The Weeding of Covent Garden

Last updated

The Weeding of the Covent Garden, or the Middlesex Justice of Peace, alternatively titled The Covent Garden Weeded, [1] is a Caroline era stage play, a comedy written by Richard Brome that was first published in 1659. The play is a noteworthy satire on the emerging ethos of Capitalism as reflected in real estate and urban development in the early modern city.

Contents

The precise dates of authorship and first performance of the play are not known with certainty; but it must have originated c. 1632, when the development of Covent Garden was a public controversy. The play may have been staged by the King's Men. [2]

The Weeding of Covent Garden was first published in the 1659 octavo volume Five New Plays, a collection of Brome's dramas issued by the booksellers Andrew Crooke and Henry Brome.

Covent Garden

Even in the first half of the 17th century, major urban developments were subjects of intense dispute. In both the Elizabethan and the Jacobean eras, regulations had been promulgated to control the urban sprawl that was then uniting London with nearby Westminster. The last open spaces between the two were under pressure in the early 17th century: the area of Lincoln's Inn Fields was partially developed, leaving Covent Garden – the former "convent garden" attached to Westminster Abbey — as the next obvious target for exploitation.

In January 1631, the land's owner, Francis Russell, 4th Earl of Bedford, obtained from King Charles I the waiver of the legal restrictions on new building that he needed for a large building project centred on a Continental-style piazza. (The waiver cost Bedford £2000; Charles had dismissed Parliament and begun his eleven-year period of personal rule, and needed the money.)

Inigo Jones

While Isaac de Caux was the architect for the row houses on the north and east sides of the square, Inigo Jones designed St. Paul's Church on the square's west side. Moreover, Jones was then the King's Surveyor General, and must perforce have been involved in the overall design of the project. [3]

For this reason, Brome chose to concentrate on Jones when crafting his satire on the greed of real-estate development and speculation. Brome, a longtime follower of Ben Jonson, [4] must also have been influenced by the fact that Jonson's long-running battle of egos with Jones, in their unhappy partnership as masque makers for the Stuart Court, had come to a head in 1631 with Jones's victory and Jonson's defeat. [5] Brome focuses his satire on two figures, Rookbill the architect and Cockbrain the justice of the peace; both represent Inigo Jones, who at the time also served as a justice of the peace for Westminster and Middlesex. [6]

Place realism

Brome was not the only playwright of his day to be attracted to this subject; Thomas Nabbes wrote his own Covent Garden, which was acted in 1633 and printed in 1638. Plays exploiting "place realism," connections with real London landmarks and institutions, were common in the early 1630s, with Shackerley Marmion's Holland's Leaguer (1631), James Shirley's Hyde Park (1632), and Nabbes's Tottenham Court (1634) being good examples. Other of Brome's plays also participate in this theatrical fashion.

The play

The play is much more than a simple satire on a contemporary subject; its cast includes "a Puritan named Gabriel, a scarlet woman supposedly from Venice, various irate fathers and disguised lovers, and a group of hooligans known as 'The Brothers of the Blade,' whose expulsion gives the play its title." [7] In shaping this confection, Brome presents a closely observed slice of contemporaneous London life in a realistic setting. [8] The play has attracted critical comment for directing its satire both at fashionable society and at Puritans, and for the unusual scene of two prostitutes fighting each other with swords (Act IV, scene i). Some critics have complained of the play's "looseness of structure," even asserting that it "has no main plot." [9]

Notes

  1. ↑ Modern usage often drops the definitive article before "Covent Garden."
  2. ↑ Corns, p. 200.
  3. ↑ Leapman, pp. 279–85.
  4. ↑ Brome makes his allegiance and his debt to Jonson clear in Covent Garden Weeded: Cockbrain cites Adam Overdo from Bartholomew Fair as his "reverend ancestor."
  5. ↑ Jones continued to design masques for the Court through the remainder of Charles's reign, but Jonson never wrote another for royalty. See: Chloridia.
  6. ↑ Leapman, pp. 221, 288–9.
  7. ↑ Steggle, p. 46.
  8. ↑ Steggle, pp. 47–50.
  9. ↑ Schelling, Vol. 2, p. 272.

Sources

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Inigo Jones</span> English architect (1573–1652)

Inigo Jones was an English architect who was first significant architect in England in the early modern era and the first to employ Vitruvian rules of proportion and symmetry in his buildings. As the most notable architect in England, Jones was the first person to introduce the classical architecture of Rome and the Italian Renaissance to Britain. He left his mark on London by his design of single buildings, such as the Queen's House which is the first building in England designed in a pure classical style, and the Banqueting House, Whitehall, as well as the layout for Covent Garden square which became a model for future developments in the West End. He made major contributions to stage design by his work as a theatrical designer for several dozen masques, most by royal command and many in collaboration with Ben Jonson.

