The City Madam is a Caroline era comedy written by Philip Massinger. It was licensed by Sir Henry Herbert, the Master of the Revels, on 25 May 1632 and was acted by the King's Men at the Blackfriars Theatre.[1] It was printed in quarto in 1658 by the stationer Andrew Pennycuicke, who identified himself as "one of the Actors" in the play. A second edition followed in 1659. Pennycuicke dedicated the play (Massinger was long dead) to Ann, Countess of Oxford—or at least most of the surviving copies bear a dedication to her; but others are dedicated to any one of four other individuals.[2]
No direct source for the play has been identified, other than Massinger's own earlier play, A New Way to Pay Old Debts, which was modelled on Thomas Middleton's A Trick to Catch the Old One. Specific connections have been cited between The City Madam and Shakespeare's Measure for Measure (regarding Sir John Frugal's pretended absence and masquerade), Ben Jonson's Volpone (Luke Frugal's rhapsodising over his wealth), and Rollo, Duke of Normandy (Stargaze's astrological verbiage), among other works.[3]
The City Madam was adapted into a version titled A Cure for Pride in 1675.[4] The original version may have been revived in 1771, and was definitely performed in 1783 at Theatre Royal, Drury Lane.[3] A play founded on The City Madam, entitled Riches; or, The Wife and Brother, by Sir James Bland Burges, was brought out with success at the Lyceum in 1810.
- ^ The title page of the 1658 quarto specifies the Blackfriars; it is likely that the King's Men would have performed a popular play at their summer theatre, the Globe, as well—but the Blackfriars had more prestige.
- ^ Ann, daughter of Viscount Bayning and wife of Aubrey de Vere, 20th Earl of Oxford, died in 1659. Of the four other dedicatees, Thomas Freake was "a wealthy Dorset knight," William Lee was an official in the Stationers Company; John Wrath and Richard Steadwell have not been identified. Gibson, pp. 383, 387.
- ^ a b Gibson, p. 281.
- ^ Logan and Smith, p. 110.