee, Nathaniel. Poltrot is given someespecially nasty jibes about England: "O, there's not such anotherdrinking, scowering, roaring, whoring nation in the world. Not only were female characters now permitted to be portrayed bywomen, but also the morality on stage reflected the increasingly liberalsociety. He confronts Nemours, fights him, and loses the duel.Ultimately, his despair sends him into a fever from which he neverrecovers. J. English Drama of the Restoration and Eighteenth Century (1642-178 ). quick-witted, irreverent, and religiously uncommitted"(157). Nemours himself is disdainful of the institution. In Lee's play, the central character is not the Princess of Clevesbut the man she secretly loves, Duke Nemours, a man "built for whoring . Meanwhile, Nemours is also involved with Marguerite; the queen wantsher to marry the dauphin and has therefore set Tournon, one of her ladies,to make Marguerite jealous and break up the relationship. . In the midst of a prosaic age, it is a surprise to find embedded in a conventional tragedy passages which reveal poetic imagination (98-99). . Scholars are uncertain of many of the details ofstaging and production, although they do agree that it was not at first aspopular as some of Lee's earlier works, despite a brilliant piece ofcasting. The final effect is somewhatunbalanced, as the story bounces from the touching tragedy of the princeand princess to the humorous repartee of masked couples betraying eachother for the sake of a sexual conquest, never realizing that they areseducing old lovers who seem new simply because they are in disguise. She finally admits that she loves someone elsebut refuses at first to tell him the man's name. However, she cannot rid herself of her passion, and herhusband, sensing her unhappiness but unaware of its cause, urges her tounburden herself to him. She vows to seek "anobedient, wholesome drudging fool" (4.1.214) for a husband, rather than aman with enough wit either to wield "domestic power,/That reels preciselyhome at break of day,/Thunders the house, brains half the family,/Cries,'Where's my whore? These are spirited unions, built on mutualinsults and what appears to be a real desire to wound each other. Perhaps he avoids itprecisely because he has often seen how foolishly those in love behave, yethis own actions are not those of a wise man but only of a horny man, eagerfor the next conquest and another glass of wine. His poet's eye in a fine frenzy rolled, though often there was frenzy without poetry. Glimpsing the dashingduke, the princess was smitten by Nemours but nevertheless went throughwith her marriage. The Princess of Cleves was first produced in late 1681 or early 1682,and Armistead suggests that the first production may have been as late asthe winter of 1682-1683 at Dorset Garden, using a Prologue and Epiloguewritten by John Dryden. When Tournon tellshim that his bawdy ways will have to end with his marriage, he replies,"Never! . Its commentson marriage, duplicity, and honor continue to offer fascinating debate andlively entertainment to modern audiences. By heaven I'm thine, with all the heat and vigorous inspiration ofan unfleshed lover . Armistead argues, "Lee's point, here as in so many other plays, isthat . The princess' confession drives her husband to despair and death.Although the young widow is now free to marry a willing Nemours, shechooses to retain her virtue, promising, however, that she may change hermind in time.----------------------- 1 . Nettleton observes, "Lee had, to take aphrase from one of his dedications, an 'ungoverned fancy.' Force andweakness, pathos and bathos, poetry and rant, mingle in his uneven pages"(99). The prince, already heartbroken, guesses the object of his wife'spassion, his suspicion confirmed by her flustered reaction to hearingNemours' name. Nettleton writes, "All was fair in amorous intrigue . Thelady was already engaged to marry the prince, content merely to admire herlove-struck husband, when Nemours saved his life. laughs not merely indulgentlyat vice, but harshly at the semblance of virtue" (7). In womendeception was both a necessity and a virtue" (7). Lee's themes retain a particular interest for modern audiences.Armistead writes, "Lee is . Elianor comments,"Intriguing is the pleasantest part of life. . political chicanery creates a moral vacuum into which the likesof Nemours, St. Although the virtuous Princess of Cleves is the title character, sheis actually secondary to Duke Nemours, a charismatic, dashing figure atcourt who has several mistresses and little trouble seducing whoeverhappens to catch his fancy. Nathaniel Lee, likehis contemporary playwright Thomas Otway, was the son of a clergyman,attended university, failed at an attempt to establish himself as an actor,and subsequently turned to playwriting. . ThePrincess of Cleves offers a rich variety of examples of passionateconfigurations, most of them centered around the institution of marriage. He may not remain so,but Nemours is alone at the end of the play, vowing not to defy death tothe last. What, will she stew till doomsday?'" (4.1.224-227) orto conceal "covert malice in his smiles./Millions to one, the villain hasbeen whoring" (4.1.235-236). However, he leaves her cold and does not havethe ability to deceive him into believing she harbors any real love for himin return. She exits, vowingthat she will never see him again but with her final words ringing in hisears. Boston: Twayne, 1979.La Fayette, Madame de. Elianor demands, "Pray, Saint-Andre, leave tricing yourcurls, your