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The Tragedy of Hoffman or a Revenge for a Father, 1631
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This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.
As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.
88 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1631
19 people want to read
About the author
Henry Chettle
23 books4 followersHenry Chettle (c. 1564 – c. 1606) was an English dramatist and miscellaneous writer of the Elizabethan era, best known for his pamphleteering.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
January 24, 2025
Silly old times with the hoff-sauce
September 12, 2024
I.LOVE.THIS. Why is this bonkers revenge play not better known?! I am going to summarize the whole plot for my own memory now. Get ready:
Hoffman Jr (Clois) lives in the wilds of, basically, Prussia/Poland(?) because he and his father were nobles but banished for palace intrigue and Sr. resorted to piracy or something like it, was prosecuted and executed for it. Jr. barely escapes with leniency and He. Is. Mad. About this injustice. He also pulls an Antigone and steals his father's head from where it was supposed to be displayed forever in the court of Prussia (I think it's Prussia.. Austria is gonna come in, and Saxony and "Leningburg")... and hangs old dad's corpse up in his OWN hall instead to remind him how mad he is.
Luck launches this play in the form of a shipwreck which casts Otho of Leningburg at the gates of dread Hoffman's retreat along with his servant Lorrique. Immediately Jr. is like, My Revenge Is Now Launched! and asks Lorrique if he's into villainy and would like to betray his master Otho and work for Hoff instead. Lorrique is all in. So together they momentarily set Otho at ease before bam Hoffman is like YOUR DAD PUT A MOLTON HOT CROWN ON MY DAD AND NOW I DO THE SAME TO YOU and it is very Game of Thrones. But better, because now Hoffman, with help of trusty Leningburg servant Lorrique, steals Otho's identity and heads off to Otho's uncle's, Ferdinand of Prussia. Duke Prussia and co., never having met his nephew before, take Lorrique and Hoff's word and Hoff both makes a great impression AND gets busy trying to revenge himself on all his father's enemies and their offspring. He's so prepossessing that Prussia uncle decides to disinherit his own hilariously stupid son, Jerom(e), and make Otho/Hoffman Jr his heir. So minor B plot, nicely tied to A, is launched of Jerome getting his servant Stilt and Stilt's dad, Stilt Sr., to hatch a rebellion with him, which will last all of one scene around act 3. Okay meanwhile all the noble sons have been falling in love with Lucibell, who is the daughter of the Duke of Austria, and she is a little bit Helen-kidnapped or maybe a little bit ran away with Lodowick, son of the Duke of Saxony, with the help of Mathias, Lodowick's brother. For some reason all these young nobles want to have a tournament, medieval times style for Lucibell? Because I guess Mathias is also in love with her? Although she's def actually in love with Lodowick? Anyway. Hoff gets to work on his revenge. For some reason everyone seemed to me to be hanging out in the house of this Hermit, Rodorick, and after the Youngs suddenly arrive Lucibell's dad, Duke Austria, who does not think it's cool that Lodowick and Mathias stole his daughter for Renaissance Festivaling (which he considers "ravishing"). Dad-Duke Saxony is also, inexplicably to me, around too and is like, hey, my boys are cool, they will be boys but we can all work this out Aristocratic Intermarrying style, calm down. Okay, but instead Hoff Jr disguises himself as a monk type and convinces Rodorick Saxony and Lucibell Austria that a dad is after them (I think?) so that Rod needs to disguise himself as "a Greek" and they should run down to a small chapel and sleep for the night. But no sooner are they on their way in disguise, then Hoff informs Mathias that he SAW Lucibell running away, strumpet-style, with a Greek, so enraged Mathias also goes to the chapel and stabs both Luc and Rodorick in a jealous rage. Immediately dads and co show up and are like, what have you done?! Why'd you stab Lucibell too? And Mathias is very upset he's killed his brother and also doesn't seem really sure WHY he also stabbed Lucibell. They both get drawn out talky death scenes, then Duke Saxony intercedes for his remaining son, Mathias' life. I think it's