Early Modern Drama · Character Archetypes

WILL

in 1 The Two Angry Women of Abingdon — Porter, Henry

Metadata

Play1 The Two Angry Women of Abingdon
AuthorPorter, Henry
Year (catalogued)1599
First performance1598
Decade1590s
GenreComedy
Play typeAdult Professional
CompanyAdmiral's (Nottingham's) Men
Speech prefix(es)Wil. | Will. | Wil.. | W • l. | VVil.
Words648
Characters3036
Typicality0.18 (cosine to cluster centroid)
TCP idA09857
BritDrama no.1151
ClusterCluster 11 — Tosspots & tavern railers

Important excerpts

Passages from this character's speech that contain the most distinguishing words for Cluster 11 (tospot, rees, ralph, soch, tout, oundes…). Matches are highlighted.

not to kill is hunter's sorrow, Come Lady, weel have venison ere tomorrow. So ho, I come, where are you? where art thou? h re. Frank, what Frank? sbloud is sir Ralph mad, heeres the bow. So ho, so ho, nay then sir Ralph so whore, For a whore she was sure, if you had her here So late, now you are sir Raphe Smith, Well do you
ho, soho, Sblould Philip, But now he clade me Francis, this is fine Even now he asked me Francis for the wench, And now he ask me Philip for the wench, Well sir Ralph. I must needs tell you now, 'Tis not for your credit to be forth, So late a w nching in this order Why then you might have taken your bow at first, And gone and
come tell me how? I, what Nan now, say, do you not seek a wench? Then sir that is she. Yes sir, and you did counterfeit before, And said to me you were not sir Ralph Smith, Oh fine. What are you then? And Francis seeks one Philip and a wench: I met him seeking Philip and a wench, As I was seeking sir Ralph and a wench. I am
Francis seeks one Philip and a wench: I met him seeking Philip and a wench, As I was seeking sir Ralph and a wench. I am content, but do you hear me sir? Did not sir Ralph Smith ask ye for a wench? So ho? Guess here. Philip, no faith, my names Will, ill will, for I was ne ver worse, I was even now with him, and might have been still,

Full speech

And can you blame her to be forth so long, And see no better sport? I will, but 'twill be dark I shall not see, How shall I see you then? Enough, I will. Guilty of death I willing am in this, Because it our ill haps to day to miss, To hun and not to kill is hunter's sorrow, Come Lady, weel have venison ere tomorrow. So ho, I come, where are you? where art thou? h re. Frank, what Frank? sbloud is sir Ralph mad, heeres the bow. So ho, so ho, nay then sir Ralph so whore, For a whore she was sure, if you had her here So late, now you are sir Raphe Smith, Well do you counterfeit and change your voice, But yet I know you, but what should be that Francis? Belike that Francis cussend him of his wench, And he conceals himself to find her ou , 'Tis so upon my life, well I will go And help him ring his peal oh so ho, soho, Sblould Philip, But now he clade me Francis, this is fine Even now he asked me Francis for the wench, And now he ask me Philip for the wench, Well sir Ralph. I must needs tell you now, 'Tis not for your credit to be forth, So late a w nching in this order Why then you might have taken your bow at first, And gone and killed abucke, and not have been So lo g a drabbing, and be never the near. Sbloud my wench, swounds were he ten sir Raphs. Indeed I do oue Nan our darie maid, And hath he train her forth to that intent? Or for another, I carry his crossbow, And he does cross me, shooting in my bow, What shall I do? Francis ho oh you call Francis now, How have you used my Nan? come tell me how? I, what Nan now, say, do you not seek a wench? Then sir that is she. Yes sir, and you did counterfeit before, And said to me you were not sir Ralph Smith, Oh fine. What are you then? And Francis seeks one Philip and a wench: I met him seeking Philip and a wench, As I was seeking sir Ralph and a wench. I am content, but do you hear me sir? Did not sir Ralph Smith ask ye for a wench? So ho? Guess here. Philip, no faith, my names Will, ill will, for I was ne ver worse, I was even now with him, and might have been still, but that I fell into a ditch and lost him, and now I am going up and down to seek him. Why I would have him go with me to my masters. Why sir Raphe Smith, and thither he promised me he would come, if he keep his word so 'tis. Why he holloed for one Francis, and Francis hollod for him, I hallod for my master, and my master for me, but we missed still meeting contrary, Philip & Francis with me & my master, and I & my master with Philip and Frank. Why he meant to kill a Buck, I'll say so to save his ho nesty, but my Nan was his mark, & when he sent me for his bow, and when I came, I hollod for him, but I never saw such luck to miss him, it hath almost made me mad. So ho. What sir? A pestilence on it, is't you Philip, no faith, I was but dirty a little, but heeres one or two asked for ye. Here. I wish that I had been at one Bucks fallen. A woodman Lady, but no tyrant I. Why this is strange, but come sir lets away, I fear that we shall walk here till it be day. So ho. Heeres will.

Plot summary

Plot — 1 The Two Angry Women of Abingdon
The Gourseys share a meal with their neighbours, the Barnes family, and the two wives fall out over a game of chance. When Barnes admonishes his wife, she suspects him of adultery with Mistress Goursey. With a view to patching up the wives' quarrel, Barnes plans to marry their daughter Mall to Goursey's son, Frank, but Mistress Goursey finds out about it and goes to pick a fight at the Barnes house. Frank successfully woos Mall, but Mistress Barnes's intervention sends the lovers fleeing, intending to rendezvous in Oxford. They get lost in a nearby rabbit warren, where Sir Ralph Smith is also out hunting, determined to bag some venison if it takes him all night. The other characters search for the lovers in the dark; there is an extended sequence of mistaken identities, during which Will, Sir Ralph's woodman, gets the mistaken idea that his master is looking for a wench. Sir Ralph meets one - Mall. She tells him her story and he offers to intervene to reconcile the two mothers. The husbands find the wives brawling over possession of a torch. Mistress Barnes's tendency to call Mistress Goursey a strumpet leads Goursey to suspect that there is no smoke without fire, and that his wife is having an affair with Barnes. Philip Barnes sees things are getting out of hand, and persuades the two angry women to retract their harsh words and make up their quarrel and agree to the marriage. Sir Ralph arrives to find there is no work for him as peacemaker; instead, he asks the two families to dinner.