Bakalarska - Plays of Lyly

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Masaryk UniversityFaculty of Arts

Department of Englishand American Studies

English Language and Literature

Petra Spurn

The Plays of John LylyBachelors Diploma Thesis

Supervisor: Mgr. Pavel Drbek, Ph.D.

2009


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I declare that I have worked on this thesis independently,using only the primary and secondary sources listed in the bibliography.

..

Authors signature


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Acknowledgement:

I would like to thank my supervisor Mgr. Pavel Drbek, Ph.D. for his valuable guidanceand advice.


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Table of Contents

1. Introduction.................................................................................................................5

2. The Life of Johny Lyly...............................................................................................7

3. Lylys Work..............................................................................................................12

3.1 Specific Conditions...........................................................................................12

3.2 Inventions..........................................................................................................14

4. The Plays...................................................................................................................18

4.1 Introduction to the Eight Plays..........................................................................18

4.2 Allegory.............................................................................................................25

4.3 Sapho and Phao.................................................................................................28

4.4 Endimion...........................................................................................................36

5. Conclusion.................................................................................................................45

6. Czech Resum...........................................................................................................46

7. Works Cited...............................................................................................................47


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1. Introduction

John Lyly was an Elizabethan playwright, who was active as a court dramatist

mainly in the last decade of the sixteenth century. Both his person and his dramatic

work are oftentimes marginalized in theoretical works concerning the English

Renaissance drama, even though by many theorists he is percieved as an author of a

great importance for the development of English comedy.

This dicrepancy in attitude was the main reason for writing this thesis: to put

together information about Lylys life, about the specific conditions in which he was

writing, and, especially, about his plays. The main task was to summarize the reasons

why is Lyly from the present days perspective seen as an author of a minor importance

and is criticized for a lack of invention in his plays, which are described as base court

flatteries.

The chapter called The Life of John Lyly concerns summarized information

about Lylys life and a description of his characteras given by his contemporaries and

by R.W. Bond, who is the main authority on the playwright and an author of three-

volumed The Complete Works of John Lyly, which was the main source of this thesis.

The chapter about Lylys work consists of two subchapters, in which I am

dealing with some special conditions of his work and describing inventions that are

accredited to Lyly. The subchapter about his inventions is particularly important,

because it includes Lylys contributions to the development of comedy.

The main chapter of this thesis is called The Plays and it involves a subchapter,

in which I attempted to introduce Lylys plays and provide basic information about each

of them. The subchapter about allegory is important mainly as an introductory to the

following subchapters about Sapho and PhaoandEndimion, putting them in a larger

context. The subchapters dealing with the two plays in particular consist of plot


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information and description of various types of allegory that are involved. I have chosen

these two plays to support the main reason of Lylys later neglect, because they show

how much he was influenced by his time and that is why his plays could be never

wholly understood again.


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2. The life of John Lyly

There is not much known about Lylys life that could be strictly stated; his

biography is mainly built upon supposition based on some Lylys letters or literary

works by his contemporaries, in which appears a quotation of Lylys works or a satirical

picture of himself1. R.W. Bond in his The Complete Works of John Lyly accomplished a

diligent inquiry of every accessible source and created thus an exhaustive survey of

Lylys life full of supposed dates and facts. Nevertheless, Bonds three volumes create

so far the best comprehensive source of Lylys biographyand works, and is thus the

main source of this thesis.

John Lyly was born between 1553 and 1554 in the county of Kent. The precise

place of birth is not known; even the information about the county and his background

is taken from Fiduss story inEuphues and his England. What is known for certain is

that he studied at Magdalen College, Oxford. He was about sixteen years old, when he

entered the college. There are records of his degrees obtained at Oxford in the

universitys Register: BA in 1573 and MA in 1575. Lyly was described as a student

who was not so much interested in logic and philosophy, but was naturally bent to the

pleasant paths of Poetry2He is said to be a part of a group of young fashionable

(almost foppish) men and putting all the rumours that appear about him togehter , [w]e

shall be tolerably safe in supposing that his Oxford life was marked by a madcap

temper, some disregard of the authorities, and some neglect of the prescribed studies

(Bond 1; 8). However, Lyly was probably a diligent student concerning the branch of

study he was interested in, because in many of his plays he was inspired by classical

1

JonsonsEvery Man out of his Humour2from Gabriel Harveys pamphlet Advertisement for Papp-Hatchett and Martin Marprelate, quoted in

Bond, Vol. 1, p. 7.


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controversy concerning anti-Martinist playsafter summoning Lord Admirals and

Lord Stranges men before the Lord Mayor for the offense of staging one of these plays,

there were two special commissioners appointed to assist the Master of the Revels,

Tylney, in a censorship of these plays. Lyly was probably somehow involved in the case

of staging anti-Martinist plays, and it is taken as the most possible reason for the

complete suppression of the Children of St. Pauls in 1591.

During the suppression, most of Lylys plays were published, mainlybecause

the inhibition of the troupe cost Lyly his main income. In the last decade of the 16th

century, Lyly wrote two other plays, The Woman in the MoonandLoves

Metamorphosis, the latter being played again by the boys of St. Pauls, when they were

restored to action probably in 1599.

In 1595 Lyly sent his first petition to the Queen, in which he complained that

after ten years of service he still was not appointed to any office nor was rewarded in

any other way. In 1597 he wrote a letter to Sir Robert Cecil, son of William Cecil and

the new Secretary of State, because of his fear that the Revels Office was promised to

Sir George Buck. Cecil did not act in Lylys concern, but Tylney held the post of the

Master of the Revels till his death in 1610. A year later, in 1598, Lyly wrote another

petition to the Queen, using much bolder words than in the first one: My Last Will, is

shorter, then myne Invention; Butt, three Legacyes, I Bequeath, Patience to my

Creditors: Mellanchollie, wthout Measure to my ffrindes, And Beggerry, wthoutshame, to

my ffamilye5 (Bond 1; 71). However, in the following year the boys were allowed to

play again, so Lylys financial situation was probably improved. Nevertheless, eight

5

Lylys first son John was babtized in 1596, another by the same name in 1600, thus it is assumed thatthe first son died, in 1603 a daughter, Frances, was born; in 1605 a son called Thomas and in the same

year died a daughter called Elizabeth, whose year of birth is not known.


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years later, in 1606, Lyly died in poverty and neglect6without ever being appointed to

the position of the Master of the Revels, in which he hoped for so long.

Lyly as a person was described by his contemporary, Jonson, in his satirical

Every Man out of his Humouras:

A neat, spruce, affecting courtier, one that wears clothes well, and in fashion; practiseth by his

glass how to salute; speaks good remnants, notwithstanding the base viol and tobacco; swears

tersely, and with variety; cares not what ladys favour he belies, or great mans familiarity: a

good property to perfume the boot of a coach. He will borrow another mans horse to praise, and

backs him as his own. Or, for a need, on foot can post himself into credit with his merchant, only

with the gingle of his spur, and the jerk of his wand (Bond 1; 61).

Bond sees Lyly as [f]amous, clever, poor and disappointed with a keen eye for the

follies, the fashions, the swagger and pretension of the courtiers (Bond 1; 79-80).

Although Lyly was famous and innovative during his time, his literary works did not

outlive their author; the reason why could be his obsession with fashion, which changes

very fast. As soon as in 1632, Blounts attempt7to bring Lylys works back to their

previous popularity seemed to fail; and in 1758 the once famous playwright was

referred to as one Lyly (Bond 1; 81). Wilson describes Lylys case in a way that

needs not to be commented:

Never before had England seen anything like it, and we cannot wonder that his public hailed

him in their delight as one of the greatest writers of all time. How could they know that he was

only the first voice in a choir of singers which, bursting forth before his notes had died away,

would shake the very arch of heaven with the passion and the beauty of their song? But for us

who have heard the chorus first, the recitative seems poor and thin. [...] That it should be so was

inevitable, for the wit which illuminated these works was of the time, temporary, the earliest

beam of the rising sun. This sunbeam it is imposible to recover, and with all our effort we

catch little but dust (113).

