Alphonsus, King of Aragon E-Book

Robert Greene

• Herausgeber: Booksell-Verlag
• Kategorie: Gesellschafts- und Liebesromane
• Sprache: Englisch

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2021

Beschreibung

In "Alphonsus, King of Aragon," Robert Greene immerses readers in the tumultuous world of Renaissance politics and personal ambition through a rich and intricate narrative. The play intricately blends historical fact with moral reflection, exploring the complexities of power and the human psyche. Greene employs a highly poetic and dramatic style, imbued with poignant dialogue that captures the essence of its characters. The work stands as a significant example of Elizabethan drama, juxtaposing themes of loyalty, betrayal, and the burdens of leadership against the backdrop of Aragonese politics. Robert Greene, a prominent figure of the Elizabethan literary scene, was known for his keen insights into the human condition and the vices of society. His turbulent life as a playwright and pamphleteer, marked by financial struggles and personal relationships, deeply informed his portrayal of ambition and desire. Greene's extensive knowledge of classical history and contemporary affairs permeates this work, showcasing his ability to intertwine personal narrative with broader societal concerns. Readers seeking to delve into a richly layered exploration of ambition, power, and the moral implications of leadership will find "Alphonsus, King of Aragon" a compelling read. Greene's masterful storytelling and profound character development invite reflection on the nature of human ambition in the pursuit of greatness. In this enriched edition, we have carefully created added value for your reading experience: - A succinct Introduction situates the work's timeless appeal and themes. - The Synopsis outlines the central plot, highlighting key developments without spoiling critical twists. - A detailed Historical Context immerses you in the era's events and influences that shaped the writing. - An Author Biography reveals milestones in the author's life, illuminating the personal insights behind the text. - A thorough Analysis dissects symbols, motifs, and character arcs to unearth underlying meanings. - Reflection questions prompt you to engage personally with the work's messages, connecting them to modern life. - Hand‐picked Memorable Quotes shine a spotlight on moments of literary brilliance. - Interactive footnotes clarify unusual references, historical allusions, and archaic phrases for an effortless, more informed read.

Leseprobe

Robert Greene

Alphonsus, King of Aragon

Enriched edition. Ambition, betrayal, and power: a medieval tale of kings and courtly intrigue

In this enriched edition, we have carefully created added value for your reading experience.

Introduction, Studies and Commentaries by Bennett Stanhope

Edited and published by Good Press, 2022

[email protected]

EAN 4064066444297

Table of Contents

Introduction

Synopsis

Historical Context

Alphonsus, King of Aragon

Analysis

Reflection

Introduction

Table of Contents

A young claimant’s hunger for a crown collides with the shifting tides of fortune, counsel, and war. Robert Greene’s Alphonsus, King of Aragon presents a boldly theatrical meditation on power as performance, inviting audiences to watch ambition rise, falter, and marshal itself anew under public scrutiny. The play’s energies gather around the pursuit of sovereignty and the ways authority must be argued, staged, and recognized. Beneath the martial clamor lies a drama of persuasion—of leaders swaying armies and subjects, of rivals testing resolve, and of reputation built as much by rhetoric and spectacle as by steel.

An Elizabethan drama by Robert Greene, a prominent playwright of the late sixteenth century, Alphonsus, King of Aragon emerges from the bustling London playhouses that prized heroic verse, swift plotting, and visual pageantry. It belongs to the era’s appetite for history-inflected romance and conquest narratives, in which European courts and battlefields provide the canvas for testing character and legitimacy. The play survives from the period in which Greene and his contemporaries were expanding the possibilities of the commercial stage, crafting roles for star players and shaping stories that balanced topical resonance with the allure of exoticized realms and high-stakes intrigue.

The premise is straightforward and potent: Alphonsus pursues a royal destiny amid rival powers, gathering momentum through campaigns, alliances, and bold claims that must convince both friends and foes. The experience is one of propulsive scenes and declamatory speeches, where strategy and bravado share the spotlight and where the audience tracks the formation of a ruler in real time. Expect the mood of heroic endeavor rather than domestic intimacy, with moments of suspense and reversal that stop short of tragic exhaustion. The voice is elevated, the movement brisk, and the atmosphere charged by ceremony, challenge, and the choreography of acclaim.

Power and legitimacy anchor the play’s thematic core. Alphonsus must not only seize opportunities but justify them, testing the boundaries between right and might and raising questions about the sources of political authority. The drama probes the value of counsel against impulse, the role of reputation in victory, and the uneasy pact between personal desire and public duty. It considers how leaders shape narratives about themselves and how those narratives, once embodied in ritual and spectacle, can harden into accepted truth. In this respect, the play invites reflection on propaganda, charisma, and the ethical weight of success.

