Uploaded November 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
SN ARCHIVES - Elizabethan Playwrights Series - Educational Programme - Sinister Bargains: Moral Degradation and Obsession in The Changeling. Written by Thomas Middleton and William Rowley, The Changeling (1622) is a masterpiece of Jacobean tragedy that relentlessly explores the descent of its aristocratic heroine, Beatrice-Joanna, into moral depravity. The play's central action is driven by Beatrice's passionate infatuation with Alsemero, compelling her to hire the loathsome servant, De Flores, to murder her fiancé, Alonzo. This act of violence, meant to purify her path to true love, instead binds her eternally to the very man she despises. The play argues that a single act of moral compromise irrevocably contaminates the soul, as De Flores demands not gold, but Beatrice's "honour"—a brutal transaction that shifts the focus from simple murder to an agonizing, psychological slavery rooted in sexual and moral degradation.
The tragedy is underscored by the parallel subplot set in the madhouse, where the doctor Alibius’s wife, Isabella, is besieged by would-be lovers disguised as a madman and a fool. While seemingly comic, this subplot serves as a grotesque mirror to the main action. The themes of deceit, mistaken identity, and calculated cruelty in the asylum plot reflect the moral madness infecting the courtly world of Alicante. Ultimately, The Changeling masterfully demonstrates the inseparability of body and soul, showing how Beatrice-Joanna’s physical repulsion towards De Flores is tragically overcome by their shared guilt. The horrifying climax, where the corrupted lovers are exposed and die, reinforces the play’s thesis: crime demands a terrible, proportional payment in blood and ruin.
Production Note and Cast List: BBC Radio 3 Drama (2012)
This cast list is for the BBC Radio 3 full-cast production, first broadcast on Saturday, August 25, 2012. The play was Directed and Adapted for radio by Jeremy Mortimer, with this specific recording highly regarded for the psychological intensity brought by its lead actors.
Cast List
Beatrice-Joanna: Anna Madeley
De Flores: Zubin Varla
Alsemero: Simon Muller
Isabella: Catherine Bailey
Tomazo de Piracquo: Alex Hassell
Alonzo de Piracquo: Alex Blake
Vermandero: Nicky Henson
Diaphanta: Liz Richardson
Lollio: Stephen Hogan
Alibius: Philip Fox
Antonio: Piers Wehner
Franciscus: Joseph Cohen-Cole
Jasperino: Nigel Hastings
Pedro: Rhys Jennings
Sous-titres "Traduction automatique YouTube": En, De, It, Es, Pt, He, Ja, Zh, Hi
YOUTUBE MEMBERSHIPS - Please choose your membership level and provide recurring support for our Education Programs, Archives, and In-house Productions - Your support truly makes a difference! - youtube.com/channel/UCBD1uffdDBLhkapQvl3EBmg/join
CHANNEL SUBSCRIPTION - Please consider subscribing to our channel - youtube.com/user/ShakespeareNetwork?sub_confirmation=1
_______________________________
🎓 Explore this video as part of the Shakespeare Network Educational Programme.
Our non-profit initiative promotes the study and performance of Shakespeare’s works through open-access resources.
Discover the full Academic Kit accompanying this video — including texts, annotated scripts, reading lists and teaching notes — entirely free of charge on our official website:
🌐 Full Academic Kit → shakespearenetwork.net/media-room
📚 This resource supports teachers, students, and theatre professionals interested in Renaissance literature, dramaturgy, and historical performance practice.
🗂 Related materials: - Free online courses and webinars - Research articles and curated editions - Live discussions and community projects
© Shakespeare Network, registered non-profit educational organisation.
_______________________________
SHAKESPEARE NETWORK - Screen Adaptation - Co-Production :
MISANTHROPOS – Official Website - misanthropos.net
Adapted by Maximianno Cobra, from Shakespeare's "Timon of Athens", the film exposes the timeless challenge of social hypocrisy, disillusion and annihilation against the poetics of friendship, love, and beauty.
