The Changeling (Cyclopedia of Literary Characters)
At a glance:
- Author: Thomas Middleton, William Rowley
- First Published: 1653
- Type of Work: Play
- Type of Plot: Tragedy
- Time of Work: Early seventeenth century
- Setting: Alicante, a seaport on the eastern coast of Spain
- Genres: Drama, Tragedy
- Subjects: Changelings or cuckoos, Murder or homicide, Marriage, Seventeenth century, Revenge, Fate or fatalism, Spain or Spanish people
- Locales: Alicante, Spain
Characters Discussed
Beatrice-Joanna (beh-ah-TREES- hoh-AHN-yah), the beautiful daughter of Vermandero, a wealthy government official. Her sudden infatuation for Alsemero, a handsome Spaniard, precipitates her rapid moral degeneration, which culminates in the grotesque irony of her wedding night: She spends it with De Flores, a man whom she loathes, while her servant enjoys the husband for whom she entered on her career of deceit and murder. She proceeds boldly in her villainy and professes love she does not feel to procure De Flores’ help in the murder of her fiancé,...
[The entire page is 980 words long]
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