Greene’s style blends popular vitality with literary finesse, relying on elevated rhetoric, sharply drawn confrontations, and pageant-like set pieces to keep the stakes vivid. His dramaturgy favors contrasts—boast and rebuttal, challenge and response—so that power seems continually negotiated in speech as well as in action. The verse amplifies courage and doubt alike, and martial scenes are offset by moments of ceremonial display that dramatize consent and recognition. Though firmly of its time, the play’s theatrical language remains accessible: it rewards attention to rhythm, image, and the way characters test each other’s resolve through verbal trial by combat.

Situated within the late sixteenth-century marketplace of London drama, Alphonsus, King of Aragon sits alongside works that explored conquest and statecraft in a heightened key, reflecting audience fascinations with rule, reputation, and the pageantry of monarchy. Greene, one of the era’s notable professional authors, contributed to the development of the romantic-historical mode that shaped subsequent playwrights and playgoers’ expectations. The play speaks to its moment’s negotiations between chivalric ideals and emergent realpolitik, dramatizing how crowns are won in both battlefield and council chamber. Its interest lies as much in the making of a monarch as in the outcome of any single contest.

For contemporary readers and audiences, the play resonates as a study in leadership under pressure and the fragile alchemy by which ambition becomes authority. It invites comparisons to modern debates about image-making, mandate, and the narratives that sustain political power. Approached on the page or stage, it offers an engaging blend of momentum and ceremony, a reminder that statecraft is a public art as well as a private burden. Attend to how confidence attracts allies, how spectacles ratify claims, and how doubt shadows even triumphant moments; these currents make Alphonsus, King of Aragon feel timely beyond its original stage.

Synopsis

Table of Contents

Robert Greene’s Alphonsus, King of Aragon is an Elizabethan dramatic romance that traces the ascent of its titular hero from embattled prince to a figure contending for continental authority. The work opens by situating Aragon amid volatile Mediterranean rivalries, and by invoking the workings of Fortune and Fame to frame the action in heroic, exemplary terms. Against this backdrop, Alphonsus emerges as a martial leader whose worth is proved in action as much as in counsel. Greene establishes a pattern of alternating battlefield spectacle and diplomatic negotiation, preparing a story concerned with legitimacy, reputation, and the costs of ambition in unstable times.

An early crisis places Aragon at the mercy of a formidable coalition. Alphonsus faces loss of territory, dispersal of loyal nobles, and the threat of usurpation. Rather than retreat into exile, he vows to recover standing by assembling strength abroad and reclaiming allies at home. Advisors urge prudence, warning against rash glory; nevertheless, Alphonsus insists that disciplined boldness is necessary when Fortune turns. Greene uses these scenes to define the hero’s code: honor tempered by policy, mercy without weakness, and attention to counsel without surrendering initiative. With the stakes defined, the campaign begins and the protagonist’s reputation becomes his most effective weapon.

To gather support, Alphonsus travels among neighboring courts, where he must persuade wary rulers that his cause serves order as well as his own advancement. His appeals weigh lineage, lawful claim, and mutual security. Skirmishes and embassy audiences alternate, each success feeding the next and drawing capable captains to his banner. Greene emphasizes spectacle—mustering troops, oath taking, and public challenges—while threading private cautions about treachery and changing loyalties. A rumor of prophecy circulates, describing a conqueror whose rise will reorder borders. Whether this points to Alphonsus or a rival remains ambiguous, adding an undercurrent of expectation to the gathering momentum.

The first phase of fighting culminates in a siege that tests Alphonsus’s capacity for command under pressure. He balances strict discipline with promises of clemency, seeking to secure cities without scorched-earth tactics that would undermine later rule. A formal duel demonstrates personal valor, but the larger victory depends on coordination and supply. Envoys watch closely, judging whether triumph will harden into tyranny or translate into stable governance. By sparing adversaries willing to submit and rewarding fidelity, Alphonsus cultivates a reputation for measured justice. News of these choices spreads faster than his armies, opening gates in some places and stiffening resistance in others.

As the theatre of war widens, court politics intrude more sharply. Rival rulers try to isolate Alphonsus through marriages of convenience, shifting treaties, and covert subsidies to his enemies. A princess becomes a political fulcrum, her potential alliance carrying symbolic and strategic weight. Greene stages negotiations where vows, tokens, and public ceremonies vie with clandestine plots. Tests of loyalty arise among Alphonsus’s own followers, who must weigh personal gain against the broader cause. Oracles and signs are invoked to justify competing claims, yet the protagonist increasingly relies on verifiable acts—kept promises, protected civilians, and fair tribute—to ground the legitimacy he seeks.

