A Game at Chess by Thomas Middleton || Characters, Summary, Analysis

A Game at Chess by Thomas Middleton is one of the most controversial and debated plays of the Jacobean Era. It was a political satire that was based on the real conflict of Catholic Spain and Protestant England during the Jacobean era.
Historical Background
King James, I was raised as a Protestant yet, his mother Queen Mary of Scots was a staunch adherent of Catholicism. England was suffering financial restraints during the 1620s and there were some serious conflicts with Spain which couldn’t be solved even after the 30 years of war. King James tried to solve his political and financial troubles by negotiating for the marriage of Prince Charles I to the Spanish infanta Maria Anna of Spain with the help of the Spanish ambassador Don Diego Count of Gondomor.
The English protestant people were not in favor of this marriage as they feared that either prince Charles will be arrested or he will be forced to convert to Catholicism. The plan of marriage failed and British people generally considered it as a diplomatic victory over Spain.
Thomas Middleton created a perfect satire on these political happenings and presented it as a drama depicting a game at chess. The play is satirical of King James I and hence it was banned after only nine days. However, even within these 9 days, the play proved to be a huge success and it is considered as the greatest box-office hit of early modern London"
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