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
Over at Alibius’s house, Isabella is frustrated to learn that her husband has locked her in her quarters. Lollio explains that Alibius is trying to keep Isabella away from other men, though Isabella points out that the only men here are madmen and fools; even Alibius and Lollio conform to these categories, as Alibius is a madman and Lollio is a fool. Isabella and Lollio playfully taunt each other, and Isabella asks to see the madmen, especially the ones who have just arrived.
Isabella’s dismissal of her husband and his assistant amplifies Lollio’s earlier suggestions that the madmen and their caretakers are more alike than they are different. Isabella’s curiosity about the new madmen further demonstrates how much the patients here are treated as commodities.
Themes
Lollio brings a new patient named Franciscus to meet Isabella. Lollio tells Isabella that Franciscus used to be a poet, which explains why he is always making such poetic references; he alludes to the mythical figures Oberon and Titania, among others. As Franciscus gets caught up in a reverie, he starts to attack Lollio, who in turns threatens Franciscus with a whip. Isabella, frightened, asks Lollio to send Franciscus away.
In a play called The Changeling, references to the mythical figures Oberon and Titania are telling: consumed by his jealous desire for his wife Titania, powerful god Oberon forced her to fall for a donkey-man. By alluding to this myth here, the play comments on the distorting, transformative nature of passion, which makes ugly things beautiful and beautiful things ugly.
Themes
Lollio puts Franciscus back in his ward, and then summons Antonio to meet Isabella. Lollio explains that Antonio is gentler, though Isabella is confused why he seems to call everyone around him “cousin.” When Isabella asks Antonio how long he has been a fool, he replies, “ever since I came hither.” But before Lollio can have some fun with this answer, a fight breaks out among the madmen, and Lollio must attend to it, leaving Isabella alone with Antonio.
In just a few moments, audiences will discover that Antonio is not really a fool—instead, he is only disguising himself in the hopes of getting to have sex with Isabella. By announcing that he has only been a fool since he “came hither,” therefore, Antonio both gives a clue to his ruse and suggests that his desire for Isabella is what made him ill.
Themes
As soon as Lollio leaves, Antonio reveals himself to be in full possession of his wits; he only pretended to be a fool to gain access to Isabella, whom he passionately desires. Rather than giving in to Antonio’s declarations, a shocked Isabella tells him to keep acting like a fool, as it “becomes [him] well.” Before Lollio returns, Isabella tells Antonio that she will not reveal that he is actually a gentleman—but that is the only reward he will get for this lovesick scheme.
Antonio believes he is only pretending to be a fool, but Isabella thinks his silly mannerisms might be truer to his inner nature than the gentlemanly status Antonio now claims. In other words, just as Lollio suggests that there is no real gap between doctors and patients, Isabella suggests that there is no clear divide between gentlemen and fools.
Themes
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When Lollio gets back, Isabella hints at the fact that Antonio is less of a fool than he seems. Unfortunately, Lollio does not pick up on Isabella’s meaning, instead seeing her words as a testament to his own healing powers. Lollio and Antonio do some arithmetic, which leads to more humorous wordplay. Another fight breaks out between the madmen, and Lollio has to go, leaving Antonio and Isabella alone again.
The use of wordplay, in addition to providing comic relief, also nods to yet more transformations—like physical appearances, language, too, is unstable, able to take on new shapes and hidden meanings.
Themes
Isabella chastises Antonio for his scheme, telling him she preferred him as a fool, but Antonio persists. Suddenly, Antonio leans in to kiss Isabella—just as Lollio, re-entering, begins to understand what is happening. Rather than reveal himself to Antonio, however, Lollio keeps his knowledge of Antonio’s true state close to his chest.
This moment mimics the double aside in the earlier scene where DeFlores overhears Beatrice’s aside without her knowledge: what Antonio thinks is a private, secret moment is in fact seen by Lollio—and then transformed into Lollio’s own piece of secret knowledge.
Themes
Literary Devices
Several madmen now appear, some dressed as birds and some as beasts. Isabella explains to Antonio that the madmen often give in to their fantasies, making strange sounds and dancing like wild animals. Lollio complains that without Alibius, he feels overwhelmed, as watching both the fools and the madmen is too much work for one person. Lollio goes to bring Antonio back to the fools’ quarters, and Isabella reflects on her precarious state.
The visual of the madmen dressed as animals gives imagery to Antonio’s transformation, too: his wild pursuit of Isabella is just as animalistic as the patients who dance and make sounds.
Themes
Lollio reappears, this time by himself—and now he, too, tries to kiss Isabella, laughing that “one fool may be better than another.” Isabella shoves him off, and Lollio begins quoting Antonio, revealing that he knows Antonio’s foolishness was a ruse. Like Antonio, Lollio wants to have sex with Isabella, and he seems determined to do despite her protestations. Fortunately, Alibius soon enters, interrupting Lollio’s aggression. When Alibius asks Isabella how she is, she responds with frustration that he is keeping her locked up.
Again, the play blurs the line between patients and caretakers and between gentlemen and madmen: Lollio is just as lustful as the men he claims to cure and just as easily deformed by his desires. Alibius’s interruption—and his lack of knowledge about what is going on right under his nose—signifies his comic haplessness. Though Alibius claims to be in charge, he has no actual control.
Themes
Alibius announces a new task to Lollio: as Vermandero prepares for his daughter’s wedding, he has decided to hire Alibius’s madmen and fools as entertainment for the guests. Lollio assures Alibius that this should be easy, as many of the madmen are good dancers. In fact, Lollio believes that dancing causes the brains to go into the feet, so the best dancers are often the least wise men.
This passage reveals a second way in which the madmen and fools are a source of profit—Alibius farms them out to wealthy noblemen as a form of entertainment, effectively making a mockery of illness. Lollio’s comment here echoes his earlier monologue about every hour of the day corresponding to a body part—bodily experiences (whether that means eating or dancing or having sex) make mental judgment more difficult.
Themes
Literary Devices
Isabella finds this all distasteful, scoffing that her husband views his patients as “a staple commodity.” But Alibius insists that everybody needs to make a living—and that Isabella should remember that she only thrives because of the profits they make from madmen and fools.
Isabella frequently emerges as one of the wisest, most reasonable characters in the play. Her frustration with Alibius’s transactional thinking—he treats his patients like they are an immaterial “staple commodity”—thus reflects the play’s more general frustration with its characters’ materialism.
Themes