6Bond, Vol 1, p. 78.

7Blounts edition of Sixe Court Comedies, all of them by John Lyly


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3. Lylys Work

3.1 Specific Conditions

Lylys work is marked by specific circumstances in which it was created. The most

important fact about Lylys plays is that they were written to be performed by boy

actors before the Queen Elizabeth I.

When Lyly in 1579 became his career as a playwright, the Queen was already 46

years old8. In fact, Elizabeth was crowned a queen only a few years after Lylys birth.

During the time the Court panegyric of the Queen has changed from the cult of the

marriageable virgin to the virgin goddess of the Moon, because the Queen was not

supposed to get married and produce an heir any more. Her representation as Cynthia,

the moon goddess, became common mainly in the second part of her reign, when the

courtiers paid honours to Elizabeth as an ever-youthful yet unapproachable object of

desire (King 59). This shift can be seen in Lylys allegoric plays. In Sapho and Phao,

which was written during Elizabeths last marriage negotiations, the Queen is

allegorically described as a virtuous woman struggling with her affections but gaining

power over them in the end. InEndimion the allegory is different: the Queen is already

represented as Cynthia, the moon goddess, and is described as removed or superior to

Endimion, who admires her; she is, exactly according to her cult, shown as a woman

who is able to stimulate affections but is not created for love. From these examples it

can be seen that Lyly in his allegorical attempts stayed more or less within the official

panegyric. As a matter of fact, it was not safe to imply allegory of the queen into a

8The historical information about Elizabeths reign and about the panegyric is taken from John N. Kings

Queen Elizabeth I: Representations of the Virgin Queen.


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literary work, because if she noticed something that did not please her, it could have

disastrous outcome for the author9.

The reign of the Queen Elizabeth was marked by a rise of boy acting troupes.

They were largely popular in the first half of Elizabeths reign. Jeanne McCarthy in her

essay Elizabeth Is picture in little: Boy Company Representations of a Queens

Authority says that they appear to voice the queens response to the conventional

linking of authority with adult masculinity expressed in traditionally male-centred

entertainments and masques (426). McCarthy even suggests that the Queen patronized

the boy troupes, because she enjoyed the great lords of her time being played by

children, and used it as a tactic to infantilize them to make them subordinate to her as

a woman sovereign (462). However, the second period of her reign witnessed the

extension, for a decade or so, of the boy companies, in spite of the new impulse given to

the latter by the activity as a playwright of John Lyly (Chambers 5). Or, there is the

above mentioned theory accepted by Bond and many others, that the activity of John

Lyly was the reason of the inhibition of the Children of St. Pauls during the last decade

of 16thcentury. Nevertheless, Lyly wrote most of his plays for this troupe and this

circumstance was mirrored in his works. The fact, that his actors were young boys

enabled Lyly to create some of the inventions that are described in the following

chapter. Mainly comical subplots were based on the boys, because they were created

usually around three pages, who were urchins, full of mischief and delighting in quips

(Wilson 85). Also Latin quotations, which are very often included in the plays, were an

easy task for the young choristers who were trained in this language.

To conclude, Lylys works were influenced by these two aspects of his age. It is

not known to which extent, but what is still visible, at least, is the incorporation of these

9As happened , for example, to John Stubbs, viz. 4.3.


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aspects into the plots of the playsthe Court allegory with the Queen as a central figure

creates oftentimes the main plot and the boys enjoy their quips and puns in the subplots,

to create a comical relief and safely turn the Queens attention from the allegory.

3.2 Inventions

Lylys dramatic career began in a period of changes in the English society as

well as in the English drama. The medieval order was in dissolution; the modern order

was in process of formation. Yet the old state of things had not faded from memory and

usage; the new had not assumed despotic sway (Symonds 21). The same changes were

present in dramatic works of that time: moralities and miracles were being replaced by

modern comedies and tragedies. But in Lylys works in particular, the old genres were

mingled with the forthcoming modern comedy, mainly because Lyly himself invented

some features of the new genre. Wilson might be slightly exaggerating when he calls

Lyly The Father of English comedy (103), nevertheless, his inventions had a great

impact on the creation of the genre and influenced many of his successors.

When Lyly wrote hisEuphues, he created a new style of prose and subsequently

a popular way of speaking at the Court. This somewhat complicated prosaic style is

based naimly on antithesis, puns, elaborate natural-history similes, classical allusions

and series of parallel clauses10. Lylys prose was rhythmical and rhetorical enough to

replace metrical verse in comedy. His obsession with form created a dramatic prose

[that is] rested on adequate structural foundation (Barish 34). However, euphuism, as

every object of fashion, had been in a short time replaced and criticised for its

artificiality. But, as Jonas A. Barish states in his essay,

10Almost every work about John Lyly includes an elaborate chapter about euphuism. In the text, it is a

paraphrased part from Bonds second volume of The Complete Works of John Lyly, p. 288.


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[i]f, in his passion for logicality, he evolved a style too rigid, too removed from common speech

to lend itself easily to a wide range of effects, it was at the same time a style that needed only the

further flexibility and modulation brought to it by Shakespeare to become an ideal dramatic

prose (35).

This almost idealeuphuistic prose enabled Lyly to create another of his

inventions: a love dialogue. Robert Y. Turner wrote a whole essay about dialogues of

love in Lylys comedies11. He suggests that Lyly is the first author, who tried to

dramatize love by conversations; that he avoided the two types of presenting love on the

stageby direct statement of love or by emphasized action. Lylys technique of

dramatizing love is to present circumstances unfavourable for the couples disclosure of

their affections, letting them talk about love in euphuistic allusions and metaphors,

creating thus a tension in which each assertion is tentative and each response

quivering, and this dialogue, by not mentioning love directly, captures an unmistakable

sense of what it is like to be in love, sometimes poignantly and sometimes wittily

(Turner 279).

Another Lylys invention concerns the genre. Wilson suggests that Campaspe

was a first English historic play and describes Lylys new type of comedy as created by

putting allegory, farce and romantic play upon a classical theme in together. This

pattern was repeated in almost every play written by Lyly and it was widely criticised as

a lack of invention. But some theorists see the fact differently, mainly that

[r]esemblances, circulating among the plays [...], hint at Lylys larger interest in a

lively, self-referential world (Cartwright 212); and that Lyly introduced in his works

the same mixtureof mythological and romantic characters, Ovidian transformations,

and witty prose dialogue, which his audiences at the commercial indoor theatres and at

the court came to expect (White 278). Both these theorists see Lyly as a possible first

11Some Dialogues of Love in Lylys Comedies


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serial dramatist, who took advantage of his popularity and tried to please his audience

with just another play written according to their preferences.

But the most important contribution to the creation of modern comedy was

Lylys focus on women. To begin with, he was probably the first author who

acknowledged the importance of women as a part of his audience. He already

recognized it when writing his novels, which could be seen from his own introduction

saying thatEuphueshad rather lye shut in a Ladyes casket than open in a scholars

studie (Wilson 67). Symonds even says aboutEuphuesthat the discourses on

marriage, education, politics, and manners conveyed some such diluted philosophy as

ladies of present day imbibe from magazines and newspapers (402).But Lyly did

something more that certainly attracted the ladies attention. He introduced female

heroines more developed than appeared in any other previously written play. Bond

comments on this in a rather poetic way, saying that:

First among English writers for the stage did he master a knowledge close enough, a taste fine

enough, a hand light enough, to render in her wonted speech and fashion that inconstant gleam,

that dancing firefly, the English girl: and that is a proudit is his proudestachievement (Bond

2, 283).

