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Sex and Politics Middleton's A Game at Chess is a very interesting and informing play, because it does not represent a simple game, but rather a very sophisticated play of potential political alliances between Spain and Britain. Another aspect of the play that draws attention of the general audience is the topic of sexual integrity, and the way this integrity could be violated. There are a lot of symbolic moves in the play that help us to understand this concept of integrity. Certainly, before starting analyzing the play, it would be helpful to look at the players from a historical perspective. White King: King James I (1566 - 1625) of Stuart dynasty. White Queen: The Church of England.
White Knight: Prince Charles, King James's on. White Duke: the Duke of Buckingham, G. Villiers. White King's Pawn: the Duke of Middlesex.
White Bishop: The Archbishop of Canterbury. Black King: The Spanish King Philip IV (1605 - 1665). Black Queen: The Church of Rome. Black Knight: The Duke of Gondomar, Spanish ambassador at London. Black Duke: The Earl of Olivares, first Spanish minister.
Black Bishop: The General Father of Jesuits. There is just one piece, out of two formations, that is wandering between two churches: the Fat Bishop (inexistent name as for the classification of chess pieces, but we have to remember that Bishop means Vescovo in English), he is the most important figure of the comedy. This character has been identified with Marco Antonio De Dominis (1560 - 1624), Jesuit and archbishop of Spalato. Enemy of the Church of Rome and of Pope Paolo V found hospitality by King James' court. He was extremely ambitious and greedy and claimed the office of archbishop of Canterbury to King James I, without any attainment (this office had never been given to any foreigner, anyway). After Paolo V's death in 1621, Alessandro Ludovisi, Gregorio XV was elected to the papal throne and De Dominis was bound by old friendship to him.
As he was thinking to receive the honors being due to him by right, left the England half-clandestinely trying to bring his accumulated fortunes. His decision made him loathed by King James and his court. On coming back to Italy, he didn't receive all the expected honors. His friend Pope died in the course of the same year (1623) and De Dominis fell into disgrace. After his death he was declared heretic and his corpse was exhumed and burnt with his books. The play, divided into five acts, has two overlapping plots: the first one is developed into the White House and is a medium for Middleton to attack the Jesuits directly and satirically (not by chance, the comedy starts with a Prologue through which Ignacio di Loyola- founder of the Order-debates on some religious matters with Error, the mistake); the second plot is developed into the Black House and tells the story about the failed attempt of negotiation between Spain and England for the marriage between Prince Charles and the Infanta Anna.
It is this second plot that has the topic of sexual integrity and its violation, as reflected in the game itself. Middleton considered this marriage (this is an opinion shared by the most aristocrats and above all by the common people, whose "emotions" and "reactions" Middleton was particularly careful not only from the dramatic point of view), an act of obedience to the Spanish plan, partly an express plan in order to establish an Universal Monarchy. The play had a clamorous success even though some of its aspects (the comedy's approval by the master of the Revels, the trial against the author and actors, the closing of the theatre where the play was represented - the famous Globe - the direct intervention of James I have just been investigated till today and are considered a little historical case. A game at Chess' work was certainly commissioned to Middleton and was prepared in a very short time considering that Prince Charles and the Duke of Buckingham came back from their Spanish mission only on the fifth of October 1623 and the comedy was approved in order to be represented on twelfth of June 1624. Probably Middleton had already the idea of a satire against the Jesuits and in his mind the Fat Bishop's idea. The insertion of a topical event (the marriage of Prince Charles that didn't take place had only a minimum space into the comedy) was neither difficult nor disagreeable for the author to be represented.
This comedy was commissioned by a man whose identity is still considered a mystery today (there are some plausible and faint traces that in the next reviews will be followed and studied in depth by us especially because they are connected to the Game at Chess too). The idea of Middleton to develop the plot like a Game at Chess seemed to be happy and surprisingly theatrical, even if a genial device: chessboard is seen as stage, the pieces are thought as characters, the events are both real and imaginary, the ideas are expressed through the pieces moves. Who won the game? Naturally the White House and by checkmate.
Middleton's play is significant when we look at it from a historical perspective, and the sexual aspect of the play cannot be overlooked as well. The violation of sexual integrity (the possible marriage discussed in the play) makes it dynamic and draws the audiences attention because of the various controversies that surrounded the behavior of the players discussed by the author. Words Count: 907. Bibliography: 1. Middleton, T. A Game at Chess.
New York: Harper Collins, 1987.
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