John Marston's Histriomastix and the Golden Age

Authors

George L. Geckle, University of South Carolina

Abstract

In lieu of an abstract, the first paragraph of the essay follows:

In spite of its title, Histrio-Mastix; Or, The Player whipt is not primarily concerned with either players or the War of the Theaters, as has been frequently argued.¹ Rather, as recent scholarship has urged, the play is "about the decay of a commonwealth" and was. "written by Marston for the Middle Temple's Christmas revels of 1598/9."² It is essentially "a study of the breakdown of an unspecified but clearly English society, and each of its six acts presents one phase of the process: Peace, Plenty, Pride, Envy, War, Poverty. The deterioration is traced and made specific by presenting in each act various scenes which illustrate the theme of the act."³ The play is at the same time an "allegorical dramatization of two Renaissance commonplaces. The first is the idea that the fortunes of society are governed by a continuous cycle. . . . The second thesis offers a way out of the cyclical trap through learning .... "⁴ My argument, however, is that in his allegory Marston presents a vision of the Golden Age, followed by the stages through which it turns to an Age of Iron, and then a renewal of the Golden Age through the return of Astraea. Further, in each act crucial choric commentary is presented by the key human figure in the drama, the scholar-poet Chrisoganus.

Recommended Citation

Geckle, George L. (1972) "John Marston's Histriomastix and the Golden Age," Comparative Drama: Vol. 6: Iss. 3, Article 3.
Available at: https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/compdr/vol6/iss3/3