"The Truth" in John Ford's the Broken Heart

Abstract

Naturally these lines have aroused the interest of the critics, and several suggestions and conjectures have been advanced. A. W. Ward thought that the story, savours of mediaeval Italy, might be derived from some unknown contemporary novel.1 Havelock Ellis remarked that the unknown novel might be Italian, though he did not suggest which one, nor did he explain why Ford should have transferred events from Italy to Sparta.2 In 1909 Stuart P. Sherman proposed the most attractive theory about the historical origin of this truth which according to Ford's statement, lies at the root of the drama.3 The Broken Heart, says Sherman, set in Sparta to veil a true English love story from an English audience; that seems the almost inevitable explanation. The Spartan setting and the name of King Amyclas are, Sherman has pointed out, clearly reminiscent of Sidney's Arcadia, and this gives us the clue to the whole problem. Another consideration that leads us to Philip Sidney is the deep interest that Ford took when he was young in the love story of Penelope Devereux, Sidney's Stella; to Stella, then countess of Devonshire, he dedicated his Fame's Memorial. Two more points should be added to Sherman's suggestion that Ford had Sidney's Arcadia in mind when he wrote The Broken Heart: the oracle in the play is contrived with the same ingenious and clever antitheses as in Sidney's romance, and the names of the characters are clearly set forth, by both Sidney and Ford, with a moralistic purpose hinted at by their Greek names. Before meeting Devonshire, Penelope Devereux was loved by Philip Sidney. Sherman draws between their story and that of Orgylus and Penthea a striking and accurate comparison. Like Ithocles' father and Crotolon, Sir Henry Sidney and the Earl of Essex were not on friendly