JOHN DICKENSON'S "GREENE IN CONCEI PT" (1 598 ):
A CRITICALEDITION WI TH COMMENTARY
BY
C shir leystacey
A thesis SUbmitted to the School of Gladu a te Studies in partial fu lfilme nt of the
re qu i r ementsforthe degreec.f Maste r of Art s
Departmentof English Memorial Universi ty of Newfoundland
Ju ly 1991
st . John' s Ne wfo und land
ABSTRACT
Greene in Conceipt (159B) is alate exampleof euphuist;"c proseroma nc e . It ishighly moralisticaccount of onewoma n' sli f e , pre f a c ed by a unique satirical advertisemen t in whi ch the ghostofRobertGreene tr an s mits th e story to the nar ratorin adre a m. The story withinthe dream-f r a me re wo r ks the popular pr od i ga l sonmotif fou nd in theworks of Greene andLy ly . Valer ia, a prodiga l da ugh t er, is one of the most compl ex and int e res ti ng renere char ac ters in Elizabe t hanprosefiction.
Greenein conceipt is abibliogra ph i c al rarit y: only two copies of the sing le edition remain (located in the Hunt ingto n and BodleianLibraries ). This editionprovidesa cr itical old- s pel lingtext, andis the firs t to examine bot h extant cop i es. The text attemptsto follow th e Hunt ingt o n co pyexac t l ywit h regardsto spe ll ing,punc tuat ion , parag r aphs, inde ntatio",s ,and dialogue (except forminor regul arizati on of pri nti nghouse conventio ns) and all eme ndat i on s ar eduly noted. The pre s en c eofsomeva r i an ts indicate thatthetext was co r r ected in the press,al t houg h not neces s arilybythe autho r.
Theintrodu ctio n disc ussesGr QQnQin con c ei pt , partiCUlarl ywithref erence toitsdidac tici s m and inter est
i i
inpu nishedwomen , and exa.ines th e roleofRobertGre en ein thewor k. The narra ti vevoic e, wh ich isdeliberate l y obscure d, provid e s apos s ibl e explanat ion for the didactic i s mandeuphu ist i c el eme nts inthe text. Abrief biographyof John Dick en sonis in clud e d, followe dby an outlineof the critical principles upon which the ed iti onis based .
The commenta ry at tem p tsto prov i de pres ent-da y meanings for Di ckenson 'slanguage, readag ainst the Oxfordtnglish
~, as wellashisown works andthoseof hi s co n telll porar i e s (part icularly Robe r t Gre e ne) ; to ide ntifyhi s use of proverbsandnat uralhistory; toex a mine his clas sical and con temporar yallusion s; and, wherepossible, to giveparal le lsto other te x ts.
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Besi d e s anobv iou s debt to thosewho navealsostudi ed and written on Dickenson'sworks, I wish tothank the following people and institutions:theCUratorsof the Bodleian Library for pe.cmiss ionto reprint thet i tl e pageof their copy of Greene in Conceipt. Ms. Patti Bryant of Inter- LibraryLoans and the sta f f of theQueenEliz ab ethII library;Mr.Rob Pitt and the Eng lishDepartment /G eneral Studiescomputer As s i s t e d Learning Lab; Ms . Sh e rry Doylewho assistedin proof-reading the text; Professor J.Hare;Mr. A.G. Stacey; andfi n a l l y, my the s isadvisor,Profe s s orW.W.
Barker, who assisted with the text, ed i t e d themanuscript . offeredinnume r a b l e suggestions, and provided muc h support and encouragement.
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CONTENTS
ABSTRACT'
ACKN OWLEDGEHEN T S INTRODUCTION
1 The MainNarrative 2 TheFrame: Dual Na::Tators 3 Gr e e ne in Greene in Concelpt 4 prodigality inGreene'sWorks 5 prodigality inGreene tn Conceipt 6 Didacticism in Gl.-eenein CQnc~
7 PunIshed Women 8 The Author:John DIckenson 9 Note on theText ENDNOTESTO THEINTRODUCTION
GREENE IN CONCEI PT TEXTANDVARI ANT S COMMENTARY WORKS CITED
pag e ii iv vi viii x xvxvi xviii xxii xxvii xxxiii xxxix xliii
i l . il8 224
INT RODUCTI ON
Gr ee nein co nc e i p t is a late eXllompleof=lizabethan proseromance writtenin a euphuist i c style. Published in 1598 , with inan inc rea si ng ly realist icandsa ti rical literary milie u , it nevertheles s consta nt ly refers ba ck to the romances ofJohn Lyly and RobertGreene. A highly mo r a l i s t i c acc ount; of one 'Womanls life, it begins with a satiric'!'l advertisement in 'Which the gh ...st of the famou s prose writer Robert Greene transmits the story to the natTator in&dream. The story within the dream-frame reworks thepopularpr od i q a l son mo tif foundin the works of Greene and Lyly, by crea t i ng a prodigal daughter.
The plot is simp le :Va l e ria ' s first I14r ri a ge (to arich old zan named Giraldo) leads herto adultery; and her second (to an attr active schemer namedArthe.io) bringsher to repentance . Her trans itionfrom innocenc e to prodigal ity and then to repentance ba ke sVa l e ria one of the .ost compl e x and interestingcharacters in Elitabethan prosefiction generally, and certainlyin all of Dickenson'sworks .
The unusualfemale focus directsattentionback to the narrator and the purpose of his misogynistic didacticism. Given the SUbject and the established literary context, the didactic tone (once necessaryfor the justification of the
fiction ) be c omes ambiv al e nt . Dickenson seemsto be toying with the role of thedi dactic narratorbycre a t i ngon e who cneee t eeea hyp othetical fema l e audience. By this and his sUbject, Dickenson may have hop ed to appeal to a voyeuri st ic male audience.
The app e a l may have been limited . After the in i tia l print ing in 1598,there were no furthereditions of Greene in CQnceiptuntil thoseprovided byReverend A.B.Grosart in The Worksor .Jghn plckenson (1873) and WalterJ. Hendricks inhis unpublished PhD di s s e rtati on "."';'ohnDickenson : The Man and His Works" (19 41 ) . The r e hasbeen no previous attempt to provide a cr iti caltextof thework, andthiseditionis the firstto provide an old-spell ingtextbased on a cO\'llparisonof both extant cop i e s. The textattempt s to follow the Huntington copy exactlywith regard to spelling, punctuation , paragraphing, and dialogue (exceptfor minor regularizationof printinghouse conventions) and all emendations are dulynoted. The presence of some va r i a nts indicate that the text was co r r e c t e d inthe press,although not necessarily by the author.
This edition hopes to add to the previous work doneby Grosart and Hendricks , particularly in its commentary, and is indebted to them for providinga starting point in research. The brief biographyof Dickenson which ta l l ows silllply summarizes He nd r i c k sI thorough biographical research;
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and inforlflation on Dic kenson'sLatinworks is takenerom Michael J. Svob' s disser t a tio n "TheScholar 'sAli qu idof JohnDic ken son" (19 66) . The introduc t i o n to thepr esen t editi on providesa re a di ng for the text asarework ing of thecosracnprodigal mo ti f , and off ersa possi b l e explanation for the narrat or'smisog ynis t ic didac tictone . The commentary attemptsta providepresent-day mea ni ngs for Dickenson 'slanquage, read against the OxfordEnglish Dictionary, as well as hisown works and thoseof hi s cont e mpor a r i e s (particularlyRobertGreene).
1The Main Narrative
Greenein CQnc e iptisan unusual book . Nestled inside an elaborate dreamfr a me is the biographyof IIfaire valeria." a once wickedwoman whose she e r excess co mma nds th e audienceIs attention.I She isa daughter destroyedby a fathe r and a wifedestroyedby a husband. Her storycome s tothe narratorJ.D . in a "dreadfuldarke dreame " -- the kindexperiencedby melancholicme n in the middle of the night -- and is set down indetail the next mornlng. Who better to tell hertalethan the ghost of arch-rogue Robert Greene? And who better to tell it to. than the priggi sh self-confessed st o i c. J.D.? Asa prodigaland penitent.
ValeriafascinatesGreene'sghostand leaveshim "in a
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stra ng ehumor , '"wishinq tobe '"aliveagaine,wereitbut for two -Jai es '"(8).
Va l e ria's storybeginswith the st o r y of herfirst husband ,Giraldo , and end swith the death of her so ns.
Gi r aldo is a ric h oldman who fal l spa s sionat elyin lo v e wi t hValer ia ,andwhoIIll'rriesheragainst herwi shes lind everyone else'seev r e e, Heans \o/e r s his cr itics....ith pathet ically earne s t avowa l sof lov e ,peppered withfeeble claims to youth . The ma r r i ag e isbound to tail, J.D . explains,be c auseValeriahasha d too liberalan educlltion, and Giraldois too hUlQanistica husband. She isallowed to c.ons o rt wi t hgossips,and is inevita b l y initiated intoa sisterhood of adultere s s e s. Thesewomen ae e t reqularlyto provideeac h othe r....itha '"lust-pa mper ingdiet '"ot banqu ets , mUsIc , andma leprostitutes.
