Hello and welcome to the Discourse. Christopher Marlowe was the first Elizabethan dramatist who used blank verse in a versatile manner and that became the reason for the popularity of his tragic dramas. We have discussed his other popular dramas including Dido, The Queen of Carthage, Jew of Malta, and Doctor Faustus. The Massacre at Paris is probably the bloodiest Elizabethan drama as it included as many 18 murders in total, most of them stabbed, while some poisoned. Shakespeare’s Titus Andronicus also gained fame because of the bloodshed shown it but Titus Andronicus had a depiction of 14 murders in total. Yet, Titus Andronicus is considered more gruesome and gory because of the depiction of the rape of Lavinia and how her hands and tongue were cut off so that she could not reveal the names of her rapists either by saying or by writing.
The Massacre at Paris was first performed by Lord Strange’s Men on 26 January 1593 by the title The Tragedy of the Guise. Later on, Admiral’s Men performed the same drama ten times between 19 June and 25 September 1594 by the title The Guise or The Massacre.
The Massacre is a history play. A History Play is based upon the real events of history that actually happened. The Massacre is based on the Saint Bartholomew’s Day Massacre that happened in 1572. The play also depicts the assassination of Duke of Cardinal of Guise and of Henry III, the king of France that happened in 1588 and 1589, respectively.
Major Characters:
Christopher Marlowe was known for producing excellent Machiavellian characters for his plays. Tamburlaine, Doctor Faustus, and The Jew of Malta were prime examples of his creativity. The Machiavellian character of The Massacre At Paris is the Duke of Guise. Henry of Navarre is a reputed Huguenot Nobel who is being arranged to marry Margaret of Valois who is the sister of Catholic King Charles IX. Catherine de Medici is the Queen Mother of France, she is the mother of Margaret and Charles IX. Charles is the King of France, his son is Henry III who later becomes the King. Joyeux is a Catholic supporter confidante of the duke of Guise. Dumaine and Cardinal Loraine are brothers of Guise. Some minor characters are the Queen of Navarre, The Admiral who is the leader of the Huguenot faction, a friar, three assassins, and other courtiers.
Background:
The Massacre at Paris is a History play that depicts three true events of French History. During the late 1560’s France was suffering a religious civil war between Catholics and Calvinist Protestants (Huguenots). In 1570, the treaty of Peace of Saint Germain was signed between Catholic King Charles IX and Admiral Gaspard De Coligny who was leading the Huguenots. To strengthen the peace treaty, the marriage of Margaret of Valois and Henry of Navarre was to be held on 18August 1572. However, the peace treaty was fraudulent as the assassination of Gaspard De Coligny was attempted on 22 August 1572 when the majority of Huguenots were in Paris for the preparation of marriage. Later on, King Charles IX died and his son Henry III became the king. The Duke of Guise, who lead the assassination attempt of The Admiral was murdered in 1588, and Henry III was murdered in 1589 Christopher Marlowe was a British playwright and he depicted these events while showing Huguenots in a positive light while Catholics were shown villainous.
Summary:
The play begins with the marriage precessions of Margaret of Valois and Henry of Navarre in Paris. Mother Queen Catherine De Medici has cruel intentions against the Huguenots and while many prominent Huguenots are in Paris to attend the marriage, they also do not trust the Catholic administration. The leader of the Catholic faction is the Duke of Guise who has planned the murder of the Queen of Navarre and one of her admirals who is the leader of Huguenots. While the marriage happens peacefully. Duke of Guise’s plan is executed well as Queen of Navarre is murdered as she receives poisoned gloves. The Admiral is also attacked and shot but he survives despite being lethally wounded.
King Charles allows medical care of the Admiral and while he goes to meet the wounded admiral, Duke of Guise, Catherine de Medici and other members and leaders of the Royal Family plan a massacre to kill all the Huguenots who were present in Paris to attend the marriage. King Charles IX ordered the marriage of Henry of Navarre with his sister Margaret with the pure intention of bringing peace between the two religious factions. However, this move wasn’t supported by other Catholic people of prominence and hence he is forced by them and his own mother to allow the massacre of Huguenots.
