Common Customers in Marston's Dutch Courtesan and Florio's Montaigne

This essay approaches The Dutch Courtesan from the perspective of a cultural equivalency that John Marston posits between prostitutes and translations: both are "common" and "adulterated." Marston draws here upon John Florio's prefatory remarks to Montaigne's Essayes, and he also relies heavily on Montaigne's account of "custome." I argue that this extended appropriation entails shifts in our understanding of the play's moral dynamics, particularly regarding Freevill. Just as Marston effaces his indebtedness to Montaigne, Freevill denies dependence upon Franceschina as he rises to a position of moral eminence. But in multiple ways, The Dutch Courtesan nonetheless exposes Freevill's fantasy of unfettered self-determination.