Aftera seri e s of indiscretions , Valeri a lind her "crew"
are pUb liclyhumiliatedat court,and Giraldodies fr o m grief. Valeria hastilyJIIarriesher lover Arthelll.ioand her father, The odora,diesfrOlllgrief. Unfortuna t e l y , Arthell.io, '"thought it betterto graffe hornes on anothershead, then hims elfeto beare the i'alpr e s s i o n" (88), andimpris o ns Valeriawithinthe house . He spendsher for tuneon pr osti tutes, and abus e s her physi c al l y and menta l ly, claiming tha t he is avenginghe r firsthusbandGiraldo.
Eventual ly, her house, '"g r owi ng queasiestomachtthrougha
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long consumptionof the moveables ,did in a genera l1 vomit sp e we outth e mast",r, the mystris. and all their traine"
(101-02). Val e ri a wande r s aimlesslyuntil she isresc ued by an ex-servantJockie-- "a sillieboy borne in the Northof AlRi2n" (63) -- whom she had treated very badly in her earlier days . In an astoni shingreversal of fortune and violationof social protoc ol.Valeria throwsherselfat her servant'smercy. Having experienced hispatr ona g e and forgiveness . she diesre p e n t a nt. Arthemiodies in prison.
andhe r youngestson (in a lament that ecc-creeneeGreene) dies trying to pray. Valeria is a kindredsp i ritto Robert Greene: her repe ntance (likehis last motto) , is~ n.r.J...Q (late but sincere). So i t is appropriate that Valer ia 'sbiography would bring the ghost of RobertGreene fromElysium to J.D. ' sbe d cha mbe r.
2 The Fram e: Dual Narrators
The "Advertisement toth e Reader"in Greene in cQDceipt just ifies Di c k en s o n ' s work andpresentsadr ea m framework torthe mainbod y of the text. Valeria 'sstory is presented throug ha dou b l e narration--throughJ.D .by th e ghost of Ro b e rt Greeneina dream. It is not clearwhether Greene is a fi c tionofJ.D.'s creative dreaming, or a "real"ghost who activelyint erferesin J.D.·slif e through the medium of the
dre a m(e ven tho ug h hi s visit doesproduceaflre .ti.. text ).
J.D. isalso too literaryto bepositively id e ntif iedwith the aut ho r,John Dickens o n . At best heisa fictionalized vers i o nof the au tho r cre atedtonarrat e astory to ldby the ghost of anotherauthor .
:::tis soo n obvi o us in the "Adv e r tisemen t .. that thi s narra t or, J.D., is totally absorbed in (butnotpart i c u l arl y adept at) his po seas misanthropist. He claims to suffer fro m a melan ch o l ic's disti ncti ve insomnia , but is i_ e d iately sen t to sl eep by read i n gLuc i an's1:.i.m2n(wh ich , of course , he profes s e s to read "withsceepleasure"; 4). His dilig e n t stoici smisreward ed witharather literary dream -visit from a deceased author andceleb rity,Robert Greene,wh ose ex i s t e n ce is (ashepoint sout) antithetical to the philosophyof..the greatest sc off e r of apparitions"
(4 ).J Poor J.D.! Pois own somno l e nt experienceproveshis hero Lucianwrong, and hisenthusiasticre c e p t i o n of Greene's gh o s t does irreparabledamagetohi s ownpre tence of stoicism .
Weimmed iat e l y learn that Death hasn'tmade Greeneany lessrepenta nt(or any more cynic a l).butha s firmlyplanted him inthe architectonicca mp: fiction (qodmother to poesie) is a "heaven l ymixture" (5) whichsweetens ph ilo s op hy. He identifies hi mse lf by his mot to~ punc tum qui mlScuitytile dU1Sji (he haswoneveryvote ....ho
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ha s blendedpro fi t andplea sure) . Fur t he rmo re , he explains that hi s "lat e r labou rs " (or re pe ntant wo r k s )hav e ecrethan made up forhi s "fona.e r vanities· (or earl y romances ) , sowe kno w there is eternal hope for Valer i a,Gree ne, and ind e e d al l pro s e fictionwrite rs. At this news, J.D . lo ses command of his stoical stance andrun s toee br ece Green e"a s both re as c nand hu man it i erequired- (5 ). Unfortunatelyin his ze a l, he ch arqe sri g h t th r ough theappa ri ti on and find s hims elfca r eeni ngacr oss the room. Gre en e isnot atall symp a the t ic , but (lik e the imperi ous eag le guid ein Ch a u c e r'sHouspf r,me) rid i c ulesJ.D.'sunsop h isticated adva n ces.
Deathhaspreve ntedGreene fromrecordi ngVal er ia's st o ry (justas he wascensure d bymora listic actacx s whil e al iv e) • Sohe res pond s in deathas inlife : he claillS a did a c tic fu nc ti o n for her sto ry and persu a des Me rc u ry (th e qed of el oqu e nce ! ) to all ow hima fe w ho urs with the liv i ng. Onc ebackon ear th, runningfc ~joy throughthewick e d but familiar st r e e t sof London,Greene finds hi mse lfdra wnto primlittleJ.D., whoisly ingquit e sober,alone, and mel anc h o lyinhisbe d. Somegre aterforce hasdecided that J. D. needs Valeri a' s st o ry , so wh atca n Gr e e n e dobut transmit it?
At first J.D. balk s at therespon sib ilityof publishi ng Va l e ria's tale: hehas, infact, "f or bo r n the
x11
presse•.. be caus e just ly fearing the overde ep and. pierc i ng ce ns ur e s of this jUd icia l 1 age" (11). Gr eene literal ly has notimefor this ("Tush (quo t hhe ) thouart too scru pu l ous-) ; J.D. squ ir1lls and tries to ma ke adeal, but Greene cutshiDoff inmid-se nt e nce, and flatly refuse s to sa tisf y hisma wkis h curiosityabouthell. When he awak e s , the last thingJ.D.remembersabout his dream is being -charged"by Greeneto recordVa l eria's story . (The audienceis witne s sto the fact th a t J.D.does executeth is Obligation.)
If Greeneleaves J.D. "ext reamelydiscontented " (12) by not answering his quest ionson the afterlife,he doesle ave hill witha tale to telL GreenefindsJ.D.paralysedby se lf -c e ns o r s h i p (aswerethe earliest prose stylists) . By commandi nghim to publishboththe storyand the circu mst a nc e s sur r ou ndi ng it,Greenerel i e v esJ.D. fromthe debilitatingeffectsof takingresponsibilityfor a critica l lyunpopularmuse.~ BecauseJ.D. is repeating another'sstory, the ta l e assumes an auraof unverif iable gossip. The confusionof narra tive vo i c e -- J.D.re p e a t i ng Gr eene' s versionof Va l e r i a ' s autobiography--unde rmin e s the fo rceof the intennittent mora l asides. When, for examp le, thenar r a t or inser ts hi scon de mnati onof anyth i ng from cos me t i c s to corn-hoa r d i ng , itis i!llposs i b l e tosay whetherJ.D.is simply re iterat ing the ideasofGre ene 's
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ghost, or interrupting the narrativewithhis ownopinions.
The audience is being admonished, butit is not clear by whom: Greene , J. D., or Dickenson himse lf. As for the events ofthetale (Le.,what "actua lly "happe ned),onewonde rs how much of the original version (told by Valeria 'sghost) survives the re wo r k ings of ei therGreene'sghost or J.D.
Whilewe are unable to tell whois re s po nsi b l e for eit he r the mora lor immora l part s of Va leria 'sstory, the ene vee may be irrelevant (and possiblydetrimental) to our enjoyment ofthe st ory. Despit eits moral tone, the story feeds onValeria 'slicentiousactivities andthe prurient detailsof her SUf feringat the hands of her second husba nd.
Greene inConceietislo udl y andself-conscious lydidactic, butwithall the conventions ofa bestseller: a famous ghost, a wonderf u l dream, a sil l y oldmansuccessfu l ly cuckolded, a sil lier widow outwi t tedof her inheritance, and a servan t whobecome s lord overhi s mistress. In theeven t of cri tic ism , the confusion of nar ra tivevoice def lects re spon sib il ity forthe SUbj ectma t teraway fr omthe single aut hor . Di c k e ns on mayha ve wri t ten the ra cy (andcorrup t) biography of a well-knownwanton, butthat itse lf is nothing more than a tale told among ghosts , the pr odu ct of adream.
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3 Greenein Greene in conceipt
TherelationshipbetweenGreene in Conceipt and the works of RobertGreene beginswith the obvious references to Greenein the title page, and the appearanceof Greene's ghost in the Advertisement tothe reader.4 By using Greene's name inhis title, Dickenson isreferring to and imitatingGreene, who included his own name in the title s of his later works.J By presentingGreene as a repentant ghost, Dickenson is part of a group of writers who(a f t e r Greene's death) embellished the pseudo-autobiographical penitent prodigalfound inGreene's last works. 6 These writers attempted to capitalizeon Greene'spopularity by using his name and repentant persona in theirworks.7 For example, in Henry Chettle's Kind-Harts pream (1592), the ghost appears with a letter addressed to Pierce Pennilesse
(i.e.,Thomas Nashe), and charges him to defend both his memoryand his reputation . In Barnaby Rich's Creenes Newes Both from Heaven and Hell (1593) Greene is refusedentrance to heavenbecauseof hisliterary career, and denied a place in hell because he expose d cony-catchers. In Samuel Rowlands' Greenes Ghost Hauntingconle-c;ateben (1602),his ghost tracks down unpunished criminals.
