Description
Book SynopsisOf all the poets Francis Meres names in his famous
Palladis Tamia, Wits Treasury (1598), just two rate a mention as being both ‘our best for tragedy’ and ‘the best poets for comedy’: William Shakespeare and George Chapman.
All Fools, written in 1599, is the only Elizabethan comedy based directly on the plays of Terence. By taking episodes and characters from two brilliant works,
The Self-Tormenter and
The Brothers, Chapman creates something that is distinctly Elizabethan while remaining faithful to the spirit of the great Roman master. In this edition, an extensive introduction and commentary show how Chapman combines the literary and theatrical traditions of ancient Rome with everyday life in his own time to fashion a sparkling and innovative comedy that will delight audiences today as much as it did those of 1599.
Table of ContentsINTRODUCTION
Chapman at the Rose, 1598–99
From the Rose to Blackfriars
Terence goes to London: the sources of All Fools
The primary plot: Terence transmogrified
Love and marriage in Terence and Chapman
The secondary plot: adultery for fun and profit
Ovid and the art of adultery
Cuckoldry as a spectator sport
Divorce English style
‘Tis at the Half Moon Tavern’
In praise of the horn
The text
ALL FOOLS
APPENDIX The Walsingham Sonnet
INDEX