in this scene too that Austria suddenly drops dead- it seems like maybe Saxony kills him in this fight over their kids, or maybe Otho/Hoff does it at an opportune moment? Also at some moment Duke Austria recognizes that this mysterious hermit they've been running around with is actually the disgraced brother of Saxony who had made an attempt on his own brother's life, lost, escaped punishment, but been expiating his sin as a hermit all these years. (Saxony has NOT recognized his own brother through all this.) Approximately now angry Jerome and Stilts pere et fils attempt their people's rebellion yelling "Jerome!" a lot and wanting to kill Otho (Hoff, the replacement heir), but half a second later they all agree rebellion isn't their thing and they apologize and get pardoned. Soon tho Lorrique-- dressed up as a French doctor with a silly accent-- visits Jerome and offers him both posion and an antidote and coaches him on how to poison the wine but then use the antidote so that only the person he wants dead (Otho/Hoff Jr) gets permanently poisoned. Of course, the poison is real and the antidote is fake. After much hi-jinks about Jerome getting to be his dad's taster and everyone being scared to drink but also thirsty, Jerome tastes his dad's poison wine, then dad, Duke Prussia, has it too... and they die.
Meanwhile, although Lucibell Austria had nice death scene with lover Roderick Saxony, actually she lives~ but she's doing a good impression of Ophelia (one year earlier!) with some my-dad-is-dead-and-so's-my-lover botanical monologuing. And Martha, the mother of the REAL Otho Luningberg, shows up I think cos she heard about the shipwreck of her son. Hoff intends to kill her, but then can't carry through, although of course she realizes that he is not the real Otho, remembering (to himself and to her) that he was actually saved by her entreaties at the time his father was executed. He and Lorrique also come up with a fake version of Otho's death which involves him riding Lorrique's back all the way to shore in the shipwreck before accidentally braining himself on the rocks at the shore... and somehow this is enough for Martha to agree to let him continue his identity theft for awhile longer and she'll "adopt" him as her son. Okay, but the second she steps away, Hoff is like: actually, I want to sleep with her [a recurring annoyance in plays of this era: male characters constantly call this desire to rape a woman 'love"]. But also Lucibell is about to bring this all down cos she shows up mad in the forest, in a very fancy outfit (Otho's), and with two skulls or maybe full on corpses: real Otho and Hoff Sr. So now the remaining nobles begin to realize something is wrong, they get hold of Lorrique who spills everything, and tells a version in which he is a victim coerced by threats to his own life, and together they all plot how they'll trap Hoff Jr. Lucibell starts to seem WAY more sane around now--playing her like she was feigning the madness all along could be fun. Okay, so Martha is also apprised of Hoff's new gross lust plan, so they decide to lure him to the cave where his crimes began and surround him. This will basically work, except Hoff will meet Lorrique and accuse him of betrayal which he denies (but of course he did actually do). There is an exchange that I found electrifyingly good where Hoff is accusing Lorrique, L denying and swearing, first on "good" heavenly things, but Hoff shouts back that Lorrique shouldn't swear on heaven, being such a villain, and Lor instantly switches to hellish images, and it is a GREAT piece of dialogue. Anyway, a page later Hoff stabs Lorrique fatally, but it takes another scene to stick, so Lor has time to go back and talk to the anti-Hoff conspirators. And... they get a red hot crown and murder him out in the forest where he murdered Otho. All two women live!
Hoffman Jr (Clois) lives in the wilds of, basically, Prussia/Poland(?) because he and his father were nobles but banished for palace intrigue and Sr. resorted to piracy or something like it, was prosecuted and executed for it. Jr. barely escapes with leniency and He. Is. Mad. About this injustice. He also pulls an Antigone and steals his father's head from where it was supposed to be displayed forever in the court of Prussia (I think it's Prussia.. Austria is gonna come in, and Saxony and "Leningburg")... and hangs old dad's corpse up in his OWN hall instead to remind him how mad he is.
