The Unity of Thomas Southerne’s The Fatal Marriage : or, The
Innocent Adultery : A Reconsideration

J 2024

The Unity of Thomas Southerne’s The Fatal Marriage : or, The Innocent Adultery : A Reconsideration

KRAJNÍK, Filip

Basic information

Original name

The Unity of Thomas Southerne’s The Fatal Marriage : or, The Innocent Adultery : A Reconsideration

Authors

KRAJNÍK, Filip (203 Czech Republic, guarantor, belonging to the institution)

Edition

Focus : Papers in English Literary and Cultural Studies, 2024, 1585-5228

Other information

Language

English

Type of outcome

Article in a journal

Field of Study

60206 Specific literatures

Country of publisher

Hungary

Confidentiality degree

is not subject to a state or trade secret

References:

Odkaz na plný text článku.

RIV identification code

RIV/00216224:14210/24:00138913

Organization unit

Faculty of Arts

DOI

https://doi.org/10.15170/Focus.14.2024.7

Keywords in English

Thomas Southerne; The Fatal Marriage; Aphra Behn; The History of the Nun; Decameron; Shakespeare; adaptation

Abstract

In the original language

The present study discusses Thomas Southerne’s tragicomedy The Fatal Marriage (1694), based on Aphra Behn’s earlier novella The History of the Nun (1688). Modern criticism has tended chiefly to point out the simplification of Behn’s main heroine in Southerne’s play, as well as Southerne’s introduction of the comical subplot that appears to be irrelevant to the main tragic story. The present essay defends the structure of Southerne’s piece, observing both ideological and artistic themes that permeate both plots and create a dramatic unity in Southerne’s work. The essay further argues that, in order to achieve this, Southerne’s play is informed not only by Behn’s prose text, but also by a number of tropes from Behn’s dramatic oeuvre, as well as by Boccaccio’s Decameron and Shakespeare’s great tragedies, which both enjoyed considerable popularity when The Fatal Marriage was originally staged.

Links

MUNI/A/1328/2023, interní kód MU

Name: Jazyk, literatura a kultura v anglofonních kontextech I

Investor: Masaryk University, Language, literature and culture in Anglophone contexts I

Cite

KRAJNÍK, Filip. The Unity of Thomas Southerne’s The Fatal Marriage : or, The Innocent Adultery : A Reconsideration. Focus : Papers in English Literary and Cultural Studies. 2024, vol. 14, No 1, p. 107-122. ISSN 1585-5228. Available from: https://doi.org/10.15170/Focus.14.2024.7.

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   author = {Krajník, Filip},
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   doi = {https://doi.org/10.15170/Focus.14.2024.7},
   keywords = {Thomas Southerne; The Fatal Marriage; Aphra Behn; The History of the Nun; Decameron; Shakespeare; adaptation},
   language = {eng},
   issn = {1585-5228},
   journal = {Focus : Papers in English Literary and Cultural Studies},
   title = {The Unity of Thomas Southerne’s The Fatal Marriage : or, The Innocent Adultery : A Reconsideration},
   url = {https://journals.lib.pte.hu/index.php/focus/article/view/8066},
   volume = {14},
   year = {2024}
}

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N2  - The present study discusses Thomas Southerne’s tragicomedy The Fatal Marriage (1694), based on Aphra Behn’s earlier novella The History of the Nun (1688). Modern criticism has tended chiefly to point out the simplification of Behn’s main heroine in Southerne’s play, as well as Southerne’s introduction of the comical subplot that appears to be irrelevant to the main tragic story. The present essay defends the structure of Southerne’s piece, observing both ideological and artistic themes that permeate both plots and create a dramatic unity in Southerne’s work. The essay further argues that, in order to achieve this, Southerne’s play is informed not only by Behn’s prose text, but also by a number of tropes from Behn’s dramatic oeuvre, as well as by Boccaccio’s Decameron and Shakespeare’s great tragedies, which both enjoyed considerable popularity when The Fatal Marriage was originally staged.
ER  -

KRAJNÍK, Filip. The Unity of Thomas Southerne’s The Fatal Marriage : or, The Innocent Adultery : A Reconsideration. \textit{Focus : Papers in English Literary and Cultural Studies}. 2024, vol.~14, No~1, p.~107-122. ISSN~1585-5228. Available from: https://doi.org/10.15170/Focus.14.2024.7.

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