in Histriomastix, or The Player Whipped — Marston, John
Metadata
Play
Histriomastix, or The Player Whipped
Author
Marston, John
Year (catalogued)
1610
First performance
1599
Decade
1610s
Genre
Moral
Play type
Boys Professional
Company
Unknown
Speech prefix(es)
Lyon. | Lion. | Lyo.
Words
241
Characters
1279
Typicality
0.28 (cosine to cluster centroid)
TCP id
A03405
BritDrama no.
1314
Cluster
Cluster 16 — Errand servants & brief parts
Important excerpts
No keyword-matching excerpt could be extracted (the cluster label doesn't share vocabulary with this character's speech).
Full speech
Master Fourcher, how fares your body sir? come you from your book? Why then lets go where we may hear sweet mu sick and delicate songs, for the Harmony of music is so Hea uenlike that I love it with my life. Let's Duck it with our Dogs to make us sport, And cross the water to eat some Cream; What hoe? Sculler. And here's the very quintessence of Ducks. I, and thriving too. For I have won three wagers this last week; What? will you go with us and see our sport? Content: this plenty yields us choice of sports. Our trades and we are now no fit consorts. Me seems ti's good to keep within our bounds, But men will tax us to want charity. Good morrow master Fourcher. Troth Like a man grown wild and desperate, E'ene spent with horror of their strange effects. And you have cause to fear sir. Oh they have made the violentest attempts That ere were herd of: ruined Churches, Towns, Burnt goodly Manors, and indeed laid wast. All the whole Country as they pass along. To wail our want let speaking slack the pain, For words of grief divide the grief in twain. Comfort sweet wife, ill lasts not always so: And good (sometimes) makes end of lingering woe. And mine is most for thee. Be mine for thee and me. Gentlemen, how shall we spend this afternoon? Adieu good master Fourcher.
Plot summary
Plot — Histriomastix, or The Player Whipped
Under the benevolent rule of Peace, various orders of society turn to learning in their different ways: Mavortius and his fellow noblemen and gentlemen become students of the liberal arts, professional people appoint the scholar Chrisoganus as their lecturer, and some artisans organize themselves as a company of players, Sir Oliver Owlet’s Men. However, the new reign of Plenty tempts many of them away from their studies, leaving only Chrisoganus loyal. While the lawyers and merchants take advantage of the leisure of the vacation to go hunting, Mavortius entertains his guests with a play given by Owlet’s Men. Plenty is succeeded by Pride, who encourages a dedication to fashion and a neglect of proper decorum: the lawyers and merchants enrich themselves unjustly, Mavortius dismisses many of his servants to release more money to spend on pleasure, and both Chrisoganus (who has turned playwright) and Owlet's Men price themselves out of the market. Next, Envy comes to power, causing class resentment in the realm: the citizenry’s adoption of the latest fashions causes resentment among the nobility, envious behaviour disrupts the players’ rehearsal, and Mavortius becomes belligerent. The next ruler is War, under whom the players are conscripted as soldiers, Mavortius fights with his friends, the common people rise in rebellion against their social superiors, and the Spanish invade the realm. Out of this chaos comes Poverty, leading aristocrats, merchants. and peasants alike to debt, bankruptcy, and famine. Owlet’s men, unable to pay their taxes, are banished from the realm. Finally Poverty and her associates are expelled by the return of Peace and Plenty. Queen Elizabeth also appears, in the guise of Astraea, and the play ends with the five lesser rulers resigning their sceptres to Peace.