Early Modern Drama · Character Archetypes

ELINOR DE MONTFORT

in Edward the First — Peele, George

Metadata

PlayEdward the First
AuthorPeele, George
Year (catalogued)1593
First performance1591
Decade1590s
GenreHistory
Play typeAdult Professional
CompanyUnknown
Speech prefix(es)Elinor. | Eli. | Eli
Words550
Characters2906
Typicality0.41 (cosine to cluster centroid)
TCP idA09224
BritDrama no.881
ClusterCluster 5 — Romantic leads (high style)

Important excerpts

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

Full speech

Now brave John Balliol Lord of Gallaway, And king of Scots shine with thy golden head, Shake thy spears in honour of his name, Under whose royalty thou wearest the same. The welken spangled through with golden spots, Reflects no finer in a frosty night, Then lovely Longshankes in his Elinors eye: So Ned thy Nell in every partly of thee, Thy person's guarded with a troop of Queens, And every Queen as brave as Elinor, Give glory to these glorious changed stall quarries, Where every robe and object entertains, Of rich device and princely majesty. Thus Like Narcissus diving in the deep, I die in honour and in England's arms: And if I drown, it is in my delight. Whose company is chiefest life in death, From forth whose currall lips I suck the sweet, Wherewith are dainty Cupid's candles made, Then live or die brave Ned, or sink or swim, And earthly bliss it is to look on him, On thee sweet Ned, it shall become thy Nell, Bo unteous to be unto the beauteous, Over pry the palms sweet fountains of my bliss; And I will stand on tiptoe for a kiss. To heaven Friar, Friar no fie, Such heavy souls mount not so High. Who talketh there? Welcome my Lord heigh ho what have we there? Thanks gentle Lord, but alas who can blame Elinor to accuse her stars, that in one hour hath lost honour and contentment. Ah sweet Lluellen how thy death I rue. Sweet prince of Wales, were I within thine arms, Then should I in peace possess my love, And heavens open fair their crystal gates, That I may see the palace or my intent. My sweetest love and this my infracte for tune could never vaunt har sovereignty, and shouldst thou pass the Ford of Phlegeton, or with Leander win the Hellispont in deserts, Oenophrius ever dwell, or build thy bower on Aetuas fiery tops, thy Nel would follow thee and keep with thee, thy Nel would feed with thee and sleep with thee. My sweet Lluellen though this sweet be Gall, Patience does conquer me by out suffering all. My Lord, the Friar is wondrous wise. Now Friar sith your lord is gone, And you and I are left alone, What can the Friar do or say, To pass the weary time away? Weary God wot poor wench to thee, That never thought these days to see. Do somewhat Friar say or sing, That may to sorrows so lace bring, And I mean while will Garlands make, What Friar will you so indeed, Agrees it somewhat with your need? Thats fitter of the two at need. So Sir is this all? How now good fellow more indeed, By one then was before. How now Friar where are we now and you play not the man? Cast water, for the house will burn. Gramercis Ned, now well remembered yet, I have a suit sweet lord, but you must not deny it, Whereas my Lord of Gloucester, good Cla e mine host, my guide, Good Ned let Joan of Acon be his bride, Assure your self that they are thoroughly wooed. Edward the name, that does me well content, No Friar because thou didst rebel, Gentle Sir Rice ring out thy kneel.

Plot summary

Plot — Edward the First
Edwardilongshanks returns from the crusades to find that in his absence both his father and his son have 1591 died, and that he is now King of England. He makes provision to house his wounded veterans, and all the nobility contribute handsomely. His @W@8n asks him to defer the coronation to give her time to send to Spain for the latest fashions. MEW was planning to take advantage of Edward’s absence to secure his power in Wales. A Welshliprophet encourages him with the assertion that he will mount higher than all his kin. Now he intends reprisals against Edward for the detention of his betrothed wife, DA@VMEI@HGr, daughter of an English rebel. His brother DaWid, a spy in the English court, proposes getting himself captured by the Welsh in order to create a pretext for an exchange of prisoners. The plan goes awry when the Welsh soldiers agree to make peace with the English, on condition that Edward does not impose direct rule from England. Llewelyn and his entourage pose as Robin Hood, and waylay passers-by in the forest. M@riimiér, who loves Lady Eleanor, goes to Wales and joins in the masquerade by assuming the identity of the potter from the Robin Hood story; but this means he gets a thrashing. To comply with the Welsh demand for a Welsh-born prince, Edward summons the pregnant Queen to Wales, where she gives birth to a son: Edward, Prince of Wales. The loyal Welsh present the child with a frieze mantle, but the Queen takes offence at the homespun fabric. Edward promises her a boon, and she demands that the English men should cut their long hair and beards, and that the English women’s breasts should be likewise amputated; Edward is forced to consent, but the Queen is displeased that he insists on being the first to go under the barber, and withdraws her request when he proposes that she should likewise undergo the first mastectomy. Prince Edward is christened and the Queen’s daughter, J6am, married to the BarllshiGlowcester. The nine lords of Scotland are unable to agree which of them should be king, so they approach Edward to adjudicate. He crowns JOHHMBalliG], who endows an Oxford college in gratitude, but later asserts Scotland’s independence from England. In Wales, Edward is set upon by Llewelyn and his crew of outlaws, who demand half his money. Instead he proposes single combat, winner take all. Llewelyn is beaten, but Edward spares his life in order to save Mortimer. He then goes to deal with the Scottish insurrection, leaving Mortimer to mop up…