Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Changeling, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Appearance vs. Reality
Passion, Sanity, and Identity
Transaction and Commodification
Destiny vs. Agency
Summary
Analysis
Back at the castle, Beatrice gives Jasperino a letter to give to Alsemero. Beatrice likes Jasperino, and she muses that Alsemero’s friendship with this man reflects well on him. Beatrice is confident in her choice of Alsemero: “methinks I love now with the eyes of judgment,” she sighs, noting that “a true deserver like a diamond sparkles.” But this new love for Alsemero only makes Beatrice resent her father’s commitment to Alonzo de Piracquo more.
Beatrice’s use of the phrase “eyes of judgment” reiterates the difference between physical desire (what one can see with their literal “eyes”) and a desire for someone’s internal self (seen with the metaphorical “eyes of judgment”). Beatrice’s comparison of Alsemero to a diamond reflects her own preoccupation with wealth and commodity—to express her love for Alsemero, she describes him as a jewel, something inanimate, shiny, and explicitly tied to monetary wealth.
Themes
Literary Devices
DeFlores enters, admitting in an aside that he is “sick”: even as Beatrice spurns him, he invents 20 reasons a day to see her, making up little tasks and errands that will bring him into her presence. DeFlores knows he has not been blessed with beautiful features, yet he also knows that many people who are uglier than he is have found love. And though “hard fate” has now forced DeFlores into servitude, he was at one time a gentleman—so why does Beatrice hate him so much?
Once more, DeFlores compares his sexual desire to a form of mental illness (he feels “sick” with his need for Beatrice). Though DeFlores is certainly a villainous character, he also articulates several important truths here. First, he places less stock on physical appearance than the rest of the characters, suggesting (as the others will learn) that physical appearance is not a reliable source of information. And second, even as DeFlores laments his “hard fate,” he also feels determined to change it—unlike Beatrice, who often refuses to take responsibility for her circumstances.
Themes
Literary Devices
Beatrice immediately demands that DeFlores leaves her sight, but he patiently delivers a message to her from Vermandero. DeFlores draws out the message, taking his time with each word, even as Beatrice shouts at him to hurry up. Finally, DeFlores makes it clear that Alonzo de Piracquo (Beatrice’s fiancé) has arrived, with his brother Tomazo de Piracquo in tow. Beatrice resents this news, but she resents even more that her father sent DeFlores to give it to her.
Both Beatrice and DeFlores come off as irrational because of their strong feelings about each other: DeFlores elongates every syllable because he is so desperate to have a few extra seconds with Beatrice, while Beatrice’s inability to spend even a few moments with DeFlores distracts her from the urgent problem at hand (her impending marriage).
Themes
In an aside, DeFlores resolves to continue to follow Beatrice: “as children cry themselves to sleep,” he consoles himself, “I ha’ seen women have chid themselves abed to men.” DeFlores exits, and Beatrice decides that she will ask her father to fire this servant. But then Beatrice remembers that DeFlores is only a momentary distraction—the really terrifying thing is this impending marriage to Alonzo de Piracquo.
DeFlores’s determination to be “abed” with Beatrice (have sex with her) is a purely physical craving—as this passage makes clear, he has no interest in creating any real feeling in Beatrice. Indeed, he does not care if Beatrice is visibly upset while they have sex with each other, a sentiment that hints at DeFlores’s violent, single-minded view of women and relationships.
Themes
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Vermandero approaches with Alonzo and Tomazo. While Vermandero and Beatrice speak in a corner, Tomazo notices how much Beatrice seems to dislike his brother (“in troth I see small welcome in her eye”). Alonzo ignores this warning, instead accusing his brother of being ungenerous. From across the room, Vermandero asks Alonzo if he can postpone the marriage for three days. Alonzo agrees, wanting to please Beatrice.
Though Beatrice earlier noted that eyesight is not always reliable, Tomazo believes eyes can contain reliable information. Rather than using his own eyes to take in Beatrice’s physical appearance, Tomazo studies his soon-to-be sister-in-law’s eyes for clues to her internal state. This reversal of the play’s symbolism proves more accurate, as Tomazo’s assessment of Beatrice is correct—but Alonzo, focused only on sexual desire and physical appearance, is unable to acknowledge the truth in Tomazo’s observations.
Themes
Beatrice and Vermandero exit, and Tomazo again insists that Beatrice seems unhappy. Tomazo advises his brother to break off the engagement, warning that if Beatrice seems disinterested now, she is likely to have sex with other men once they are married. Worse still, Tomazo predicts that Beatrice will give birth to other men’s children. But Alonzo will hear none of it, even telling Tomazo that he would attack most people for making such predictions. Alonzo exits, and Tomazo, baffled, reflects on “love’s tame madness” and his brother’s willful ignorance.
As one of the only characters to zero in on feeling instead of facial features, Tomazo predicts—almost to a tee—the plight that any husband of Beatrice’s will find himself in. As always, the play portrays “love” as a kind of “tame madness.” Though society accepts this form of insanity, it is (as the play reveals) no less confusing or distorting than the illnesses Alibius’s patients suffer from.
Themes