In Greenein c;onceipt GreeneIs ghost chargesJ.D.to recordVa l e r i a ' s story "that they who since my death have
unkindly blamdme, may henceforth censure more charitably of me" (10). Greene'sghost hasn't lost his fundamental interest in people or their stories. He takes his walks down by the busy entrance to Orcus (6) and interviews Valeria, as he does Arbasto in~ , the mother in Alcida , and the Palmer in Never t.oo Late and~
Fortunes. Moreimpo rta nt ly , he is alsorepentant. Gree ne is enchanted with Valeria'sta l e because she is a reformed prodigal. In Elysium,Greenehas seen" ~, ~, and all the ancient Cynicks"harass new ghosts,but "not thre e of alltho s e wretches ..• ha ve thanked them for their comfort" (6-7). Valeria is differ en t be c a u s e she is"a woman s Ghost" (7), and her storyis one ofrefo rme d prodiga l ity.
4 prodigalityin Greene'sWo r k s
RichardHel ge rsonarguesthat the guilt associatedwith writ i ng (andre a d i ng ) fiction explains why a great many Elizabe thanwriterswere drawn toth e storyofthe prodigal son,ormore specifically , "thepa r a d i gm of prodigal re be l lion" (3). (Whilethe prodigal's re f orma t i on provided a convenient and necessary closureand re-affinuationof social structu r e , the prodig al 'swicked deeds made the stories int e r esti ng and popu l ar.)' In its inv aria b le form ,
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Helgerson explains, "the young ma n (it is always a young man) to whom the admonition is addressedgoes out anddoes exactlywhat he ha sbeentoldnot to do" and learns fromthe experience (1). Greenes Neyertoo Late, Francescos
~ ,Greenes Mourning Ga m e nt , and Greenes Farewell to
~are marked by the motto Sera sed serig,and fallow the biblical patterning of the prodigal sonfo undin Lyly.
All "trace the decline and repentanceof their protagon ists inforceful parablesthat, ratherthan the euphuism of his earlier work, show Greene' sabiding indebtedness to Lyly"
(Kinney 181). ' William Barker has identified a pattern of experiencecommon to creene-eprodigalstories:
advice from father; advice rejected;departure from home;a short periodof pleasure, usually associated with the love of a womanand friends;
destitution, sometimes broughton by the dishonesty of the woman or a friend; imprisonment;
a realization of the crime s; release from prison;
a periodof restitution and good behaviour; union with a goad woman; acceptance by father (often after a direct conflict withhim); marriage. (95) Greene in conceipt,written in direct imitation of (but much later than) Greene'sand Lyly's versions,contains a variation on this popu Laz- theme.IO Like Greene's~ l:2l:..tY.D.U, prodigalityinGreene in conceiptdoes not stop with marriage. Valeria is a prodigal daughter (warned first by her father, then by her husband, how to behave properly). Instead of one cyclE< of prodigality, there are three; not one prodigal, but two. Valeria ends her days plagued by
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guilt ; hersons di e withoutfinal rec onciliat i on ; and Art hemiosi mply"shiftsaway . "
5Pr odigality inGre en e inConc ei pt
At first gla nc e, Gree ne inconcei ptdoes appear to beIto
hopele ssly out da ted . highly eup huist i c imitatio n of Lyl yand Greene (althoughit is impos sibletosa y whethe r it wa s infl ue nc e d directlyfrom Lyly or throughGr eene' s useof Lyly)." By 1598therage for euphuism (a gene r al rhetorical st y le popularbefore and afte r ~came along) hadsubsided: ~hadbeen around foralmost20 years;Sidney had been de ad for12 ye ars, andGree ne for si x . While peoplecontinuedto read thes ewriters, interest hadsh i f ted from romance to realism.11 Thomas Lodge , Henry Chettle and ThomasNasheare thenewsa t i r ists and stylists." C.S.Lewislaments thatin Greene inco nc e i pt Dickenson' s"poetical prose •••soon lapse[s] into euphuis rn, and the debate between Giraldo in love and thesag e old misogynist is exactly in Lyly' smanne r" (426). The direct imitation of Eubulus'advicein~providesItopointof entry into the te xt:Greene in conceipt isa prodigal story.
The euphuisticset speeches at the bf:lginninq of the tale mark Giraldo as one of Euphues' generation: acha r ac t e r so behind the time s that he doesn't se e the growingschis m
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betweenromance andreality. Gira ldobelieves that kind wordsanda loving husband will keep a wife in check ;his friend enumerates allof Valeria 's faults (i f young, then wavering; if beautiful , thenproud; if witty, then wily;
naturally sus c e pt ible to corruption and badlyeducated) and accurateiy pred i c ts Giraldo'sunhappy end (25 ). As with
~ , we knowthatthe wisdomof the friend' sadvice will beprovenwi t h Giraldo'sexperience.
Gi r a l do is a gen t lesort of prodigal: his na i ve te af f e c ts hisgoodjUdgemen t, sohe rejects his friend's advicenot to marry Va l e r i a ,and for the firstfew ye a rs of his marriage "liv 'd in the pleasuresoflov e " (38). Va l e r i a 's affairs, however, leave him emotionally destitute, and "jealousie (of all ha gsmost hellish) .• •did by cont i nua l 1 torturingofhi s ca r etired soule,ga t he r up the losses of her long delay: now wrought she on his intangled wits as on an anvill, hatchinginhis brainsunwonted horrors" (66-67). When he can no longer reconcile his experie nc e wi t h hisdreams,Giraldo adopts the roleof Eubulus, and advises Va leria -- "not asa husband, (though in that name (he)sho u l d cornmaund) but as a friend" (78) -- to change her life. This presentation of Valeria in the role of Euphuesis unexpected.
Vll.1eria is the true prodigal daughterin~
~: she is givenadviceby herfa t he r andfirst
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husband onthreesepa ra te oc ca s i on s. Theodora advi s e s Valerianot to becomeprod igal afterhermarriageto Giraldo:
Ohlet it not be said e of thee,wh i c h istoo truelysaideof many , That livingunder their parents awe , theymake she we of admirablevertue, butbeeing exempted from that obedience , the y unmaskethe i r abhorredvi c e s ••. Joy ne acquaintance and use famil iari tiewiththemonel y, whosecompany may advance,orat le a s t notimpeach thy credite. (35-37)
Like all prodiga ls, Valer i a igno r e s thepa t e r na lad viceand
"c o nt e mpt uous lyneglectingor buryingin carelesseoblivion, hir fatherscounsaile,wasthroughlysetledin forbiden acquaintance " (3S). Hi s advice is proven true whenshe is corruptedby her gossips. The n Giraldo (onhis death-bed) advisesherto neithermarryno r sell her house: "for who heareinq of thy loosenes se, wilmarythee forlo ve; andto whom is notthyshame knowen? If then hee wed thee for weal th •.•how slavish shallthylife be underhim?" (7S). She reacts witheuphuistichaste: "But (Gi raldo' s ) body was no soon erbr e ath l e s s e, the n~was turned to his shifte s " (SO), and "Haveing thus laide him, whereshe wisht hi mlo ng before, she e was nowe a lus t i ewi dowe " (81) . Then by doing exactlywhat she was warnednot todo, Valeria provesher husband 'sadviceto be sound.
Valeria'ssecond cycleofpr od i ga l ity repeats itself, this ti me with dire consequences. She marriesher dissembl i ng lov erArthemio , and almost at onc e, he r fort une
chang es. Her fathe r, Theod o r o , is "pe a rscd" to the heart by her behav i our,andon his de a t hbeddeni e sher the opport un ityforrec on cilia tionand forg i ve ne s s :"Dou b le mur d e r e sse, earstof thy husband, nowof thy father, read
",hat I write,andma y thyheart be rent with re a d i ng , as minethrough thee isrent withruth" (85). Hecursesher and Arthemio:"fatal1 to you bothbeyour imbrace s, and thou in thy greatestneedenforstto relieon those forsuccou r,
"'holllthy present inj ur i es do most jus t l yexa s pe r a t e lIgainst thee" (86 ); and ca llsAr t hemio"the inst rum e nt of {he r] wo·
(87). True to The od o ra'sprophe cy, Arthe mio impris o ns Valeria in the hous e : "That was IIdayor favour Where inshee might freelywalke aboutthe house,forcotlimonly shee was mewdeup inher chamber" (88). At first she la men t s "more the follyof herse c o nd choice" (91) , but eventually understandsand repentshermi s t a kes.
