
The Law Against Lovers
'The Law Against Lovers ' Summary
The Law Against Lovers was a dramatic adaptation of Shakespeare, arranged by Sir William Davenant and staged by the Duke's Company in 1662. It was the first of the many Shakespearean adaptations staged during the Restoration era.
Davenant was not shy about changing the Bard's work; he based his text on Measure for Measure, but also added Beatrice and Benedick from Much Ado About Nothing "resulting in a bizarre and fascinating combination." He made Angelo from the former play, and Benedick from the latter, into brothers. The comedy of Pompey the clown and Elbow the constable is excised. Angelo doesn't really try to seduce the virtuous Isabella; he merely tests her commitment to chastity and virtue, like a protagonist in a John Fletcher play. Beatrice has a little sister named Viola, who sings and dances.
Oddly, Davenant was able to represent The Law Against Lovers as his own work; he apparently had jumbled up Shakespeare so successfully that his audience did not recognize what they were seeing and hearing. Both Pepys and John Evelyn were in the house on the same night, and both recorded their impressions of the show but neither mentions Shakespeare in his remarks. And neither did other viewers. Davenant's adaptation was published in 1673.
As extreme as it may sound to a modern sensibility, Davenant's version was not the last word on adapting Measure for Measure. In 1699, Charles Gildon produced a re-adaptation of Davenant's adaptation: Measure for Measure, or Beauty the Best Advocate. Rather than conceal the Shakespearean source, Gildon advertised it, going so far as to have the ghost of Shakespeare speak the play's epilogue. Gildon simplified the whole but added a masque about Dido and Aeneas and the music of the lately-deceased Henry Purcell. Gildon's version was also staged at Lincoln's Inn Fields; Thomas Betterton played Angelo, and Anne Bracegirdle was Isabella.
Book Details
Language
EnglishOriginal Language
EnglishPublished In
1673Genre/Category
Tags/Keywords
Authors

William Davenant
United States
Sir William Davenant also spelled D'Avenant, was an English poet and playwright. Along with Thomas Killigrew, Davenant was one of the rare figures in English Renaissance theatre whose career spanned b...
Books by William DavenantListen/Download Audiobook
- Select Speed
Related books

Henry V by William Shakespeare
Henry V is a history play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written near 1599. It tells the story of King Henry V of England, focusing on...

Sons of the Covenant: A Tale of London Jewry by Samuel Gordon
Set in London's East End at the turn of the 20th century, "Sons of the Covenant" follows the Lipcott brothers, two young men from a poor Jewish family...

scharlaken letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
Het boek 'The Scarlet Letter' van Nathaniel Hawthorne onderzoekt het leven van Hester Prynn, een jonge vrouw in het puritaanse Boston van de 17e eeuw,...

School for Wives by Moliere
Molière's 'The School for Wives' is a satirical comedy that explores themes of love, marriage, and social control. The play follows Arnolphe, a wealth...

Club da Má Língua by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
“O Clube da Má Língua” satiriza a hipocrisia e a superficialidade da sociedade russa do século XIX. A obra retrata um grupo de indivíduos, liderados...

Niebla by Miguel de Unamuno
Niebla, a novel by Miguel de Unamuno, delves into the philosophical complexities of existence through the story of Augusto, a young man of affluence g...

Viaje de Novios by Emilia Pardo Bazán
En 'Viaje de Novios', la condesa Pardo Bazán explora las complejidades del matrimonio por conveniencia a través de la historia de Miranda y Lucía, una...

Trelawny of the Wells by Arthur Wing Pinero
This is the story of a young actress named Rose Trelawny, who struggles to adapt to the changing times of the theatre world in the late 19th century....

The Noble Heart by George Henry Lewes
This Victorian melodrama, written by G.H. Lewes, common law husband of novelist George Eliot (Marian Evans), featured a scandalous love triangle. The...

Nyckfull kvinna del 4 - Modern by Emilie Flygare-Carlén
Nyckfull kvinna del 4 - Modern continues the story of Edith and Ernst's tumultuous relationship. After a near-separation fueled by jealousy and suspic...
Reviews for The Law Against Lovers
No reviews posted or approved, yet...