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    The Pilgrim: "Speak boldly and speak truly, shame the devil"
    The Pilgrim: "Speak boldly and speak truly, shame the devil"
    The Pilgrim: "Speak boldly and speak truly, shame the devil"
    Ebook141 pages1 hour

    The Pilgrim: "Speak boldly and speak truly, shame the devil"

    By John Fletcher

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    About this ebook

    John Fletcher was born in December, 1579 in Rye, Sussex. He was baptised on December 20th. As can be imagined details of much of his life and career have not survived and, accordingly, only a very brief indication of his life and works can be given. Young Fletcher appears at the very young age of eleven to have entered Corpus Christi College at Cambridge University in 1591. There are no records that he ever took a degree but there is some small evidence that he was being prepared for a career in the church. However what is clear is that this was soon abandoned as he joined the stream of people who would leave University and decamp to the more bohemian life of commercial theatre in London. The upbringing of the now teenage Fletcher and his seven siblings now passed to his paternal uncle, the poet and minor official Giles Fletcher. Giles, who had the patronage of the Earl of Essex may have been a liability rather than an advantage to the young Fletcher. With Essex involved in the failed rebellion against Elizabeth Giles was also tainted. By 1606 John Fletcher appears to have equipped himself with the talents to become a playwright. Initially this appears to have been for the Children of the Queen's Revels, then performing at the Blackfriars Theatre. Fletcher's early career was marked by one significant failure; The Faithful Shepherdess, his adaptation of Giovanni Battista Guarini's Il Pastor Fido, which was performed by the Blackfriars Children in 1608. By 1609, however, he had found his stride. With his collaborator John Beaumont, he wrote Philaster, which became a hit for the King's Men and began a profitable association between Fletcher and that company. Philaster appears also to have begun a trend for tragicomedy. By the middle of the 1610s, Fletcher's plays had achieved a popularity that rivalled Shakespeare's and cemented the pre-eminence of the King's Men in Jacobean London. After his frequent early collaborator John Beaumont's early death in 1616, Fletcher continued working, both singly and in collaboration, until his own death in 1625. By that time, he had produced, or had been credited with, close to fifty plays.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherStage Door
    Release dateDec 10, 2017
    ISBN9781787376120
    The Pilgrim: "Speak boldly and speak truly, shame the devil"

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      Book preview

      The Pilgrim - John Fletcher

      The Pilgrim by John Fletcher 

      John Fletcher was born in December, 1579 in Rye, Sussex.  He was baptised on December 20th.

      As can be imagined details of much of his life and career have not survived and, accordingly, only a very brief indication of his life and works can be given.

      Young Fletcher appears at the very young age of eleven to have entered Corpus Christi College at Cambridge University in 1591.  There are no records that he ever took a degree but there is some small evidence that he was being prepared for a career in the church.

      However what is clear is that this was soon abandoned as he joined the stream of people who would leave University and decamp to the more bohemian life of commercial theatre in London.

      The upbringing of the now teenage Fletcher and his seven siblings now passed to his paternal uncle, the poet and minor official Giles Fletcher. Giles, who had the patronage of the Earl of Essex may have been a liability rather than an advantage to the young Fletcher.  With Essex involved in the failed rebellion against Elizabeth Giles was also tainted.

      By 1606 John Fletcher appears to have equipped himself with the talents to become a playwright. Initially this appears to have been for the Children of the Queen's Revels, then performing at the Blackfriars Theatre.

      Fletcher's early career was marked by one significant failure; The Faithful Shepherdess, his adaptation of Giovanni Battista Guarini's Il Pastor Fido, which was performed by the Blackfriars Children in 1608.

      By 1609, however, he had found his stride. With his collaborator John Beaumont, he wrote Philaster, which became a hit for the King's Men and began a profitable association between Fletcher and that company. Philaster appears also to have begun a trend for tragicomedy.

      By the middle of the 1610s, Fletcher's plays had achieved a popularity that rivalled Shakespeare's and cemented the pre-eminence of the King's Men in Jacobean London. After his frequent early collaborator John Beaumont's early death in 1616, Fletcher continued working, both singly and in collaboration, until his own death in 1625.  By that time, he had produced, or had been credited with, close to fifty plays.

      Index of Contents

      DRAMATIS PERSONAE

      SCENE: Spain.