Her father isdead and cannot forgive her,so Valeria is reconci ledinstead to another ma n, the servant Jockie . This abasementis the culllulativeexpression of her re pe nt a nc e . Onceshe has been reconciled to.a nlt i nd (via Jackie), she does notcontinueto live with him, but
"repl ung 'dhirselfe int o hir former Ill.iseryes,falling in th e ende tolittlebette r the n ope nbe ggery" (109). aeceuse the sins of the fathers (inthis case,Theodora's improper tra ini ngof Valeria) are visitedon the sons, Valeria's
children are suddenly rei n t r od uced as reprobateswho die
",ithout paternalreconciliation . The el der sonishange d for havingde serted fr omthe aI'1l'lY. The you nger son 's laments are certain lyrep entant:
o "'hith ershallI turne me ,whereonshall I hope , or "'hat sha l l I de s ire? My bone s ake ,mybowels qna",e, my fe etrot, each lirMledoth shi v e r, and my
"'hole bodie is full of paine: life I loath the e, life when leav' st th o u me? Death why dallieGt thou with these del a i e s? (11 0 )
Of course, in hi sdyinq breathhe asks tobereconciledto God, the "fatherof mercie" (Ill).
6 Didacti c ismin Greenein Con ee ipt.
In Greene in conceipt., Dicken sontoys with the role of a didactic narrator. It is possiblethatHendricksmiss e s the pointen t i r e l y when he calls Greenein CQnceipt
"essentially didactic" and "tQld rce- thepurpos eQf pQinting a moral" (lxviii); or when he complainsthatIIf o r all the luridincidents and excruciatingemotiQns, the story fails, because the telling issacrificed to the teaching,by a pedanticand puritanicalmoralist" (xvi). Of course J.D.is a prig: hehas ec be if he isqQinqto fu nc tio n properly as a front for the fiction.
Sixteenth-century English prose writers were faced with the double burden of workinqwi t h o u t the benefitof a fully developed prose tradition, but with the pressure to defend
xxii
themselvesagainstthe criticismtha t litera tu re vas morally har mf ul (Helgerson5).1. Theyemphasizedthe didactic fun ct i on forthe i r work, and paradoxica lly...ere
thus forced to arguethatthe i rwo r k, ri g htly unders tood, warns agains t the ve ry wanton e s s it po rtrays, butsuch argumentsonlyinvo lve d the m in a maze ofself -c ont r a d i ct io n , re ve alingthe ir dilemma- - the dile mmaof the i r gene ration--wi tho ut resolvingit. (Helgerson 5)
Dickenson, howe ve r , isnot working in avo id: he can,and una":lashe d l ydoe s, dr a wonthetra d it i onof pros e fiction estab l ished byLy l y, sidney,Gre e ne, andothers. Bythe 1590 'sauthorialapologieswould be so codi fie d that Di ck en s on (as a matter of ccur-ee] coul dcal l TheShephei!rdes
~(c. 159 3) "the fruitof anunripe...it,""i11 - ple a singlabours" and"wort hle s s e" (A2r) orGree nein
~"a nak ed humo ur," "a toy, "andhis"youthe s fo llies "whichurge there ad er ' spa t i en c e too muc h (2- 3 ) .
Itmay be thatDic k en s o nis secureenoug h with his place inthetrad i t ionto play on convent io na l apolog i e s . In the con c l us ion of the She pheardesCompl aint , for example , he goes sofar astorenounce hisearlierexcus e s:
thoughI ca nperf one not h ing else, yet of this I ...ilbesure, not to trouble you...ithte d ious toye s: nor mani fe s t mineowne inSUf f i c iency in lo ng di sco urses, forthen misliki ng theSUbj e c t, youwouldcast it away bef o reyeerea dha l fe, or if youbestoweda fewe id lehou res in perusing it al l , you ...ould curs e mee thatheldeyousolo ng in re ad ing atrifle,si th youmig ht ha ve employe d thatvacan t time in.. .Lewi ng ma t te rsof mor e moment ,and gre ate r ple a s ure. (C3V)
xxiii
Di ck e ns on tur ns thetables bymaking the conventio nof authorial self-f lagella tionthe~of the tedium in romantic toy s . Toomuchemphasison your "i ns uff iciency,"
and no one will eve r read your work . Typica lly , the comme nt co mes at th e end of thework, when any authorial introspectionwill have the leastef f e cton the audien ce.
Dicken son' s cla i ms todidacticism-- like Robert Greene's self-professed re pen t a nc e -- mighthave to be ta ken with a grainof sa t e ;" His Speculumtragicum (1591) advertises it se l f as a"t rag i cmi r r o r"chock full of examplesoffamo us fall en menfr om alloverthe world. Svob attributes its popUlaritytoit s se ns a t i o na l mat e ria l:
sixfigures are stabbedtodeath, two die ins ane, four children aremur de r e d by parents, ei g ht e e n people arekilled inb<1ttle,five are poisoned, eightare strangled, one commitssuicide,two die of the "lousydistemper,"six die in prison,three drown, one is stoned to death, threedie of broken hearts, one isflayedalive, and nine die at the handsof their brothers-- tosay nothingof the numerous de pos i tio ns , abdications, exiles, murders of nephe ws, parricides,and (r a re ly) natural deaths. (154)
Perhaps here, as in Gre en e in conceint, Dickenson' s didacticismalso facilitate s the pUblicationof otherwise questionablematerial. In Greene in conceipt , protestations of unworthi ne ssarealso cut sho r t becausehe "should grosselyoffendin trOUbling you witha long Epistle, whome I troublewithsolong a toy" (3). Deep in the throesof his puritanical diatribe,thenarrator of Greene in conceipt
xxiv
compar e sthe story toa "look ing glass e which mor ebe seemes you(women ) , the nthatwhe reonyoudaylye poore , pract i s i ng youralluring looke s, and marshall i ng your bod iespr ide, t.hez-ebyto attract moregaz ers on yourgarishness e" (102).
In Greenein eODce ipt, the narrator's intrusiv e comments grow(in lengthandviolence )as the text progresses. When condemn ing Valer ia 's us eof cos metics , he adds as an aside
And I reat-esheha t h hereintoo ma ny follower s, which spoyletherestommac k s withunsavory myxturestherebytoseeme eye-sweete, though scarceha rts ound e ; or repaire theirruinous faces , by overlayingthem with a false glosse of adu l t e r i ne fayrenesse,whereaschastebeautie sc o r ns acquaintancewith Apothecaryesboxes. (49-5 0 )
Muchlate r in the text,when Arthemiobeats Valer i a, J. D.
notesapprov ingly: "Loe here an instanceproovingit not wholly impossibleto over-masterfor the time themiraculous vo l ub i lit i eof a womanstongue :which though not fearing a bravadoof blowes,yet shuns the brunt of ama i ne revenge"
(96). As it gatheringmome ntum as the story drawsto a cl os e ,J.D . laun c hes intoa long di a t r i be addressedto "you whome sinne charmingwithsecuritie, veiles fromyour eyes the sequel sof yoursh a me andso r r o....: you ....hich trace
~st e ppe s in all lasciviousne s se" (102). only now doesJ.D . underscorethe instructivepurpose of his story:
hether I summon you to read with sighS, in these hir fortunessad recordes,your owne fore- threatned ruine .••Looke onthe crosses of this
wretched creature , and by themlooketoyour selves , tur ni ng so hirevilltosome good:We igh in what mize ry shee neede s mustlive ••• (102-03 ) Not sur prisi ng l y , the narrator' s just ificat ionfor hi s SUbj e c t isine xtricablybound up with hi s full- b l own at tack
In a convo l utedal l u sionto"the mellif luou sveineof
~" (10 2), J.D. id e ntifies hi s task as to"winneyou [wome n ) from your wantonne s sebydisplayingto the full
~woes" (103). Femalerea ders unmove d byJ.D.'s storyar e condemned as bacchanteswith
ha r t e s •• •more froze n .•. ; mo r est.obburne .. •;
more brutish the n the savage beastsattending [Orph eus ] ,more st ony then the flinty rockeswhich fol law'd him , for all theseheemov ' d : but novehe could not tna se bra in-sickebeldamesof your sexe ; which conf oundi ng hisharlllonyou s no tes, with howli ng noyse, tare peecemealethe sil UePoet:
(10 3)
Ironical l y , the narrator isswe pt up into hisown kind of linguistic bacchanalian dance and the force of hisargument is undercut by hi sown vehe menc e.
Afterherega inshis composure and concludesthe tale (wit h the woeful and expec ted end i ngsofVa l e r i a and her children),J.D. (rather hurriedly) summarizesa plethoraaf precepts to be gleaned byva r i ous personages . In this tale, he ins i s t s , husbandsma y learn
the daunq erof toomuc h doting:wivesin [Valeria's] fall, th e end oflus t f u ll follie:
parents, the might i eperill of soothi ng their childrenin check-freelicentiousnesse: children, the fruit of disobedience and undutifull
xxv i
demeanour: rash proceeders , the gre atdifference of goodand badcounsel l , ofhonest and di shonest companie•. . (112 - 13 )
Li ke the playerqueenin Hamlet, J.D. proteststoo much, too late: by the end of thest o ry , itisfa i r l y certainthat the primary purpos e is not to reform waywardvtvee , J.D.'s con clUd ing admo n iti o ns actas someli g ht we i g ht moralmastic smeared acrossthe narrativecracks in orderto keep the puritancriticsquiet. What then is the purpos ebehind this woeful prose fiction?
7 Punished Women
LindaWoodbridgearguesthat prose fictionwas oriented particularlytowards women readers because of thenumerous
"'dedicationsto vomen readers and interpolated remarks addressed to the feminine reader" (114). She notesRobert Gre ene'sfew attemptsto attract a female audiencewith dedicationsto womenandsympa t he t i c female characters.
