Early Modern Drama · Character Archetypes

FAME

in The Sun in Aries — Middleton, Thomas

Metadata

PlayThe Sun in Aries
AuthorMiddleton, Thomas
Year (catalogued)1621
First performance1621
Decade1620s
GenreCivic Pageant
Play typeOccasional
Speech prefix(es)Fame.
Words296
Characters1634
Typicality0.30 (cosine to cluster centroid)
TCP idA07510
BritDrama no.1995
ClusterCluster 2 — Allegory, Nature & pageant voices

Important excerpts

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

Full speech

I Cannot better the Comparison Of thy fair Brotherhoods Love, then to the Sun After a great Eclipse; for as the Sphere Of that Celestial Motion, shines more cheer After the Interposing Partly is spent, Then to the Eye before the Darkness went Over the bright Orb; so Their Love is shown With a Content passed Expectation A Care that ha been comely, and a Cost That ha been Decent; cheerful, which is most; Fit for the Service of so great a State, So famed a City, and a Magistrate. So worthy of it all, ha been bestowed Upon thy Triumph, which ha clearly shorrde The Loves of thy Fraternity, as great; For thy first Welcome to thy honoured Seat: And happily is Cost requited then, "When Men Grace Triumphs, more then Triumphs, Men; "Diamonds will shine though set in Led, True worth "Stands always in least need of setting forth: What makes Less Noise then Merit? or Less Show Then Virtue? it's the Undeservers, owe All to Vainglory, and to Rumour, still; Building their Praises on the Vulgar Will; All their Good, is without e'm, not their own, When wise men to their Virtues are best Known: Behold you' Fountain with the Tripled Crown, And through a Cloud the Sunbeam piercing down, So is the worthy Magistrate made up; The Triple Crown, is Charity, Faith, and Hope, Those three Celestial Sisters, the Cloud too That's Care, and yet you see the Beam strikes through; A Care discharged with Honour, it presages, And may it so continue, to all Ages; It is thy Brotherhoods Arms, how well it fits Both Thee, and All, that for Truths Honour sits: The Time of Rest draws near; Triumph must cease Joy to thy Heart, to all a Blessed peace.

Plot summary

Plot — The Sun in Aries
{As he is embarking for his inauguration, the new Lord Mayor of London witnesses a spectacle on the River Thames.] On his return, he encounters a chariotful of worthies in St Paul’s Churchyard. Jason encourages him to seek honour in the face of danger, with the assistance of his experienced colleagues. Passing by, he comes upon a brazen tower, Virtue’s fortress, and Fame recounts the good deeds of previous London drapers. As he passes the New Standard, an allegorical figure of the monument wakes up to find himself newly restored. At Lawrence Lane, there is a mountain with sheep, the sun, and signs of the zodiac, and Aries likens the Lord Mayor to the sun, giving light to his people, the sheep. On his way home in the evening, the Lord Mayor finds the brazen tower at his gate along with the fountain of Justice. Fame encourages him to rule justly and wishes him a peaceful year in office.