Fitzdottrel
does indeed require his
wife to remain silent, but by no means secretly.
wife to remain silent, but by no means secretly.
Ben Jonson - The Devil's Association
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. Jonson, however, is careful to make plain
the despicable character of Fitzdottrel, while Wittipol is represented
as an attractive and high-minded young man. Further than this, both
Mrs. Fitzdottrel and Wittipol soon recover completely from their
infatuation.
Koeppel has suggested a second source from the _Decameron_, Day 3,
Novella 3. The title is: 'Sotto spezie di confessione e di purissima
coscienza una donna, innamorata d'un giovane, induce un solenne frate,
senza avvedersene egli, a dar modo che'l piacer di lei avessi intero
effetto'.
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. Jonson, however, is careful to make plain
the despicable character of Fitzdottrel, while Wittipol is represented
as an attractive and high-minded young man. Further than this, both
Mrs. Fitzdottrel and Wittipol soon recover completely from their
infatuation.
Koeppel has suggested a second source from the _Decameron_, Day 3,
Novella 3. The title is: 'Sotto spezie di confessione e di purissima
coscienza una donna, innamorata d'un giovane, induce un solenne frate,
senza avvedersene egli, a dar modo che'l piacer di lei avessi intero
effetto'.
