The Faithful Shepherdess: Analysis of Major Characters
"The Faithful Shepherdess" is a pastoral play that explores themes of love, virtue, and transformation through its major characters, each embodying different aspects of desire and fidelity. Central to the narrative is Clorin, the faithful shepherdess, who mourns her deceased lover while using her healing abilities to aid injured shepherds. Her chastity serves as a mystical protection against the corrupting influences of desire in the woods. Thenot, a disillusioned shepherd, longs for Clorin’s unwavering virtue but ultimately chooses to pursue superficial beauty instead. Perigot, another shepherd deeply in love with Amoret, faces turmoil when he mistakenly harms her due to a magical deception orchestrated by Amaryllis, a passionate shepherdess determined to win his affection. As the story unfolds, Clorin restores hope and reconciliation between Perigot and Amoret, showcasing themes of forgiveness and true love.
Additional characters, such as Cloe, Daphnis, and Alexis, further illustrate the various facets of romantic attraction and the consequences of lust. The Sullen Shepherd represents blind desire, while the divine presence of the God of the River and the Priest of Pan highlights the intertwining of nature and spirituality in the shepherds’ lives. Overall, the characters in "The Faithful Shepherdess" navigate complex emotional landscapes, underscoring the play's exploration of fidelity, healing, and the transformative power of love.
The Faithful Shepherdess: Analysis of Major Characters
Author: John Fletcher
First published: 1629
Genre: Play
Locale: Thessaly
Plot: Tragicomedy
Time: Remote antiquity
Clorin (KLOH-reen), the faithful shepherdess. She lives in a sacred grove beside the tomb of her dead lover, mourning him and cultivating herbs to heal injured shepherds. She finds her chastity a magical defense against all evils of the wood, and her healing arts are effective only when she has purged her patients of lust.
Thenot (tay-NOH), a disillusioned shepherd who loves Clorin for the virtue and constancy that he finds in her alone. He languishes in this passion, which by its very nature cannot be satisfied, until Clorin mercifully decides to free him from it by offering to return his love and forsake her dead sweetheart. His illusions shattered, he leaves her, resolving to choose a lady for her beauty and convinced that no woman can be loved for her merit.
Perigot (pay-ree-GOH), a virtuous young shepherd who gives extravagant assurances of his undying love for Amoret. Deceived by Amaryllis' transformation, he is horrified to hear her offer herself to him, and he twice wounds the real Amoret, who appears soon afterward, for deceiving him. Clorin restores his faith in his beloved, and they are happily reconciled.
Amoret (AM-oh-reht), Perigot's sweetheart, whose beauty and innocence win the devotion of a river god and a satyr as well as the love of her shepherd swain. Although she cannot understand Perigot's treatment of her, she quickly forgives him and again promises him her hand and heart.
Amaryllis (am-eh-RIHL-ihs), a passionate shepherdess who desires Perigot and has herself magically disguised as Amoret to win him for herself. His misery awakens her sympathy, and she tells him the truth before she flees the Sullen Shepherd, whose help she had enlisted by promising him her love. She is rescued and cleansed by the Priest of Pan.
Cloe (KLOH-ee), another lustful shepherdess who makes assignations with both Daphnis and Alexis, hoping to compensate for the shyness of the one by the boldness of the other. She, like Perigot, is purified by Clorin's teaching.
Daphnis (DAF-nihs), her shy, modest admirer. Blind to her desires, he assures her of his virtuous affection.
Alexis (uh-LEHK-sihs), Cloe's more passionate suitor. Wounded by the Sullen Shepherd, he is healed of both his injury and his lust by Clorin.
The Sullen Shepherd, who is almost the personification of blind desire. He professes love to Amaryllis and aids her in separating Perigot and Amoret, but he confesses secretly that any woman satisfies him and that he is willing to use any trick to win one.
A satyr, a gentle creature of nature who worships Clorin and brings her gifts of fruit from the wood. He searches the forest to bring to her those who need her help and carries out the mystic rites that purify her grove.
The Priest of Pan, the guardian of all the shepherds. He rescues Amaryllis, then goes to Clorin's grove to find the rest of his flock, bless them, and send them to their homes with a hymn to Pan.
An old shepherd, his companion, who notes disapprovingly the disappearance of the young shepherds and shepherdesses into the wood.
The God of the River, Amoret's protector, who raises her from the fountain where the Sullen Shepherd has dropped her. He begs her to leave her mortal life and join him in his crystal streams.