The South Central Modern Language Association Niccolò Machiavelli by Silvia Ruffo-Fiore Review by: Paul G. Reeve The South Central Bulletin, Vol. 43, No. 4, Studies by Members of SCMLA (Winter, 1983), pp. 132-133 Published by: The Johns Hopkins University Press on behalf of The South Central Modern Language Association Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3187263 . Accessed: 07/07/2013 23:20 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp . JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected] . The Johns Hopkins University Press and The South Central Modern Language Association are collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to The South Central Bulletin. http://www.jstor.org This content downloaded from 132.174.255.19 on Sun, 7 Jul 2013 23:20:21 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=jhup http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=scmla http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=scmla http://www.jstor.org/stable/3187263?origin=JSTOR-pdf http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp 132 THE SOUTH CENTRAL BULLETIN Winter, 1983 BOOK REVIEWS Continued complicated relationships. Thus, the Comus entertainment in September of 1634, Hunter tells us, is "somehow a response" to the scandalous events which led to Castlehaven's execution in 1631 and left a cloud over the marriage-linked Spencers and Egertons. In creating this "family piece" as a response to family commission, Milton dramatized the Augustinian notion that "true chastity was a mental condition that could not be altered by physical assault," but he may have responded "too enthusiastically," Hunter suggests, because three passages stressing chastity are omitted from the Bridgewater manuscript and thus in all probability from the 1634 performance. Hunter's "tentative promptbook" is based primarily on the 1637 first edition with differences from the Bridgewater manuscript indicated in footnotes; and he maintains that Milton had a Ludlow performance in mind as he composed the work. Hence Comus was not written as "a piece ofpoetry" that Henry Lawes might freely adapt to the Ludlow scene. Since Hunter contends that the performance occurred in the inner bailey and not in the Great Hall, traditionally accepted as the site, his stage directions address the outdoor scene of the castle bailey. The most surprising change in Hunter's promptbook is an opening song by the "Daemon" that is extrac ...