Shakespeare, Jonson, Molière: The Comic Contract

264 Pages·1980·58.316 MB·English

by  Nicholas Grene (auth.)

SHAKESPEARE, JONSON, MOLIERE
THE COMIC CONTRACT
By the same author
SYNGE: A Critical Study of the Plays
BERNARD SHAW: A Critical View
Shakespeare, Jonson, Moliere
The Comic Contract
Nicholas Grene
M
MACMILLAN
© Nicholas Grene 1980
All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission
of this publication may be made without written permission.
No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied
or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance
with the provisions of the Copyright Act 1956 (as amended).
Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to
this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and
civil claims for damages.
First published 1980
Reprinted (with alterations) 1985
Published by
THE MACMILLAN PRESS LTD
Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 2XS
and London
Companies and representatives
throughout the world
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
Grene Nicholas
Shakespeare, Jonson, Moliere
1. Jonson, Ben-Criticism and interpretation
2. Shakespeare, William-Comedies
3. Moliere-Criticism and interpretation
822' .3'09 PR2638
ISBN 978-0-333-39533-2 ISBN 978-1-349-08112-7 (eBook)
DOl 10.1007/978-1-349-08112-7
To the memory of Daniel

Contents
Acknowledgements IX
Note on Texts and Translations Xl
Introduction Xlll
The Comic Contract
2 The Triumph of Nature 19
3 Comic Controllers 43
4 Quacks and Con men 69
5 The Language of Courtship 93
6 Monstrous Regiment 112
7 Follies and Crimes 135
8 Two Plays in Search of an Audience 163
9 Conflicting Contracts 185
Conclusion 210
Translations 216
Notes 224
Bibliography 235
Index 243
VII

Acknowledgements
I would like to acknowledge gratefully a term's study leave from the
University of Liverpool which made it possible for me to complete research
for this book in Paris.
I want to thank my colleagues Philip Edwards and Sarah Kay, my mother
Marjorie Grene and my wife Eleanor Grene, all of whom read my
manuscript at various stages in its preparation and made very helpful
comments and criticisms. I am also grateful to Joan Welford, Catherine
Rees, and Annette Butler for their excellent team-typing.
Some of the material in the first chapter of this book has already appeared
in Themes in Drama and is included by permission of Cambridge University
Press.
N.G.
IX