The Fancies, Chaste and Noble

Published in 1985: The main plot portrays the bachelor Octavio, Marquis of Siena, and his establishment of his "Bower of Fancies," something like a Platonic academy for those he calls the "fancies" - Clarella, Silvia, and Floria, three young women who are, or are said to be,"young, wise, noble, fair, and chaste.

John Ford (1586-1639) was an English playwright whose works have often been cited as examples of the 'decadence' of Caroline Drama. In the 19th century he was admired by Charles Lamb but attacked by William Hazlitt and others, who accused him of lacking a sense of morality. However, many 20th-century critics have praised his insight into character and his skill in writing dialogue
His best known play is the bloody tragedy 'Tis Pity She's a Whore (1627). Other works inlcude Love's Sacrifice(1627), the tragicomedy The Lover's Melancholy (1628), and Perkin Warbeck(1634), described by T. S. Eliot as "one of the very best historical plays in the whole of Elizabethan and Jacobean drama".

1. Introduction to John Ford and The Fancies 2. Textual Introductions 3. The Fancies, Chast and Noble 4. Appendices