A reversal interrupts the ascent. Betrayal opens a breach, and Alphonsus confronts encirclement, loss of supplies, and the specter of defeat. Captivity or near-capture forces a reckoning with the play’s recurrent theme: Fortune’s wheel spares no ambitious leader. In guarded dialogue, the hero resists despair, arguing that constancy under adverse stars is the truest measure of rule. Allies operate apart from him, improvising stratagems to disrupt the siege lines and sow doubt among the besiegers. The escape or relief that follows is less an act of providence than the cumulative fruit of discipline, earned loyalty, and the credibility built earlier.

Recovered strength permits a new strategy aimed at lasting peace as much as victory. Alphonsus invites former foes into conditional service, promising amnesty under clear terms and instituting impartial judgments to resolve blood debts. Set-piece combats highlight prowess, yet the central contest becomes moral authority: who can claim to safeguard communities and enforce law without cruelty? Greene contrasts bluster with practical leadership—securing grain, restraining pillage, exacting measured fines. Public rituals reaffirm the chain of command, and merit is elevated alongside birth. The coalition against Alphonsus fragments as rulers recalculate risk and advantage, and neutral observers begin to treat his success as probable.

The conflict narrows toward a decisive confrontation. Opposing leaders muster their full strength, fortify positions, and exchange stark messages that frame the war as a judgment on rightful sovereignty. Greene stages councils of war in which competing strategies—assault, attrition, negotiated settlement—are weighed against time, supplies, and morale. A parley offers stringent terms that test Alphonsus’s restraint, setting mercy against deterrence. The ensuing actions combine battlefield maneuver with symbolic gestures meant to secure the postwar order. The play withholds easy assurance, emphasizing how small choices at the brink—accepting pledges, sparing rivals, enforcing discipline—determine whether arms deliver stability or merely reset hostilities.

In the aftermath, the narrative turns from conquest to governance, measuring fame by the peace it sustains. Public ceremonies consolidate authority, reconcile factions, and translate personal victories into institutional norms. Though the title points toward an attained crown, Greene’s emphasis falls on the virtues that justify it: constancy, clemency, and judicious force. A final reflection returns to Fortune and Fame, suggesting that durable rule depends less on prodigies than on kept covenants. As an early example of Greene’s martial romances, Alphonsus, King of Aragon presents a blueprint of princely conduct amid flux, offering audiences a coherent image of legitimate power tempered by prudence.

Historical Context

Table of Contents

Robert Greene sets Alphonsus, King of Aragon in a stylized Mediterranean world that blends late medieval Aragonese power with early Renaissance Italian warfare. The implied chronology most closely matches the fifteenth century, when Aragon projected authority from Barcelona and Zaragoza across Sicily, Sardinia, and southern Italy, especially Naples. Courts, embassies, and siege lines move rapidly between Iberian and Italian locales, reflecting the mobile politics of the age of condottieri. Though Greene adds mythic machinery, the civic and military geography evokes real polities whose fortunes often turned on dynastic claims and naval reach. The dramatic present thus maps onto the decades when Aragonese rulers sought dominion in Italy and the western Mediterranean.

The long Aragonese expansion in the Mediterranean supplies the foundational backdrop. James I of Aragon captured Valencia in 1238 and Majorca in 1229, anchoring Catalan maritime trade. After the Sicilian Vespers uprising of 1282, Peter III of Aragon claimed Sicily, opening a century of Aragonese-Angevin rivalry. James II pursued Sardinia between 1323 and 1326, while Barcelona prospered as a hub of galleys, consulates of the sea, and commercial law. Ports such as Messina and Cagliari became strategic stations. This arc of conquest and commerce created the historical plausibility for an Aragonese king who campaigns overseas. Greene leverages that legacy to imagine Alphonsus as heir to a seaborne, crusading, and mercantile monarchy.

The clearest proximate model is Alfonso V of Aragon, called the Magnanimous, who reigned from 1416 to 1458 and coveted Naples. He was captured by Genoa at the Battle of Ponza on 5 August 1435, then released, and ultimately seized Naples in 1442 after protracted conflict with René of Anjou. In 1443 he staged a triumphal entry, made Naples his principal residence, and cultivated a humanist court that included Lorenzo Valla. Alfonso left Naples to his son Ferrante in 1458, while the Aragonese crown passed to his brother John II. Greene converts this record into drama by presenting Alphonsus as a relentless conqueror whose legitimacy is affirmed by victory, pageantry, and Mediterranean reach.

The dynastic reconfiguration of Iberia after 1469 forms another crucial frame. The marriage of Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile in October 1469 forged a composite monarchy while preserving distinct laws and estates. The War of Castilian Succession from 1475 to 1479 and the Treaty of Alcacovas in 1479 consolidated their rule. Aragonese institutions such as the Cortes and the office of the Justicia maintained regional privileges. Greene reflects this polity by staging power as negotiation between princely will, noble factions, and legal custom, implying that even victorious monarchs must reconcile conquest with the constraints of a federated realm.