The play was licensed for performance by Sir Henry Herbert, the Master of the Revels, on 27 May 1624; it was acted by the King's Men.
The partial cast list added to the play in the second Beaumont and Fletcher folio of 1679 mentions Joseph Taylor, Robert Benfield, Richard Robinson, John Underwood, Nicholas Tooley, and George Birch.
[1] Since Fletcher functioned as a house dramatist for the King's Men in the final phase of his career, this idea, while speculative, is not impossible.
Samuel Pepys mentions it in his famous Diary, in his entry for 19 December 1662, though he merely notes having read the play, not having seen it on the stage.
Critics have often responded negatively to the drama, calling it Fletcher's "lewdest" play, and complaining of its "oppressiveness" and its celebration of a "macabre marriage.
"[2] The play's plot turns on the idea of a tyrannical king who allows a man to marry the woman he loves, yet for only a month, and without pursuing sexual relations, on pain of her execution if he violates the rule.
They plan to consummate the marriage, but Sorano comes secretly to Valerio with the King's order that if he lies with his wife, she will face immediate death.
Alfonso sentences Sorano and Frederick not to death, but to monastic lives of fasting, prayer, and pilgrimage to their dead father the former king's grave.