Rosalynde: Or, Euphues' Golden Legacy

by Thomas Lodge

As can be easily understood presenting an exact chronicle of the facts in the life of a 16th Century playwright is often difficult. Thomas Lodge is no exception. Thomas Lodge, born around 1558 in west Ham, was the second son of Sir Thomas Lodge, the Lord Mayor of London, and his third wife Anne. Lodge was educated at Merchant Taylors' School and thence to Trinity College, Oxford; taking his BA in 1577 and his MA in 1581. Lodge, disregarded his parents career wishes in order to take up literature. When the penitent Stephen Gosson published his Schoole of Abuse in 1579, Lodge responded with Defence of Poetry, Music and Stage Plays (1579 or 1580). His pamphlet was banned, but appears to have been circulated privately. Already in 1580 Lodge had published a volume of poems entitled Scillaes Metamorphosis, Enterlaced with the Unfortunate Love of Glaucus, also more briefly known as Glaucus and Scilla. Lodge seems to have married his first wife Joan in or shortly before 1583, when, "impressed with the uncertainty of human life," he made a will. The marriage of Lodge and Joan produced a daughter, Mary. The debate in pamphlets between Lodge and Gosson continued with Gosson's Playes Confuted in Five Actions; and Lodge retorting with his Alarum Against Usurers (1585)-a "tract for the times." Lodge appears to have been at sea on a number of long voyages. Many nations endorsed these tactics and it seems fairly safe to suggest that these voyages were a source of revenue which would keep Joan and Mary with their heads above water. During the expedition to Terceira and the Canaries (around 1586), to set aside the tedium of his voyage, Lodge composed his prose tale of Rosalynde, Euphues Golden Legacie, which, printed in 1590, would later be used by Shakespeare as the basis for As You Like It. Before starting on his next voyage, this time to South America, Lodge published a historical romance, The History of Robert, Second Duke of Normandy, surnamed Robert the Devil; and he left behind him for publication Catharos Diogenes in his Singularity, a discourse on the immorality of Athens (London). Both appeared in 1591. It is thought that in 1590, together with Greene, he wrote A Looking Glass for London and England (published 1594). He had already written The Wounds of Civil War (produced perhaps as early as 1587, and published in 1594, and put on as a play reading at the Globe Theatre on 7 February 1606), a good second-rate piece in the half-chronicle fashion of its age. The composition of Phillis, a volume and an early sonnet cycle sequence (an increasingly popular format in Elizabethan times), was published with the narrative poem, The Complaynte of Elsired, in 1593. A Fig for Momus was published in 1595 and gained him the accolade of being the earliest English satiristIn the latter part of his life-possibly about 1596, when he published his Wits Miserie and the World's Madnesse, which is dated from Low Leyton in Essex, and the religious tract Prosopopeia (if, as seems probable, it was his), in which he repents of his "lewd lines" of other days-he became a Catholic and engaged in the practice of medicine, for which Wood says he qualified himself by a degree at Avignon, in France, in 1600. Two years later he received the degree of M.D. from Oxford University. Over the years he was increasingly recognized as a distinguished physician and finally worked from Old Fish Street in the parish of St. Mary Magdalen. Thomas Lodge died in London, most probably during an outbreak of the plague, in 1625.

Genres: Poetry, Literature, Shakespeare, Classics

90 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1592

About the author

Thomas Lodge (c. 1558-1625) was an English dramatist, poet and writer.

Reviews

[Thom Swennes · Rating 3 out of 5]

Greed is the third of the deadly sins and plays a major role in this narrative first published in 1594. After the death of a wealthy aristocrat, the oldest son discovers that he hasn’t inherited the lion’s portion of his father’s wealth and estates. He has to share it with his two younger brothers. He will stop at nothing, including murder, to claim what he considers his rightful legacy. The three brothers uniquely differ from each other. The middle brother is the scholastic and the youngest is the strong, athletic and most physical of the three. What endearing and positive traits can be attached to the character of the oldest isn’t literally stated so I can only affix cunning, unscrupulous and tenacious, in other words he isn’t a very nice guy. This is an old story in its original wrapping and still remains today a gripping narrative. Although it doesn’t have the poetical flow of Shakespeare, it has the prose for an easier understanding. I admire, more than like this literary work, as it forms one of the pillars in which the contemporary literature is formed. It is a good thing to explore the roots of your passion of reading; I think everyone should make the excursion.

[Sophie Dickinson · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was really boring, I didn’t take very much of it in whatsoever. Probably would’ve been useful to know Latin before reading it. Fairly interesting in terms of it being related to As You Like It but that’s about as good as it gets.

[Roman Clodia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thomas Lodge is another of those Renaissance writers who has disappeared from the general canon and so is only known to scholars and - possibly - students. But in his day he was a popular author associated with the 'university wits' (he had an MA from Oxford) and the Inns of Court along with Robert Greene and, later, Marlowe, Nashe and Donne. Like Philip Sidney he wrote a defence of poetry and literature in response to Stephen Gosson's The Schoole of Abuse, and was also involved in writing plays for the Globe and other London playhouses.

Today Lodge is best known for his erotic epyllion, in imitation of stories from Ovid's Metamorphoses, Scillaes Metamorphosis (1580) which might have influenced Shakespeare's Venus and Adonis.

Lodge's romances are a genre that we don't really recognise now: part rudimentary novel with inset poems, part fairy-tale, they are sometimes deemed 'difficult' to read by students because they confound our expectations. But in Lodge's own day, this genre was a hugely popular one and Rosalyde itself owes debts to texts such as Sidney's two Arcadias, as well as a direct allegiance to John Lyly's Euphues as referenced in the title.

Shakespeare adopted and adapted Roslynde for his "As You Like it", something frequently done in an age which didn't recognise plagiarism and which didn't put a premium on 'originality' as we do.

So whether you're interested in how Shakespeare worked with his sources, or you're just keen to read beyond the canonical Renaissance writers, this is well worth a read. Bright, witty, clever and funny, this opens a window into the Renaissance literary world.

[The Book Dragon's Hoard by A.V. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love the simplicity of medieval romances. It was obvious where things were going but a few clever twists were needed to get there. And of course, the idea of sprouting poetry in the middle of a conversation really should be revived. Bring back the Sonnetto. 🤣

[Jennifer Silver · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting only in the sense that it is the basis of AYL

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wrote a cracking essay on this and as you like it. Read to assess gender norms and realise you would much rather be a pastoral peasant.

[mumu · Rating 2 out of 5]

interesting enough to compare to as you like it but my god this man knows how to bore you with description!

[Eden]

What the text does with gender and performance is pretty interesting; still the second half felt a bit dull and weird pacing-wise. More for academia than pleasure

[Kendra · Rating 3 out of 5]

*read for class*

[Mercedes · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very amusing!