The Changeling

The definitions of “changeling” are multifold. The most common definition refers to a strange fairy child left in the bed of a human child stolen away by fairies. Other definitions include a fool, an idiot, or someone who has a changeable or fickle personality. There is also a strong link between superstition, folklore, and madness, including references to changelings and fairies. The phrase “away with the fairies,” for example, often describes someone who has gone “mad,” as British folk belief held that mental conditions were caused by fairy intervention. This is likely how the word “changeling” came to mean “fool” or “idiot” in Jacobean England. Madness was also thought to be governed by the moon, with the word “lunatic” deriving from “luna”—and Alsemero blames the “opacous body” of “that moon / That last changed on us” (5.3.196-97) for the dark transformations that occur throughout the play. The link between supernatural forces, madness, and changing identities as tragedy unfolds in The Changeling creates a backdrop of horror, mystique, and uncertainty.

Middleton and Rowley designate Antonio as “the changeling,” using the word to mean “fool.” However, Alsemero’s speech about transformations in the final act suggests every character is in some way a changeling. That Antonio is “the changeling” is a red herring—one more false identity in a play of ever-switching identities. There’s Beatrice, also named Joanna, whose double name, faked virginity, murderous adultery, and corrupted beauty make her a sinister changeling. There’s Diaphanta, whose bed trick with Beatrice makes her Alsemero’s “false bride” (5.3.161) and recalls a fairy changeling replacing a human child. There’s also De Flores, a servant who was once a gentleman, who plays the devil and takes Beatrice down to a metaphorical hell with him—and the list goes on. As the characters navigate love and betrayal throughout The Changeling, they find that love begets lunacy and betrayal turns lovers into strangers.