The London Prodigal is an English Renaissance play, most notable for its inclusion among among the Shakespeare apocrypha. A city comedy set in London, it tells the story of a prodigal son learning the error of his ways. It was published 1605 as a play by William Shakespeare but the attribution is regarded as spurious by most scholars.
The London Prodigal has been dated as early as c. 1591, and as late as 1603–04. It is one of a long series of "prodigal son" plays that reach back as far as the Bible for inspiration and precedent; but it is also an example of the evolving Elizabethan genre of domestic dramas, and is "one of the first naturalistic dramas in English".[1]
The play was not entered into the Stationers' Register. It was published in quarto in 1605 by the stationer Nathaniel Butter, and printed by Thomas Creede. The title states that it is "By William Shakespeare", and that it was performed by the King's Men's, the company for whom Shakespeare worked. The attribution to Shakespeare is generally rejected by scholars as the play does not read like his other work.
It was not included in the 1623 First Folio of Shakespeare's collected plays. However, in 1664 it was one of the seven plays that publisher Philip Chetwinde added to the second impression of his Third Folio of Shakespeare's plays. In modern times, the play has been published in two editions. An old-spelling edition appears in C.F. Tucker-Brooke's The Shakespeare Apocrypha. A modern-spelling edition appears in the 2013 anthology William Shakespeare and Others: Collaborative Plays, whose editors state that it is "almost certainly not by Shakespeare".[2]
Matthew Flowerdale, the prodigal son of a merchant, Flowerdale Senior, is a libertine, gambler, swearer, brawler, drinker and thief. Flowerdale Senior's brother, Flowerdale Junior, warns him about Matthew's dissolute behaviour but Flowerdale Senior dismisses his fear, believing that "youth must have its course" and that his son will soon make amends. In order to spy on his son, Flowerdale Senior feigns death and appears disguised as a servant. He is soon appalled by the sum of his son's vices. Matthew Flowerdale forges a will in which he pretends to be a wealthy man bequeathing all his fortune to Sir Lancelot Spurcock. When the latter discovers the will, he decides to marry his daughter Luce with Matthew. They are quickly married but Matthew is arrested for debt on his wedding day. He becomes poorer and poorer and robs one of Luce's sisters. Although she is abominably treated by her husband (he even asks her to become a whore), Luce remains loyal to him and finally moves her dissolute husband to repentance and reform. Flowerdale Senior reveals his true identity and congratulates his son for his new resolutions.
Notesedit
^Willard Thorp, quoted in Logan and Smith, The Popular School, p. 222.
^ abBate, Jonathan; Rasmussen, Eric (2013). William Shakespeare and Others: Collaborative Plays. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. p. 424. ISBN9781137271440.
^Hope, Jonathan (1994). The Authorship of Shakespeare's Plays. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN0521417376.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
Referencesedit
C. F. Tucker Brooke, The Shakespeare Apocrypha, Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1908.
Terence P. Logan and Denzell S. Smith, The Popular School: A Survey and Bibliography of Recent Studies in English Renaissance Drama, Lincoln, Nebraska, University of Nebraska Press, 1975.
Terence P. Logan and Denzell S. Smith, The New Intellectuals: A Survey and Bibliography of Recent Studies in English Renaissance Drama, Lincoln, Nebraska, University of Nebraska Press, 1977.
The London Prodigal public domain audiobook at LibriVox
April 06, 2024
london, prodigal, english, renaissance, play, most, notable, inclusion, among, among, shakespeare, apocrypha, city, comedy, london, tells, story, prodigal, learning, error, ways, published, 1605, play, william, shakespeare, attribution, regarded, spurious, mos. The London Prodigal is an English Renaissance play most notable for its inclusion among among the Shakespeare apocrypha A city comedy set in London it tells the story of a prodigal son learning the error of his ways It was published 1605 as a play by William Shakespeare but the attribution is regarded as spurious by most scholars Title page of The London Prodigal Contents 1 Date authorship and publication 2 Synopsis 3 Notes 4 References 5 External linksDate authorship and publication editThe London Prodigal has been dated as early as c 1591 and as late as 1603 04 It is one of a long series of prodigal son plays that reach back as far as the Bible for inspiration and precedent but it is also an example of the evolving Elizabethan genre of domestic dramas and is one of the first naturalistic dramas in English 1 The play was not entered into the Stationers Register It was published in quarto in 1605 by the stationer Nathaniel Butter and printed by Thomas Creede The title states that it is By William Shakespeare and that it was performed by the King s Men s the company for whom Shakespeare worked The attribution to Shakespeare is generally rejected by scholars as the play does not read like his other work It was not included in the 1623 First Folio of Shakespeare s collected plays However in 1664 it was one of the seven plays that publisher Philip Chetwinde added to the second impression of his Third Folio of Shakespeare s plays In modern times the play has been published in two editions An old spelling edition appears in C F Tucker Brooke s The Shakespeare Apocrypha A modern spelling edition appears in the 2013 anthology William Shakespeare and Others Collaborative Plays whose editors state that it is almost certainly not by Shakespeare 2 Individual scholars have attributed the play to Ben Jonson Thomas Dekker John Marston and Michael Drayton 3 Thomas Heywood George Wilkins 4 and John Fletcher 2 None of these attributions however has been accepted by a significant proportion of the critical community In 1994 Jonathan Hope proposed based on linguistic evidence that the play is a collaboration by two authors 5 Synopsis editMatthew Flowerdale the prodigal son of a merchant Flowerdale Senior is a libertine gambler swearer brawler drinker and thief Flowerdale Senior s brother Flowerdale Junior warns him about Matthew s dissolute behaviour but Flowerdale Senior dismisses his fear believing that youth must have its course and that his son will soon make amends In order to spy on his son Flowerdale Senior feigns death and appears disguised as a servant He is soon appalled by the sum of his son s vices Matthew Flowerdale forges a will in which he pretends to be a wealthy man bequeathing all his fortune to Sir Lancelot Spurcock When the latter discovers the will he decides to marry his daughter Luce with Matthew They are quickly married but Matthew is arrested for debt on his wedding day He becomes poorer and poorer and robs one of Luce s sisters Although she is abominably treated by her husband he even asks her to become a whore Luce remains loyal to him and finally moves her dissolute husband to repentance and reform Flowerdale Senior reveals his true identity and congratulates his son for his new resolutions Notes edit Willard Thorp quoted in Logan and Smith The Popular School p 222 a b Bate Jonathan Rasmussen Eric 2013 William Shakespeare and Others Collaborative Plays Basingstoke Palgrave Macmillan p 424 ISBN 9781137271440 Logan and Smith The New Intellectuals p 92 Logan and Smith The Popular School p 221 Hope Jonathan 1994 The Authorship of Shakespeare s Plays Cambridge Cambridge University Press ISBN 0521417376 a href Template Cite book html title Template Cite book cite book a CS1 maint date and year link References editC F Tucker Brooke The Shakespeare Apocrypha Oxford Clarendon Press 1908 Terence P Logan and Denzell S Smith The Popular School A Survey and Bibliography of Recent Studies in English Renaissance Drama Lincoln Nebraska University of Nebraska Press 1975 Terence P Logan and Denzell S Smith The New Intellectuals A Survey and Bibliography of Recent Studies in English Renaissance Drama Lincoln Nebraska University of Nebraska Press 1977 External links editThe London Prodigal at Project Gutenberg The London Prodigal at the Internet Archive nbsp The London Prodigal public domain audiobook at LibriVox Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title The London Prodigal amp oldid 1215872070, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
