Early Modern Drama · Character Archetypes

WAITING-WOMEN

in The Unnatural Combat — Massinger, Philip

Metadata

PlayThe Unnatural Combat
AuthorMassinger, Philip
Year (catalogued)1639
First performance1624
Decade1630s
GenreTragedy
Play typeAdult Professional
CompanyKing's Men
TheaterGlobe;Outdoor Professional
Speech prefix(es)2. Wom. | 1. Wom.
Words155
Characters814
Typicality0.26 (cosine to cluster centroid)
TCP idA07248
BritDrama no.2185
ClusterCluster 10 — Mourners, mothers & doleful voices

Important excerpts

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

Full speech

Some wicked counsel on my life. Near doubt it, If it proceed from him. She falls off too. And what's not in you To be prevented, should not cause a sorrow Which cannot help it. A general shout. And might have slept then, As long as we pleased, and fed when we had stomachs, And worn new clothes, nor lived as now in hope Of a cast gown, or petticoat. Now for us boy. Dearest Lady, My Ladies colour changes. You must bear it With patience, Madam. May he be victorious, And punish disobedience in his son, Whose death in reason should at no partly move you, He being but half your brother, and the nearness, Which that might challenge from you, forfelted By his impious purpose to kill him, from whom He received life. Of joy. Or I a Lady. And where as now necessity makes us waiters, We had been attended on. Madam,

Plot summary

Plot — The Unnatural Combat
Malefort Junior, son of the Admiral, has committed treason by allying himself with pirates and threatening the ruin of Marseilles. The Admiral is suspected of complicity and imprisoned. Theocrine, his daughter, reluctantly offers herself to Beaufort Junior, son of the Governor of Marseilles, if he will only persuade his father to allow hers a hearing. Beaufort Senior can refuse his son nothing, so the Admiral gets his opportunity to protest his innocence. Malefort Junior ‘challenges his father to a duel over a wrongdoing which he will not specify. The Admiral refuses to be held accountable by his son, and accepts the challenge. Malefort Junior is killed: the threat to Marseilles is over, and Admiral Malefort is lauded a hero. Malefort suggests that Theocrine should marry Beaufort Junior; Beaufort Senior half-heartedly agrees and invites them to a nuptial feast. The Governor's table is open to any former soldier who needs a free ~ meal, a custom regularly invoked by Belgarde, who is unemployed in peacetime and angry at being denied - his -back pay. Fearing embarrassment at the feast, Beaufort Senior has his steward discourage Belyarde with the suggestion that he is underdressed for the ===== PAGE 200 ===== occasion; but the upshot is that Belgarde turns up in a suit of armour and declares his worthiness. His plain- speaking wins him respect and a gift of money from the Governor. He spends it all on new clothes, but the signs of prosperity attract his creditors, and he is still unable to pay them. People are noticing Malefort’s excessive solicitude towards his daughter. This comes to a head when Beaufort Junior takes her off to woo her in private, with a priest ready to perform the marriage. Malefort reacts by calling off the marriage and taking Theocrine home. He harbours an incestuous passion for his daughter, who is very like his dead second wife. Struggling to conquer the urge, he confesses to his friend Montreville and asks him to abduct her: he cannot be tempted if he never sees her again. Beaufort Junior realizes something is wrong and has Belgarde muster troops to besiege Montreville’s fort. Montreville demands sexual favours from Theocrine, and reveals her father’s secret. Meanwhile Malefort reasons from classical precedent that incest is not wicked after all, and goes to fetch his daughter back. Montreville denies him access and reveals that he has.a long-standing grudge: Theocrine’s mother was his mistress before Malefort stole her, poisoning his…