And it was indisputably Lylys greatest achievement, because he helped to create the

modern comedy mainly by giving female characters an equal space on the stage. Wilson

adds that this change was not unpredictable, because during the time of Lylys career,

three neighbouring countries were governed by a queen: England by Elizabeth, Scotland

by Mary and France by Catherine de Medici. Thus women were entering spheres

formerly reserved only for men.

But on the stage, women were still played by men, especially by young boys,

whose voices were not changed yet. This situation enabled Lyly to create or use another

invented devicecross-dressingin his play Gallathea. Of course, that this device is


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possible even when female characters are performed by actresses, but the situation in

which a boy plays a girl disguised as a boy must have been extremely enjoyable for the

audience of that time.

Lyly was not obsessed only with the form of language; he was also interested in

the structure of a play. He was active in constructing subplot and interweaving it with

the main ploteven though in the first plays the connection of the plots lacked

smoothness, he improved in this attempt in the later ones, e.g. inMidas. He introduced

farcical subplots to achieve a comical relief and when even the characters of subplot

dealt with something serious, the songs appeared. Lyly is said to be the first dramatist

who recognized the efficiency of songs and gave them such a prominent role in his

plays. The reason was probably the fact that his actors were members of a choir and that

Lyly had a musical talent and wrote the lyrics himself12. These subplots full of pages

and songs belong to Lylys inventions as well. He took the pages from plays by

Edwardes, but he made them all his own (Wilson 85). But the pages were not the only

comical figures; they were replaced by Gunophilus in The Woman in the Moonand

accompanied by Sir Tophas inEndimion. And namely Sir Tophas is often seen as an

original of future clowns that were created, for example, by Shakespeare.

In conclusion, Lyly, who is sometimes seen by the critics as a courtier with a

lack of imagination who devoted all his works to a superficial flattery, was actually at

the birth of a new kind of comedy and greatly contributed to the development of English

drama.

12Described in Wilsons John Lyly, p. 96-100.


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4. The Plays

4.1 Introduction to the Eight Plays

As it was already mentioned, Lyly started his career as a playwright probably in

1579. The chronological order of Lylys eight plays is disputable, but, according to

entries of the plays in the Stationers Register, they are set up in the following order:

Campaspe, Sapho and Phao, Gallathea,Endimion,Mother Bombie,Midas, The Woman

in the MoonandLoves Metamorphosis. Two main authorities concerning Lyly and his

works, R.W. Bond and G.P. Baker, agreed on the division of the plays into four

categories according to their character13: Sapho and Phao,EndimionandMidasform

the allegories; Gallathea, The Woman in the MoonandLoves Metamorphosisbelong to

the category of pastorals; Campaspeis the only historic play andMother Bombiethe

only realistic one. The allegorical category is problematic, because a kind of allegory

appears in most of the plays, but in the three above mentioned the allegory plays a

major role, mainly creating the plot. This chapter consists of a short introduction to each

of the plays and serves mostly to provide general information about Lylys dramatic

works. Bonds extensive publication was again used as the main source ofthe

information.

Campaspe, as it was already said, is the first play written by John Lyly. Its main

plot concerns Alexander the Great, who becomes fond of his Theban captive,

Campaspe. She is virtuous and beautiful and the king decides that he wants his painter,

Apelles, to paint her. But Apelles and Campaspe fall in love with each other during the

painting sessions and they find themselves not able to suppress their affection to please

the king. But Alexanders generosity wins over his passion for Campaspe and he

decides to move his attention back to warfare and permits the couple to get married. The

13Mentioned by Wilson in hisJohn Lyly, p. 83.


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farcical subplot of Campaspeis created mainly around the figure of Ancient

philosopher, Diogenes, and his servant, Manes. The original entry of this play from the

Stationers Register has disappeared, but it is known, that it was first printed for

Thomas Cadman in 1584. Lylys name does not appear on the title -page of the quarto,

but the fact that the play resemblesEuphues, mainly in the reappearance of the character

Apelles and the euphuistic style, and the inclusion of this play in Blounts Sixe Court

Comediesin 1632, serve as sufficient proves of Lylysauthorship. The source of this

play is PlinysNatural History, which includes a story about Alexanderssurrender of

Campaspe to Apelles. Campaspe is according to both Bond and Baker classified as a

historical play and Wilson adds that it is one of the first dramas in English based on a

historical background. There is supposedly no allegory in this play, except for a possible

flattering the Queen by showing Alexander as unemotional, which could be matched

with indifference of the virgin Queen to all matters of Cupids trade (Wilson 85); or

by centring the play upon a monarch whose court is the epitome of artistic, intellectual

and martial excellence14which could be a flattering mirror of Elizabeths court.

Campaspeserves, according to Wilson, as a compliment to the ladies of the Court,

acknowledging them for the first time as a significant part of the theatrical audience.

Concerning the content of Campaspeand its dealing with love and passion, it could be

also perceived as a first romantic drama.

Sapho and Phaois the first allegorical play written by John Lyly. It was

published for the first time in a quarto for Thomas Cadman in 1584. Lylys name does

not appear on the title-page, but it appears in the entry in the Stationers Registerand his

authorship is further supported again by the appearance in Blounts Comediesand its

euphuistic style, even though the dialogues become less euphuistic and thus more

14Scragg, Leah. Campaspe and the Construction of Monarchical Power, p. 60.


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effective in this play. The plot of Sapho and Phaoand its allegorical meaning are the

content of the chapter 4.3.

Gallatheais Lylys first pastoral play. Its plot consists of a story of two beautiful

girls, who were disguised as boys by their own fathers to save them from being

sacrificed to a sea monster, Agar, which is sent by the angry god Neptune. The girls,

Gallathea and Phillida, meet in the woods where they are hiding and fall in love with

each other, both expecting the other one being a boy for real. In the same woods, Cupid

decides to punish Dianas nymphs whomade a vow of chastity and despised love,

offending thus the god of love. As a result, Cupid makes the nymphs fall in love with

Gallathea and Phillida. Diana is enraged by Cupids sport and orders him to take his

spell back. But a true love cannot be reverted, and thus Gallathea and Phillida stay in

love with each other. At the end of the play Neptune pardons the villagers and Venus, as

a goddess of love, helps the poor couple and turns one of the girls into a boy. There is

no dispute about Lylys authorship of the play, even though his name was for the first

time connected to it as late as in Blounts Sixe Court Comedies. An entry in the

Stationers Register was made by Gabriel Cawood as soon as 1585, but the play was

printed for the first time in 1592 for the widow of William Broome. In 1585, Lyly

became the schoolmaster of St Pauls choir school and all his plays (except for the first

two, which were written by 1585) were published no sooner than after the inhibition of

the boy troupes acting rights in 1591, because Lyly was then probably no more

interested in keeping the acting rights exclusively for himself (Wilson 84). This play is

important mainly for the dramatic device of cross-dressing, because it may be assumed

that Lyly was the first playwright who used it, but as Wilson says and as it was already

suggested above: Its full significance cannot be appreciated by us to-day, for the whole

point of it was that the actors, who appeared as girls dressed up as boys, were, as the


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audience knew, really boys themselves; a fact which doubtless increased the funniness

of the situation (93-4).

Endimion, or the Man in the Moonis another play in which Lyly deals with

Court allegory. It was first printed for Joan Broome in 1591, which was the only known

quarto, for the next time it was published in Blounts edition. Lylys name does not

appear on the title-page, nor in the Stationers Register,but the typical triad of proves

appears: it was performed by the Pauls boys, it includes euphuism and it was published

in Blounts Comedies. John Dover Wilson describesEndimionas the boldest in

conception and the most beautiful in execution of all Lylys plays (90). The chapter

4.3. consists of the introduction into the plot and subsequent theories of allegory in this

play.

Midasis the last of the three plays described as allegorical by Bond and Baker.

