28. The Cure for a Cuckold, “a pleasant comedy written by John Webster and William Rowley; London, 1661.”
It has been supposed by Fleay that the first act is due to Massinger. It must be pointed out that a large part of the play is written in prose, and that the verse parts are not like Massinger. If one or two phrases remind us of his style the stage is too crowded to make it likely that it is his design. The real reason, no doubt, for the assumption is that the incident of Clare and Lessingham is similar to one in The Parliament of Love. Clare sends a letter to Lessingham in which she tells him she will marry him if he will kill his dearest friend.
Prove all thy friends, find out the best and nearest,
Kill for my sake that friend that loves thee dearest.
But even so the incident is worked out with much variety in detail.
Mr. Rupert Brooke in his Study on Webster (Appendix J) arrives at the conclusion that Webster's play is subsequent to Massinger's, both of them bearing a general resemblance to Marston's Dutch Courtesan. The stinging and incisive vigour of Marston's play is a great contrast to the romantic treatment of the subject in The Parliament of Love.
29. The Island Princess.
This is rather a dull play, though it contains some fine passages and isolated lines. It is well constructed, and contains one or two touches, such as “I love a soldier” (I., 2) and “something shall be thought on” (II., 7), which recall Massinger. And compare “When the streams flow clear and fair, what are the fountains?” (V., 2) with The Bondman, I., 3, 282. The King in gaol reminds us of Believe as You List; the attempt of the Queen Quisara to convert Armusia to her faith reminds [pg 160] us of The Renegado. On the other hand, the metre is singularly like Fletcher's throughout; the diction in many details is unlike Massinger, and there are no parentheses. Perhaps Fletcher was helped in this play by some young man such as Brome who was acquainted with Massinger's style.
30. The Double Falsehood, or The Distressed Lovers.
This play scarcely deserves serious consideration. Cf. [Appendix XV].