All's Lost by Lust is a Jacobean tragedy by William Rowley. A "tragedy of remarkable frankness and effectiveness," "crude and fierce," it was written and first performed between 1611 and 1621, although not published until 1633.
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Publication
The play was entered into the Stationers' Register on 27 September 1632 and published in 1633 (seven years after Rowley's death) in a quarto printed by the bookseller Thomas Harper. It was not reprinted until the nineteenth century.
Performance
All's Lost by Lust was first performed by Rowley's playing company, Prince Charles' Men, and later by the Lady Elizabeth's Men and Queen Henrietta's Men. The play was popular in its own period and was revived during the Restoration; Samuel Pepys saw George Jolly's production at the Red Bull Theatre on 23 March 1661. In his famous Diary, Pepys described the production as "poorly done" with "much disorder" — when a boy singer performed a song poorly, the music master "fell about his ears and beat him so, that it put the whole house into an uproar."
Like many English Renaissance plays, Rowley's tragedy was adapted for later productions. One "W. C." was responsible for a version called The Rape Reveng'd, or the Spanish Revolution in 1690. A 1705 adaptation titled The Conquest of Spain in credited to Mary Pix.
Since then, the work has fallen out of favour and has not been revived.
Genre
Rowley's reputation as an author is grounded on his comedies; All's Lost by Lust is his only surviving tragedy. The tragicomic Fitzallen subplot in A Fair Quarrel and the opening and closing scenes in The Changeling are other rare examples of the serious side of Rowley's authorship.
All's Lost by Lust has been classed with other Jacobean tragedies that treat the private crime of rape in a larger political and social context, Including John Fletcher's Valentinian and Bonduca, and Thomas Middleton's Hengist, King of Kent and The Revenger's Tragedy, among other works of the era that feature a "tyrant-rapist" figure.
Rowley's tragedy "might be called a rape play with a difference." Its "ideological surprises" include a would-be warrior woman, a "murderously jealous wife...their conscience-ridden, bigamous husband...and the post mortem ménage à trois that unites all three. And that is only the sub-plot...."
The clown
The play's comic relief is supplied largely by the clown character Jaques; the Dramatis Personae of the 1633 quarto states that Jaques was "personated by the Poet." Rowley had a habit of composing comic roles for himself to play; he wrote and played the clown part of Bustopha in The Maid in the Mill, his late collaboration with Fletcher. The comic parts of Chough in A Fair Quarrel and Simplicity in The World Tossed at Tennis, two of his collaborations with Thomas Middleton, fall into the same category, as do some other clown roles in other Rowley plays. (Rowley's self-penned roles are recognisable as "fat clown" roles, since Rowley was by all evidence a man physically equipped to fill such parts.)
Synopsis
The play is based on the Spanish legends about the Moorish invasion of Spain in the eighth century. It depicts the tale of Roderick, the last Visigoth king of Spain, and his general Julianus, based on the legendary Julian, count of Ceuta. (Rowley's specific sources for the story are not known, though he had a large body of traditional lore, poems, and ballads on which to base his work.)
As the play opens, the Moorish invasion of Spain is in the offing; King Roderick musters his army and places it under the command of Julianus. Roderick himself is more interested in seducing the general's daughter Jacinta; his sycophant and pander Lothario brings in an old bawd named Malena to help convince the young woman to yield her virginity. Roderick is also troubled by an empty treasury; he plans to remedy the problem by breaking into an enchanted castle, isolated and secluded by many previous kings, that he believes holds a great treasure.
The play's second and third scenes introduce the characters of the subplot. Antonio is a young nobleman, infatuated with and courting a young woman named Margaretta. She is a commoner, and Antonio's friend Lazarello complains about the social inequality of the proposed match. Margaretta's father is also uneasy about the match, but her brother, Jaques the clown, is its eager advocate. Antonio marries Margaretta hurriedly before leaving for military duty; the marriage, for the time being, is kept secret.
Lothario brings Malena and Jacinta together at Roderick's court, and the old pandress tries her best to make Jacinta pliant, but with no success. Roderick enters, and drags Jacinta offstage to rape her. Julianus, meanwhile, leads his forces south to meet the Moors. He and his officers, including Antonio, stop at the castle of Alonzo; they meet Alonzo's beautiful and extroverted daughter Dionisa. Antonio and Dionisa are instantly attracted to each other, and Antonio comes to regret his hasty marriage to Margaretta. The Spanish forces engage the Moorish invaders and win the battle, capturing many leading Moorish officers; Antonio distinguishes himself by his courage. Lazarello favours a match between Antonio and Dionisa, and advises Antonio on various ways to put aside his secret wife.
Lothario keeps Jacinta imprisoned in a castle after her rape; but Jacinta obtains his keys while he sleeps, and escapes. She goes to her father and tells him of her violation. Julianus is overwhelmed by the offence to his family's honour and by his king's betrayal; his officers rally his spirits by staging a review of his troops and the prisoners he has taken, including the Moorish king, Muly Mumen. Julianus tells them of his daughter's rape, and the offended troops agree to support a rebellion against Roderick; Julianus releases Muly Mumen and his men from captivity and the two commanders form an alliance against Roderick.
Racism
Rowley consistently characterizes the Moors as "black," and portrays them as stereotypical villains, bloodthirsty and treacherous. In this he reflects the typical attitudes of his time, as expressed in plays like Lust's Dominion, Peele's The Battle of Alcazar, and Shakespeare's Titus Andronicus among other works that include Moors and North African Muslims. Rowley modifies the stereotype somewhat in his portrayal of Margaretta's serving maid Fydella, a young Moorish woman who is courageous and fiercely devoted to her mistress.