Contrast between plots in Marriage a la

mode

Tomsa Crina Maria

Sectia romana engleza
Anul I

The Restauration of the English monarchy begun in 1660 when Charles II

returned from exile and recived the crown from England. Oliver Cromwells
protectorship was a hash period in the history of England. An eloquient argument in
sustain of my statement is the fact that in 1642 the Puritan government had
stopped the performance of plays. It was been said that the English theater did not
exist between 1642 and 1660. Along whit the Restouration of King Charles came
the restauration of the theater, sut this time it was a different kind of theater,
playing to a different kind audience. In Critical History of English Literature
Daiches David testifies that Restauration comedy reflects the ideal - social world
of the Court wits of the begin of Charles ; its relation to the spirit of the age is thus
easily discernible (1960:549). He also that the literatury form, once it had been
established developed a momentum of its own and that expanded Seyound the
limits of the age and the class that produce it. Generally reviewers agreed that
Restouraction tragedy never achieved the literatury perfection of the best
Restauration comedy.
A specific dramatic form of this period was tragicomedy. Difficult to define,
tragicomedy appears to be an elusine and controversial form from a large generic
field. Apparantly the term has an old background since Socrate seems to have
pounted it out as a mixture of pain pleasure. During the Restauraction period
there were lots of definitions regarding the tragicomedy geure . From the ideea that
tragicomedy is a tragedy whit happy ending to the perspective of Nicholas Grimald
who considered that tragicomedy depiects a movement from sadness to
happiness. From this point of view a tragicomedy could be a normal tragedy which
by the end turns into a comedy. Like that started a debate between the Restauration
playwrights. For example Guarini consides that tradicomedy is a separate and
independent genre and the author of it doesnt intend to create a tragedy or a
comedy but another genre born from the mixture of the first two.Another important
writer preoccupied whith this genre was John Dryden He was an important writer of
the Restauration period. A proof of the that is reviewers opinion. For example Dr.
Johnson wrote that Dryden may be properly considered as the father of English
criticism. Drydens most lucrative part of his career may have been playwriting .
He became one of the most popular dramatis of the Restauration . He wrote both
tragedies and comedies and also dramatic criticism in his faumous Eassy of
Dramatic Poesy. Dryden defines a play as a lively image of human change of
fortune to which it is subiect for the delight and instruction of mankind (David
Daches 1960:580). We can recognize here an ethical implication. He seemed to
belive in the educational finality of literature. From this perspective a play should
reflect society in its weak points in order to make people laugh at their own
mistakes and nevertheless in order to acknowledge them and correct them if

possible. A similar ideea is established by Brian Corman in English Restoration

Theatre . From this point of view Dryden consideres that the moral function of
comedy depends on the audience first being moved to pleasure. To cause laughter
at folly is to instruct by appealing to the lowest of human emotions. Wit comedy, by
contrast provides the pleasure of listening and observind the behavior of high
society. Wit comedy teaches by positive example and is thus to be preferred over
humours comedy with negative examples. (P. 52/53) So Dryden had a viable
theory regarding the steps to through which a comedy should both amuse and
instruct the individual. An eloquent example o his beliefs regarding the mixture
between comdeys purposes and effects upon the audience, is his play Marriage a
a-la-mode. This play respects the structure of an tragicomedy by developing
simultaneously the two types of plot: a comic one and a heroic one. The contrast
between then is ment to reveal the substance of the authors message.
The heroic plot presents the evaluation of two characters who unbody most of
entitre and social features that a good citizen should have. Palmyra and Leonidas
are the symbols of virtual courage, discernement and non the least symbols of the
sacrifice effort for fulfilling their love. Palmira and Leonidas were raised in the
country, received a proper education which enabled them to discover and treasure
the spiritual values or the real values which comteporary society has forgotten and
ignored. They were separated from their parents as babies and raised together by
Hermogeneses. The affection that took birth between them two is a sincere and
pure one and proof of that is its resistence to the external factors. In The
Cambridge Companion to John Dryden Stuart Sherman testifies that he plays
upper plot turn on question not of adultery but of identity It too involves two pairs
whose ultimate combination is an first for less predictable. (p.25) He adverts to
the switch of identities between those two: firstly Leonida is considered to be
Polyalmass son of the rightfull king. During the play the alternantion of
circumstances and switches of identities proves to be a constant unpediment in the
mean of furfilling their love. Thear affection seems to be forbidden in a society
where true love is consideredto be elusive and insemnificant as a reason of
happiness and long lashing fulfillmeut. The tyramy of Polydamais who eas so
eager to see obidence from his child, rather than to think cetout the happiness of
his child seemed to be an irreneovable obstacle in their way. Still they didnt give up
Each in his turn preferred rather to die than to ever admit a life whitout the other.
Their stuffornnes in achieving their goal is not a romantic feature in future case but
a proof if their fortitude.
Their suffering is perceived as natural from future perspective and the easiness of
the clase society they live in doesent alterate their principles and emotions. In this
poi@##@! we can make the distinction between the plots and their characters
more easily. The plan of the true lovers who fight to death for future love is
alternated whit another one, a comic plot ment to embody the superficiality of
Dryden s contemporary society.

