Massinger’s The Renegado (1624) and The Spanish Marriage

Massinger's The Renegado is read as a political allegory concerning the Prince of Wales and the Duke of Buckingham's abortive mission to the Spanish court to woo the Infanta Maria. The characters of Donusa and Vitelli, Muslim princess and Venetian gentleman, are seen as representations of the Infanta and the Prince, and the ideological difficulties of their relationship are read as expressions of concern about the wisdom of the match. The Jesuit character of Francisco is shown to allegorise the Duke of Buckingham, and the politics of Massinger's unusually positive representation of a militantly Catholic figure are explored.