in The Renegado, or The Gentleman of Venice — Massinger, Philip
Metadata
Play
The Renegado, or The Gentleman of Venice
Author
Massinger, Philip
Year (catalogued)
1630
First performance
1624
Decade
1630s
Genre
Tragicomedy
Play type
Adult Professional
Company
Lady Elizabeth's Men
Theater
Phoenix/Cockpit;Indoor Professional
Speech prefix(es)
Mast. | Maist. | Master.
Words
431
Characters
2267
Typicality
0.31 (cosine to cluster centroid)
TCP id
A07246
BritDrama no.
2090
Cluster
Cluster 16 — Errand servants & brief parts
Important excerpts
Passages from this character's speech that contain the most distinguishing words for Cluster 16 (nat, ningle, chould, numps, terry, dery…). Matches are highlighted.
him from a sleepy ruggown'd watch: Be therefore wise. The Fiend prompts me To change my copy: Plague vpon't, we are Seamen, What have we to do with't, but for a snatch, or so, At the end of a long Lent? I am obedient. We will stand the hazard. I have herd him (When he gloried to profess himself and Atheist,) Talk often and with
He had no feeling of, or else drawn to it Out of a wanton irreligious madness, (I know not which) ran to the holy man, As he was of doing the work of grace, And snatching from his hands the sanctifide means Dashed it upon the pavement. I but Noble Captain To spare a little for and after clap Were not improvidence. Hold, hold.
Full speech
This stranger is a most religious man sure, And I am doubtful whither his charity, In the relieving of our wants, or care To cure the wounded conscience of Grimaldi, Deserves more admiration. The general amazement of the people Gave him leave to quit the Temple, and a Gundelo, (Prepared it seems before) brought him aboard, Since which he never saw Venice. The remembrance Of this, it seems, torments him; aggravated With a strong belief he cannot receive pardon For this fowl fact, but from his hands against whom It was committed. He promised To use some holy and religious fineness, To this good end, and in the mean time charged me To keep him dark, and to admit no visitants But on no terms to cross him. Here he comes. With as much ease now We may steal the ship our of the harbour, Captain, As ever Gallants in a wanton bravery Have set upon a drunken Constable, And boar him from a sleepy ruggown'd watch: Be therefore wise. The Fiend prompts me To change my copy: Plague vpon't, we are Seamen, What have we to do with't, but for a snatch, or so, At the end of a long Lent? I am obedient. We will stand the hazard. I have herd him (When he gloried to profess himself and Atheist,) Talk often and with much delight and boasting, Of a rude prank he did ere he turned Pirate, The memory of which, as it appears, Lies heavy on him. Upon a solemn day when the whole City Joined in devotion, and with barefoot steps Passed to S. Marks, the Duke and the whole Signiory, Helping to perfect the Religious pomp, With which they were received; when all men else Were full of tears, and groaned beneath the weight Of passed offences (of whose heavy burden They came to be absolved and freed,) our Captain, Whither in scorn of those so pious rites He had no feeling of, or else drawn to it Out of a wanton irreligious madness, (I know not which) ran to the holy man, As he was of doing the work of grace, And snatching from his hands the sanctifide means Dashed it upon the pavement. I but Noble Captain To spare a little for and after clap Were not improvidence. Hold, hold. We must follow Or he will spend our shares; Nor am I so precise but I can drab too: We will not fit out for our parts, Yonder he is, I pity him. Follow him and restrain him. He does begin to eat?
Plot summary
Plot — The Renegado, or The Gentleman of Venice
PLOT Paulina has been kidnapped by the pirate Grimaldi and brought to stock the Viceroy Hassan Bey’s seraglio in Tunis. However, she wears a relic given to her by the Jesuit Francisco, which protects her from violence and ensures that she cannot be raped. Hassan Bey’s attempts to seduce her are proving ineffectual. The Pasha Mustapha arrives in Tunis and presents himself to Donusa with a letter from her uncle, the Sultan, recommending him as a prospective husband. She expresses an interest in seeing the market, and he escorts her there. One of the merchants, Vitelli, is really Paulina’s brother. He is selling pictures of beautiful European women, so Donusa unveils herself to invite a comparison. Vitelli instantly falls in love with her, and, to bring him out of his reverie, she smashes some of his glassware and tells him to present the bill for the damage at the palace the following day. Seeing an opportunity to rescue Paulina, he goes, is admitted to the seraglio, and ends up having sex with Donusa. He returns to the market a made man, and passes on his business to his servant Gazet. The Maltese raid the harbour at Tunis and capture a ship. Having failed to prevent this, Grimaldi is dismissed from Hassan Bey’s services; his seraglio recruitment work counts for nothing. He goes to the market in despair, believing he can never be forgiven the act of sacrilege for which he originally fled Venice: dashing the host out of a priest’s hand as he was saying mass. The priest was, in fact, Francisco, who cures him by presenting himself in episcopal vestments and granting him absolution. A change in Donusa’s behaviour alerts Mustapha to the loss of her virginity, and he arranges for Hassan Bey to be a hidden witness to her next meeting with Vitelli. The merchant has lost confidence in her, and returns her gifts, but their guilt is established and they are imprisoned pending a ruling from the Sultan. Vitelli impresses Mustapha by his constancy in imprisonment, but his fall disappoints Gazet: having heard that eunuchs regularly sleep with their mistresses, he has set his heart on becoming one. A ruling comes back from Constantinople that the law should swiftly take its course: any Muslim woman who fornicates with a Christian shall lose her head, unless she can convert him to Islam and marry him. Donusa invokes the exception, but Vitelli refuses to become a Muslim, and instead converts her to Christianity. She is condemned to death for apostasy, and he for procuring…