Some trusted members of the Catholic faction attack the admiral again and murder him in his bed while other Catholics lead by Guise spread the massacre throughout Paris. Henry of Navarre is inside the Palace along with Margaret of Valois and he realizes that even his marriage to a Catholic princess failed to do any good to bring harmony between the two religious groups.
Guise and his trusted compatriots call for the blood of Huguenots and especially of any Huguenot who is in close relationship with the Navarre line. They do not let even the tutors and pastors favoring the Navarre line go unscathed. Henry of Navarre manages to save his life somehow and he reaches his own territory. Meanwhile, the massacre in Paris is considered successful. King Charles IX suffer death due to Tuberculosis.
After the death of King Charles IX, Mother Queen calls her son Henry III back from abroad and announces him to be the next King. However, she makes it clear in the court that the actual rein of power will remain in her hands.
Meanwhile, Henry of Navarre is disheartened though he is safe in Navarre. He learns that the Duke of Guise is raising an army to attack Navarre. Navarre decides to raise his army and send his soldiers to face the French army before they could reach the borders of Navarre. The army of Guise is led by Joyeux.
Henry soon gets the message that Joyeux has been killed and his army has been defeated. Guise is disappointed and angry because of this failure. Meanwhile, the new King Henry III realizes that Guise is proving to be too costly for France and decides to part ways with him. The rumors of Henry III planning to get rid of Guise reaches the ears of both Guise and Henry of Navarre. Navarre decides to make a move. Henry of Navarre sends a message to Henry III that he would like to join forces with him to help him get rid of the Duke of Guise. On the other hand, the Duke of Guise also prepares to tackle the threat.
However, before Henry of Navarre and Henry III could join their forces, Henry III succeeds in convincing the Duke of Guise to attend the Royal Court at Blois. Henry III then arranges three assassins to murder Duke of Guise, Guise is killed at Blois and Henry III then shows his dead body to Duke of Guise’s son to make it public that Guise has been killed. Then Henry III also orders the murder of Dumaine and Cardinal of Lorraine, brothers of the Duke of Guise, to avoid any act of revenge from their side. He goes to meet Catherine De Medici and informs her of what he has done. Mother Queen gets angry at him for doing such an act without taking her advice. Henry III realizes that Mother Queen was favoring Duke of Guise from start.
Henry III then joins forces with Henry of Navarre and together they fight against the Catholic League in Paris. Meanwhile, Dumaine comes to know about the assassination of his brother and decides to take revenge. A Friar offers his services to Dumaine and says that he can easily reach near to Henry III without letting anyone know his intentions and then he will murder Henry III.
The friar pretends that he has to deliver a letter of political importance to Henry III. Henry III allows him to meet him and then the friar stabs him. Henry III also attacks him and the friar dies. However, Henry III is also lethally wounded. As he realizes that he won’t survive, he announces his friend Henry of Navarre to be the next King of France. The play ends with Navarre, now Henry IV, vowing yet more revenge on the Catholic League.
Analysis:
Like other typical tragedies of the Elizabethan era, this play by Christopher Marlowe is also full of gory, murders, bloodshed, criminal plots, and political conspiracies. Cristopher Marlowe successfully depicted the actual events of the history of France from a Protestant’s point of view. Unlike Marlowe’s other famous plays, this play failed to face the test of time. The only surviving text is an octavo edition without any publishing date, which at 1,250 or so lines seems too short to represent the complete original play and which has been conjectured to be a memorial reconstruction by the actors who performed the work.
So this is it for today. We will continue to discuss the history of English Literature. Please stay connected with the Discourse. Thanks and Regards.
No comments:
Post a Comment