Hello and welcome to the Discourse. Thomas Otway was a playwright of the Restoration period who not only succeeded with his comedies of manners but also made a mark as a tragedy playwriter. The Shakespearean usage of blank verse for telling a tragedy was revived by John Dryden in his play All for Love in 1677. Thomas Otway mastered the blank verse in a better manner and produced The Orphan Or The Unhappy Marriage which was a family tragedy play, also known as a She-tragedy drama. The subtitle of The Orphan is The Unhappy Marriage. It was first performed in 1680. Otway proved his mastery over depicting pathos in his dramas and then he produced The History and Fall of Caius Marius in the same year in which he recreated the story of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet based on Plutarch’s Lives. In 1682, Thomas Otway produced Venice Preserv’d, Or A Plot Discover’d which was again a ‘she-tragedy’.
A she-tragedy, also known as pathetic tragedy is a tragedy play that was focused on the sufferings of a woman, sometimes innocent and virtuous but often a woman who had committed some sort of sexual sin.
Characters of The Orphan, Or The Unhappy Marriage
The titular character of the play is Monimia who is an orphan. She is raised by Acasto, who is a nobleman of high rank. Acasto takes care of Monimia like her own daughter Serina. Castalio and Polydore are the two sons of Acasto who are twins. Castalio was the first-born twin and thus, he believes and behaves like the elder brother. Castalio is very honest and morally strong. Polydore is the younger brother who often remains under the shadow of Castalio. Unlike Castalio, Polydore doesn’t care for morality that much and prefers to remain practical. Chamont is the brother of Monimia who is an honest and brave soldier. Being an orphan himself, he joined the army at an early age, and hence, his nature is a bit rough and unsophisticated. He dearly loves his sister. Serina falls in love with Chamont though Chamont remains indifferent.
Summary of The Orphan, Or The Unhappy Marriage
Acasto returns to his home after retiring from the court and his only mission is to keep his sons safe at home while half the Europe is engaged in wars that Acasto believes are purposeless. He encourages his sons to learn arts and politics and remain away from women. Castalio and Poldore are twins who are more like friends. They are almost similar in appearance but Castalio is a minute or two elder than Polydore. He is more serious, thinking, caring, and morally strong. On the other hand, Polydore is full of childlike excitement toward life. Their younger sister Serina is growing old and Acasto is trying to find a good suitor for her. In addition, Acasto is also worried about Monimia, an orphan whose responsibility he took with utmost care. Acasto has saved enough dowry for Serina and Monimia’s marriage as he treats Monimia as his own daughter.
Meanwhile, Castalio and Polydore are unoccupied and restless as their father doesn’t allow them to go abroad to explore. Both are young and full of heart and they find the most strong attraction in their own home in form of Monimia. Monimia, however, likes Castalio and has expressed her love for him. Castalio also loves Monimia but he knows that Polydore is also in love with her. Castalio is the elder brother and doesn’t wish to break the heart of his younger brother. Being morally stronger than Polydore, he always avoids expressing his feelings for Monimia in front of Polydore. On the other hand, Polydore is a bit shameless in this regard and openly expresses his desperation to win the love of Monimia his brother. For his scrupulousness, Castalio makes the mistake of repressing his love and claims that he has no desire to marry. He says that he would not object if Polydore presses his proposal to Monimia. While Polydore and Castalio were discussing all this, a servant overhears them and informs Monimia. Monimia is in true and deep love with Castalio and she feels heartbroken when she listens that Castalio has no desire to marry.
Chamont, the elder brother of Monimia returns from the war. He joined the army at an early age while Acasto took the responsibility of his younger sister Monimia. Now he is a reputed, honest, and brave soldier. He visits Acasto’s house to meet his sister. When Serina sees Chamont, she falls in love with him. However, Chamont is a bit rough and unsophisticated. He meets Monimia and talks about his dream in which he saw her surrendering to two lovers. He is worried about Monimia and asks her if anything wrong has been done to her. Monimia calms him down and assures him that Acasto’s family takes proper care of her. She shares her inner feelings for Castalio with her brother and says that she deeply loves Castalio and wishes to marry him. Chamont isn’t convinced though, so he warns Monimia of Castalio and tells her to treat him in cold to test his love. However, when Monimia and Castalio meet, Castalio removes all the doubts brewing in Monimia’s mind and promises to marry her at the appropriate time.
Meanwhile, Acasto suffers an attack during a feast and he feels as if he will die soon. He calls upon all his family members to his chamber. He announces that he has equally divided his estate and wealth between Castalio and Polydore and he has saved enough dowry for Serina and Monimia. He further says that his only worry is Serina and asks Chamont to accept her as his wife. Chamont cannot deny the wish of a dying man, and deep at heart, he is impressed by Serina’s beauty so he accepts. Soon Acasto recovers and his health improves. However, Castalio is extra-cautious. He asks Monimia to secretly marry him as he isn’t sure his father will accept their marriage after giving his sister’s hand to her brother. Monimia agrees and informs Chamont about it. Chamont isn’t happy about his sister getting married in secrecy, yet he offers his acceptance as it confirms a safer future for her sister. A priest visits and performs the marriage of Castalio and Monimia.
While sharing a few romantic moments with Monimia, Castalio tells her that he will visit her room at night and she should open the door. Monimia demures and says that it isn’t possible because her room is exactly next to the room of Acasto, and any noise will get him awake. To this, Castalio says that he will make three light knocks upon the door, and won’t speak a single word and thus, there will be no noise. Monimia agrees to this as at heart, she also wishes to be with her husband for the night.
Polydore is unaware of the marriage of Castalio and Monimia. As he enters the home, he eavesdrops on Monimia and Castalio and listens to Castalio’s plan of knocking on Monimia’s door three times at night. He is a bit bewildered as he is in love with Monimia and when he expressed his love for her to Castalio, his brother said that he is not interested in her. He feels a bit cheated and turns rebellious. He decides to visit Monimia’s room much before Castalio.
At night, Polydore goes and lightly knocks on Monimia’s door three times. As promised, Monimia opens the door. In the dark of the night, she fails to recognize that the person who entered isn’t her husband but his younger brother. Being twins, they were almost similar. Polydore makes proper use of the opportunity and shares the bed with Monimia. After a while, Castalio turns to Monimia’s door and lightly knocks three times. When Monimia listens to the sound, she gets confused, to which Polydore, pretending to be Castalio says that it must be Polydore who is trying to tease Monimia and drags her back in his arms.
In the morning, Polydore reveals that Monimia slept with him and Castalio and this creates havoc. Monimia gets frenzies and runs to seek Castalio. When she sees him, she tells him that they must get parted. She goes to her brother and complains about what happened. Chamont gets angry and visits Acasto in his room and informs him about the secret marriage of Castalio and Monimia and demands justice. Acasto rejects the secret marriage. However, the conundrum creates enough noise to let Polydore realize that Monimia and Castalio were already married before he robbed her virginity. He feels guilty for his action. When Castalio faces him, he instigates Castalio and challenges him to a duel. As Castalio isn’t ready to fight with his brother, he starts abusing him and when Castalio decides to raise his sword in rage, Polydore runs to his blade and commits suicide. Before dying, he informs Castalio about his sin but complains that it all happened because Castalio didn’t trust him enough and revealed his love for Monimia to him. He says that had Castalio trusted him and told him of the marriage, the tragedy would have been averted. Meanwhile, Monimia also falls to the ground and she reveals that she has taken a heavy dose of poison. As she also dies, Castalio feels all lost and cuts his throat with his own dagger.
Acasto, Chamont, and Serina witness all of this in shock as they are the only remains of a family that was full of love.
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.
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