So whileLeonidas and Palmyra risk dying than obeying and living in a matrimousy
whitout love, in their clase society Palamade Lecepts marring Melemtheon just
because he is afraid of his father desinteristing him . Nevertheles he is not
confortable whit the ideea of marrying a woman that doest know and love but his
back of ethical principles and backstone make him submit his father request. In his
monologues ar discussious whit his friend Rhodaphil he coustently comforts himself
firstly that there wasent a better alternative for him. An interesting thing to point
out is the difference of perspective between the characters. By parephrasing Stuard
Sherman through this extraordinary alternation of the plot Dryden ensures the
mirror of the ordinary alternations of the world in which, neither heart uor eye
prove adequate to asses human volatilities. (A Cambridge Companion to John
Dryden p:28) An eloquient example that sistitues the reviewers idea is the different
perspective of characters upon the meaning of marriage. If for Leonidas and
Palmyra marriage means the only way to happiness and fulfillment, the goal for
which they are willing to sacrifice everything for the other ones: Rhodaphil and
Doralice as instance, marriage is an onerous duty which led them to affliction. While
for the first ones it represent the holy estate thet couldnt be violated by external
factors for Rhodaphil and Doralice it become a symbol of a wretched fath which has
proven to be their enemy. I underline my idea upon the characters confession from
the beginning of the play. Reffering to his marriage Rhodaphil says that The
greatest misfortune imaginable is fallen upon me and that The eleval has had
power iver him. The same attitude we find at his wife. The first scene of the first act
begins with her singing Why should a foolish marriage vow/ which long ago was
made / obligue as to each other now, when passion is decayed ? She is
complaining her fate and through her mouth Dryden detiferatly describe the
conceruings of the society which seems to forget marriage finality. Stuard Sherman
consideres thatthe answer for much the play, and for many of the characters,
would seem to be that marriage vow cant and perhaps shouldnt impose such
obligation( A Cambridge Companion to John Drydenp:24). This is another part of
the authors message and it is revealed through means of apposition by showing
the distorted cognition characters adopted as the song show.The same reviewer
beliefs in the play came be seen from the start a copular rectangle underwritten by
conventional rectitude: marriage be trothed are schmaticully, criss corsed by
adulterons desive: the man in each cople pursuing the woman in the other. (A
Cambridge Companion to John Dryden p:24) This crisscrossing is a mean trough
which the comedy sustains itself. The context is a derisive one because the two
men are old friends ad they both belive that they cant find love anywere in
marriage. Dryden is carefully pointing out the back of ethical substance and
disecretion in his comic characters. Frim this point of view it is hilarious how
Rhodaphil confusses that he has no good reason for which he stopped loving
Doralice excepting the fact that his consistency in love was a reason to be macked
at by close society and he simply deosent love her anywere because she is his wife
and after two years of boring marriage that would be absurd. He also assures his
wife about women : I have fauncied the all the fine women in the town to help me

out. But now theres none left for me to think one So his resources have gone
away.
A well-known theme developed by Dryden is his plays is the theme of douthyngs.
Each character from the comic plot has two sides one apparent and a hidden one,
hidden from the society, eventhrough all its meanfers know that they all have their
hidden dimensions. For example Palamede supposes that if the rectangle were to
resolve it stuff into a manage a quatre things would be better and women would
savoar the whith Rhodaphil he confesses : If their necessitues and our were know.
They have more need of two, than we of one So from his point of view desines
default consists in variety and multiplicity like it is perfectly normed for each
person to feel this desire of variety in his marriage. Reviewers consider that
Drydens dauthings indexed insatiable human appetites (..) and he handles his
douthings here in such a way as to collapse distance and make the plays
preposterson doings at time uncomfortably proximate to ordinary life (A
Cambridge Companion to John Dryden p:28).
From my point of view this idea of multiplicity contined with douthings may be a
symbol of what Dryden descripted as inconstaney of human relationships and
fulings. For example Rhodaphil loved Doralice when he got married but his love
sormed to have nanished away because of the superficiality of his ethical principles
and of the society s as he confusses that he stopped loving her because it started
to look old in society where all men had mistakes to when they felt they legitimate
persons who deserved that. As the irony from the title suggests in Drydens day
marriage eas something like a couproat made a la mode It was necessary if you
wanted to be well-seen in the society to have a beautiful wife, from a rich family
who would be something like a medal for the hustband. If they didnt have eac other
ar interested each other that seems to count, the least taking into account the fuct
that deep instide they all knew they have unistresses to wham they share beds,
love, secrets and so on. From where Im stunding John Dryden wanted to pint out
how ete.. became marriage in his belief he drows the two plots, constituted in
(antiteza) which are ment to reveal the discrepance between what marriage should
be and what marriage means nowadays. This is the situation of Leonidas and
Palmyra and Rhodaphil, Doralice, Palmelade and Melantha. For the first one
marriage is something irretrievable that worthd fighting to the death to achieve all
the edventegs you came get: money, reputation, a good social rang but nothing
that should really matters. So under the masl of hilarious and comic characters who
evaluate in comic situation Dryden wants to point out a seal issue people coufrout
with every day : what supposed to mean and what it means today white all its
implications
Reviewed belive that tragicomedy was always one of Drydens favourite
mades of continuation and compression ( A Cambridge Companion to John Dryden
p:22) maybe because he was one of the playwrights who belived that literature
should have a instructive and moral function upon its readers and that it is a

writers duty to know how to mixt literaturs criteria as a literatury work should
always cauvey the feature of its genre with the message he wants to transmit to his
readers, a message that oftein has moral, social or personal implications. Achieving
all these involves skills, talent and practice, attributes that John Dryden proved to
have.