Thomas Nabbes was an English dramatist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard Brome</span> English dramatist (c. 1590–1652)

Richard Brome ; was an English dramatist of the Caroline era.

The Staple of News is an early Caroline era play, a satire by Ben Jonson. The play was first performed in late 1625 by the King's Men at the Blackfriars Theatre, and first published in 1631.

Love's Triumph Through Callipolis was the first masque performed at the Stuart Court during the reign of King Charles I, and the first in which a reigning monarch appeared. The work was written by Ben Jonson, with costumes, sets, and stage effects designed by Inigo Jones, and music by Nicholas Lanier. This play Also played in Greece national theatre in 1979 together with the Johnsons masques Oberon, the faery prince and News from the new world discovered in the moon.

Chloridia: Rites to Chloris and Her Nymphs was the final masque that Ben Jonson wrote for the Stuart Court. It was performed at Shrovetide, 22 February 1631, with costumes, sets and stage effects designed by Inigo Jones.

Oberon, the Faery Prince was a masque written by Ben Jonson, with costumes, sets and stage effects designed by Inigo Jones, and music by Alfonso Ferrabosco and Robert Johnson. Oberon saw the introduction to English Renaissance theatre of scenic techniques that became standard for dramatic productions through the coming centuries.

Love Freed from Ignorance and Folly was a Jacobean era masque, written by Ben Jonson and designed by Inigo Jones, with music by Alfonso Ferrabosco. It was performed on 3 February 1611 at Whitehall Palace, and published in 1616.

Love Restored was a Jacobean era masque, written by Ben Jonson; it was performed on Twelfth Night, 6 January 1612, and first published in 1616. The Dictionary of National Biography says of the masque, "This vindication of love from wealth is a defense of the court revels against the strictures of the puritan city."

<i>The Hue and Cry After Cupid</i> Masque (play) by Ben Jonson

The Hue and Cry After Cupid, or A Hue and Cry After Cupid, also Lord Haddington's Masque or The Masque at Lord Haddington's Marriage, or even The Masque With the Nuptial Songs at the Lord Viscount Haddington's Marriage at Court, was a masque performed on Shrove Tuesday night, 9 February 1608, in the Banqueting House at Whitehall Palace. The work was written by Ben Jonson, with costumes, sets, and stage effects designed by Inigo Jones, and with music by Alfonso Ferrabosco – the team of creators responsible for previous and subsequent masques for the Stuart Court.

The Golden Age Restored was a Jacobean era masque, written by Ben Jonson and designed by Inigo Jones; it was performed on 1 January and 6 January 1616, almost certainly at Whitehall Palace.

The Fortunate Isles and Their Union is a Jacobean era masque, written by Ben Jonson and designed by Inigo Jones, and performed on 9 January 1625. It was the last masque acted before King James I of England, and therefore the final masque of the Jacobean era.

Neptune's Triumph for the Return of Albion was a Jacobean era masque, written by Ben Jonson, and designed by Inigo Jones. The masque is notable for the contradictory historical evidence connected with it and the confusion it caused among generations of scholars and critics.

The Masque of Augurs was a Jacobean era masque, written by Ben Jonson and designed by Inigo Jones. It was performed, most likely, on Twelfth Night, 6 January 1622.

Time Vindicated to Himself and to his Honours was a late Jacobean era masque, written by Ben Jonson and with costumes, sets, and stage effects designed by Inigo Jones. James's son and heir Prince Charles led the dances of the principal masquers, as he had in several previous masques at the Stuart Court.

Luminalia or The Festival of Light was a late Caroline era masque or "operatic show", with an English libretto by Sir William Davenant, designs by Inigo Jones, and music by composer Nicholas Lanier. Performed by Queen Henrietta Maria and her ladies in waiting on Shrove Tuesday, 6 February 1638, it was one of the last and most spectacular of the masques staged at the Stuart Court.

The Sparagus Garden is a Caroline era stage play, a comedy by Richard Brome. It was the greatest success of Brome's career, and one of the major theatrical hits of its period.

The New Academy, or the New Exchange is a Caroline era stage play, a comedy written by Richard Brome. It was first printed in 1659.

The Lovesick Court, or the Ambitious Politique is a Caroline-era stage play, a tragicomedy written by Richard Brome, and first published in 1659.

The Damoiselle, or the New Ordinary is a Caroline era stage play, a comedy by Richard Brome that was first published in the 1653 Brome collection Five New Plays, issued by Humphrey Moseley, Richard Marriot, and Thomas Dring.

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.