of Massinger’s “A Very Woman.” He is son to the Duke of Messina and a rival of Don John Antonio, the Prince of Tarent, for the hand of Almira, daughter of the Viceroy of Sicily. In a violent quarrel with Antonio, who is enraged at not being the favoured suitor, Cardenes is wounded—it is at first thought mortally, but he recovers, though for a time he loses his senses. Eventually he is restored by a physician named Paulo. We see very little of him in his mad condition. First we learn that his disease is
“Melancholy
And at the height, too, near akin to madness . . .
. . . His senses are distracted,” says Paulo,
“Not one, but all; and if I can collect them
With all the various ways invention
Or industry e’er practised, I shall write it
My masterpiece.”[100:1]
When Cardenes actually appears,[100:2] any maniacal excitement which may have disturbed him has disappeared, and he appears to be in a state of simple melancholia:
“Farewell, farewell, for ever, name of mistress!