Early Modern Drama · Character Archetypes

JUPITER

in The Woman in the Moon — Lyly, John

Metadata

PlayThe Woman in the Moon
AuthorLyly, John
Year (catalogued)1597
First performance1593
Decade1590s
GenreComedy
Play typeBoys Professional
CompanyChildren of Paul's (first)
Theaterbefore the Court;
Speech prefix(es)Iup. | Iupiter.
Words384
Characters2074
Typicality0.44 (cosine to cluster centroid)
TCP idA06629
BritDrama no.819
ClusterCluster 24 — Gods, cupids & celestial agents

Important excerpts

No keyword-matching excerpt could be extracted (the cluster label doesn't share vocabulary with this character's speech).

Full speech

Danae was fair, and Laeda pleased me well, Lovely Calisco set my heart on fire: And in mine eye Europa was a gem, But in the beauty of this Paragon, Dame Nature far hath gone beyond her self, And in this one are all my loves contained. And come what can come, Jupiter shall prove, If fair Pandora will accept his love: But first I must discuss this heavenly cloud: That hides me from the sighed of mortal eyes. Behold Pandora where thy lover sits, High Jove himself, who ravished with thy blaze, Receives more influence then he powers on thee And humbly sues for succour at thy hands. The king of Gods, one of immortal raze, And he that with a beck controls the heavens. Thy beauty will excuse what ere thou say, And in thy looks thy words are priuiledgd. But if Pandora did conceive those gifts, That Jove can give, she would esteem his love, For I can make thee Empress of the world, And seat thee in the glorious firmament. There, hold the sceptre of Eternal Jove, But let not Majesty increase thy pride. Yet be thou wise (I counsel thee for love) And fear displeasure at a goddess hand. I may not blame thee for my beams are cause, Of all this insolence and proud disdain: But to prevent a second raging storm, If jealous Juno should by chance return, Here ends my love: Pandora now farewell. Exit. And Jove will go the sooner to assuage, Her frantic, idle, and suspicious thoughts, For well I know Pandora troubles her, Nor will she calm the tempest of her mind, Till with a whirlwind of outrageous words, She Beatrice mine ears, and weep cursed heart away. He descends. Yet will I go, for words are but a blast, And sunshine will ensue when storms are passed. Exit with Ganymede. With me, and I will leave the Queen of heaven. Nature will have it so attend on her. Is this the Saint, that steals my Juno's arms? And I'll begin where Saturn makes and end, And when I end, then Mars shall tyrannise, And after Mars then Solemnizing shall marshal her. And after Solemnizing each other in his course: Come let us go, that Saturn may begin. Hurt not Pandora lovely Stesias.

Plot summary

Plot — The Woman in the Moon
When. the SHépheérds of Utopia protest that, unlike all other creatures, they have no mates, Nature produces one she made earlier: a female statue, which Goneord animates by joining spirit with flesh, and to which DiS€6rd gives a tongue; Nature names her Pandora. The seven planets are jealous of Pandora, and take it in turns to cross her. First Saturn makes her melancholy, and she rejects all her wooers. Then jupiter makes her ambitious, and woos her himself; her acceptance angers JMO!) She sets the shepherds a-love test, to kill a savage boar; she will love the one who brings her its head. Ma#§ supplants Jupiter and makes Pandora aggressive: when the shepherds fight over who killed the boar, she joins in and wounds Stésias} Next Sl is in the ascendant, inducing Pandora to love, chastity, and other feminine virtues: she remorsefully accepts Stesias as her husband, and speaks ambiguous Latin prophecies about their future happiness. Wenus rises and makes Pandora amorous, so she wantons with the other shepherds. Stesias tries to catch her in the act, but G@iH@philis double-crosses him and he is persuaded of her chastity. Mereuty takes over and makes Pandora cunning and dishonest, qualities which save her when the three shepherds tell Stesias that she has indeed been unchaste: she is able to convince him that this is merely the jealousy of disappointed rivals, then pays back her accusers by making further assignations, which Stesias keeps, dressed as a woman, and beats them; they then swear to abjure women and live a single life. Meanwhile she steals Stesias’ jewels and elopes with Gunophilus, but on the way the ascent of Bia drives her mad. Stesias is again persuaded that Pandora is unchaste and, despairing, plans to kill her, but the planets intervene to protect her. Nature proposes to set her in one of the planets’ spheres, and she chooses that of Luna, since she has proven to be fundamentally changeable. Stesias is forced to accompany her, and he becomes the man in the moon.