Early Modern Drama · Character Archetypes

RANDOLFO

in What You Will

Metadata

PlayWhat You Will
Year (catalogued)1607
First performance1607
Decade1600s
GenreComedy
Play typeProfessional;Boys Professional
CompanyChildren of Paul's (second) (?)
Speech prefix(es)Ran. | Ra. | Rand.
Words386
Characters2143
Typicality0.26 (cosine to cluster centroid)
TCP idA07081
BritDrama no.1283
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

Be Ladied would, would, Oh could she but recaule The honoured Port of her deceased love; But think whose wife she was, God wot no knights But one (that title of) was even a Prince A Sultan Sollyman: thrice was he made In dangerous arms Venice prouidetore. In a black beaver felt, ash colour plain A Florentine cloth of silver Jerkin, sleeves White satin cut on tinsel, then long stock. But as we see the son of a Divine Seldom proves Preacher, or a Lawyers son Rarely a pleader, (for they strive to Run A various fortune from their Ancestors) So 'tis right geason for the Merchants widow, To be the Citizens loved second spouse. Then must my pretty peat be Fan and Coached. By blessedness weel stop this fatal lot. Why stay lets think a plot. Not peered in Venice, for birth, fortune love. In the black fight in the Venetian gulf. Now what a giglet is this Celia ? Why she might have — The sprightful Piso, the great Florentine, Aurelius Tuber. Brother she shall not, shall our blood be moungreld with the corruption of a straggling French ? Good day. Fallen out as't 'twill I am resolved to do't. Saint Mark Saint Mark. Oh thats absolute. Pish, pish, why what of him? Nay he hath Albanos imperfection too, And stuttes when he is vehemently moved. I hau't, I hau't, I hau't, it'll be invincible. Brother Adrian You have our brother's picture, shape him to it. Saint Mark then prosper once, our hopeful plot. What else man? Oh what else? Look you, he walks he feigns most excellent. Oh deer Albano now thrice happy eyes To view the hopeless presence of my brother. Good Fortune's to our sister. Seance the Duke approaches 'tis almost night, For the Dukes up, now begins his day Come grace his entrance; lights lights now begins our play. Dear brother. Assure thee brother. Humbly complaining kissing the hands of your excellence your poor orators Randolfo and Andrea beseecheth forbidding of the dis honoured match of their Niece Celia Widow to their Brother— Oh 'twill do, 'twill do, it can not choose but do. Doubt you of that? would I might die, Had I not known the guile I would would sworn Thou hadst been Albano, my nimble cozening knave.

Plot summary

Plot — What You Will
Only three months after her husband Albano was reported dead in a sea battle, Celia has many suitors. Tomorrow she intends to marry Laverdure, a French knight; but Alban.o 's brothers, Randolfo and Adrian, disapprove. After fruitlessly petitioning the noctumal. party-loving Duke to stop the wedding, thcr decide to make it illegitimate by introducing an impostor, a perfumer named Francisco, to pose as Albano, claiming that he did not die after all; but Laverdure's page Bidet witnesses their scheming and warns his master. In fact, Albano survived. On his return to Venice he is unimpressed to hear that his supposedly faithful and loving wife is getting married again so soon; but when he accosts Laverdure, he is taken for Francisco. Even his own brothers take him for the disguised perfumer, so he begins to believe that he has indeed become Francisco by metempsychosis. He interrupts the performance of a play at court to protest at the way he has been treated, and the Duke assures everyone that he really is Albano. He decides to forgive everyone, including Laverdure and Celia. In the sub-plot, Simplicius saves the schoolboy Holofernes Pippo from a thrashing and takes him on as his page. A group of pages trick Simplicius into arranging an assignation with a merchant's wife, who turns out to be Holofemes in disguise.