Early Modern Drama · Character Archetypes

AURELIA

in The Malcontent

Metadata

PlayThe Malcontent
Year (catalogued)1604
First performance1604
Decade1600s
GenreTragicomedy
Play typeAdult Professional;Professional;Boys Professional
CompanyChildren of the Queen's Revels
Speech prefix(es)Aur. | Aur: | Aurelia
Words834
Characters4504
Typicality0.52 (cosine to cluster centroid)
TCP idA07074
BritDrama no.1391
ClusterCluster 18 — Chronicle statesmen & prelates

Important excerpts

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

Full speech

And is't possible? Mendoza slight me, possible? Oh villain! Oh impudent Mendoza. How? how? I love to hate him speak. What? What said he? Oh unlimitable impudency! I will love thee, be it but in despite Of that Mendoza: witch! Ferneze: witch! Ferneze thou art the Duchess favourite, Be faithful, private, but 'tis dangerous. Enjoy my favour, I will be sick instantly & take physic, Therefore in depth of night visit. Dried bisquet! look where the base wretch comes. Save my Ferneze, Oh save my Ferneze. Oh save Ferneze. Oh poor Ferneze. He's dead. What weep for thee? my soul no tears shall find. Not. I think I have. Nay, sure I have, my eyes have witnessed thy love Thou hast stood too firm for me. That thing never worthy of the name of man; Ferneze, Ferneze swore thou lovest Emilia, Which to advance with most reproachful breath, Thou both didst blemish and denounce my love. Pardon me, I did. I did. We will dance, music, we will dance. We have forgotten the brawl. Oh Daedelus! thy maze, I have quite forgotten it. Music, music. Music. We are not pleased with the r intrusion upon our private retirement: we are not pleased: you have forgotten your selves. Music, found high, as is our heart, found high. We attend. Ungrateful. Villain hear me. Prepas oh and Guerino led away the Duchess. To banishment, led on to banishment. Why? why? I can desire nothing but death, nor de serve any thing but hell. If heaven should give sufficiency of grace To clear my soul, it would make heaven graceless: My sins would make the stock of mercy poor; Oh they would tire heavens goodness to reclaim theme Judgement is joust yet from that vast villain: But sure he shall not miss sad punishment Before he shall rule On to my cell of shame. Life is a frost of could felicity, And death the thaw of all our vanity, Wast not and honest Priest that wrote so? I would done? one word, take heed, I would done. Are you God of ghosts, I have a suit depending in hell betwixt me and my conscience, I would feign have thee help me to and advocate. Nay faith, Mercury haz too good a face, to be a right lawyer. Wouldst then be miserable? Oh yet forbear my hand, away, fly, fly, Oh seek not her, that only seeks to die. What, wouldst court misery? Sheele come too soon, Oh my grieved heart! Art a sad man. Then weel agree. My heart, though not my knees, does humbly fallen, Aurelia to Pietro. Low as the earth to thee. Must I then hear her praised Mendoza? Out villain, villain: Oh judgement, where have been my eyes? what bewitched election made me dote on thee? what sorcery made me love thee? but be gone, bury thy head: Oh that I could do more then loathe thee: hence worst of ill: No reason ask, our reason is our will. Despite go with thee. Alas I did. This night. A most sad truth. Come, I did err, and am most sorry, I did err. Shall we murder him? Instantly? before he casts a plot? Or further blaze my honours much known blot. Lets murder him. I'll make thee duke: we are of Medicis. Florence our friend, in court my faction Not meanly strengthfull; the Duke then dead, We well prepared for change: the multitude Irresolutely reeling, we enforce: Our party seconded, the kingdom mazde, No doubt of swift success, all shall be graced. Music. Music. On. Soul lurk in shades, run shame from brightsome skies, In night the blind man misses not his eyes. Alas calamity, is every where. Sad misery despite your double doors, Will enter even in court. It is too good, blessed spirit of my Lord, Oh in what orb so ere thy soul is Throne, Behold me worthily most miserable: Oh let the anguish of my contrite spirit Entreat some reconciliation: If not, o joy, triumph in my joust grief, Death is the end of woes, and tears relief. Oh heaven! As the soul loved the body, so loved he, It death to him to partly my presence, Heaven to see me pleased: Yet I, Like to a wretch given over to hell, Brake all the sacred rites of marriage, To clip a base ungentle faithless villain. Oh God, a very Pagan reprobate: What should I say? ungrateful, throws me out, For whom I lost soul, body, fame and honour: But 'tis most fit; why should a better fate Attend on any, who forsake chaste sheets, Fly the embrace of a devoted heart, Joined by a solemn vow before God and man, To taste the brackish blood of beastly lust, In and adulterous touch? o ravenous immodesty, Insatiate impudence of appetite; Look, heeres your end, for mark what sap in dust, What sin in good, even so much lou in lust: Joy to thy ghost, sweet Lord, pardon to me.

Plot summary

Plot — The Malcontent
AltSffont, Duke of Genoa, has been deposed in a coup backed by the Great DukelofiFlorence, and replaced by Pi2tf5) the husband of Florence’s daughter Alurelial Though banished, Altofront has remained in Genoa disguised as the court malcontent Malevolg) his identity known only to his ally @@lS. He tells Pietro that (Mendez, who brokered his marriage to Aurelia, is cuckolding him. So he is, but Femniezé replaces him in Aurelia’s affections when he claims that Mendoza 1603 prefers another woman. Pietro confronts Mendoza, who names Ferneze as the true adulterer, and they lay a plot to surprise the couple in bed: Ferneze flees by a back entrance, but Mendoza lies in wait and attacks him as he leaves, then, when Aurelia comes out, pretends that he was protecting Ferneze. Pietro believes that his objective is to gain Aurelia’s confidence so that he can position himself to spy on her, and rewards his supposed fidelity by adopting him as his successor; but Mendoza’s real motive is to avenge himself on Pietro for suspecting him, on Aurelia for rejecting him, and on Ferneze for supplanting him. Ferneze is left for dead, but Malevole finds him still alive and takes him to safety. Bili6SG is sent as an ambassador to inform Florence of his daughter’s misbehaviour. Aurelia conspires with Mendoza to assassinate Pietro; she will then install him as Duke, with Florentine support. Mendoza engages Malevole, recently banished from court, to murder Pietro during a hunt, and explains his future plans to the malcontent. Malevole finds Pietro sleeping but does not take the opportunity to kill the usurper: instead he discloses Mendoza’s plot and helps Pietro to disguise himself as a hermit. He then brings ‘the hermit’ to court with an eye-witness account of Pietro’s suicide. Mendoza assumes power, banishes Aurelia, retains ‘the hermit’ as his confessor, and sends Malevole to Altofront’s imprisoned Duchess, Mafia} with a message of love. He engages Malevole and ‘the hermit’ to poison one another, intending that the blame shall fall on Maria and serve as a lever to force her into accepting him. Bilioso returns from Florence with the Great Duke’s orders: Aurelia is to be executed, Pietro banished, and Altofront reinstated. Upon seeing the changed political scene, however, Bilioso supports Mendoza. Pietro repents his usurpation of the dukedom, whereupon Malevole reveals his true identity. Together with Celso and Ferneze, they will now conspire to bring down Mendoza. When Malevole…