Lyly's Midas as an Allegory of Tyranny

Abstract

John Lyly's l rather it contributes to t he thematic development by depicting allegorically the ignorance of the divine order which caused Midas's tyranny. In the last act the repentant king submits to the divine order in scene of Lyly's invention that underscores the allegorical theme. THE GRACEFUL WIT OF John Lyly's plays was for many years probed only by an occasional scholar in search of political allusions; to the general critic they remained little more than skillful comedies of manners. G. K. Hunter has begun revaluation of Lyly that should establish him as writer in the grand tradition of Renaissance humanism, but his study, for all its historical insight, did not demonstrate the thematic complexity that enriches Lyly's plays.' This article is intended to show that Lyly treated in his play Midas the nature of tyranny, theme usually associated with the public theater. His use of allegory in depicting this theme is an informative example of the Elizabethan use of the allegorical mode for dramatic purposes. Midas is perhaps a model of elegant speech and mirror of manners, to use M. C. Bradbrook's terms, but Lyly is deprived of his due as an artist if the analysis of his plays is restricted to the ~urface.~