Philaster: Or Love Lies A-Bleeding

John Fletcher, Francis Beaumont

CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, Sep 18, 2018 - 94 pages

Philaster, or Love Lies a-Bleeding is an early Jacobean era stage play, a tragicomedy written by Francis Beaumont and John Fletcher. One of the duo's earliest successes, the play helped to establish the trend for tragicomedy that was a powerful influence in early Stuart-era drama.The play is set in a fictionalised version of the Kingdom of Sicily, ruled by an otherwise-unnamed king. This king's father and predecessor, the ruler of Southern Italy (the Kingdom of Naples), had conquered the island of Sicily and displaced the native royal house; but the heir of that house, and rightful king of Sicily, is Philaster, who lives as a nobleman in the royal court. The king fears him, but cannot kill him, because of the passionate loyalty of the people.

About the author

Francis Beaumont (1584-1616) and his collaborator John Fletcher (1579-1625) wrote some of the most popular dramas of Elizabethan England. Beaumont and Fletcher began to work together in about 1606 and continued their partnership until Beaumont's retirement in 1613. Beaumont apparently was the primary plotter of their plays, while Fletcher had a strong flair for language. Their comedies and tragedies include The Woman Hater, The Coxcomb, A Maid's Tragedy, The Knight of the Burning Pestle, Wit Without Money, and Philaster, Or Love Lies A Bleeding. Fletcher authored several other plays alone, such as the comedy The Wild Goose Chase (1621) and the tragedy Bonduca (1614). Cardenio, or the Second Maiden's Tragedy, and Two Noble Kinsmen are attributed to Fletcher, although there has been some speculation that he collaborated with Shakespeare on the plays. Beaumont and Fletcher's work is energetic, rich in stage thrills, declamatory speeches and bizarre plots. Although their work is not as unified as that of some of their contemporaries including Shakespeare and Webster, it influenced the development of Restoration comedy and tragedy, and thus played an important role in the history of drama.

Bibliographic information

• Title: Philaster: Or Love Lies A-Bleeding
• Authors: John Fletcher, Francis Beaumont
• Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2018
• ISBN: 1726252531, 9781726252539
• Length: 94 pages