Robert Greene The Comical History of Alphonsus king of Aragon
The History of Orlando Furioso
The Scottish History of James IV
Three plays by Robert Greene probably written between 1588 and 1592. It is thought he turned his hand to writing plays after witnessing the success of Marlowe's Tamburlaine and Kyd's Spanish Tragedy. John Clarke Jordan says that Greene turned his hand towards anything that might sell and previous to his career as a dramatist he had written pamphlets, romantic novels, framework stories taken from the Italian renaissance, usually with with a moral theme, prodigal son stories with a religious theme and social tracts warning citizens to beware of confidence tricksters. Looking back at Greene some might say that he was little more than a money driven hack, his vast output in different genres would seem to have resulted in much slapdash work. There is no denying that his output was uneven, but he was not a poor writer and amongst his more forgettable works there are some gems and I think that these three plays prove the point. Alphonsus king of Aragon is structurally suspect and lacks Greenes usual humour and satire. Orlando Furioso is a dramatisation of part of Ariosto's great romance and adds nothing to the original, however The Scottish History of James IV is something else entirely, an original play with good characters based on recent and current history and containing some of Greene's best humorous writing. Greene perhaps always wanted to prove himself as a writer, wanted critical acclaim and this play written right at the end of his life was perhaps his best shot.

The Comical History of Alphonsus king of Aragon was perhaps an imitation of Marlowe's Tamburlaine. Greene however was more intent in providing a spectacle than a study of one man's lust for power. Alphonsus feels his father has been cheated out of his kingship and vows to regain the throne. His early success leads to various kings either supporting him or betraying him and there is much changing of sides. The disturbances attract the attention of Amurack the Turk a fearsome warrior in his own right and the second half of the play switches to his preparations to take on Alphonsus. Medea charms the gathering of warrior kings who support Amurack and summons Calchus an auger from his grave. Amurack dreams that he is defeated by Alphonsus and that his daughter Iphegenia has fallen in love with Alphonsus. He awakens and banishes Iphegenia with her mother Fausta. Medea searches them out and tells them that Amurack neds their help:

MEDEA: In vain it is to strive against the stream:
Fates must be followed, and the God's decree
Must needs take place in every kind of cause.
Therefore, fair maid, bridle these brutish thoughts,
And learn to follow what the fates assign.

A brazen head appears to a couple of priests and claims to be the voice of Mahomet and tells them to ensure that there is support for Amurack who is on his way to Naples to meet Alphonsus. Meanwhile Alphonsus father also has a vision and the play switches back to Alphonsus, but by this time the audience will have spent too long away from Alphonsus.

As can be imagined there is plenty of opportunity for Greene to stage his spectacle and he does this right from the start with a framing device where the goddess Venus descends onto the stage to set the scene. There is the summoning of Calchus from his grave and the appearance of the brazen head with the voice of the Prophet. Act II featuring Alphonsus' conquests is all action and there is the climactic battle scene at the end. The play might have provided plenty of entertainment, but reading it today it all feels disjointed although Greene's ability to tell a story keeps it moving along.

The History of Orlando Furioso is a strange concoction. A mixture of adventure and comedy, unfortunately Greene decided to depict the part of the story where Orlando goes insane as comedy, losing much of it's dramatic force. There are plenty of references back to Ariosto's Orlando Furioso and so the playgoer may well have wished he was more in tune with a knowledge of classical literature. The use of iambic pentameters is skilfully done with the text reverting back to prose for the period of Ariosto's insanity. There is some evidence of satire when Orlando is described as a poet and therefore must be insane. All in all this seems to have been a play for the university wits rather than the ordinary London theatregoer. It was performed at the court of Queen Elizabeth.

The Scottish History of James IV
Music playing within, enter ASTER OBERON, King of Fairies; and Antics,
who dance about a tomb placed conveniently on the stage; out of the which
suddenly starts up, as they dance, BOHAN, a Scot, attired like a ridstall
man, from whom the Antics fly. OBERON manet.