      ACTUS PRIMUS

      SCÆNA PRIMA

      SCÆNA SECUNDA

      ACTUS SECUNDUS

      SCÆNA PRIMA

      SCÆNA SECUNDA

      ACTUS TERTIUS

      SCÆNA PRIMA

      SCÆNA SECUNDA

      SCÆNA TERTIA

      SCÆNA QUARTO

      SCÆNA QUINTA

      SCÆNA SEXTA

      ACTUS QUARTUS

      SCÆNA PRIMA

      SCÆNA SECUNDA

      SCÆNA TERTIA

      JOHN FLETCHER – A SHORT BIOGRAPHY

      JOHN FLETCHER – A CONCISE BIBLIOGRAPHY

      DRAMATIS PERSONAE

      Governour, of Segovia.

      Verdugo, a Captain under him.

      Alphonso, an old angry Gentleman.

      Curio,    } two Gentlemen, friends to Alphonso.

      Seberto, }

      Pedro, the Pilgrim, a noble Gentleman, Servant to Alinda.

      An old Pilgrim.

      Lopes  } two Out-laws under Roderigo.

      Jaques  }

      Roderigo, rival to Pedro, Captain of the Out-laws.

      A Gentleman, of the Country.

      Courtiers.

      Porter.

      Master & Keepers of the Mad folks.

      3 Gentlemen.

      4 Peasants.

      A Scholar  }

      A Parson  } Madmen.

      An English-man  }

      Jenkin, A Welshman  }

      Fool.

      WOMEN

      Alinda, Daughter to Alphonso, Pedro's Lady.

      Juletta, Alinda's Maid, a witty Lass.

      Fool

      Ladies

      SCENE: Spain.

      ACTUS PRIMUS

      SCÆNA PRIMA

      Enter ALPHONSO, CURIO, and SEBERTO.

      CURIO

      Signior Alphonso, ye are too rugged to her,

      Believe too full of harshness.

      ALPHONSO

      Yes, it seems so.

      SEBERTO

      A Father of so sweet a child, so happy,

      Fye, Sir, so excellent in all endowments,

      In blessedness of beauty, such a mirror.

      ALPHONSO

      She is a fool, away.

      SEBERTO

      Can ye be angry?

      Can any wind blow rough, upon a blossom

      So fair, and tender? Can a Fathers nature,

      A noble Fathers too?

      ALPHONSO

      All this is but prating:

      Let her be rul'd; let her observe my humour,

      With my eyes let her see; with my ears listen;

      I am her Father: I begot her, bred her,

      And I will make her—

      CURIO

      No doubt ye may compel her,

      But what a mischievous, unhappy fortune

      May wait upon this will of yours, as commonly

      Such forcings ever end in hates and ruines.

      ALPHONSO

      Is't not a man I wish her to? a strong man?

      What can she have? what could she have? a Gentleman?

      A young man? and an able man? a rich man?

      A handsome man? a valiant man? do you mark me?

      None of your pieced-companions, your pin'd-Gallants,

      That flie to fitters, with every flaw of weather:

      None of your impt bravadoes: what can she ask more?

      Is not a metal'd man fit for a woman?

      A strong chin'd-man? I'le not be fool'd, nor flurted.

      SEBERTO

      I grant ye Roderigo is all these,

      And a brave Gentleman: must it therefore follow

      Upon necessity she must doat upon him?

      Will ye allow no liberty in choosing?

      CURIO

      Alas she is tender yet.

      ALPHONSO

      Enough, enough, enough, Sir:

      She is malleable: she'll endure the hammer,

      And why not that strong workman that strikes deepest?

      Let me know that! she is fifteen, with the vantage,

      And if she be not ready now for marriage—

      SEBERTO

      You know he is a banish'd man: an Out-law;

      And how he lives: his nature rough, and bloody

      By customary Rapines: now, her sweet humour

      That is as easie as a calm, and peaceful,

      All her affections, like the dews on Roses,

      Fair as the flowers themselves: as sweet and gentle:

      How would you have these meet?

      ALPHONSO

      A bed, a bed, Sir:

      Let her be the fairest Rose, and the sweetest,

      Yet I know this fair Rose must have her prickles:

      I grant ye Roderigo is an out-Law.

      An easie composition calls him in again,

      He is a valiant man, and he is a rich man,

      And loves the fool: a little rough by custom:

      She'l like him ten times better. She'l doat upon him,

      If ere they come to grapling, run mad for him;

      But there is another in the wind, some Castrel

      That hovers over her, and dares her daily,

      Some flickring slave.

      CURIO

      I dare not think so poorly.

      ALPHONSO

      Something there is, and must be: but I shall scent it

      And hunt it narrowly.

      SEBERTO

      I never saw her yet

      Make offer at the least glance of affection,

      But

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