The Changeling

Explore the relationship between corruption and innocence in the play.

The Changeling is a product of collaboration between playwrights Thomas Middleton and William Rowley. Rowley is regarded as having written the comedic subplot as well as the play’s first act and final scene. Middleton is regarded as responsible for the rest of the tragic plot. What are the stylistic differences between the tragic plot and comedic subplot? How are the two plots similar? How do the different plots affect your interpretation of the play?

Explore the role of performance and theatricality in The Changeling. How does dramatic technique differ between comedy and tragedy in the play? What is the relationship between theatricality and the theme of changing identities?

How does the play uphold religious values of chastity and honor, and how does it critique them?

Beatrice and De Flores are both confined by their role in society. As an upper-class woman, Beatrice holds privilege, but as a woman, her agency is restricted. As a man, De Flores enjoys certain powers, though as a servant, he’s seen as inferior to the other characters. Analyze the role of gender and/or social class in the play. How does Beatrice’s place in society affect her fate? How does De Flores’s social class affect his? How do Beatrice and De Flores use their power to manipulate others, and in what ways are they themselves manipulated? How do their roles in society change throughout the play? How are other characters affected by gender and class politics?

Explore the relationship between passion, power, and punishment in the play.

Tomazo seeks revenge for Alonzo’s death. However, the play also alludes to another’s revenge: that of God. The story of Beatrice and De Flores as presented in the play is adapted from John Reynold’s story collection The Triumphs of Gods Revenge Against the Crying and Execrable Sinne of Willful and Premeditated Murther. How is the theme of God’s revenge portrayed in the play? How is The Changeling a revenge tragedy? How does the play make use of popular revenge tropes, and in what ways does it subvert them? Is revenge successful in the play? Substantiate your answer with examples from the text.

What is the relationship between The Changeling’s title, its plot, and its key themes? Who is “the changeling”?