The False One: A Tragedy

Fletcher, John, 1579-1625Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.2

Word count: 119K words
Chapters: 12

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today. The False One: A Tragedy by Francis Beaumont and John Fletcher. Author: Fletcher, John, 1579-1625. Language: English. Class: PR: Language and Literatures: English literature. Release Date: Jan 23, 2005

Editor's review

The False One: A Tragedy is a tragedy from the period of Beaumont and Fletcher's collaboration, offered by Project Gutenberg as a free electronic edition. The play draws on the story of the Roman figure Caesar and Cleopatra, Queen of Egypt, unfolding around power, desire, and betrayal; the "false one" of the title is the key to understanding the play's moral conflict. As a sample of early seventeenth-century English drama, its value lies in showing the plotting methods Beaumont and Fletcher habitually used: historical framing, political intrigue, and emotional entanglement interwoven, with characters wavering between ambition and loyalty. For readers studying Renaissance English drama or comparing contemporary plays with Shakespeare's, this is a usable primary text. A caution: the language is early modern English, dense with allusions and historical background, so the reading threshold is not low; the electronic edition also has no modern annotations. It suits drama-history courses or specialized research as supplementary material rather than light entertainment.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Scholars studying Renaissance English drama and the works of Beaumont and Fletcher
English literature students who need to compare contemporary plays with Shakespeare's
Serious readers interested in drama on ancient Roman and Egyptian historical subjects
Readers engaged in the close study and translation of early modern English texts

Not a good fit for

General fiction readers looking for light entertainment
English beginners with little experience of early modern English
Stage practitioners seeking a modern annotated edition or performance script

Reading tips

First learn the basic historical facts about Caesar and Cleopatra before entering the plot, to lower the cost of understanding the background.
Proceed act by act and scene by scene, tracing character relationships and shifts in political alliances as you read, and keep a brief character list.
Read alongside Shakespeare's Roman plays and compare how they handle historical and emotional conflict differently.
Mark dense allusions first and check them later; there is no need to dig into every line on a first reading.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

What is the relationship between this play and Shakespeare's works?

Beaumont and Fletcher were playwrights contemporary with Shakespeare; in subject and genre this play belongs to the same dramatic tradition as Shakespeare's Roman plays and histories and is often compared with them. But it is not by Shakespeare, and its plot structure and language have their own features; it is best read as an independent text.

How much historical background do I need before reading?

At minimum you should know the basic relationship between Caesar and Cleopatra and the political landscape of ancient Rome and Egypt; otherwise the intrigue and character motives are hard to follow. You need not read whole histories; consulting relevant entries and clarifying the main characters' identities is enough, and more details can be filled in as you read.

The electronic edition has no annotations. How do I overcome comprehension barriers?

Use an early modern English dictionary and read alongside an online annotated edition; when you meet unusual words and allusions, first infer from context, then verify. Keep paper or electronic notes recording recurring vocabulary and historical figures, and review them together after finishing; this will be more efficient.

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About the author

Fletcher, John, 1579-1625 Author

John Fletcher (1579–1625) was a playwright of the English Renaissance, and he is the author addressed here. Public information about his life is limited: details of his education, official positions and specific experiences are largely unknown, and his literary standing rests chiefly on plays written in collaboration with Francis Beaumont and others. The collection holds twenty-three related works, mostly in collection form, including several volumes of the ten-volume Beaumont and Fletcher's Works, as well as plays such as The Maids Tragedy, A King, and No King and The Loyal Subject. These works are notable for tragedy and tragicomedy, with tightly constructed plots, witty dialogue and intense personal conflict, making effective use of dramatic tension and stagecraft. His plays hold a place in the seventeenth-century English dramatic tradition and are often named alongside Beaumont, exercising a certain influence on later English drama.