Early Modern Drama · Character Archetypes

PUTIFER

in The Dutch Courtesan (Cockle de Moye)

Metadata

PlayThe Dutch Courtesan (Cockle de Moye)
Year (catalogued)1605
First performance1605
Decade1600s
GenreComedy
Play typeBoys Professional;Professional
CompanyChildren of the Queen's Revels
TheaterBlackfriars;Indoor Professional
Speech prefix(es)Put. | Puti. | Nurſe. | Put:
Words198
Characters966
Typicality0.16 (cosine to cluster centroid)
TCP idA07065
BritDrama no.1434
ClusterCluster 7 — Pedants, satyrs & Latin wit

Important excerpts

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

Full speech

Nay faith my conceiving days be done, marry for kiss sing isle defend that, thats within my compass, but for my own partly heers mistress Beatrice is to be married with the grace of God, fine gentleman he is shall have her and I warrant a strong, he has a leg Like a post, a nose Like a Lion, a brow Like a Bull, and a beard of most fair expectation: this week you must marry him, and I now will read a lecture to you both, how you shall behave your selves to your husbands, the first monneth of your nuptial, I would broke my skull about it, I can tell you and there is much brain in it. And he come to me, I can tell you as old as I am, what to do with him. I tell you I can my singles and my doubles and my trick a xxtie, my carantapace, my traverse forward, and my falling back yet i'faith. Nay good child, A love once more, M. Freeuils Son net, a the kiss you gave him. My servant, master Cacature desires to visit you, Marry God forfend, what will you do then?

Plot summary

Plot — The Dutch Courtesan (Cockle de Moye)
Mulligrub is morose: Cocledemoy has stolen some goblets from him. As the play goes on he gets increasingly infuriated as Cocledemoy continues to get the better of him. First the cheater borrows barber's instruments, visits him posing as a northern barber, and steals his bag of money while shaving him. Next, Mulligrub buys a goblet from Burnish and has it sent to his wife. Posing as Burnish's man, Cocledemoy pretends that he has been sent to arrange a meal for the Mulligrubs and Burnishes, leaves a gift of salmon, and takes the goblet back for engraving. Mulligrub returns home and, knowing nothing of the meal, decides to eat the salmon before anyone realizes the mistake, but loses his appetite on realizing that the goblet is gone. After he leaves to raise the alarm, Codedemoy returns and cons the salmon out of Mistress Mulligrub too. Finally Cocledemoy arranges for Mulligrub to pick up his cloak, then has him arrested for theft.Freevill invites his friend Malheureux to join him on a visit to the courtesan Francischina, in the hope that he will reconsider his disapproval of prostitution. He does: on seeing the courtesan, he falls in love. She grows jealous on hearing that Freevill is to marry Beatrice, and asks him to give her Beatrice's ring. When he refuses, she asks the infatuated Malheureux to prove his love by killing Freevill; she will reward him sexually when he brings her the ring. Malheureux soon comes to his senses: he tells Freevill everything, and they conspire to frustrate Francischina and enable Malheureux to sleep with her. They pretend to fall out at a masque given by Freevill to honour Beatrice's family, giving credence to the story that Malheureux has killed his friend in a duel. When he brings the ring to Francischina, she sends him away for two hours, then takes the story to Freevill's family and future in-laws. She is unable to provoke Beatrice to jealousy, but conceals Sir Lionel Freevill in her room to hear the murderer condemn hlmself. When Malheureux returns, she questions him about the killing, and he is arrested. Freevill has told Malheureux where he can be found alive, but, to teach his friend a lesson, he has 'disappeared'. In fact he has entered an association with Francischina, disguised as a pander: with the opportunity to observe her malice at dose quarters, he grows to appreciate Beatrice's honesty and fidelity the more. Francischina sends him to Beatrice with the ring in the hope of tormenting her, but he reveals himself…