in The Elder Brother — Fletcher, John; Massinger, Philip
Metadata
Play
The Elder Brother
Author
Fletcher, John; Massinger, Philip
Year (catalogued)
1637
First performance
1625
Decade
1630s
Genre
Comedy
Play type
Adult Professional
Company
King's Men
Theater
Blackfriars;Indoor Professional
Speech prefix(es)
Lil.
Words
266
Characters
1357
Typicality
0.32 (cosine to cluster centroid)
TCP id
A00960
BritDrama no.
1866
Cluster
Cluster 0 — Clowns, beggars & street sellers
Important excerpts
No keyword-matching excerpt could be extracted (the cluster label doesn't share vocabulary with this character's speech).
Full speech
One word about the linen; I'll be ready, And rest your worships still. You're merry Sir. Shall I air your bed, Sir? have you done yet? You cannot miss it, Sir; You shall have a Cawdle in the morning, for Your worships breakfast. 'Twill make you surfeit, I am tender of you, Y'have all you're Like to have. Yes, and I have performed Enough to a man of your years, this is truth, And you shall find Sir, you have kissed and toused me, Handled my leg and foot, what would you more, Sir? As for the rest, it requires youth and strength, And labour in and old man would breed Agues, Sciaticaes, and Cramps; you shall not curse me, For taking from you what you cannot spare, Sir: Be good unto your self, y'have taken already All you can take with ease; you are passed threshing, It is a work too boisterous for you, leave Such drudgery to Andrew. It may be so, but I'm sure, I'll never be yours. Though you have the will, And want of honesty to deny your Deed, Sir, Yet I hope Andrew has God so much learning From my young Master, as to keep his own; At the worst, I'll tell a short tale to the Judges, For what grave ends you signed your Lease, and on What terms you would revoke it. To avoid suits in Law, I would grant a little, But should fierce Andrew know it, what would become Of me? And. A whore, a whore. Hear him, Andrew. You have given him a heat, Sir.
Plot summary
Plot — The Elder Brother
Louis wishes his lazy daughter Angelina would take more exercise, but her woman Sylvia has a better idea: she should get married. Unfortunately Angelina has high standards: when Louis proposes one or other of Brisac’s sons, Charles the scholar and Eustace the courtier, she objects that neither will have the money to keep her as she would wish. Louis pursues the idea anyway, but the bookish Charles, who has only ever seen one woman, his mother, has been put off marriage by the bad examples of antiquity. Louis is willing to accept Eustace, the younger brother, so long as Brisac agrees to disinherit Charles. Much to the disgust of Charles’s uncle, Miramont, a legal instrument is drawn up for the purpose. Charles seems unconcerned by his father’s plans, until he sees Angelina, whereupon he changes his mind about women, refuses to sign away his birthright, and woos the girl himself. She finds him more attractive than Eustace, and the wedding is aborted. Brisac throws him out; Angelina goes with him, and they live together in unmarried chastity. Spurred on by his father, Eustace visits them at night and tries to seize Angelina, but Charles puts up a fight and takes Eustace’s sword from him. Brisac has arranged for Charles’s servant Andrew to marry Lily, and given the couple a farm; but in reality Lily is his mistress and, on the same night as the brothers fight, he visits her for sex. Andrew brings Miramont to the farm to see the liaison for himself, and intervenes as Brisac is undressing for bed. Brisac tries to buy Andrew’s silence with a larger grant of land before realizing that there is a second witness. Eustace borrows a sword and confronts Charles, but Charles will not give up Angelina, and they fight. The bout is interrupted by the arrival of news that Brisac has been arrested by Louis, who insists on the return of Angelina (in the same condition as before). The brothers join forces to rescue their father. Miramont points out that, if he pursues the case, Louis will both ruin Angelina’s reputation and put himself in the control of lawyers; so Louis drops the matter. Miramont pays off the officers and insists that, as a penance, Brisac should abide by his offer to enlarge Andrew’s farm.