But precisely here Jonson
blunders
badly.
Ben Jonson - The Devil's Association
Fitzdottrel says: 'I would not haue him thinke hee met a statue'.
Fitzdottrel's satisfaction at the result of the bargain is like that
of Francesco: 'I ha' kept the contract, and the cloake is mine' (omai
e ben mio il pallafreno, che fu tuo). Again Wittipol's parting words
resemble Il Zima's: 'It may fall out, that you ha' bought it deare,
though I ha' not sold it'. [59] In the mouths of the two heroes,
however, these words mean exactly opposite things. With Il Zima it is a
complaint, and means: 'You have won the cloak, but I have got nothing
in return'. With Wittipol, on the other hand, it is an open sneer, and
hints at further developments. The display of handkerchiefs at the
window is another borrowing. Fitzdottrel says sarcastically:
. . . I'll take carefull order,
That shee shall hang forth ensignes at the window.
Finally Wittipol, like Il Zima, suspects a trick when Mrs.
Fitzdottrel refuses to answer:
How! not any word? Nay, then, I taste a tricke in't.
But precisely here Jonson blunders badly. In Boccaccio's story the
trick was a genuine one. Il Zima stands waiting for an answer. When no
response is made he begins to suspect the husband's secret admonition,
and to thwart it hits upon the device of answering himself. But in
Jonson there is no trick at all. Fitzdottrel does indeed require his
wife to remain silent, but by no means secretly. His command is placed
in the midst of a rambling discourse addressed alternately to his wife
and to the young men. There is not the slightest hint that any part
of this speech is whispered in his wife's ear, and Wittipol enters
upon his courtship with full knowledge of the situation. This fact
deprives Wittipol's speech in the person of Mrs. Fitzdottrel of its
character as a clever device, so that the whole point of Boccaccio's
story is weakened, if not destroyed. I cannot refrain in conclusion
from making a somewhat doubtful conjecture. It is noticeable that while
Jonson follows so many of the details of this story with the greatest
fidelity he substitutes the gift of a cloak for that of the original
'pallafreno' (palfrey). [60] The word is usually written 'palafreno' and
so occurs in Florio. Is it possible that Jonson was unfamiliar with the
word, and, not being able to find it in a dictionary, conjectured that
it was identical with 'palla', a cloak?
In other respects Jonson's handling of the story displays his
characteristic methods. Boccaccio spends very few words in description
of either husband or suitor.
Fitzdottrel's satisfaction at the result of the bargain is like that
of Francesco: 'I ha' kept the contract, and the cloake is mine' (omai
e ben mio il pallafreno, che fu tuo). Again Wittipol's parting words
resemble Il Zima's: 'It may fall out, that you ha' bought it deare,
though I ha' not sold it'. [59] In the mouths of the two heroes,
however, these words mean exactly opposite things. With Il Zima it is a
complaint, and means: 'You have won the cloak, but I have got nothing
in return'. With Wittipol, on the other hand, it is an open sneer, and
hints at further developments. The display of handkerchiefs at the
window is another borrowing. Fitzdottrel says sarcastically:
. . . I'll take carefull order,
That shee shall hang forth ensignes at the window.
Finally Wittipol, like Il Zima, suspects a trick when Mrs.
Fitzdottrel refuses to answer:
How! not any word? Nay, then, I taste a tricke in't.
But precisely here Jonson blunders badly. In Boccaccio's story the
trick was a genuine one. Il Zima stands waiting for an answer. When no
response is made he begins to suspect the husband's secret admonition,
and to thwart it hits upon the device of answering himself. But in
Jonson there is no trick at all. Fitzdottrel does indeed require his
wife to remain silent, but by no means secretly. His command is placed
in the midst of a rambling discourse addressed alternately to his wife
and to the young men. There is not the slightest hint that any part
of this speech is whispered in his wife's ear, and Wittipol enters
upon his courtship with full knowledge of the situation. This fact
deprives Wittipol's speech in the person of Mrs. Fitzdottrel of its
character as a clever device, so that the whole point of Boccaccio's
story is weakened, if not destroyed. I cannot refrain in conclusion
from making a somewhat doubtful conjecture. It is noticeable that while
Jonson follows so many of the details of this story with the greatest
fidelity he substitutes the gift of a cloak for that of the original
'pallafreno' (palfrey). [60] The word is usually written 'palafreno' and
so occurs in Florio. Is it possible that Jonson was unfamiliar with the
word, and, not being able to find it in a dictionary, conjectured that
it was identical with 'palla', a cloak?
In other respects Jonson's handling of the story displays his
characteristic methods. Boccaccio spends very few words in description
of either husband or suitor.