affected nods, grimaces, taking of snuff, and answer me"(2.2.21-22). The insanity brought on by his dissolute life pervades some of his stage characters. Works CitedArmistead, J. He has no reverence for wedded bliss, proposing tothe princess as much because she is the only interesting choice left at theend of the play as because he has any real affection for her. Shehas become one more challenge to be met. His play is wildly entertaining but also quite disturbing inthe portrait it paints of an immoral rake and the destruction - some of ittragic, much of it farcical - he wreaks in the lives and marriages of thosearound him. The lead characters portrayed on stage were dramatically differentfrom their Shakespearean predecessors: "Restoration comedy differsfundamentally from Elizabethan in deliberately enlisting the sympathy ofthe audience in favor of the wrong-doer" (Nettleton 7). Ironically, their crisis brings them closer, as he forces herto tell him the truth about her feelings. He is one of the few dramatists of the last half of the seventeenth century who had the poetic touch. Nettleton, noadmirer of Lee, nevertheless admits that the playwright has a certaindistinction: Despite the rant and fustian associated with Lee's name, there is something more than bombast in his extravagance. Ed. And for littleLondon, to my knowledge, if a bill were taken of the weekly cuckolds, itwould amount to more than the number of christenings and burials puttogether" (1.2.14 -144). Perhaps this is at the core of his inability todefine it in the dedication. The Princess of Cleves. This paper is an examination of Nathaniel Lee's comedy, The Princessof Cleves, first produced in late 1681 or early 1682 during the Restorationperiod of the British theater and adapted from Madame de La Fayette's novelof the same name, which was published in France in 1678 and was based ontrue events of the French court. The theater that was staged during this period wasin many respects a radical departure from that of William Shakespeare'sday. Modern audiences might instead hear a woman who has learnedwhat none of the other characters in the play understand but what theplaywright hopes to teach his audience. She is well matched to the dashing scoundrel, for Tournon has beensent by the queen to break up Nemours' relationship with Marguerite; thequeen wishes the princess as a wife for her son the dauphin and has chargedTournon with alienating Marguerite's affections by making her jealous.Nemours' promiscuity turns this into an easy task. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1681-1682/1995. The Princess of Cleves mixes remarkable poetry and genuine drama withwild farce and quite bawdy double entendre. and that's a bond methinks should last tilldoomsday" (1.2.5 -53). The third example is that of the union that will never happen, thatof Nemours and his former fiancee, Marguerite. The widowed princess is now free to accept Nemours' proposal ofmarriage. Lee departs significantly from the novel, however, in having heroffer Nemours eventual hope: "Have patience./Expect what time, with such alove as mine,/May work in your behalf" (5.3.231-233). Leetouched the heights, but sank into the depths" (99). Nathaniel Lee. The Princess of Cleves is a spirited piece of theater. George Henry Nettleton notes that The Princess of Cleves "isdescribed in the dedication as 'this Farce, Comedy, Tragedy, or meer Play,"observing, "'Meer play' seems hardly epithet sufficient for this coarseoffspring of Madame de La Fayette's French romance" (98). M. Despite Lee's brilliant efforts, The Princess of Cleves remains atits heart a serious play. Armistead argues that Nemours was actually acompilation of several prominent figures of the day, including Rochester,as well as Henry Jerym and the Duke of Buckingham: "If Rochester was theleading 'Spirit' of the court wits, Buckingham was their highest rankingmember and . Nemours is an attractive figure, but Lee does not make himquite as much of a role model as he first appears. His currentconquest is Tournon, a lady of the court of Queen Catherine de Medici. Nettleton observes, "None of the inhabitants of this conventionalworld [of the stage] feel reverence for sacred institutions and familyties" (9), and the exceptions, the prince and princess, are the onlycharacters who suffer, precisely because of their nobility and dedicationto a moral life. The Princess of Cleves. Sherecognizes the peril of her situation: "Fate has set two bowls before me-/Poison and health, a husband and Nemours" (1.3.195-196), but findsherself unable to forget her passion. Lee writesin his Prologue, "When vice o'er virtue rules,/...All the world are knavesor downright fools" (Prologue.13-14). He paints a vivid picture of a society in whichmarriage is the least sacred of all institutions, filled with deception andbetrayal for the pleasure of the moment. Rochester also appears in the play in the form of the recentlydeceased Count Rosidore, who "never spoke a witty thing twice" (1.2.1 6-1 7) and whose passing has made life at court very dull indeed. . Nathaniel Lee's The Princess of Cleves is a dark comedy drawn from apopular French novel written only a few years earlier by Madame de LaFayette and based on true events of the French court. The demand at least keeps the husbands around for awhile, ifonly to exchange another witty insult. The reopening of the theaters duringBritain's Restoration period, starting in 166 , marks the earliest years ofmodern British drama.
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