Luck launches this play in the form of a shipwreck which casts Otho of Leningburg at the gates of dread Hoffman's retreat along with his servant Lorrique. Immediately Jr. is like, My Revenge Is Now Launched! and asks Lorrique if he's into villainy and would like to betray his master Otho and work for Hoff instead. Lorrique is all in. So together they momentarily set Otho at ease before bam Hoffman is like YOUR DAD PUT A MOLTON HOT CROWN ON MY DAD AND NOW I DO THE SAME TO YOU and it is very Game of Thrones. But better, because now Hoffman, with help of trusty Leningburg servant Lorrique, steals Otho's identity and heads off to Otho's uncle's, Ferdinand of Prussia. Duke Prussia and co., never having met his nephew before, take Lorrique and Hoff's word and Hoff both makes a great impression AND gets busy trying to revenge himself on all his father's enemies and their offspring. He's so prepossessing that Prussia uncle decides to disinherit his own hilariously stupid son, Jerom(e), and make Otho/Hoffman Jr his heir. So minor B plot, nicely tied to A, is launched of Jerome getting his servant Stilt and Stilt's dad, Stilt Sr., to hatch a rebellion with him, which will last all of one scene around act 3. Okay meanwhile all the noble sons have been falling in love with Lucibell, who is the daughter of the Duke of Austria, and she is a little bit Helen-kidnapped or maybe a little bit ran away with Lodowick, son of the Duke of Saxony, with the help of Mathias, Lodowick's brother. For some reason all these young nobles want to have a tournament, medieval times style for Lucibell? Because I guess Mathias is also in love with her? Although she's def actually in love with Lodowick? Anyway. Hoff gets to work on his revenge. For some reason everyone seemed to me to be hanging out in the house of this Hermit, Rodorick, and after the Youngs suddenly arrive Lucibell's dad, Duke Austria, who does not think it's cool that Lodowick and Mathias stole his daughter for Renaissance Festivaling (which he considers "ravishing"). Dad-Duke Saxony is also, inexplicably to me, around too and is like, hey, my boys are cool, they will be boys but we can all work this out Aristocratic Intermarrying style, calm down. Okay, but instead Hoff Jr disguises himself as a monk type and convinces Rodorick Saxony and Lucibell Austria that a dad is after them (I think?) so that Rod needs to disguise himself as "a Greek" and they should run down to a small chapel and sleep for the night. But no sooner are they on their way in disguise, then Hoff informs Mathias that he SAW Lucibell running away, strumpet-style, with a Greek, so enraged Mathias also goes to the chapel and stabs both Luc and Rodorick in a jealous rage. Immediately dads and co show up and are like, what have you done?! Why'd you stab Lucibell too? And Mathias is very upset he's killed his brother and also doesn't seem really sure WHY he also stabbed Lucibell. They both get drawn out talky death scenes, then Duke Saxony intercedes for his remaining son, Mathias' life. I think it's in this scene too that Austria suddenly drops dead- it seems like maybe Saxony kills him in this fight over their kids, or maybe Otho/Hoff does it at an opportune moment? Also at some moment Duke Austria recognizes that this mysterious hermit they've been running around with is actually the disgraced brother of Saxony who had made an attempt on his own brother's life, lost, escaped punishment, but been expiating his sin as a hermit all these years. (Saxony has NOT recognized his own brother through all this.) Approximately now angry Jerome and Stilts pere et fils attempt their people's rebellion yelling "Jerome!" a lot and wanting to kill Otho (Hoff, the replacement heir), but half a second later they all agree rebellion isn't their thing and they apologize and get pardoned. Soon tho Lorrique-- dressed up as a French doctor with a silly accent-- visits Jerome and offers him both posion and an antidote and coaches him on how to poison the wine but then use the antidote so that only the person he wants dead (Otho/Hoff Jr) gets permanently poisoned. Of course, the poison is real and the antidote is fake. After much hi-jinks about Jerome getting to be his dad's taster and everyone being scared to drink but also thirsty, Jerome tastes his dad's poison wine, then dad, Duke Prussia, has it too... and they die.