Its main plot is woven around the title character, Midas, the king of Phrygia. In return

for his hospitality, he is offered by Bacchus anything he might desire. Midas chooses

wealth; he asks for a power to change everything into gold only by a touch. But after he

turns even food and wine into pieces of gold, Midas begs Bacchus to take his gift away.

He is advised to bathe in a river to wash away the power. Later, when Midas is hunting

in the forest, he meets Apollo and Pan who are just going to compete in playing a

musical instrument. Midas decides for Pan and ispunished by Apollo with asses ears.

He tries to hide his ears under a tiara, but the gossip is spread quickly, even by a

whispering of reeds in the wind. The king, by advice of his daughter, goes to Apollos

oracle at Delphi. There his curse is removed and when he returns back to Phrygia, he

promises to cancel his plans for conquering other countries, especially Lesbos. The play

was, as in the previous cases, printed for the first time in 1592 for Joan Broome and

again, there is no name presented, only the same three reasons supporting Lylys


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authorshipeuphuism, boys from St Pauls and Blounts edition. Lyly sought

inspiration mainly in OvidsMetamorphoses, but he adjusted the story about Midas to

serve his intentions. The fact thatMidasis probably a satirical allegory on Philip II of

Spain was first observed in 1814. Bond presents the allegorical theory by Halpin, but he

suggests that Halpin went too far in search for possible originalse.g. Philip II is the

original for Midas, Lesbos means England, the Golden gift could mean the influx of

gold and other metals into Spain from colonies in South America, the contest in music

implies the controversy of the Reformation, Pan represents papal supremacy and Apollo

protestant sovereignty (Bond 2; 109-10). The play was obviously written after the defeat

of Spanish Armada in 1588 and that is probably the reason why Midas is more a

patriotic than purely Court play. Concerning the structure, Wilson suggests that even

though the subplot is satisfactorily connected to the main plot15, the play is still

fragmented by the division of the main plot into two parts that could work as separate

stories.

Mother Bombieis described as a realistic play. Its plot bares no connection to the

Court but is very complicated by involving three young couples and four paternal

figures who want their children to be married. Firstly, Memphio and Stellio, two rich

men, are planning a wedding for their children, Accius and Silena, who are both

mentally ill. The fathers are trying to hide this fact from each other. Secondly, there is a

couple, Candius and Livia, who love each other but their fathers want them to marry

Accius and Silena instead. Siblings, Maestius and Serena, who are unnaturally in love

with each other, form the third couple. Only after the intervention by Mother Bombie, a

wise woman and the title character, an old nurse, Vicinia, confesses that Accius and

Silena are her own children, whom she changed at birth for the real children of the rich

15

The subplot concerns the character of Motto, the royal barber, who is in possession of the kings goldenbeard, but it is stolen from him by pages, who later convince Motto for treason because he has revealed a

secret about kings ears and blackmail him to give them the golden beard by himself.


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men, Maestius and Serena, who are now allowed to get married. The play appeared in

first quarto printed for Cuthbert Burby in 1594. Mother Bombie was, according to

Bond, probably written in 1590, but it is only a suggestion because of the lack of any

contemporary allegory. Lylys authorship is supported again by Blounts edition and the

performance by children of Pauls, but there is also the fact, that the play is set into

Kent, Lylys county of birth. Wilson describes this realistic attempt as an experiment

the English theatres of that time were full of realistic stories and Lyly was perhaps

trying to adapt his style and topics to fit more to what was perceived as popular16.

The Woman in the Moonis described as a pastoral play. The plot begins when

Nature, by request of the shepherds of Utopia, creates a perfect woman, Pandora. Nature

granted Pandora several excellent features of the gods, the Seven Planets. They, enraged

and envious, decide to destroy Pandora by making her a subject to their influence.

Saturn is the first god who appears and makes Pandora moody and impolite towards her

servant Gunophilus and the shepherds. Under the influence of Jupiter, she refuses the

love offered from the god and enjoys her power over Gunophilus and the other men.

Mars turns her into a vixen, which hurts Stesias, one of the shepherds, with his own

spear. Sol, in the opposite, makes Pandora sweet-tempered; she apologizes to the

shepherds and chooses Stesias as her husband. But Venus, who comes to her turn after

Sol, makes Pandora wanton, courting Gunophilus and other three shepherds. Mercury

then turns her into a liar and a thiefshe elopes with Gunophilus, taking her husbands

treasure with her. On their way, the influence changes again and Luna is now on duty.

She makes Pandora change her mind. Stesias then finds Pandora and Gunophilus and

wants to kill his wife, but she is saved by the Seven Planets. Nature decides to put

Pandora to a place in the Moon, from which she will influence the women on the Earth.

16WilsonsJohn Lyly, p. 95.


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Stesias, who is to go there with Pandora as the Man in the Moon, in anger tears

Gunophilus, who has turned into a hawthorn, and takes him to the Moon as the bush on

his back. The authorship of this play is not a matter of discussion, because Lylys name

appears on the title-page of the quarto, but what cannot be clearly stated is the time in

which the play was written. There is a line in the Prologue of this play describing it as a

first attempt, which could mean that it was the first play ever written by Lyly or that it

was a first play written in blank verse. Generally, the latter assumption is accepted. The

reason for this decision can be, for example, a total absence of euphuism, which was in

this play replaced by a far more natural humour (Bond 3; 232), suggesting a

development in Lylys style in time. The Woman in the Moonis, as it was already

mentioned, described as a pastoral, but there exists a theory17, that the play could be

allegorical. Nevertheless, the allegory, in which Pandora should represent the Queen,

would be very offending and is thus not perceived as probable, concerning Lylys later

petitions to the Queen, in which Lyly was still expecting favour (Bond 1; 64).

Love Metamorphosis, probably the last play written by John Lyly, belongs

together with The Woman in the Moonand Gallatheato the pastorals. The plot begins

when a farmer called Erisichthon becomes jealous of the goddess Ceres and her nymphs

and decides to destroy a tree sacred to Ceres. Doing so, he kills Fidelia, another Ceress

nymph, who, turned to a shape of a tree, was hiding from a satyr. Ceres is enraged by

this cruel act and sends Famine to punish Erisichthon. He soon becomes poor and sells

his own daughter, Protea. She, with the help of Neptune, escapes her purchaser in

disguise and later is transformed again to save Petulius, her lover, from the spell of a

Siren. In the meantime, three of Ceress nymphs displease the god of love, Cupid, by

their behaviour towards three foresters and are punished by being turned into a rock, a

17The allegorical theory by Mzires is mentioned by Bond in the second volume, page 236.


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rose and a bird. Ceres pleads for the release of her nymphs and Cupid, who is now

protecting Protea because of her faithful love, wants Ceres to pardon Proteas father in

return. The nymphs then reappear in their former shape and their wedding with the

foresters is held at Erisichthons house. Lylys authorship of this play is proved by his

name written on the title-page. Nevertheless, the dating of this play is the most difficult

from all the plays. Bond suggests18that the play was written between 1584 and 1588,

performed at the Court at latest in 1589 and revived by the Children of Pauls in 1600.

It is mainly the fact, that it appears in the Stationers Register in the year 1600, that

placesLoves Metamorphosisas the last play written by Lyly.

To conclude, Lylys plays were, as it could be suggested from the plots, different

and also very similar at the same time. But, obviously, a development in plot creation

can be tracked through out the playsCampaspeand Sapho and Phaoare plays based

namely on conversation and their plots are very simple. But a slight change can be seen

in GallatheaandEndimionstarts the line of plays, in which action becomes more

important and plots are better structured.

4.2 Allegory

In the time of Lyly, the English drama was undergoing certain changes.

Medieval genres, such as moralities and miracles, were being slowly replaced by

modern comedies and tragedies. And Lyly played his part in this change.