Greene, who obviously hoped to tap the enormous resources of the female reading public, devoted two piecesof pcose fiction to two favorite
~of the formal defence, Susanna in1"M Myrrour of Modest ie,1584, and Penelope in pgDe10pes Web a ChristollMirro r gffem iD iD!~
~, 1587. (Woodbridge116)
While making overturesto a female aUdience, however, i t is clear that Greenehasno intention of jeopardizing his male audience . In the fev cases where Greene does dedicate a
xxvii
work to a woman (who is usuallyide nti f i edin termsof her titledhusband),a seco nd , longe r dedicationor letterto the"Gentle me n readers"immediatel y fo l l ows toapologizefo r and trivialize his femi ninesubject." Evenami no r writer like Dickensondoes not dedicate any of hisworks towomen.
When the narrator of Greene inCon c e ipt add resses Ge ntlemen , it is si g ni fi c a ntly at the endof the advertisement(13) and narrative(11 2 ); and he doe s not so much addres s women as ch ast ise themas "brain-sickebeldames " (103).
While dedicationsand diatribes mayhave been dire cted at women, it is not clear how the p eoaefic t i o ncou l d be written for women. Salzma n claims that Elizabethan fiction in general"closes out anyposition for awoman reader" :
In Nashe,Heraclide's rape is depicted in a voyeuristic, male-centredmanner (Jack peersdown at it through a 'cranny'). ~
enthusiastically endorsesa popUlarmisogyny.
However much he may be und erc ut at times, we view Mast e r F.J . 'sadventuresthr ough thelee ringeyes of G.T., althoughFrancis perhaps provides a Challengingfemaleperspectiveat times . ~ locks i ts female characters into traditional romance roles. (xxii)
Why would women in particularbe enticed to read these stories: to have their behaviour modifiedby negative example? or to alleviatetheir presentconc e r ns by es cap i ng into a muchworse world? Whiletheed uc a t i ona l value is obvious, the entertainmentvalue isnot. It is mucheasier
xxviii
to speculate onwhy lIle nwouldenjoyreadingthes ebook s. A.C. Hamil t on ar g ues that romanceswerepopularbec a us ethey
"c r e a t e an imag inativeworldin which the intensit y of pa s sionassociate dwi th sexand viol encepos s ess e sthe reader imme di ately , powerf ull y, and profoundly" (28). In other words,heco nt inu es , nat the centreof theirappe a l is the sufferingheroine" (28)." Thisbr i ngsus to Greene's interestin the A;:.ocryphalstoryof Su sanna hand theel de rs , one of themos t ancient se xu a l harassmentst o ries .
TheSusannahfigu re isa virtuouswifepersecutedby irrationaland inconstantmen . In thes estories,thewomen arevarious l y condemned, deposed,orcast off without ca u s e:
they all have spotlessreputations, which they appeal to in their defence:and theyare saved only though divine intervention. In TheMvr r ou r of Mode stie(1584), cxeene rs versionof theApocryphalnarrative, Susannah is put in an impossible situation ,and is sav e d , in part, byher spotless reputation and, in essence , through divineintervention (the Lordspeaks throughthe ch ild Daniel, who cross-exa minesher accusers ) . Similarly, Bellarlain~(1588) is accusedof adulteryand imprisonedby her husband . When he discoversthat she is pregnant,her baby daughter is cast adrift, and she isaccus ed and condemned. LikeSusannah, she appealsto her "unspotted li fQ" in her defence: she puts
xxix
her trust in the god sand the or a c le of Apolloprovesher innoc e nt (4 :2 55-57 ). Pandos t oalso triestoseduce his daughter sevnte,whorefuseshim (and likehermother chooses death abovedi s hon ou r ) , andshe is rescuedonl y by the appearanceof Porr us who reveals herroyalidentity. In Francescos Fortunes , Isabelis besiegedbyBernardo who bribesa false witness , and sheiscondemned. She appeals to God for help and the fals ewitnes s mi r a c ulo u s l y "start up as a man lunaticke" (8:163) and confesseshis part in the ecver-up;"
InGr e e ne ' s works "womanis exalted andherch i e f vir t ue , stoic resignation, whir.h is the oppositeof the active, civicvi r t ue championedby the humanists, celebrated" (He lge rso n 83). Why? There doesn' t se em to be any difference in purpose be twe enGre eneIsunsympatheticand hissympa thet i cfema le characters. The majorityofGree ne ' s femalecharactershave a simple narrative function. Not suprisingly , bad charactersare the catalysts for tragedy, and are justlypunished.19 Good wivesand daughters become either victimsor prizes.20 Both suffer equally by male authorityfigures . Greene's frequentuse of the Susannah figure indicates a pref erence for depictingthesu f f e r i ngof the incontestablyinnocent overthe incorrigably guilty.
The moral lesson for womenseems prettyobvious:keepyour nose(andsheet s ) clean and put your faith in God, because
not h i ng les s thana mi racl ecan save yourrep utationonc e it has bee n question ed. Butunde r l yi ng thi s isthenag ging doubt whether anyo ne could be that chast e . The threat of an ac cusationreDains .
The appa r en t proble mwithapp lyinqtheSu sa nn a hmotif toGr e e ne in CQnCf_..i.tisthat thesewomenareinnoce nt, and Val e ria Isnot. If anythinq, Va leria hasdonetheve ry thing: that aSus a nna his ac cusedofdoing:. Susannahis punished unjustly ,but Valeria ispunIshedby Arthemlo (he says) tore ve ngehe r treatment ot Giraldo. Thecommon elementis thepunish edWOman. AsWoodbridgepointsout,
Nothingsho rt of an encyclopediacoulddo justice toRenais s ancetreatments of femalesexual transgressions, from John Dickenson's Fair Valeria,who belongs to a club thatkeepsa sta b l e of malewhores, tothelegi onof dec e i t f u l wive s
•• •who s.ug:g:lelovers intotheir chamber s disguisedas lDusic.a sters or hIdden in luggage , concealingloversunder theirfa rthi ng a l e s when a husbandune xpe cted l yappears. (176)
Itistempt ing:toargue that this particularro.antic combinationofse x and vferenee appealed to a particularly
_1_
audience :that the Und erlyi ng purpos eofVa l e ria 's punishmentisto entertain the audien c e (WhO, af t e r all are re a d i nq it for plea s ureand inst ruction). As Woodbridge argues,the moralizingbecomes merelylIa thin mask covering the bruta l face of sadism" (206 ).21 She explains :Di ck e nson has nogenuineinterestinshrewishnes s: ValeriaIsfaultsmustbema de glaringenouq hto serveas an excuse for herto rme nt s and humiliations. the main appealof the story being
xxx1
to the reader's prurienceanddeligh t in th e degradation of wOlle n . (206)
Renaissanceaudiences mayhave been thri l l e d (or even horrified) by Valeria 's total disregard fo r authori ty: and the y may found scee delight in thevoy eur ist i cre cre a t i o n of herwanton activities;but thats.aae audiencewould hav e consi de redit fitti ng to seeher final de s truct i o natthe han ds ofArthe lllio .
It is alsopossib l e thatthena rrativeconstruct of the lectureto the fellIale reader Waspart ofth e cach e t of
"women's literat u re "whichappealed toIt.vo ye u r isti c male audi e nc e . Ononele vel, the reader istit ill ated bythe descript ion ofValer ia'sla scivi ou sn e s s and sUbseque nt puni s hll ent :on another , bythe id e a of a tellale aud ienc e witne s sing and thu s parti cipa tingin(or atle a s t condoni ng) the abusesi .ply by cont i nu ing to re a d . The posit i onof thIs constructed. feaale re a d eris parallel to Valeria ' s, whose grea t e st punishJD.ent is to witn e s s "thecarn a l using of
[Arthemio's]whore s beforehe r fac e, whose preeence he ft enf o r c ' t,.akinqher theunwilling baUdunto their beastli ne s " (95) . Thus, the superiorit yof themal e rea de r is re-affirmed asthe cul pa b Ilit yof the temale reader is condemned .
xxxii
8 The Author:John Dickenson
John Dickenson was an int e l l e c t ua l , civi l se r va nt, and diplomat,yet virtually nothingis known of his life and literary Career be f o r e the turn of the century. about the timeat the pUblication of Greene in Conceipt. He was bo r n around1570and died. while clerk of the privy Council, in 1636.n Sometimebefore1602,he becam esecretary to Georg2 Gilpin, Queen Elizabeth's mercantile agent in the Low Countries.1l When Gilpin diedthat year, Dickenson lost his post and wassubsequentl ysentto work for Sir Ralph Winwood,who replacedGilpin and brought Dickenson back to the Low Countries. Within a few years. hi scareer with the civil se r v i c e had taken off,mainly because Winwoodwas constantly away on va r i ou s missions. and Dickenson was left as chargA d'affaires . In1610he was promotedbyRobert Cecilto ambassador at The Hague, and continued at thispost until recalled to London five years later. In1618,James I appointed Dickenson clerk to the Privy Council,and on the king'6 death in1625, hewas reappointed by Charles I.~
The most interesting"facts" about Dickenson's life must be extracted from the few texts he left behind. First and foremost is the academic tone uf his works which draws attention to his learnedness (even though he isno t listed in any universityrecords). Like many of his
xxxiii
cont empora ries, hewrot e verse andpros e in Latin and Engli sh.'UHisfi rs t wo r k, peoDlmCODsessus (London: Edward AI d e , 1591), i::i a Latinpoeminwh i c h theMus eshave de s e rted Apollo {ged of rheto ric} in favour of dialecti c:
thedebate (~) amongthe gods praises th('ne w infl uen ce of the academic re form s of the Fren chphilo s oph er Pier r e de la Ram'e. 26It is a self-consciouslyerudi tework which borrows heavilyfrom OVid and Virgil (both a standard partof sch ool curriculWll),and wa sprobabl y writtensoon after (i fnot While) theauthor wa s at uni ve rsity (Svob JJ).