A ridstall man risen from the grave and Greene uses this as a framing device and also to provide dumb shows in the intervals between the acts of his play. Bohan was a courtier at King James court and says that his sons have shut him up in this tomb. He procedes to tell Oberon his story of dastardly deeds at king James court. A stunning opening to the play that held my attention throughout. Bohan tells of the peace brought to the two kingdoms (England and Scotland) by the marriage of Dorothea daughter of the English king to the young King James. The young king however is a lustful youth and during the wedding ceremony he spies Ida daughter of the Countess of Aran. He must have her and comforts himself with the thought that as king his subjects must obey his will. A scholar: Ateukin spots the kings lustful looking and offers his services in procuring Ida. He visits her at the home of the Countess of Aran and unexpectedly meets a virtuous young woman who says she would rather die than be a concubine to the king. The Countess cannot persuade her daughter to go to the king and so Ateukin has to go back to the king empty handed. The king is not pleased and Ateukin suggests that if he were not married he is sure that Ida would be his queen. The solution is to do away with Dorothea. The Scottish nobles soon get wind of what is going on and many of them drift away from court to show their disapproval. They tell Dorothea that she may be in danger but she says she will not leave her young husband. However when she is shown the kings warrant for her murder she agrees to flee dressed as a man. She is pursued by an assassin (the frenchman Jaques) who wounds her badly, she is rescued by a Scottish nobleman meanwhile the English king believing that his daughter has been murdered has invaded Scotland and put 7000 Scots to death. A fully recovered Dorothea must decide where her duty lies, to her young Scottish husband or to her father.

It is a good story that would have been highly topical to the London Crowd in the 1590's. James VI was on the throne in Scotland and he was young and untested and had surrounded himself with his young friends, the importance to England was that he was the logical successor to the English Queen Elizabeth who was without children herself. The succession had been a huge issue throughout Elizabeths reign and so Greene had hit upon a story that would have resonated with the English public, although he had made up the story about the earlier James IV his play would have seemed prescient.

My first thoughts about the play was that it read very well with some good speeches. it is written in iambic pentameters with some rhymed line endings, it flows very well and the storytelling is well handled without any obvious loose ends. The female characters Dorothea, Ida, and the Countess of Arran are particularly strong. It is a play that does not take itself too seriously and Greene intersperses nearly every dramatic scene with some comedy and he is on top form here with Bohan's sons Slipper and the dwarf Nando providing most of the laughs. There is also Oberon king of the fairies and his antics to lighten the mood. Ateukin is the scheming presence at the king's court, a skilled sycophant rather than malevolently evil. When he cannot deliver Ida to the king he has to arrange Dorothea's murder to save himself.

There is not only good writing here, but also innovation. Greene several times uses a split stage technique with two groups of people conferring on different issues unaware perhaps of the conversation in the other group that might concern them. For example Dorothea is exchanging witticisms with the dwarf Nando on one area of the stage while the nobles in another corner are worrying about the threat to Dorothea from the king, Greene skilfully brings these two groups together seamlessly. The dialogue crackles: here is Ida squaring up to up to Ateukin:

Ida. Better, than live unchaste, to lie in grave.

Ateu. He shall erect your state, and wed you well.

Ida. But can his warrant keep my soul from hell?

Ateu. He will enforce, if you resist his suit.

And here is a witty speech by Sir Cuthbert, using anthropomorphism to tell his version of events:

Sir Cuth. I see you trust me, princes, who repose
The weight of such a war upon my will.
Now mark my suit. A tender lion's whelp,
This other day, came straggling in the woods,
Attended by a young and tender hind,
In courage haught, yet 'tirèd like a lamb.
The prince of beasts had left this young in keep,
To foster up as love-mate and compeer,
Unto the lion's mate, a neighbour-friend:
This stately guide, seducèd by the fox,
Sent forth an eager wolf, bred up in France,
That grip'd the tender whelp and wounded it.
By chance, as I was hunting in the woods,
I heard the moan the hind made for the whelp:
I took them both and brought them to my house.
With chary care I have recur'd the one;
And since I know the lions are at strife
About the loss and damage of the young,
I bring her home; make claim to her who list.

My only criticism of the play is that Greene seems to have thrown everything, but the kitchen sink into this play; there is pathos, there is suspense, there are dumb shows organised by Oberon and there are some moralising speeches thrown in for good measure. Then there is the comedy; perhaps a bit too much comedy with Bohans sons easily flitting between the world of Oberon, Bohan and the fairies and the complicated reality of the Scottish kings court, they are never lost for a witty remark. None of this stops the onward progression of the storytelling.

Greene's plays have rarely been performed in the modern era, but I can see some potential in this play. Male actors would have great fun with the comedy and the strong female characters would carry this play along. Witty, inventive even innovative, this makes it a 4.5 star read. ( )