Genealogy of a Frame-Up (1) (1998)

In the Phedon episode of The Faerie Queene (II, iv, 27), Spenser recounts how Claribell's rejected suitor Philemon a charade which he persuaded her betrothed Phedon to watch. Phedon was duped by the performance into believing that Claribell had betrayed him sexually, and angrily attacked her. The third act of Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing, recounting Don John's traducing of Hero, follows similar lines, and the two Elizabethan writers closely parallel versions by Ariosto (Orlando Furioso, 4.57 - 5.10) and Bandello (Novelle, 1.22). The theme of the frame-up was admirably suited to the conventions of baroque Italian opera, and there were several very successful operatic versions, including Handel's Ariodante (1735), mostly based on Ariosto. (2) A similar tale of deceit and jeaklousy may be found in the Greek novel Chaireas and Kallirrhoe, by Chariton of Aphrodisias. Chariton is known to us only from his authorship of this novel, which is probably dated to the first century of the common era. (3) The incident occurs early in the novel (1.4) and precipitates the principal events of the plot After Chaireas wed Kallirrhoe, rejected suitors plotted to destroy the couple's happiness. The Prince of Akragas employed two accomplices; one seduced Kallirrhoe's maidservant, and was allowed by her to enter the women's quarters at will, while the other made friends with Chaireas and insinuated to him that Kallirrhoe was unfaithful. In order to convince him, he told Chaireas to watch his own home from a back lane. From this hiding place, Chaireas observed the first accomplice being let into the house by the maid. Chaireas rushed inside, meaning to catch the adulterer in flagrante and kill him but he escaped by another door. Still in a jealous rage, Chaireas burst into Kallirrhoe's room and kicked her in the stomach. She collapsed, and was taken for dead; she was buried, woke in the tomb, was kidnapped by tomb-robbers and taken away to Asia Minor. When the maid was questioned under torture, and the truth was revealed, Chaireas, full of remorse, begged to be executed for murdering his wife, but was acquitted. When it was discovered that Kallirrhoe was still alive, Chaireas followed her to Asia; many adventures ensued before they were finally reunited and reconciled. Chariton, for whom drama is often an important subtext, (4) here describes a staged scene, to use Valesio's phrase, with explicitly theatrical language; the prince's accomplices are described as actors (hypokritai) and the prince as their stage-manager. The theatrical allusions are to the New Comedy of Menander and his contemporaries. (5) The prince's accomplices are described as parasites, a familiar character-type from New Comedy; the maid's lover, vividly portrayed in fine clothes and jewelry, with his eyes made up and his hair perfumed, is another type-figure, the moichos or seducer. (6) The setting, with a back alley and a side door by which the moichos can escape; also belongs to the comic stage, as in Menander's Misoumenos. Chaireas and Kallirrhoe 1.4 is thus a staged scene in more senses than one. Not only do the prince's accomplices put on a performance for Chaireas, but he is himself an actor in a play observed by the reader. By assigning to his readers the role of audience to a New Comedy, Chariton invites them to apply to his narrative expectations proper to that genre. One of these is the happy ending; the allusions to New Comedy suggest to the reader that, despite Chaireas' brutality, the conflicts will all be resolved in a final act. New Comedy also tends to condone young men's acts of violence, such as the rape of a young girl in Menander's Hero. Reminiscences of Menander will affect readers' responses to Chaireas' brutality towards Kallirrhoe and to his facile apology for it in 4.4. The violence against Kallirrhoe is made to seem part of the play-acting, or is to be excused as something normal for sheltered upper-class youths. …