in The Noble Spanish Soldier (The Noble Soldier, or A Contract Broken Justly Revenged) — Dekker, Thomas
Metadata
Play
The Noble Spanish Soldier (The Noble Soldier, or A Contract Broken Justly Revenged)
Author
Dekker, Thomas
Year (catalogued)
1634
First performance
1622
Decade
1630s
Genre
Tragedy
Play type
Adult Professional
Company
Unknown
Speech prefix(es)
Daen. | Dan. | D • en. | D • n. | D •• n.
Words
189
Characters
979
Typicality
0.22 (cosine to cluster centroid)
TCP id
A11145
BritDrama no.
2028
Cluster
Cluster 17 — Intriguers & schemers
Important excerpts
No keyword-matching excerpt could be extracted (the cluster label doesn't share vocabulary with this character's speech).
Full speech
It's your confirmed Contract With my sad kinswoman: but wherefore, Sir, Now is your rage on fire, in such a presence To have it mour e in Ashes? He's mad with rage or joy. Wrapped up in clouds of linghtning? And heaven with us to witness. Shall we see this and sleep? Your Lordship hits A poisoned nail i'th head: this waxed fellow (By the Kings hand so bribing him with gold) is set on skrews, Perhaps is made his Creature, To turn round very way. It's and exploit worth wonder. They come. Lock the doors. Let not us trust to that; there's in his bre to Both Fox and Lion, and both those beasts can bite: We must not now behold the narrowest lcope-hole, But presently suspect a winged bullet Flies whizzing by our ears. None till he speaks, and that we know his voice: Who are you? Why? As he is, so are we all. What has blunted Thy weapons point at these? What's to be done now? What snares have we can hold him? But, sweet Cozen, the King loves not your mother. So shall mine.
Plot summary
Plot — The Noble Spanish Soldier (The Noble Soldier, or A Contract Broken Justly Revenged)
The King of Spain claims to have doubts about the legality of his marriage: he was pre-contracted to Onaelia and had an illegitimate son by her. He sends the Cardinal to Onaelia with an offer to have the marriage annulled; she will then be instated as Queen of Spain and her son legitimized. She accepts, and hands over her marriage contract for redrafting. But it is only a ruse to get hold of the document, and the King burns it in the presence of his council. Meanwhile, having heard that the King is considering renewing his contract to Onaelia, Queen Paulina feigns pregnancy; any divorce will thus entail the unpopular step of bastardizing his unborn child. Onaelia’s uncle, the Duke of Medina, swears revenge on the King and begins to assemble a faction. The despised soldier Balthazar offers his services to assassinate the King, but when Onaelia refuses, says that he was only testing her. With the King’s complicity, Paulina engages Balthazar to murder Onaelia and her son Sebastian, but he betrays the plot to Medina, to whom he owes allegiance. Medina counter-plots: Balthazar is to report back that Sebastian has been killed but that Onaelia was too well protected; in reality, Sebastian will be hidden in a monastery. Medina tests Balthazar’s fidelity and the King’s malice by disguising himself as a French doctor and offering the King his services as a poisoner; the King’s acceptance of the offer as a second murder option should Balthazar fail, and Balthazar’s outrage, both tell him what he wants to know. Unable to dispose of Onaelia, the King formally marries her. Paulina plans to poison her at the wedding banquet, but the poisoned wine is served to the King by mistake. The ‘friar’ summoned to hear his dying confessions turns out to be Sebastian, which the King initially takes to be a guilty hallucination. Sebastian is proclaimed the rightful heir and Paulina sent back to Florence with her dowry trebled in compensation. The King dies, and Onaelia and Balthazar are appointed Sebastian’s joint guardians during his minority.