The interest in Ramismsuggestsa call1bridge connect ion: yet if Dicke ns o n was in Oxfordduring the late eighties,he coul d havebe e n witness to (ifnotpartof) agroup of Latin poetsheadedbyWill iamGa g er (1555 -l62 2}.1'1
Dick enson ' s literarycare erparallelsthat ofearl i er writers:the Uni versityWits , who we r e all born around the Diddleofthesixteenthce ntu ry , atte ndeduniversity or one ofthe inns of cou rt, called the ms elve s -gen tle llen,- and spent the finalquarter of the cent ury writingprodigal son stories (Hel gerson12- 13). Li kethem, Dicken s on was pri1llari ly an academic writer:hisworks areinvar iabl y add ressed tohis friends, the -Gent le.en reade r s , - who wou ld understa ndhi s allus i o ns , appre c iate hi&. jo ke s, followhis 4r'9\1lD.ents , andcar e abouthis opin i o ns on literature. Heis se lf-consci o uslylaitati veof hispred ecessors' st yl e s:
xxxiv
Lyly. si d ne y, and Gree neareenlisted intheHercul eantask of holdinq up hi stitle pages and plot s. But he wa s al s o chara c t e ris tica l lyquickto ma nipulatehis sources in surp ris inqly newwa ys . HisEnqlishwo r ks , althouqh rif e withclassi cal taqsand allusions, re f u s e (almost consciouslyand li ke the contempor ary pr o s e in general ) to be ne a t lydoc ke tedint oone literary slot oranothe r.:lI Thi sdistinctive exp l oita tio n of litera ry conventions may have helped to p...rpetuate his obscurity, and to encouraqe later cr i t i c s todismisshi m peremptorily asa minor imita to rof outmoded st y l e s.
Dickenson'sEnglish worksce rtai nl y doimitateoneor lIIoreliterarygenres,popular at onetimeat court or gon q El i za be tha n·gen t l emen , · and co nta in aD.ix of acade..ic humour, pastoral, and-.oral intel l e ctual izinq. The SbftpbfArdescomp l ai nt (Londo n: WilliamBla c kewall, n.d. [.s.It:
sugq e s ts159'though Hend ric ks arques159 3 ]:, Olepassionat@
EclOCJU@, writte n inEnglishHexam~,· isdedi catedto
·al l courteousGen tlemen Read ers, Sc holers , and whos oever elseaffect thest udie of Poetrie" (A2r ), and containsa Latinpoem praisingthe late Sir PhilipSidne y. One of the fe w mod e r nsc ho l a r s to writeabout DiCkenson, M. J. Svob, callsit Hthesortof work that youngsi xt e enth- c ent ury poetsofte n cut their teeth on" and cite s as similar works spenser's Shepheordn Calender.and the~of
Alexander Ba r c la y. BarnabeGooge. and George Turbervile (59 note 6). Ofco u r s e his commen t migh t ha v e tobe revisedif the war): re a l l y didappear in159 6. as.sIs:::suggests."
C.S.Levisnotes that the story is"e sse nt i a l l ya frame for ornate pro s e and for sallecharming poems. Allis melting.
amor ous , 'Gold e n'to the lastde g r e e" (425).
Ar i sbas tuphu@S a.idst His Slum bus' or cupBs Journey
~(London: T. Cre edefo rT. weeeeeexe, 1594) is more complex . De spite its titl e ,th e stor y ha sver'y little todo withEu ph ue s or eu p hu Lsm, an d isinstead 8:::omp lic ated Arc a d i a n roman c ewh i ch inc lU des a digre s s ion (p r e f aced bya poe menti t l e d"Th e Worthof Po e s i e " ) indefence of classical and Eng lish poetry. Lewis cal15th e poems"perfe c t inth e i r kind" andclaims th at Dickenson"ha nd l es classic a l aet res bet terthan most of hiscontemporaries "(426). Svo b speculate s that the su b-title"is an ot herins t ance of Dickenson's sel f-dispa ragement and is intended to me an that
~is the sort of wo r kthatLy l yvou l dvrit e i fhe were not altoge the r awake" (75). al tho u g h i t.ayalso be in referenc eto Greene's "ec ap h on :CamillasAlarum to Slum b e ri ng Euph u e s (15 89 ). Green e' sde athin1592 resu lte d ina reneved interestinhis vark. Ba rnab y Rich's~ HevesBo thfrom Heayenand Hellappe aredin 1593 , and Greene's earlierxce ence s, MAm.i.l.l.1..A1 and2(1583) and Gwydoni u s:The Ca r d eof lande (1584) werere p r i n t e d in
xxxvi
15 9 3;Arbasto the An!!!t0pi!of fortune (1584) in 1594. Li k e thatof~,thetit l e ofGreenc in CORceiptwa r n s the read e r of the work ' s pla c ewithi na literarytrad iti o n. It acts asa sign post. directingreadershow toread the work.
The stamp of Robert Greene (WhOeve n appears asa character in the advert isementtoth e reader) isstro ng. The st ory leads offwi tha vari ati ononLyly's~,andpr oc e e ds , aswe haveseen,to playhav ocwith the co nven tions of what He l gerso nca l ls ·prod igalliteratur e."
Dicke nson'sliterary ca r e erin Eng li sh ....asshort but conce ntrated: four of hi s six ....orkswe r e pr illt ed in Lond o n betwe en 1591 and1598. Nev e r theless , des p itehissmal l production, Dic kens on did enjoyamodest suc c ess . Three poems fromShepheardn Complaint,....erereprinted in~
~(16 00 ),alongwithpoems by Sidney, Spen ser, Drayton, Greene, Surrey, Lodge,andSha ke s p e are . At least one unknown contemporary must have thought~ ....orthwh i le .ate ri a l tor hlit a t io n , be cause twen t y- nine extr a ctsappear ina co mmon-pla c ebook along with selec t i o ns frail Sidney,Greene, andLodge (Hendr i ck s Ixvi) . JO
Dicktmso n lsLatin vor)es, writ ten aft e r hemovedtothe Lo ....countries,were even U10re popularwith a continental audie nce. His mostfamous....ork isthe Speculumt.rogieum (Delft: 1601), an iUlitatio nofAMirrorfor xagistnt.@sin Latinpro se, re p r int e d four time sby Elzevir at Leiden.JI
xxxvii
Hisfinal work, Mis c e nane aex historilsMgl1can is
~(AMis c ella nyPutToget her froDEnqli s h Hist ories;Svob 181 ) (Lei den: Elzev ir 1606)conta i ns thi rteenfi c tiona l lettersand speechesattributed exclu sivelytofamouspersons fr omEnql ishhi st ory, and imit a t e s the epistle s in Ov id's~, althoughBradner arquestha t theMis c;ella nea' s epi s t les ars -- ..,it h onlyt..,o exceptions-- vrit t e n from me ntoIDen(not from..,ome nto men), and are histor ical (not amatorYIj in theirintent (43).
Despiteth ese laterpUb lication s, it iscle a r that mcxenecnve inte res ts shifted awayfrom writingas hegrew older ,and he be c ameincre a sing l y caught upin his work as a civil se rva nt. ThomasLodge, forexample,wrote littl e after he became aphy s ici a n , al though Spenser, who was als o a civilse rvant , continued topUbli s h; indeedthemaj ority of authors listed byPhoebe Shea vyn havetwo ormor e non- literaryoccupa tion s (212-38). Manyof hispred e c e ssors abando nedthe irlit erary careers after publish ingonlyone or two book s of poetryor amorous fi c t ion; others ma de a concertedeffort intheirlat~ryearsto producemo r e
"us e f ulwork, ninre spo ns e to contemporary critici s m of literatur e (Helgerson 6). And, inde e d, withhi s Latin works , th a t se e ms to beth e direc tiontaken by Dickenson.
xxxviii
9No t e onthe Te xt
There isonly asing l e editionof Greenein conce ipt.
