SOURCE: "General Characteristics of the Romances of Beaumont and Fletcher," in The Influence of Beaumont and Fletcher on Shakspere, 1901. Reprint by Russell & Russell, 1965, pp. 109-32.

In the following essay, Thorndike provides an over-view of Beaumont and Fletcher's romances, considering their structure, characterization, style, and stagecraft.

Six plays by Beaumont and Fletcher—Philaster, Four Plays in One, Thierry and Theodoret, The Maid's Tragedy, Cupid's Revenge, and A King and No King possess such marked resemblances that they may fairly be said to constitute a distinct type of drama. This 'romance' type is exemplified to a less degree in other of their plays; but these best illustrate its characteristics, and, as we have seen, were all probably acted before the close of 1611. We shall examine them in order to discover their common characteristics and to note how these characteristics distinguish them from preceding Elizabethan plays. We shall consider in order...