SOURCE: Hogan, A. P. “Massinger as Tragedian: Believe as You List.” Texas Studies in Literature and Language XIII, No. 3 (Fall 1971): 407-19.

In the following essay, Hogan argues that Believe as You List is a subtle experiment in the integration of theme and structure that shows Massinger to be a tragedian of “considerable power.”

Critics seldom praise Massinger's tragedies. The Roman Actor has begun to come into its own,¹ but most commentators still agree with Robert Ornstein that “Massinger had to be content in tragedy with unsubstantial regal gestures” as a substitute for “imagination.”² The most recent verdict is that the young dramatist sought to follow Shakespeare, and failed.³ As is often the case, this kind of neo-Eliot negativism leads to distortion. Massinger's tragedies are important both for an evaluation of the playwright himself and for an adequate understanding of Caroline drama in general. And, of the tragedies, Believe...