Allegory was traditionally a device of moralities. But when Lyly used allegory

in his plays, it was no retrogression because Lyly did not use it as an ethical

instrument (Wilson 86). Hupp states, that Lylys allegory does not appear to be as

18Bond, Vol. 1, p. 46.


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definite as the medieval allegory of moralities, which was always easily understood.

Lyly is, in this aspect, perceived as innovator, because he changed the traditional

allegory by infusing concretenessinto it (Bond 2; 255). Bond points out three kinds of

this Lylyan allegorymythological, physical, and personal or political.

Concerning mythological allegory, Lyly uses acknowledged mythological

characters to represent various qualities: Diana representing chastity, Cupid love and

Venus wantonness. Physical allegory appears, for example, inEndimionand The

Woman in the Moon,where the Earth, the Moon and other planets appear as dramatic

personae.

The third kind of allegory, personal or political, is used in Lylys plays very

often, and that is why it is more important than the other two types. Personal allegory

mainly serves Lyly as a device for flattering the Queen. According to Bond and Baker,

there are at least three plays by John Lyly that include allegory of the Court of the

Queen Elizabeth I as a major source of the plot. Bond characterizes Lyly as:

Simply a clever young man in a subordinate position about the Court, whose wit, address, and

literary achievement would make him a natural recipient for such facts of gossip as were current,

and whose special connexion with Oxford or Burleigh, or perhaps Leicester himself, would

afford him some special opportunities(Bond 85-6).

And Lyly was probably able to make the best of those special opportunities because

the playsEndimion, Sapho and Phao, andMidasare, if the allegorical theory is to

be believed, full of characters representing real aristocrats and situations resembling real

historic events.Endimionis supposed to cover a rather short period of the disgrace of

Lord Leicester in 1579, Sapho and Phaoresembles Duke of Anjous wooing of the

Queen Elizabeth, andMidasis supposedly a satirical allegory of Philip II of Spain and

the defeat of Armada. These plays imply many hypothetical hints of little scandals that

were talked about at the Court and it is probable that todays reader or even a scholar is


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not able to perceive them all, because there are no written documents concerning the

situations. Mostly because the main aim of the plays was to entertain the audience, and

Lyly was probably quite eager to do so, he used every gossip he heard to make his

audience laugh. There even exists a contemporary letter from Jack Roberts to Sir Roger

Williams written in 1584 warning the latter to take heed and beware of my lord

Oxenfords man called Lyly, for if he see this letter he will put it in print or make the

boys in Pauls play it upon a stage19 Gabriel Harvey, Lylys contemporaryand a

former friend, warns ironically that all people who want to keep their reputation should

please Lyly, otherwise their credit [will be] quite vn-done, for euer and euer.20It is

possible that Harvey was talking from his own experience, because he is, according to

Bond, a suitable candidate for the original of Sir Tophas fromEndimion.

The three types of allegory are oftentimes implied in one character, for example,

Cynthia inEndimion represents the Moon-goddess or chastity, the Moon as a heavenly

body and the Queen Elizabeth (Bond 2; 258). Lylys allegory is sometimes difficult to

understand, as is shown in this example, and Bond suggests, that the allegory might be

perceived completely only by a reader, because the audience would not be able to catch

all the hints while watching the performance, but, on the other hand, he adds that the

audience in Lylys time was used to allegory and that the originals of the allegorical

characters were often still alive. Wilson supports this idea even more, saying that:

Nothing indeed is so remarkable about the Elizabethan stage as the secret

understanding which almost invariably existed between the dramatist and his audience

and that [t]he spectators were always on the alert to detect some veiled reference to

prominent political figures or to current affairs. Often, in fact, as was natural, they

would discover hints where nothing was implied (Wilson 86).

19

Quoted by Leah Scragg in her essay The Victim of Fashion? Rereading the Biography of John Lyly,p. 218.20

Ibid.


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The last kind of allegory implied in Lylys plays is the allegory of love, or

Courtly love. It was a common topic of medieval literature21and Lyly used it in

connection with flattering the Queen. His Endimion, Leicester in original, is supposed

to represent the ideal courtier, who is in love with a virtuous lady, and would thus serve

as a perfect example of this kind of allegory. With the exception of the political

allegory,Endimioncould be perceived as a story of typical Courtly love: Endimion is

dedicated to Spiritual, Virtuous Love, the marriage of true minds, represented by

Cynthia (Hupp 103). A fact that Endimion and Cynthia are not married atthe end of

the play is reflecting the rule of the Courtly love that it is by no means connected to a

marriage. Andreas Capellanus22in hisDe Arte Honeste Amandistates that a husband in

love with his own wife commits even a worse sin than an adulterer, because he abuses

the sacrament of marriage. Lyly, dealing with the problems of representing the virgin

Queen, would not go as far as to incorporating adulterous love into his plays, but he

certainly kept within the basic principles of Courtly love when creating his characters.

His lovers were always faithful, loyal and respectfulthe perfect courtiers; and his

ladies were chaste, virtuous and amiablethe perfect objects of love.

4.3 Sapho and Phao

The play called Sapho and Phaowas performed before the Queen at Shrove

Tuesday 1582 (Bond 2; 367). This play is after Campaspe the second play written by

John Lyly and from the plot it can be seen that it belongs to a potential first half of

Lylys career as a playwright because it mostly consists of flattery and love or courtship

counselling. The main plot concentrates around Venus, the Goddess of Love, and her

21More about Courtly love can be find in C.S.Lewiss The Allegory of Love.

22Quoted in Lewis, p. 39.


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plotting against Sapho, the Queen of Sicily. Sapho is virtuous and refuses love and

courtship, so Venus, who is jealous of Saphos beauty and virtues, changes a mere

ferryman, Phao, into the fairest man among all, assuming that Sapho will not be able to

resist the temptation and will fall in love with him. And thus when Sapho and Phao

meet, they fall in love with each other. Phao then seeks advice from Sybilla, on old wise

woman living in a cave. She tells him to flatter his queen and woo her with gifts. In the

meantime, Sapho has fallen ill from her passion and cannot fall asleep. She commands

her lady in waiting, Mileta, to go and find Phao, because he is well acquainted with

healing effects of various herbs and could thus help her to find a remedy for her

sleeplessnessthis being apparently an excuse for seeing Phao, because for a lover the

best remedy is to set eyes on her or his beloved. When the two lovers meet, they

indirectly talk about their affections and possibly understand each others uneasiness

concerning their social rank. When leaving, Phao meets Venus, who as a goddess of

love, but mainly of passion, cannot resist Phaos beauty and thus falls in her own trap.

She decides to have Phao for herself and plots against his love for Sapho. The goddess

plans to use her son, Cupid, to make Sapho despise Phao and change the object of

Phaos affections to herself. But Sapho, being the virtuous queen, wins over Cupid and

he decides to become the son of the queen instead of the goddess. The result of Venuss

plotting is in the end very disappointing to her: Sapho is relieved from her affections

towards Phao but he is still in love with Sapho and even despises Venus. At the end,

Phao desperately leaves the country saying: This shalbe my resoluti, where euer I

wder to be as I were euer kneeling before Sapho, my loyalty vnspotted, t hough

vnrewarded (5.3.17-19).

The comical subplot is created mainly around the characters of three servants:

Calypho, Vulcans servant; Criticus, a servant of Trachinus, a courtier; and Molus, a


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servant to Pandion, a scholar who has recently come to Saphos court from a university.

Another subplot concerns six ladies in waiting and could be perceived as satirical

because it seems very believable that the ladies used to spent their time in such idleness

as it is described in this play, merely gossiping or interpreting their dreams.

The fact that there exists a mythological allegory in Sapho and Phaois quite

obvious, for example, from the appearance of the typical characters of Venus and Cupid

who connect the main plot with the subplot through the character of Vulcan, Venuss

mythological husband. The story of the play is derived from a combination of classical

storiesone of them is the story of Aphroditeslove for Adonis, who was also called

Phaeton or Phaon (Bond 2; 364). Sapho was the Ancient Greek poet who was born at

Lesbos23and there is also a legend about passionate love for Phao connected to her.

Lyly used and changed the mythological characters and their allegorical meanings for

the purposes of his play, as for example Hupp states in his essay24:

To be sure, Lyly has not handled his allegorical figures with medieval exactness. The part of

Venus, for example, is not completely fixed: she is at one time almost completely a woman, at

another a classical goddess, only sometimes completely the allegorical figure, the Queen of Love

(Hupp 99).

These changes were made to serve Lyly to imply historical allegory into his play. It is

generally accepted by the theorists that Sapho and Phaois associated with the period of

Duke dAlenons wooing of the Queen Elizabeth I. Alenon finally left England at the

beginning of February 1582 and the Shrove Tuesday on which the play was performed

at the Court is dated on February 27, 158225this dating can prove that Lyly was able to

present a play about these wedding negotiations probably without a fear of punishment,

because everything had been already decided. Many people, especially those literary

23

Lesbos is used as an allegory for England in LylysMidas24Love in Lylys Court Comedies

25Bond, Vol. II, p.367.


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active, felt during the period of negotiations a necessity to warn the Queen or just to

express their opinion that this marriage would not be suitable and a possible childbirth

would be for the Queen, who was nearly fifty years old at that time, very dangerous.

The punishments for disapproval were harshfrom disgrace to a loss of a right hand,

which happened to John Stubbs26because his work was actually published and the

Queen was outraged at his audacity. But as it was already mentioned, Lyly probably did

not intend to advise any suggestions by writing this play, otherwise he would not

present it so late. His intention could be thus perceived as flattering the Queen for her

decision. This perspective explains the plays lack of action and the large amount of

courtly flattery aimed at the figure representing the Queen. Sapho is thus changed from

the Ancient poet to a queen of Sicily surrounded by her court and mainly by her ladies

in waiting. She is described as amiable, virtuous and having power over her affections.

But her later sickness from her passionate love for Phao is seen as the main reason why

this allegory would be dangerous for the author and is thus seen in the play only by the

theorists and was not intentionally implied by Lyly himself. Hupp states in his essay

that the main argument against this objection is the possible excuse of Saphos

affections being caused by Venus27. There is even another aspect of the play that might

be assumed as insulting: the passage of love counselling by Sybilla. If the play is taken

from Phao/Alenons side, the wooing described by Sybilla would be certainly

offending, mainly because it is aimed at women in general, but also if taken as a direct

advice how to woo the Queen. Even more insulting would be Bonds suggestion that

Catherine de Medici, Alenons mother, is an original of Sybilla, because Sybilla says

to Phao:

I woulde wish thee first to be diligent: for that womenne desire

26King, John N, Queen Elizabeth I: Representations of the Virgin Queen, p.50

27Hupp, p.98.


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nothing more then to haue their seruants officious. Be alwaies in

sight, but never slothful. Flatter, I meane lie; little things catch

light mindes, and fancy is a worme, that feedeth first vpon fenell.

Imagine with thy selfe all are to bee won, otherwise mine aduise were

as vnnecessary as thy labour. It is vnpossible for the brittle mettall

of women to withstand the flattering attemptes of men: only this, let

them be asked; their sex requireth no lesse, their modesties are to

be allowed so much. Be prodigall in prayses and promises, bewtie

must haue a trumept, pride a gifte. Peacocks neuer spread their

feathers, but when they are flattered, Gods are seldome pleased,

if they be not bribed (2.4.58-69).

From this description of wooing women in general appear as foolish creatures who will

believe in every lie, if it is flattering enough. This certainly would not flatter the Queen,

but there could be another explanation why the play was not received with a significant

disgrace. As Bond states: In spite of the marked favour of his reception in August,

1579, Elizabeth never really loved him [Alenon]; and it must soon have become

apparent that her declarations of affection proceeded far more from her policy than from

her heart(Bond 2; 367). So the Queen herself was probably very well acquainted with

the art of flattery and wooing and if her affections for Alenonwere only a matter of

state, she probably would not be overly sensitive concerning its turning into a comedy.

And, according to Bond, the Queen could not afford to react to every suspected allegory

because she would draw even more attention to the aspect that offended her and might

be even seen as insecure in her position.

Another flattering feature of the play concerns Duke dAlenons appearance. In

spite of Alenons marked ugliness Elizabeth said that she had never seen a man

who pleased her so well, never one whom she could willingly make her husband(Bond

2; 366). Lyly tactfully solved the problem of Alenons attractiveness by changing


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Phao, Alenons dramatic counterpart, into the most beautiful man in the world. The

change was made by Venus, the Goddess of Love, and can be thus allegorically seen as

a change of perception caused simply by the affection. Thereby Lyly explains the

Queens liking for Alenonby her being in love with him and it would probably not

offend the Queen to be seen as a woman who is still able to fall in love for a man and

consider marriage. It might be even more appreciated than to be perceived as merely a

political figure, who has the states affairs on the first place.

The end of the play seems to be composed exactly in accordance with the real

events. The queen changes in her affections after Cupids intervention and Phao, still

deeply in love with Sapho, says that he will always be loyal to the queen, wishes her

nothing but happiness and then leaves Sicily for ever. Saphos last words in the play

are: I will wish him fortunate. This wil I do for Phao, because I once loued Phao: for

neuer shall it be said that Sapho loued to hate, or that out of loue she coulde not be as

courteous, as she was in loue passionate(5.2.98-101). In reality, Elizabeth cancelled

the negotiations and Alenonleft for the Netherlands and two years later died28.

In conclusion to the Elizabeth-Alenonallegory it could be said that Lylys main

intention was to create

[a] delicate compliment to Elizabeth in the allegorical manner, demonstrating the triumph of

Chaste, Virtuous Love over Passion, picturing the triumphs of the Chaste Queen, mistress of her

affections yet able to arouse affection: hauing the beautie that might allure all Princes, she hath

the chastitie also to refuse all (Hupp 102).

Beside the characters of Sapho, Phao and Sybilla, there are other suggestions for

allegorical figures in the playmainly Pandion, Molus and Mileta. Pandion, according

to Fleay29, who states this suggestion without any supportive arguments, could be

autobiographical allegory for Lyly himself. Pandion is a scholar who newly arrived at

28More historical information in Bond, Vol. II, p. 366.

29Fleay.A Biographical Chronicle of the English Drama, Vol. II, p. 40.


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and such like, are the very Quintessence of loue.

FAVILLA. I, Mileta, but were you as wise, as you would be thought

faire, or as faire, as you think your self wise, you would bee as ready

to please men, as you are coye to prank your selfe, & as carefull to

bee accounted amorous, as you are willing to be thought discrete.(1.4.15-17)

And even Sybillas love counselling seems to be aimed against the ladies, making them

an object of merriment: Oh simple women! that are brought rather to beleeue what

their eares heare of flattering men, then what their eies see in true glasses (2.4.71-71).

This image of the ladies, if connected with the other subplot including the three

servants, who are talking mainly about Venus adultery and Vulcans cuckoldry, creates

another kind of Court allegory that could be perceived as the critical allegory of Courtly

love.

In conclusion, Sapho and Phaois a play constructed mainly to flatter the Queen

after the cancelled wedding negotiations with the heir of the French throne, Duke

dAlenon, in 1582. The plot of the play is thus undeveloped, because it was not

necessary to entangle the characters into a more elaborate structure. The comic

characters are flat, serving only to entertain the audience. And the apology from the

prologue at Blackfriars, saying that: Our intet was at this time to moue inward delight,

not loude laughing: knowing it to the wise to be as great pleasure to heare counsell

mixed with witte, as to the foolish to haue sporte mingled with rudenesse(Bond 2;

370) could serve as a flattery to the courtiers and ladies in waiting, to prevent them from

not liking the play at all.


