English Language and Literature ETDs

Publication Date

11-21-1977

Abstract

The intriguing clever servant has had a long and profitable life on the popular stage. In this study I examine two of the most important clever servants, Ben Jonson's Mosca and Face, by measuring them against the Roman, Italian, and native English methods of presenting this archetypal figure. In both Volpone and The Alchemist, which are considered Jonson's masterpieces, the plot, the exposition of satire, and the theatrical brilliance which guarantees their continued popularity depend to a great extent on the machinations of characters who, while inferior in social position, yet demonstrate superior wit, cunning, and--above all--the ability to promote laughter. This study begins with an examination of the intriguing servant as found in the comedies of the Roman play­wright Plautus. The Plautine clever servant is characterized by his histrionic abilities, his love of trickery for its own sake, his quick-wittedness, and his immunity from final retribution. In the next chapter I examine the clever servant as he appears in the comedies of five important dramatists of the Italian Renaissance--Ariosto, Bibbiena, Machiavelli, Aretino, and Bruno--and as he appears in the extant scenarios of the commedia dell'arte. In the third chapter I examine the clever servant in the early English drama and discuss the relationship of this figure to the Morality Vice. I also show the development of the servant in both romantic and satiric English comedy and conclude with an examination of Jonson's use of this figure in his early comedies, The Case Is Altered and Every Man In His Humour. The remainder of this study shows Jonson's mature use of the intriguing servant in Volpone and The Alchemist. My conclusion is that, in his creation of Mosca and Face, Jonson combined elements from all three traditions-­Latin, Italian, and native English--and added touches of his own dramatic inventiveness as well. Face is the culmination of the dramatic intriguing servant, who becomes, through Jonson's assimilative and creative genius, the supreme plot manipulator, satirist, and entertainer, and who most definitely deserves the title of "precious king/Of present wits" (V.iv.13-14).

Degree Name

English

Level of Degree

Doctoral

Department Name

English

First Committee Member (Chair)

David Carlton McPherson

Second Committee Member

Edith Buchanan

Third Committee Member

David Richard Jones

Fourth Committee Member

Illegible

Language

English

Document Type

Dissertation

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