in Like Will to Like (Quoth the Devil to the Collier) — Fulwell, Ulpian
Metadata
Play
Like Will to Like (Quoth the Devil to the Collier)
Author
Fulwell, Ulpian
Year (catalogued)
1587
First performance
1568
Decade
1580s
Genre
Moral
Play type
Interlude
Speech prefix(es)
Gods pro. | Gods pro
Words
171
Characters
878
Typicality
0.56 (cosine to cluster centroid)
TCP id
A01353
BritDrama no.
472
Cluster
Cluster 2 — Allegory, Nature & pageant voices
Important excerpts
No keyword-matching excerpt could be extracted (the cluster label doesn't share vocabulary with this character's speech).
Full speech
¶ God rest you merry both, and God be your good guide: ¶ Gods promise is infallible, his word is most true, And to ground theron a man may be bold: As Scripture doth testify and declare unto you, On which foundation your building you may behold. For virtuous rulers the fruit of felicity do reap: And the reward of fame, & honour to themselves they heap. ¶ To sing praises unto God it liketh well me: ¶ I am Gods promise which is a thing etern. And nothing more surer then his promises may be: A sure foundation to such as will learn, Gods precepts to observe then must they needs see. Honour in this world, and at last a Crown of glory, Ever in joy and mirth, and never to be sorry. Wherefore o Virtuous life to thee we do repair, As messengers from God, his promise to fulfil: And therefore fit you down in this Chair, For to endue you with honour it is Gods promise and will.
Plot summary
Plot — Like Will to Like (Quoth the Devil to the Collier)
The devil commissions the vice Nichol Newfangle to tempt men into a preoccupation with new fashions, which will lead them to hell. The ensuing action turns on the recurrent introduction of similar characters to one another. The vice introduces a dishonest collier to the devil, then Tom Tosspot to Rafe Roister; ina ~ mock trial he judges which is the bigger wastrel ===== PAGE 35 ===== 1568 (the prize, unknown to them, is to be hanged), but considers them equal. A comic drinking scene follows with Tosspot’s followers. He also sets in motion a plot to cozen two cutpurses over an inheritance of land. The vicious characters are driven off stage by the arrival of Virtuous Life, who is enthroned and crowned. Tosspot and Roister lose all their possessions: Roister gambles his away, and Tosspot has to leave his as security for his alehouse bill. Newfangle gives them the equipment to start a mew career as beggars, and they assault him. He is found injured by a judge, Severity, and betrays the two cutpurses; they are led away to execution, and Nichol and the hangman share their clothes. Tosspot’s followers end up in hospital suffering from gout. Lucifer carries the vice away on his back. The virtuous characters pray for the Queen, the Lords, and commons.