1577 - Johnson, Laurence - Misogonus (1)
Allusion | |
---|---|
Date | 1577 |
Author | Johnson, Laurence |
Title | Misogonus |
Mentions | Robin Hood; antic; monster; monk; goblin; fiend; hobby horse; tumbling bear |
By Henrik Thiil Nielsen, 2013-07-29. Revised by Henrik Thiil Nielsen, 2021-01-07.
Allusion
Mis. Bodye of god stande backe what monster haue we heare
an antike or a munke a goblinge or a finde
some hobbye horse I thinke or some tumblinge beare
Yf thou canst speake & declare me the kinde.
Ca. My yonge master ho ho ho
Mis. Passion of me it is robin hoode I thinke verelye
I will let flye at him if he speake not furthwith
speake lubber speake or Ile kill the presentlye
Nay then haue at the shalt near dye other death.[1]
Source notes
IRHB's italics. Mis.=Misogonus; Ca.=Cacurgus; Or.=Orgelus. Brief note on this passage, p. 306.
IRHB comments
This text also includes an allusion to Maid Marian. Bond[2] notes that though ostensibly taking place in the Roman empire, Misogonus is entirely English in tone and atmosphere and as regards characters' names and allusions. He cites the alluions to Robin Hood and Maid Marian among his examples.
The "antike" in line 2 must be A "performer who plays a grotesque or ludicrous part, a clown, mountebank, or merry-andrew".[3] Given the alternatives of "antike", monster, "munke", "goblinge", "finde", "hobbye horse" and "tumblinge beare", there is little doubt "robin hoode" is thought of as a character in some kind of performance in a festive context. The mention of a monk would seem to suggest a May game morris dance, but in the post-Reformation period, popular (mostly pre-Reformation) entertainments tended to be connected with "Popery", and quite possibly the monk was included simply to suggest this connection.
Lists
- Not included in Dobson, R. B., ed.; Taylor, J., ed. Rymes of Robyn Hood: an Introduction to the English Outlaw (London, 1976), pp. 293-11.
- Sussex, Lucy, compil. 'References to Robin Hood up to 1600', in: Knight, Stephen. Robin Hood: A Complete Study of the English Outlaw (Oxford, UK; Cambridge, Massachusetts: Blackwell, 1994), pp. 262-88; see p. 281.
MS sources
Editions
- Barber, Lester E., ed. Misogonus (Renaissance Drama) (New York; London, 1989).
- Bond, Richard Warwick, ed. Early Plays from the Italian (Oxford, 1911), pp. 161-258; see pp. 186, 306.
- Brandl, Alois, ed. Quellen des Weltlichen Dramas in England vor Shakespeare: Ein Ergänzungsband zu Dodsley’s Old English Plays (Quellen und Forschungen zur Sprach- und Culturgeschichte der Germanischen Völker, vol. 80) (Strassburg, 1898), pp. 419-89.
- Farmer, John Stephen, ed. Six Anonymous Plays (Second Series) (London, 1906), pp. 133-243.
Discussion
- Bevington, D. M. 'Misogonus and Laurentius Bariwna', English Language Notes, vol. 2 (1964-65), pp. 9-10.
- Kittredge, George Lyman. 'The "Misogonus" and Laurence Johnson', Journal of English and German Philology, vol. 3 (1901), pp. 335-41.
- Tannenbaum, Samuel Aaron. Shaksperian Scraps and Other Elizabethan Fragments (New York and London, 1933), pp. 129-41.
Also see
Notes
- ↑ Bond, Richard Warwick, ed. Early Plays from the Italian (Oxford, 1911), p. 186 (Act I, sc. iii, ll. 1-9), and see p. 306.
- ↑ Bond. op. cit., p. xci
- ↑ OED 2, s.n. antic, a. and n., 4.B.4.