Meanwhile, although Lucibell Austria had nice death scene with lover Roderick Saxony, actually she lives~ but she's doing a good impression of Ophelia (one year earlier!) with some my-dad-is-dead-and-so's-my-lover botanical monologuing. And Martha, the mother of the REAL Otho Luningberg, shows up I think cos she heard about the shipwreck of her son. Hoff intends to kill her, but then can't carry through, although of course she realizes that he is not the real Otho, remembering (to himself and to her) that he was actually saved by her entreaties at the time his father was executed. He and Lorrique also come up with a fake version of Otho's death which involves him riding Lorrique's back all the way to shore in the shipwreck before accidentally braining himself on the rocks at the shore... and somehow this is enough for Martha to agree to let him continue his identity theft for awhile longer and she'll "adopt" him as her son. Okay, but the second she steps away, Hoff is like: actually, I want to sleep with her [a recurring annoyance in plays of this era: male characters constantly call this desire to rape a woman 'love"]. But also Lucibell is about to bring this all down cos she shows up mad in the forest, in a very fancy outfit (Otho's), and with two skulls or maybe full on corpses: real Otho and Hoff Sr. So now the remaining nobles begin to realize something is wrong, they get hold of Lorrique who spills everything, and tells a version in which he is a victim coerced by threats to his own life, and together they all plot how they'll trap Hoff Jr. Lucibell starts to seem WAY more sane around now--playing her like she was feigning the madness all along could be fun. Okay, so Martha is also apprised of Hoff's new gross lust plan, so they decide to lure him to the cave where his crimes began and surround him. This will basically work, except Hoff will meet Lorrique and accuse him of betrayal which he denies (but of course he did actually do). There is an exchange that I found electrifyingly good where Hoff is accusing Lorrique, L denying and swearing, first on "good" heavenly things, but Hoff shouts back that Lorrique shouldn't swear on heaven, being such a villain, and Lor instantly switches to hellish images, and it is a GREAT piece of dialogue. Anyway, a page later Hoff stabs Lorrique fatally, but it takes another scene to stick, so Lor has time to go back and talk to the anti-Hoff conspirators. And... they get a red hot crown and murder him out in the forest where he murdered Otho. All two women live!
June 16, 2025
Score 3 because reading this play is more work than entertainment!
I could not have managed without the play's summary notes before reading.
Excellent example of a Renaissance Drama Revenge play:
Bodycount: 8
Characters assume disguises to advance the plot, develop character
drove this reader crazy!
If you love drama....this is a play that should be read!
I could not have managed without the play's summary notes before reading.
Excellent example of a Renaissance Drama Revenge play:
Bodycount: 8
Characters assume disguises to advance the plot, develop character
drove this reader crazy!
If you love drama....this is a play that should be read!
February 11, 2023
Some passages have a deranged energy which is gripping, all very surface level stuff but what a surface
November 4, 2024
It's like if Hamlet were gayer, more decisive, and wore a lot of disguises.
May 10, 2025
This makes Kyd's Spanish Tragedy seem profound
September 14, 2023
Utterly bonkers Hamlet ripoff. It probably wouldn't work on stage, but the running tally of corpses and bizarre deaths makes it fun to read.
Reread in Oxford 2023 as part of the Admiral's Men marathon - definitely all of the above, but interesting to read in the context of the company concerned and have read other Chettle stuff in close proximity.
Reread in Oxford 2023 as part of the Admiral's Men marathon - definitely all of the above, but interesting to read in the context of the company concerned and have read other Chettle stuff in close proximity.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews