The Sun's Darling
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The Sun's Darling is a masque written by John Ford and Thomas Dekker, first published in 1656.
The first edition was a quarto printed by T. Bell for the bookseller Andrew Pennycuick. The 1656 title page states that the play was "often presented" by Queen Henrietta's Men at the Cockpit Theatre; but it also makes the questionable claim that the play was "often presented" at Whitehall Palace—a claim dropped from the title page of the second quarto of 1657. If the work had a Court performance, it would in all likelihood have been once or at most twice, not "often." Q1 was dedicated to Lady Newton, wife of Sir Henry Newton, by the publisher. Q2 was dedicated to Thomas Wriothesley, 4th Earl of Southampton, the dedication signed by Pennycuick and the actor Theophilus Bird.
Hard evidence on the work is not abundant; but the consensus judgment among scholars[1] is that the work was composed ca. 1624-5, shortly before it was licensed for performance by Sir Henry Herbert, the Master of the Revels, on March 3, 1625.[2] The text may have been revised ca. 1638-9: material in the early portion of Act V reflects the dominant political situation at that time.[3] Several attempts have been made by individual commentators to identify the shares of the two collaborators, though no general agreement on the question has been reached.
The title page of the 1656 edition of The Sun's Darling describes the work as a "moral masque"—an accurate description, in that the drama combines the traits and characteristics of the traditional morality play with those of the 17th-century masque.[4]
Featuring standard masque-style personifications, like Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter, Youth, Health, Delight, Time, Detraction, Fortune, etc., and rich in songs, dances, and May-Day games, the play has some obvious crowd appeal to explain its popularity in its own era. The protagonist is Raybright, who is the child and "darling" of the Sun. To treat his melancholy, he is given a year to experience the earthly pleasures of the four seasons. He falls, however, under the deceptive influences of Humor (in the Elizabethan sense) and Folly, and his search for satisfaction is unfulfilled. In the end the Sun warns Raybright that he must resist Folly and Humor to attain harmony.
Some critics have praised the "vitality and beauty" of some of the lyrics in the play; others have judged the work more harshly.
[edit] Notes
- ^ Logan and Smith, p. 140.
- ^ Traditional sources sometimes cite dates earlier by a year, due to confusion over Old Style and New Style dates.
- ^ Cyrus Hoy suggested that a revision and revival ca. 1638-9 was intended to compete with Thomas Nabbes's Microcosmus of 1637; Waith, p. 201.
- ^ Logan and Smith, p. 137.
[edit] References
- Logan, Terence P., and Denzell S. Smith, eds. The Later Jacobean and Caroline Dramatists: A Survey and Bibliography of Recent Studies in English Renaissance Drama. Lincoln, NE, University of Nebraska Press, 1978.
- Waith, Eugene M. Patterns and Perspectives in English Renaissance Drama. Newark, DE, University of Delaware Press, 1988.
