The Sophy

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The Sophy is the only known play by the English author Sir John Denham. It was first published in 1641 or 1642 (Loloi xxvi-xxvii).

The plot of the play appears to be based on an account from Thomas Herbert's A Relation of Some Yeares Travaile, Begunne anno 1626 (1634), with some significant modifications (Loloi xxx).

In Denham's play, Abbas, the king of Persia, is manipulated by his power-hungry favorite, Haly, into believing that his son, the virtuous Prince Mirza, is a threat to him. Abbas has Mirza blinded and imprisoned. In despair, Mirza contemplates the murder of his own daughter, Fatyma, to spite his father, who dotes on her. Mirza ultimately refrains from killing his daughter, but he is poisoned by Haly. Abbas dies after repenting his treatment of his son, Haly is defeated by Mirza's allies, and Mirza's son Soffy is installed on the throne of Persia.

Plagiarist Robert Baron depended heavily upon The Sophy (along with Ben Jonson's Catiline) for his play Mirza (c. 1648).

[edit] References

• Loloi, Parvin, ed. (1998). Two Seventeenth-Century Plays: Volume I, The Sophy, by Sir John Denham, Salzburg: University of Salzburg. ISBN 3-7052-0145-X.