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4.4 Endimion

The play was according to Bond performed at the Court on Candlemas, February

2, 1585-631. It was the fourth play in the series of Lylys plays written for the Court. It

belongs by its content to the allegories and Courtly flatteries but in comparison with

Sapho and Phao, for example, its plot is more elaborate, showing thus a kind of

development in Lylys style.

The main plot of this play is related to the title character of Endimion who

devotedly admires the goddess of the Moon, Cynthia, but simultaneously pretends to be

in love with Tellus. Thus when Tellus realizes this shift in his affections, she feels

betrayed and, as a result, she plots with the witch, Dipsas, to charm Endimion into a

deep sleep. As a result, he falls asleep on the lunary 32bank and cannot be awakened or

moved for forty years. Cynthia, who was formerly indifferent or even resentful towards

Endimion, now begins to relent and sends her courtiersamong them Eumenides,

Endimions faithfulfriendto find a remedy for Endimion. In the meantime, Tellus,

who speaks inappropriately about Endimion in Cynthias presence, is sent to be

imprisoned in a castle under Corsites, the captain. After several years of his journey,

Eumenides meets Geron, an old man, who lives at a magic fountain that can answer any

question, but only one, to a true and faithful lover. Thus Eumenides has to decide

whether to ask about his love, Semele, who acts very coldly towards him, or about his

friend Endimion. His loyalty is so strong that friendship wins over love and, as a result,

he learns that Endimion can be awakened by a kiss from Cynthia. On his way home,

Eumenides is accompanied by Geron who turns out to be a husband of Dipsas.

Meanwhile, Tellus sends Corsites, her guard who falls in love with her, to move

31

Bond, Vol. III, p. 11.32LunaryLunaria Annua, a fern, believed to have magical powers

http://www.elizabethanauthors.com/endmodGloss.htm


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Endimion from the bank to a cave, which is an impossible deed, and Corsites is

punished by being pinched by fairies that live on the bank. Cynthia and her courtiers

happen to be visiting the spot at the same time and laugh at him. However, the

philosophers who have come on Cynthias commandfrom Egypt and Greece are not

able to break the spell and awaken Endimion. When Eumenides, who is supposed to be

dead, finally returns to the court, Cynthia agrees to kiss Endimion and the remedy turns

out to be successful. Endimion wakes up as an old man but eventually his youth is

restored by Cynthia who, being the Moon, governs everything. All the couples are

happily united at the end of the playEumenides will have his Semele, Tellus agrees to

be married to Corsites, Geron is after fifty years of exile reunited with Dipsas, and Sir

Tophas, who is a boaster serving in the play as an object of laughter and mischief of the

pages, will have Bagoa, Dipsass maid. Only Endimion is left with no wife but still

admiring his queen and goddess from a respectful distance. The play also includes a

dumb show presenting three ladies and an old man that appear in Endimions dream,

and a typical Lylyan subplot of three pages talking unrespectfuly about their masters, in

this particular play jesting at Sir Tophass love for Dipsas, that probably serves as a

satirical counterpart to Endimions admiration of Cynthia.

This play based on the classical myth about Endymion (traditional spelling

concerning the mythological character and another possibility of writing the plays

name) includes according to the scholars several types of allegorya physical allegory,

an allegory of love and a Court allegory. The physical allegory is generally acceptedit

involves the names of Tellus and Cynthia who represents the Earth and the Moon. There

are many parts in the play that concerns describing Tellus and Cynthia according to the

characteristics of the heavenly bodies they represent: Cynthia is described as being

christened with the name of wauering, waxing, and waning but [in]constant that


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the situation of Leicesters temporary disgrace in the year 157934. Endimion in his

monologue in the Act II complains about Cynthias coldness: Have I not spent my

golden yeeres in hopes, waxing old with wishing, yet wishing nothing but thy loue

(2.1.21-22), proceeding with confession that his love for Tellus was a mere cloakefor

his feelings toward Cynthia, so that no one would suspect him. The first sentence of this

soliloquy is exactly the same as in a letter written by Leicester to Lord Burleighbut

intended to be read by the Queenin 1579:

Haue I not crept to those on whom I might haue troden, onelie because thou didst shine vpon

them? Haue not iniuries beene sweet to me, if thou vouchsafedst I should beare them? Have I not

spent my golden yeeres in hopes, waxing old with wishing, yet wishing nothing by thy loue?

(Bond 3; 85).

Bond states that it is probably only a coincidence (though even the spelling is the same)

but that it would not be impossible for Lyly being at the time a secretary of Lord

Oxford, Burleighs son-in-law, to read the letter or hear it read.

As it was already suggested, the theorists who believe in the presence of Court

allegory in this play have generally accepted Leicester as the original for Endimion and

the Queen Elizabeth being the original for the Moon Goddess, Cynthia. The first

noticeable fact supporting the theory about the Queen is the name of Cynthia itself,

because praise of Elizabeth as Cynthia (or Diana, or Belphoebe, or any one of a

number of other variants) became indelibly imprinted during the last half of her

reign35. Lyly used the character of Diana in his pastorals but in this play he chose the

name Cynthia36, probably because this depiction of Elizabeth as a goddess of Moon is

very useful concerning the Court flattery that is very often implied in the play, depicting

34Bond, vol 3, p.87. In this year the secret marriage of Leicester and Lady Essex was revealed to the

Queen and Leicester fell into a temporary disgrace35

King, Queen Elizabeth I: Representations of the Virgin Queen, p. 59.36

Cynthia is originally an epithet of Artemis, Dianas Greek counterpart, meaning that she was born onthe Mount Cynthos

http://www.pantheon.org/articles/a/artemis.html


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necessary for being an original of Tellus: she was said to be beautiful, educated and also

very emotional. She was a relative but also a rival of Queen Elizabeth and had a right to

become the heiress of the English throne. She was imprisoned by Elizabeth and was

accused many times from being involved in a plot against her Majesty. In the play there

can be found Panelions37comment on Telluss deeds that is matchingthe image of

Mary Queen of Scots: Who would have thought that Tellus beeing so fayre by nature,

so honourable by byrth, so wise by education, woulde haue entred into a mischiefe to

the Gods so odious, to men so detestable, and to her freend so malicious(5.3.1-4).

Concerning Leicester, in the years 1563-65 there was an attempt disposed by Lord Cecil

and Queen Elizabeth herself to appoint him as a consort of Mary Queen of Scots.

Robert Dudley was an English noblemanpromoted to an earldom to be more fitting to

the possible position of a husband of a queena Protestant by religion and, above all,

Queens favourite, who would support her interests in Scotland. But Queen Mary was

not excited by being married to Elizabeths subjectand Leicester himself acted against

the marriage. There can be found a monologue of Endimion that could illustrate

Leicestersfeelings during the marriage negotiations:

O Endimion, Tellus was faire, but what auaileth Beautie without

wisedome? Nay, Endimion, she was wise, but what auaileth wis-

dome without honour? Shee was honourable Endimion, belie her

not, I but howe obscure is honor without fortune? Was she not

fortunate whome so many followed? Yes, yes, but base is fortune

without Maiestie: thy Maiestie Cynthia al the world knoweth and

wondereth at, but not one in the world that can immitate it,

or comprehend it. (2.3.11-18)

37Panelion is by Bond supposed to have his original in William Cecil, Lord Burleigh, the main counsellor

of the Queen.


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The negotiations were not successful, therefore Leicester and Mary Queen of Scots

were not wedded, so as Endimion and Tellus, their suggested fictional counterparts.

