‘La bella Franceschina’ and Other Foreign Names in Marston’s The Dutch Courtesan

John Marston’s play, The Dutch Courtesan, presents characters with remarkably polyglot names for action set in England. My essay examines this naming practice, attending in particular to the Italian name and background of the 'Dutch' courtesan, Franceschina, familiar to theatre-goers as a traditional character in commedia dell’arte troupes and scenarios. Overall, the essay argues that Marston’s deployment of foreign and polyglot names plays out and extends the ambivalences criticism has identified in the play, and in the genre of city comedy, towards hybridizations springing up in England in r... Mehr ...

Verfasser: Bishop, Tom
Dokumenttyp: Artikel
Erscheinungsdatum: 2020
Verlag/Hrsg.: McMaster University
Schlagwörter: John Marston / Dutch Courtesan
Sprache: Englisch
Permalink: https://search.fid-benelux.de/Record/base-28996273
Datenquelle: BASE; Originalkatalog
Powered By: BASE
Link(s) : https://earlytheatre.org/earlytheatre/article/view/4171

John Marston’s play, The Dutch Courtesan, presents characters with remarkably polyglot names for action set in England. My essay examines this naming practice, attending in particular to the Italian name and background of the 'Dutch' courtesan, Franceschina, familiar to theatre-goers as a traditional character in commedia dell’arte troupes and scenarios. Overall, the essay argues that Marston’s deployment of foreign and polyglot names plays out and extends the ambivalences criticism has identified in the play, and in the genre of city comedy, towards hybridizations springing up in England in response to contemporary mercantile and cross-cultural relations.