"What hath been his mind?": Motivation, History, and Theater in Samuel Daniel's Philotas

Abstract:Samuel Daniel's play Philotas (1605), especially in the trial of Philotas, emphasizes the detection of interior motives underlying public, external actions, particularly in the service of making a value judgment about those motives. At the same time, the play demonstrates that this kind of detection is ultimately impossible, illustrated by the fact that characters attribute different and competing motives to the same outward appearances and actions. This revelation of the inaccessibility of interior motive has implications for Daniel's views regarding writing history and writing drama—as the play shows, both genres are necessarily built on a foundation of external and public action yet seek to uncover interior motive. Finally, however, the emphasis on interpretation in Philotas, as well as Daniel's defense of himself and his play, shows his commitment to interpreting motive—and his efforts to influence others' interpretations of his own motives for writing the play.