The role of courtier and prince in Renaissance drama

Prince and the Courtier

The issue of courtly love, in renaissance drama is one utterly surrounded by high emotion, intrigue and secrecy. So much so that the effects of courtly liaisons can literally and figuratively end with physical death caused by emotional responses to its loss or by the vengeance of those who might feel wronged or betrayed by the lovers. Honor, independence, family, and virtue are dramatically intense issues associated with affairs of the heart, especially in the case were a purse or a lineage is perceived to be at risk.

Call for the robin-redbreast and the wren, / Since o'er shady groves they hover, / And with leaves and flowers do cover/The friendless bodies of unburied men." The White Devil. Act v. Sc. 2.

I know death hath ten thousand several doors/

For men to take their exit." Duchess of Malfi. Act iv. Sc. 2.

Those men and women who overstep the boundaries of convention and disturb the honor code are friendless. There are many ways to overstep the role of the honorable, not the least of which is through flagrant acts of outranking love. The prince and the courtier, as well as the women who are often the objects of unquenchable desire are charged with the role of social police. Within the introduction to The Duchess of Malfi in the Norton Anthology of English Literature the nature of Websters achievements are encapsulated within a single line of text:

His art is one of brilliant highlights and black shadows, of furtive and dangerous intrigue carried out in the flickering light of hell fire; it serves to illumine once clear character who accepts without faltering or cringing the ultimate test." (Abrams 1241)

Within John Webster's works, The Duchess of Malfi and The White Devil there are many messages about the results and realities of chivalry. Within these two works there is a constant interplay between courtly reward and courtly desertion and issues of class are extremely volatile subjects. "Condemn you me for that the duke did love me? / So may you blame some fair and crystal river / For that some melancholic, distracted man / Hath drown'd himself in 't." The White Devil. Act iii. Sc. 2.

It is abundantly clear through countless literary examples that the desertion of a courtly lover, be he or she a consummated partner or simply a lover in words alone is most often done through death. The urgings of individuals often expressed through personal ambition repeatedly demonstrate the importance of a good, or equal match.

Hand her, my Lord, and kisse her: be not like A ferret to let go your hold with blowing. (4.2.170-71)1 " There is no question about where Flamineo's interest lies in this passage and in the play. Both as Brachiano's secretary and as his sister's pander, his path to advancement depends on Brachiano's satisfaction and Vittoria's eventual marriage to the duke. His urging, therefore, that Brachiano "be not like / A ferret to let go your hold with blowing," is deeply felt.(Carnegie 18)

Within the social system of courtly marriage, the match between two people, no matter how unlikely or unloving, can make or break not only the participants but an entire household if not an entire community. Though love of coarse is a secondary consideration, it is most often the dagger, by which those with ambition make or break the courtier of the prince.

The lives and desires of the individuals almost seem to come as a secondary consideration. So, with this development, which became stricter and stricter the higher the social scale of the individuals, came the development of courtly love. If one could not have a love match within their lifelong partnership then they would seek it elsewhere.

ANTONIO. They do observe I grow to infinite purchase, / The left hand way; and all suppose the duchess / Would amend it, if she could; for, say they, / Great princes, though they grudge their officers / Should have such large and unconfined means / To get wealth under them, will not complain, / Lest thereby they should make them odious / Lest thereby they should make them odious / Of love or marriage between her and me / They never dream of. The Duchess of Malfi Act III Scene 1

With or without the consent of their family, usually without, and with or without actual physical love, or at least with or without sex. To a great degree it is the most cherished and foundational examples of dramatic courtly love which do not include sex at all but are simply tests of eternal devotion, with withdrawn and repeated hints of future physical gratification. Glories, like glow-worms, afar off shine bright, / But look'd too near have neither heat nor light. The White Devil. Act iv. Sc. 4.

In Webster's Duchess of Malfi there is this same sort of statement about the trap of convention, and the challenge of the reader using the extremes of grief and pity to challenge the right and the wrong of the Duchess' position as a subject to her family, her husband and her cultural position. The Duchess becomes the victim of her love because she as a person of her status has no real personal control over her own life. When she takes control of her life it leads to her demise. (Mulryne 202) The Duchess is repeatedly warned that her free-will will lead to her death or her captivity. Even her own words tell of her trap as a woman and as a noblewomen, "We are forced to woo, because none dare woo us." The Duchess of Malfi Act I Scene II

Women in her position, with any kindling of passion for love and life are forced by the trap of their rank to go outside the proper to risk themselves because men are fearful of coming near them, due to social taboo and the seriousness of personal involvement with any one of rank.