In the case of the two rather minor characters, Geron and Dipsas, there are no

arguments among the theorists. Lacking the existence of any better originals, Baker and

Bond agrees with Halpins suggestion that Lord and Lady Shrewsbury (Bess of

Hardwick) are the real originals for the witch and her old husband. Being in charge of

Queen Marys custody, Lord Shrewsbury spent a long time away from the Court, which

is supposed to be the original of Gerons exile(Bond 3; 97). Lady Shrewsbury, on the

other hand, spread rumours about a relationship between her husband and his ward,

Mary Queen of Scots. She was also involved in a plot concerning the marriage of Lord

Charles Stuart, Marys brother-in-law, to Lady Shrewsburys daughter, which upset the

Queen Elizabeth38this plot being, according to Bond, the original for the plotting of

Tellus and Dipsas.

The presumable originals of the other minor characters differ in the three

theories. Baker even suggests that it is not necessary to search for allegory concerning

every single character of the play. There are different assumptions relating to the couple

of Eumenides and Semele, for example. Halpins theory says that the originals for this

couple are Lord of Sussex and Frances Sidney, his second wife. However, Bond does

not approve this theory, because it was known that Sussex and Leicester were enemies

and one positive intervention in the case of Leicesters disgrace does not qualify him for

being an original of a faithful friend. Bond, on the other hand, suggests Sir Philip

Sidney for Eumenides. He was a nephew of Leicester and because of his letter to the

Queen in 1580, concerning his opposition to the match with Duke of Anjou (i.e.

38Bond, Vol. 3, p. 94. Lord Charles Stuart and Elizabeth Cavendish were both in the succession line to the

English throne and their marriage strengthened Marys family connection in England, so it should begranted by the Queen; Lady Lennox, Charles mother, even spent several months in Tower for this

offence.


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Alenon), he was compelled to spend seven months of that year in retirement at

Wilton, his return to Court coinciding with Leicesters restoration to favour (Bond 3;

95). This occasion, according to Bond, resembles Eumenides absence at the Court

during his journey and his return which is closely connected to Endimions awakening.

As for Semele, Bond argues that her original is Lady Penelope Deveraux. Lord Essex,

Penelopes father, planned for her to be married to Sidney. But when he died in 1576,

Sidneys father cancelled their engagement, probably because Leicester was said to be

involved in Essexs death or because by his marriage to Essexs widow Philip Sidney

lost his right to inherit Leicesters property. This situation could be seen as the original

of Eumenides decision to put friendship over love at the magic fountain. The fact, that

in the play Eumenides and Semele are, even if she at first refuses, getting married, but

the originals of the couple were at that time married to someone else, may be, according

to Bond, regarded as a merely stage-necessity(Bond 3, 96), so as in the case of Tellus

and Corsites, because Mary Queen of Scots was also not getting married to her guard.

This could be viewed as a weakness of Bonds theory, but he defends himself by

stating, that: Dramatic necessity or the State censorship may compel him [Lyly] to

alter times and places, to marry people who were not really married, or not to those

whom they are represented as marrying, and even to combine in one character features

of two persons holding successively the same position39(Bond 3; 86). The changes in

the classical mythological stories or in the real events were a devise that Lyly used

while writing most of his plays, as it was mentioned before in the chapter about Sapho

and Phao.

39Bond suggests that the originals of Corsites are both Lord Shrewsbury and Sir Amias Paulet (who

succeeded Shrewsbury in his position as Marys guard), combined into one character Shrewsbury forhis supposed relationship with Mary, Paulet because he was a soldier and his appearance and

characterization fits more the fictional Captain Corsites.


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In conclusion, this play is one of the first plays by Lyly that involves more

elaborated plot and characters and is thus more than conversational comedy serving to

flatter the Queen. In contrast to Sapho and Phao,Endimioncould be enjoyed for the

story itself, excluding the allegory which might not be easily understood by every

reader. However, the extent of the implied allegory suggests, that the play would not be

as enjoyable as it was for the audience that could understand it.


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5. Conclusion

The attempt of my thesis was to find reasons why Lyly is not percieved as a

great dramatist any more and why his plays are not exciting for todays audience. In the

second chapter, concerning Lylys life, I focused on various information describing

Lyly as a man of fashion to support the theory that the main reason for the neglect of

Lylys works was his obsession with fashion and contemporary issues. As the Court

dramatist, Lyly was limited in scope of his writing. In the period, in which he started his

career, it was more or less expected from the Court dramatist to flatter the Queen

according to the established panegyric. By performing his duties, he created plays that

were doomed to be popular only as long as the Queen was alive. In the subchapters

about Sapho and PhaoandEndimionI focused on describing all the supposed hints on

contemporary events and affairs that probably even a hundred years later the readers

were not able to fully understand. And thus, the possible inventor of modern comedy

rose to the top of his popularity only to quickly fall into obllivion.


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7. Works Cited

Alwes, Derek B. I would faine serve: John Lylys Career at Court. Comparative

Drama34.4 (2000): 399-421.Literature Online. 2 Feb. 2009

.

Barish, Jonas A. The Prose Style of John Lyly.ELH23.1 (1956): 14-35.JSTOR. 1

Jan. 2009 .

Bond, R. Warwick, ed. The Complete Works of John Lyly. 3 Vols. Oxford: Clarendon,

1902.

Cartwright, Ken. The Confusions of Gallathea: John Lyly as Popular Dramatist.

Comparative Drama32.2 (1998): 207-39.Literature Online. 2 Feb. 2009

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Chambers, E.K. The Elizabethan Stage. Vol. 2. Oxford: Clarendon, 1923.

Elizabethan Authors. Ed. Robert Brazil. 2002. 30 Jan. 2009

.

Fleay, Frederick G. A Biographical Chronicle of the English Drama. Vol. 2. London:

Reeves, 1891.

Hupp, Bernard F. Allegory of Love in Lylys Court Comedies. ELH14.2 (1947): 93-

113.JSTOR. 2 Feb. 2009 .

King, John N. Queen Elizabeth I: Representations of the Virgin Queen.Renaissance

Quarterly43.1 (1990): 30-74.JSTOR. 2 Feb. 2009

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Lewis, C.S. TheAllegory of Love: A Study in Medieval Tradition. New York: Oxford

UP, 1958.

Lyly, John. Endimion. The Complete Works of John Lyly. Ed. R.W. Bond. Vol. 3.

Oxford: Clarendon, 1902.


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Lyly, John. Sapho and Phao. The Complete Works of John Lyly. Ed. R.W. Bond.

Vol. 2. Oxford: Clarendon, 1902.

McCarthy, Jeanne H. Elizabeth Is picture in little: Boy Company Representations of

a Queens Authority. Studies in Philology100.4 (2003): 425-62.Literature

Online. 30 Jan. 2009 .

Leadbetter, Ron. Artemis. 10 Aug. 2005.Encyclopedia Mythica. 20 Feb. 2009

.

Scragg, Leah. Campaspeand the Construction of Monarchical Power.Medieval and

Renaissance Drama in England 12 (1999): 59-83.Literature Online. 2 Feb.

2009 .

Scragg, Leah. The Victim of Fashion? Rereading the Biography of John Lyly.

Medieval & Renaissance Drama in England19 (2006): 210-28.Literature

Online. 2 Feb. 2009 .

Symonds, J.A. Shakespeares Predecessors in the English Drama. London: Murray,

1920.

Turner, Robert Y. Some Dialogues of Love in Lylys Comedies.ELH29.3 (1962):

276-288.JSTOR. 20 Mar. 2009 .

Wilson, John Dover.John Lyly. Cambridge: Macmillan and Bowes, 1905.

White, Paul Whitfield. Playing Companies and the Drama of the 1580s: A New

Direction for Elizabethan Theatre History?Shakespeare Studies. 28 (2000):

265-84.Literature Online. 30 Mar. 2009 .

Bakalarska - Plays of Lyly

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