Formalizing English Farce: Johan Johan and Its French Connection

Formalizing English Farce: Johan Johan and Its French Connection Howard B. Norland Although Noah’s wife and Mak with his “sothren tothe” may possibly provide earlier examples of farcical action in the Towneley cycle, Johan Johan, published by William Rastell in 1533, is the first play printed in England to represent farce as a dramatic form. Attributed to John Heywood by the bookseller Francis Kirkman in 1671, Johan Johan has long been recognized as vastly different in form and style from Heywood’s known plays or those of his contemporaries. Karl Young in 1904 sought to explain these differences by suggesting that Heywood was influenced by French farce in several of his plays and that Johan Johan was drawn from the Farce de Pernet qui au vin.l Later scholars elaborated this argument, and in 1946 Ian Max­ well published what was thought to be the definitive work on this matter: French Farce and John Heywood.1 However, with the appearance of Gustave Cohen’s Recueil de Farces françaises inédites du X V e siecle in 1949,3 William Elton and T. W. Craik almost simultaneously noted that Johan Johan was in fact a translation of Farce nouvelle très bonne et fort joyeuse du Pasté (XIX in Cohen’s Recueil de Farces). Elton describes Johan Johan as “a fairly literal translation, with some minor differ­ ences,’^ and Craik, claiming that the translator “has taken very few liberties with his real source,” says that “Johan Johan is a close (though none the less spirited) translation.”5 Both accept the traditional view that the translator is Heywood, though neither supplies evidence on this point. Craik discusses some variations in the French and English versions, most notably the priest’s accounts of the three miracles and the endings of the HOWARD B. NORLAND, Professor of English at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln, has published widely on Renaissance drama and critical theory, including a critical edition of Beaumont and Fletcher’s The Maid’s Tragedy. 141 142 Comparative Drama two plays; but neither Elton nor Craik investigates the hundreds of variants in details or considers the implications of these changes. What a close examination of the two texts reveals is that Johan Johan is in fact a very careful adaptation of the French farce to the English cultural and dramatic context. A few gallicisms appear in the English play, such as Johan Johan’s threat to “traine [his wife] by the here” (14) for “la trainer par Ies cheveulx” (23)6 and his later comment that “I almost enrage that I ne can/ Se the behav[i]our of our gentilwoman ” (89-90) for “J’enrage presque je ne puis/ Veoir le tour de nostre bourgeoise” (91-92); but generally the language is attuned to the English setting. Not only are references to place changed—“Nostre-Dame” (154) becomes “the Church of Poules” (153) and “Romme” (166) becomes “Coventre” (164)—but also allusions to the saints are altered as “sainete Me[s]aise” (148) is changed to “swete Saint Diri[c]k” and invocations to “Sainct Julien” (209), “Saint Pol et Saint Remy” (218), “Saint Anthonie” (227), and “Sainete Marie” (229, 231) are dropped altogether. Local customs are taken into account as ale (287, 387, 618) is substituted for vin (300, 397, 698). Even more significant, colloquial oaths and proverbs are introduced into the English text, occasionally to fill out the metrical line but more often to provide a homely touch. “By Gogges” or “cokkes blood” (9, 30), “cokkes bones” (72), “Gogges body” (74, 83), “cokkes soule” (127), and “Kokkes Idly woundes” (163) sprinkle the speech of Johan Johan throughout the play. Johan Johan adds the proverb “He must nedes go that the divell driveth” (313) when he is sent by Tib to invite Sir Johan; later, after Sir Johan and Tib have eaten the pie, Johan Johan emphasizes Sir Johan’s arrogance by adding, “nowe I se well the olde proverbe is trew: ‘The parisshe preest forgetteth that ever he was clarke’” (594-95). The translator provides a more specific sense of place as well as expanding the colorful language of the play. The translator occasionally reduces the details...