printed inquart.oby Richard Br a doc ke torWi lliamJones in 1598. the year the workwas ent e r ed In The Stati oner's Register." Ot th is . onlytwocopies remainand are loc ated in theHun t i ng t o n(H) and Bodleian (8) libraries. There is an editionby the ReverendAl e xa nd e r B.Grosart (1878) . and another in anunpublishe d docto r a l thesis by Walter Hen dricks (194 1 ).13 Thete xtof th e 15 9 8quarto ha s 9 gatheri ng s (signedA-It)and consistsof th ree pa rts: a dedicat ion to "Thomas White of Corffe,"appa rently an old sc hoo l friendof Di ckenson;an "Ad ver ti se me nt to the Reader"
whichse t s the dream fra me ; and fina l ly, the storyof Valeriaof Land on. Each sectionisdifferentiated typogr aphic:ally :the dedicationis set in italics, the advertisement in roman. and the textinblack letter.M
Inpreparingthis edition(the first to consider all the ev idenceregardingva r ia nt s), I haveendeavoured to reproducethe 1598ed i t i o nexa ctl y with re g a r ds to spelling, punctua t i o n,pa r a g r ap hs, indentations, anddialogue , except for thos e emendationsnotedbel owandin "Tex t and Va r i a nts."» I hav e , at course , re gular ized type,and changed the represen tation of fonts , poems , and si gnatu res.M I have also silentlynormalized i/ j. u/v,
xxxix
vv/ w, and the twoforms ofr and s; all ligat ur es;and all abbreviationsor contractions, including the ampersand, the macron tore pr e s e nt a mi s s i ng n orm, superscript e or t above yto represent ..theMor ..that,"and superscriptt or h above101'to represent "wha t "or "who i c h ." Inthe case of the hyphenation of compound wo r d s,I followtheQtD.. Othe r eme nda t i ons incl ude the cor r ec t ionof typogra phicalerrore due to miss i ng , superf luous , or inverted type; regular i zat i on of capital lettersandpunc tuat ion ;and replacingof absent or ind e te rmi na te punctuat ion.)? Al l ar e li sted in pa rtA of "Te xtandVa ria nts."
Whe r epos sible, I havefollowe dany cor rectio ns made to the 1598 quarto , as indic a tedbythe variants betweenthe Bod l e ian and Huntingtoncopies,and bythe erra tanote at theendof the Advertisemen t to the Reader (A4v ) :
Besidessundryscapes of the Pressein Orthography, and somemor e extraord ina ryof whole wordes mistaken, though inthe fewestcoppies ; these foureare gen eral l:secre tsfo r sor r owes. p.
18.these, tor tho se. p,20. inte nt , forco nte nt.
p. 21. deem' fordooJl,1d.p, 27. (13)
AsthisCOlllDlen t indicates , unc orre c t ed sheets we regathere d , as was customa ry,with cor r ectedsheets.)· Th is would account fo r th evaria nt re a dings in sheetsinbothcop ies, whichrang e fr omminor changesin punctu at i on to
"extraordinary"mi stakenwordson sheet s C and G (See partB of "Textandvariants " ). Va ria nts arefoundonshe e ts A
xl
through G. with the exceptionof A3r.17and Elr.6, my emendationscoincide withthe readings in (B).)9
If the fournoted mista ke sar e , indeed, "general" to all copies,then sheets B throug h I wouldhavebeen printed and proofed, and the errata listadded to A4v, beforethe outer fortlle of sheet A vas printed. Furthermore,any pres s corrections ",ouldha v e taken place after thein ne r formeof sheet E (p.27) ",as printed. However, in the eve extant copies, only eve of thefour identified mistakes (D2 v "these for those p. 20"; E2r "deem' for doolll'dp. 27") appear vneee they shouldbe. The remaining two (D1v "secrets for sorrows p , 18"; and DJl:: "intent forcon t e n t p, 21")do not. This may be due to mistakes in the errata list: i fwe read "p.
13" (C3r) or "p. 17 " (D1r) for"p , 18" (Dlv), and "p , 20"
for "p.21," the correctionsfit•.uI OtherlO ise,the possible readihgs are numerous.
In the cotl\lllentary, I have tried to provide present-day me a n i ng s for DickensonI5 language, read against the.QtlQl:!1 Enalishpictionary, and to pick up echoes of the languageof his contemporaries, particularly Greene. Proverbs are identifiedusingTilley, ~, and Whiting'scollection of modern proverbs; references to natural historyare checked against Pliny,stephen Bateman's revision of BartholomaE;us AnglicuB (1582),and Cooper's"Dictionarium,"an English version of Estienne's pictionar iumpoeti,;yln attached to
xli
Cooper's~of 1565 ;and, wherepos s i b l e, the sources of classical and contemporaryallusions are brie f lynoted.
Amachine-readableversio nof thistext is on depo sit at the Oxford Univers ityText Archive.
xli i
ENDNOTESTO THEINTRODUCT IO N
1. Accord ingto A.C. Hamil t o n, "in anyproseroma nc e, cha r a c t e r s existtoma ni f est states of uncontrollable passiontilat bur st intoeithe r extravagantlamentation or vi o l ent action. Th e i r mottois"e ve rythinq toexcess"both inlo veand war" ("Elizabethan Prose Fic tion"27). The remarkable thing about Valeriais herpi v otal role. Her excessescauseGiraldo'sexcessive love and hate, Theodoro 's exce ss ivecondemnation, and Ar t hemio 's excessive retr ibut i o n. She re ma i ns the cause and the focusof the act ion .
2. Dickensonalsoell'lploysa dreaavisionin the She phe a r desCQ1!lploint , where the narrato r is transportedto Arcadia in a dre a mand listens to ashe phe r d lalllenthis love forthe cruelAma ry ll i s (in lDuchthe sameway as the narrator of Chaucer'sBookofthenuc h e s s st umbl e s upon another private la ment) . In Greene's~(1599), Greene fallsasleepwh ile lis t eninq toa shepherdplay his pipe,and dreams tha t Me r c ury le a ds himto Jov e' spa l ac e wherethegods arefeasting . He eavesdr o ps unti l ..~in suc h a rage clapt hi s hand on the boord , thatI awok e , not kno....ing....hat becameof the Gods or of A1:.1..2misou l e , onlyI relllelllbredtheir tales " (1 2.93) . The Shepher dturnsout to
xliii
be Mercury,who bi d s Gr e ene remember his visions, "fo r 1511 drea mesthat men se e inErecinus , proo ve true" (1 2:94) .
3. Ga sco igne does muc h thesame thinginhi s re vis e d versio n of "TheAdven t ur e sofMasterF.J." in the misce l lany A HundredthSund r y Flo....ers (1573 ) . Gascoigne' s aud i e nce wa s not prepared for hi s intrus ive narratorG.T .r and atte mpt s at realis m:"sund r i e....ell disposed mi nde s have taken offence at certa i ne wantonwo rd esand sentences ... somebus ie conje ctureshave presumed tothinke that thesame was ind ee d writtento the scandalizingof some worthiepers on ag es, whom they wouldesee me therby to know" (e d . Cunliffe1:7). In therevis i on s, Gasco ignega vethe characters Itali an names; removed thena r r ator ; "credited thewho l e to the (fictitious) Italian sto r yt e l ler , Bartello, claiming for himself only the modest titleoftranslator" (Helgerson47); and inhis dedication "To 1511yang Gentlemen, and generally to the youth of England" claimedto reprint his "folli e s" so he may serveasanexamp l e andmirrorto them that they may
"1earne••.to us ethe talent whi ch [he has) highlyabused"
(1:14)•
4. Thewoodc~tisof ama n in a shroudsi t t i ng at a desk writing, and probably represents Greene. Nashe describes his beard as"a jolly long red peake, like the spireof a steeple,hee cherishtcontinually without
xliv
cut ting, wh e r e a t a man mighthang a Jewell, it wa ssosha r pe andped an t · (strang,Newes1: 2 87 ). Che t t l e concu rs :·o f faceamible, of body well pr o po r t i on e d, hisat tireaf t er the habi te of aschollerlikeGentle.an, one l yhis haire wa s somewh at lo ng " (Kind -Hartspream BJr). Gabriel Harvey admits: "I wa s alt og ether unacq uai nted wi t h theman, and neveroncesa l u tedhim byname : but who in Lon d o n hath not heard of hisdi ssolute , and licenti o u sliv ing; his fonde disguisinge of aMas terof Arte with ruf f i anlyhaire, unseemelyapparelI, and moreunseemel~ eCompany" (!2Y.tt
~19l·
5. For example,Greene;; orp ha ri on (forEdward White, 1599), was en t e redin theStation ers' Reg ister on 9 Fe bru ary, 15 89 ,andprobablypri nted soonafter ;~
Mou r ni ng Ca gent (J .Wolfe forT. Newman, 159 0);~ Ne yerToo Late'Or ll. Powder of Experience (Th omas Orvi nfor N.L. andJoh n Buabie, 159 0) ; and GneDuFa re wellto [oIly (T. Scarlet for T. Gubbinan d T. Newman, 159 1). Af te r nreenrs death in15 92 ,thetre nd continued: TbeRepentpn c e orRobert Cree M (C. Burbie, 15 9 2);Greenesvision' written at the instant ofhisdeath (E.Alldefor T. Newman, 159 2 ); and Creene!! Grp a t s -Worthof Witedite dby HenryChettle (J.
Wool feandJ.Danter fo r W.Wright, reprinted1596). Although the s e ap pe a r e d posthUlllously,and cannotbe
xl v
positivelyidenti fi e d as Gree ne 's wo r k,theyre prod uce the re pentantpers on a introduce d inGree ne'sfinal wo rks .
