M.: Act I.; Act III., 1; Act V., 1, from “Enter Cleremont,” with traces of his hand in other scenes.
A. H. B. agrees.
A. H. C.: Massinger can be traced at the beginning of Act I., 1 and in Act III., 1 and Act IV., 5. The resemblances are rather slight, and it is possible that they are due to the fact that Fletcher occasionally imitated Massinger.
17. The Lover's Progress. (Massinger and Fletcher.)
M.: Act I., 1, 2 (to “Enter Malefort”); Act II., 2; Act III., 4, 6 (last two speeches); Act IV.; Act V.
A. H. B. thinks it is “by Fletcher, with large alterations by Massinger.” He refers to the explicit statement in the Prologue where the reviser declares himself to be—
ambitious that it should be known
What's good was Fletcher's, and what ill his own,
a statement in harmony with Massinger's well-known modesty.
A. H. C.: Massinger wrote Act I., 1, Act II., 2. There are traces of his work in Act III., 4, 6; Act IV., 2, 4; Act V., 1, 3. The improbabilities of the plot—e.g., the action of Clarangé—are due to Fletcher. It is clear from the Prologue that the original play was too long. Massinger probably cut it down, by leaving out, among other things, scenes in which Lisander killed his two foes. The play is probably to be identified with The [pg 157] Wandering Lovers or The Picture, entered as by Massinger in the Stationers' Register, September 9th, 1653.