_______________________________
#ShakespeareNetwork #EducationalVideo #OpenLearning #RenaissanceStudies#Exclusive# New# Original content
SN ARCHIVES - Elizabethan Playwrights Series - Educational Programme - Sinister Bargains: Moral Degradation and Obsession in The Changeling. Written by Thomas Middleton and William Rowley, The Changeling (1622) is a masterpiece of Jacobean tragedy that relentlessly explores the descent of its aristocratic heroine, Beatrice-Joanna, into moral depravity. The play's central action is driven by Beatrice's passionate infatuation with Alsemero, compelling her to hire the loathsome servant, De Flores, to murder her fiancé, Alonzo. This act of violence, meant to purify her path to true love, instead binds her eternally to the very man she despises. The play argues that a single act of moral compromise irrevocably contaminates the soul, as De Flores demands not gold, but Beatrice's "honour"—a brutal transaction that shifts the focus from simple murder to an agonizing, psychological slavery rooted in sexual and moral degradation.
The tragedy is underscored by the parallel subplot set in the madhouse, where the doctor Alibius’s wife, Isabella, is besieged by would-be lovers disguised as a madman and a fool. While seemingly comic, this subplot serves as a grotesque mirror to the main action. The themes of deceit, mistaken identity, and calculated cruelty in the asylum plot reflect the moral madness infecting the courtly world of Alicante. Ultimately, The Changeling masterfully demonstrates the inseparability of body and soul, showing how Beatrice-Joanna’s physical repulsion towards De Flores is tragically overcome by their shared guilt. The horrifying climax, where the corrupted lovers are exposed and die, reinforces the play’s thesis: crime demands a terrible, proportional payment in blood and ruin.
Production Note and Cast List: BBC Radio 3 Drama (2012)
This cast list is for the BBC Radio 3 full-cast production, first broadcast on Saturday, August 25, 2012. The play was Directed and Adapted for radio by Jeremy Mortimer, with this specific recording highly regarded for the psychological intensity brought by its lead actors.
Cast List
Beatrice-Joanna: Anna Madeley
De Flores: Zubin Varla
Alsemero: Simon Muller
Isabella: Catherine Bailey
Tomazo de Piracquo: Alex Hassell
Alonzo de Piracquo: Alex Blake
Vermandero: Nicky Henson
Diaphanta: Liz Richardson
Lollio: Stephen Hogan
Alibius: Philip Fox
Antonio: Piers Wehner
Franciscus: Joseph Cohen-Cole
Jasperino: Nigel Hastings
Pedro: Rhys Jennings
Sous-titres "Traduction automatique YouTube": En, De, It, Es, Pt, He, Ja, Zh, Hi
YOUTUBE MEMBERSHIPS - Please choose your membership level and provide recurring support for our Education Programs, Archives, and In-house Productions - Your support truly makes a difference! - youtube.com/channel/UCBD1uffdDBLhkapQvl3EBmg/join
CHANNEL SUBSCRIPTION - Please consider subscribing to our channel - youtube.com/user/ShakespeareNetwork?sub_confirmation=1
_______________________________
🎓 Explore this video as part of the Shakespeare Network Educational Programme.
Our non-profit initiative promotes the study and performance of Shakespeare’s works through open-access resources.
Discover the full Academic Kit accompanying this video — including texts, annotated scripts, reading lists and teaching notes — entirely free of charge on our official website:
🌐 Full Academic Kit → shakespearenetwork.net/media-room
📚 This resource supports teachers, students, and theatre professionals interested in Renaissance literature, dramaturgy, and historical performance practice.
🗂 Related materials: - Free online courses and webinars - Research articles and curated editions - Live discussions and community projects
© Shakespeare Network, registered non-profit educational organisation.
_______________________________
SHAKESPEARE NETWORK - Screen Adaptation - Co-Production :
MISANTHROPOS – Official Website - misanthropos.net
Adapted by Maximianno Cobra, from Shakespeare's "Timon of Athens", the film exposes the timeless challenge of social hypocrisy, disillusion and annihilation against the poetics of friendship, love, and beauty.
_______________________________
#ShakespeareNetwork #EducationalVideo #OpenLearning #RenaissanceStudies#Exclusive# New# Original content
