The Maid's Tragedy

Maid's Tragedy, The

    Author: Francis Beaumont and John Fletcher

    First Performance: c.1608–11, London

    Published: 1619

    Genre: Trag. in 5 acts; blank verse

    Setting: Rhodes, in the ancient world

    Cast: 15m, 7f, extras

Under orders from the King of Rhodes, Amintor rejects his promised bride Aspatia in order to wed Evadne, the sister of his best friend Melantius. After the wedding and a court masque, Evadne confesses that she and the King are lovers, and that the marriage to Amintor is merely a device to conceal their liaison. Amintor reports this to Melantius, who vows revenge on the King for dishonouring his sister. Confronting Evadne, Melantius extracts from her both a confession of guilt and a promise to kill the King. Melantius and his followers seize the fort, while Evadne stabs the King in his lustful...

[The entire page is 312 words long]

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