6. Inhi s fina l works Gr eenedev eloped ast ro ng l y repe nt a nt autobiog raph ica l persona. Ina Groat s-Worth of H.i.t.he bre a ksoff to ide nt i fy himselfwiththe protag o n i s t;
inGr e e nesVis ionhe reno unc e s his romanc es. Gr eene's rep entant st y le in his finalW07:;::Sis simp l y incorporated intohisromance. He l ge rso nar gues that"on close examinationthe~appears as much acover t defence of GreeneIs earlier work as arepentance forit";and Francesco 'sprodigality is onl y one of four stori e stold in thetwo partsofNev e r Too T.at:g (100). I tisimmat e rial whether his contemporaries believedthe pseudo- aut ob i og r a ph i c a l element of GreeneIswork , so long as they ac c eptedthe fic t i o n of the fictionalizationof hislife.
,. Svobnotes the "obv iouscommercial value" of inc lud ingGreenel sname in the advertisement (107); as doe s Adyelotte (136), and Pruvost (42 ). As addition alte stimon y to his continuing popularity , Gr e e ne' s earlier wo r ks were laterreissuedwith re vis ed title s :Gwvdon i us :TheCardg of
~(T.Eastforw. S'onsonby , 1584) appearsin 1608 as Greenes Cardeof Fancie(M. Lowne s) ; and HeDaphoD' camilla!!
Alarum toSlumbering Euphues (T. Orwin for S. Clarke, 15891
xlvi
as GreenesArca dia or M,naphon (W. StansbyforJ.
Smethwicke) in1610 and 1616.
8. One rationale forusing negative examples in a di dact ic work is toeeeenthe aUdience'sattention, despite the danger that they iDaypr e f er the pathof the badexample (Milton 'sSatanandMar lowe 'sMeph istophe les, for insta nce, do sed uceyou ). The para do xpro ve dto be useful forwri te rs of pr ose fiction. Thena r rato r mus t una vo i d a bly discusshis evil deedsin theproc e s sof de lineat i nghow theculprit gets hisjus t rewards . However, apuni She dprodigal who accept s hi spun i s hmen t asa nec e s s a ry part of co ntinuinghi s life style is tooth r e ate n i ng. (Take, for exampl e , the ineffe ctiven e s sof the pUblicshamingof Valeriaand her friends, 76-77). Not onlyDu st the prodigal be pun Lahed for ste pp i ng out of line,he must himself ad.it thathi s behaviourwaswrong (and Valer iaeventuallycomes tothis re a lizat i on ) •
9. Eupbues' An Anatomy of Wit (1578) was themost popular exa mpleof this. Euphu e s , visiting Naples.
cons idershims el fto bea witandiswarnedbythe oldman, Eubulus, not to berash. Hisadvic e is ig no red. Euphues meets Philautus (the friend) and Lucille. (Philautus ' fianc~e). Euphue s sed uc es Lucilla, and loses Philautus asa fr iend ; then Euphue s los e s Luc illa (t oanot~erman Curio)
xlvii
and inhi sdi s ill us i o nme nt ..ithwomen, isre un itedwi t h Ph ila ut u s . Helgerson arguesthat Green imita tesbut inverts thepre c e pt s of Lyly's versionat the prodiga l sonsto r y: in Gr e ene, ti llie , not vi r t ue, is themovingtactor inhis rotary (82); actionre s ults trompa s s i o n or tort une; fema le chara cte r sarepr e s e nted as st oicalsu t f er er s ;and paren t s are unj u st, tyrannical,andunna t ural (83 1.
10. Ratherthanslavi shly imi tat ingLyly, Di ck e ns on Illa ybeconsciously writi ng inanout da ted mode. Hendricks' compla intthat Dic k e ns o n , "striving for re c ognition, should have knowntha t thissupe r fic ialst yle [euphu islR)had long sinc e gone out offa s h i o n" (lxxv) overlook s Di ck e ns on'9 cons i dera ble learning: hemus t hav e beenaware of the currentlite r ary tre nds. sinc ehe ha d already produc ed an Arcad ian wo rk ,his~, tour yearspr e v ious to~
~.
11. Athird possible sourceforGreene inCQDCel Pt.may bePietroAreti no ' s Ragionamen ti (15 34 ),which has st roDg prototype s for the cha racte rs ofVa l eriaand Art.helllio.
signit icantpa s s ag e s are included in th ecOl'lUllentarybelow (see12. 25; 17.7 ; 52. 1 4; and81.9-12).
12 . By1597, Lyly' s ~ (T. East for G. Cawood,
xlviii
157 8 )was initstwelfth editio n(J. Robe rts for G. Cawood ) , and th e sequel F;up h ues and His Eng l an d (T . Eas t for G.
Ca wo od , 1580) was inits te nth. Theseconded i t i onof
~(T. Creedefor W. Pons onby , 1583) app earedten ye a rs laterin 159 3 ; the third edition of Green e's~
(J. Windet and T.Judson for H.Jack s on, 1584) app e aredin 1594;and third off..A.m1.Q.at.2 (T. Orw i n fur T.Ca dma n , 15!il8 ) app ea r e d in 1595 (V. Si1Mle sforJ. Brame) ; the second edition of~ (T.Orwi n for a. Clar k e, 158 9) appeared in1599 (V. Si1Mles for N. Ling) ; and manyotherscon t i nu e d to be reprintedin th e17th ce n t u ry. Nevertheless, the earlierwriters comp e ted agai n stlaterones. Nashe's~
~(J. Charlewood fo r R. JhoDe s,1592) went intoits fifth edition withinthree years;Lodge' sA Fig for Momus (J. orwinfor C.Knight) appeared in1595; A Margarlteof
~(A. Jeffes for J.BUsbie) in 1596; Deloney's PleAsantHistoryof ,JohnWinchcomb in HisYou ng e r Yeares caUld Jack of Noberiewas ent e r e d to T.Millingtonin the stationers' Re g ist e r March7, 1597; and a fourth edition of
~(T . Orwin fo rT. Gubbin andJ. Busbie, 1590) appeared in 1598 (V.Simmes for N. Lyng and T. GUbbins).
13. According toDavi s,writers li k e Lodge, Nashe, and Chettle treat love not as a romanticsubjectbut as source of tragedy,and in c l ud e in theirworks assorted"low-life
xlix
el e ments- to heighten the sense of rea l islll (202). Argua bl y.
Cr ee ne inConce! pt alsounde rcuts ro man ticconvent i ons . langu a g e, and expectati on s withrea list i c detail s, Datives, andre s u l ts. The tale istragicins o f ar as both Gir a l d oand Valer i a arebetrayed bythosethe ylove , and theanticipated happy endi ng (ineac hofVa l e ria'smarriages) ispostpo ned byIlorebetrayal. The euphuisticset speecheside n t i fy Giraldo as avi c ti_ tocha ng i ng mores: and Arthemio uses Pe t r arc ha n commonplace s as a meansto seduc eVal eri a. The di v i sion between appearances(or ideals)and realityis dramatically heigh t en edby Valeria's many infidelitiesand the emphasison Valeria'spunishment .
14. A.C . Hamiltongivesreliqio us, mor al. and soci a l reas onsfor thenegativereputation ofpros e fi c tion: it WIIS asso ciatedwiththe -pr od uc ts of dis solutepa p istry -suc h as mediev a l r01Dance s andItaliann~!:.ll.!U itused Ilor a lly corrup t SUbject ma t t e r ; andi t waspopularwiththe lower cl ass e s (-E lizab ethanProse Fiction-23). Soauthor s reacted to Puritancriticislllby tryingto prove the usefulnessof plays : -Yet not eve na writerof prosefiction wouldadmi t that heWaS wri tingaroma nc e. I fhe didDlt dispa rage his workas ato y or trif le . orgi ve it a moraliz:ng titl e and pr eface , he wou ldcallit something else: a book, history.pa mphlet,discourse, mirror,or
anatollly--anything but what i t vaa.. (Ha "llli l t o n 23 ). other authors attackedpuritanswithcha r ges of hypocr i s yand insincerity, or simply ridi culedthemwithin their works of art (SheavynThe Litera ry prQfessi Qnin the Elizabeth an Age 181-86) •
15. The full title ofDeo rum conses susoffers "to the readers the highest pleasure but no less usefulness" ; andis followed by the motto EstlabQr in min i mi s · habet' scintillacalorem ("Thereis labor in the smallest things:
evena spark haswarmth"; Svob200). AmQng its many prefatory poems is a tetrastich from "N.S", who praises ntcxenscnveability to mix utility with plt"asantry:
Sed dig\lnt guamuis plurima nulla iuuant In guibuS vtilitas rigidase trQnt.e legenU Pnebet at grnabit gloria maior eum yUlequi dulci iucundo rnisget honestum
("But although they expressa great deal, no works pleo.se in which utility shews itself to the reader with a stern brow. But greater glory will adorn him Who mixes the useful with the pleasant, morality wit"h delight"; 206)
"No. sc." continues: "Ho c tu conaris, ne frustra quaeris amice, : Fecisti, &facti lamaperennis erit" ("This you attempt, and not in vain do you make the attempt, friend;
You have carried out your purpose, and the fameof the accomplishment willbeunending"; Svob206).
16. Greene prefaces hisMyrrour Qf Modestie with an
l i
