in The Raging Turk, or Bajazet the Second — Goffe, Thomas
Metadata
Play
The Raging Turk, or Bajazet the Second
Author
Goffe, Thomas
Year (catalogued)
1631
First performance
1618
Decade
1630s
Genre
Tragedy
Play type
University
Theater
at University;
Speech prefix(es)
Messen.
Words
273
Characters
1497
Typicality
0.36 (cosine to cluster centroid)
TCP id
A01839
BritDrama no.
1823
Cluster
Cluster 9 — Boon companions & bluff banter
Important excerpts
No keyword-matching excerpt could be extracted (the cluster label doesn't share vocabulary with this character's speech).
Full speech
Health to Rome's Bishop. And Peace from Bajazet, who commends his love With this his Letter, and expects from you A gracious answer. He reads the Letter. Good peace attend you. Health to the Emperor. Duty first from Room, Commended by the Bishop to your service, With a firm promise to dispatch your will What ever it employed, and would but stay Till imes wift circle should bring forth a day Secure for the performance. Zemes as now he left you, pale and won, Dragging his weak legs after him, did fallen Dead on the stony pavement of the Hall, Not by unhappy chance, but as he walked, Fold ng his arms up in a pensive knot, And railing at his Fate, as if he staged The wounded Priam, or some falling King, So he, oft lifting up his closing eye, Sunk faintly down, groaned out, I die, I die. Health to Achomates from Bajazet. In full health; And wills you thus by me: to muster up Your surest forces, and with moderate hast, Repair unto the Court, where you shall find Employments worthy of a valorous mind. With confidence I dare not; but 'tis said, Against that haughty Noble Selymus. Who of the Tartar King implored aid, To and uncertain end: himself gives out To fight with Hungary, and stretch the bounds Of the old Turkish regiment But am With panting voice, bids Bajazet beware, And whispers in his ear, he is the foe, Proud Selymus intends to overthrow. Good health to Selymus. I aack, Mesithes, Mustapha salute you. Even nothing certain: Ambiguously he promised to be here As soon as I.
Plot summary
Plot — The Raging Turk, or Bajazet the Second
Bajazeth’s youngest son Corcutus has _ himself crowned Emperor, but quickly repents and resigns the crown to his father. Understanding Bajazeth to have promised him the succession, he retires to academic life. Bajazeth’s younger brother Zemes also covets the crown and plots with the King of Armenia to seize it. The Armenian army is mobilized, but routed by the Turks under Achmetes. In battle, Achmetes encounters Zemes and fights him; Zemes pretends to have been killed, then flees to Rome, where he takes refuge with Pope Alexander. Achmetes divorces his wife for adultery and so offends her father, the Pasha Isaac. Isaac tells Bajazeth that Achmetes negligently allowed Zemes to escape and then boasted of killing him. At a banquet, Bajazeth gives Achmetes a robe, which turns out to be black. In Turkish practice, giving a black robe signifies that the recipient is condemned to death without recourse to law, but Achmetes is rescued by the janissaries, who threaten Bajazeth and force him to rescind the sentence. Bajazeth fetches home the Turkish army to counter Achmetes’ control of the janissaries, and buys time by proposing a war with Rome for harbouring Zemes. In fact, he has written asking the Pope to kill Zemes, and Alexander has agreed to do so at a convenient time; he is spared the labour when Zemes drops dead of guilt. Meanwhile Bajazeth’s plans for war are opposed by two of his sons; he has them strangled and stabs Achmetes himself, but soon regrets the murders. Bajazeth’s son Selimus is ambitious and buys the pashas’ support for his plans to depose Bajazeth; he then leaves the court and goes to Tartary. Tired of the cares of state and the danger of assassination, Bajazeth declares his intention to abdicate in favour of one of his sons, and seeks the people’s opinion as to which they prefer. Privately he intends to give the crown to his second son, Achomates, and plots to dispose of the rivals: Mahomates must be murdered and Selimus killed in battle; Corcutus, ensconced in academe, is considered to be of no account. With Mahomates duly assassinated, Bajazeth proclaims Achomates his successor, but the people declare they will have no emperor but Bajazeth himself. With the ===== PAGE 21 ===== 1617 help of the King of Tartary, Selimus musters troops, declaring his objective to be the conquest of Hungary. His real intention is to attack Bajazeth. Father and son confront one another with their armies; Bajazeth is victorious, but Selimus regroups. Upon…