"The Fancies Chaste and Noble" is a fascinating Caroline-era stage play. Treated as a comedy, Ford's subject matter focused on the then-fashionable topic of platonic love. The approach he gave the subject, however, was bluntly condemned for its crudeness and prurience by the public and critics of the day. The strange obsession of English Renaissance drama is displayed in Ford's work as the play heavily relies on the spectra of high merit and morality tested by false accusations, uncertainties and tricks.
