in A New Wonder, A Woman Never Vexed — Rowley, William; Heywood, Thomas (?)
Metadata
Play
A New Wonder, A Woman Never Vexed
Author
Rowley, William; Heywood, Thomas (?)
Year (catalogued)
1632
First performance
1611
Decade
1630s
Genre
Comedy
Play type
Adult Professional
Company
Unknown
Speech prefix(es)
Ric. | Rich.
Words
230
Characters
1194
Typicality
0.17 (cosine to cluster centroid)
TCP id
A11153
BritDrama no.
2084
Cluster
Cluster 15 — Devils, vices & grotesques
Important excerpts
No keyword-matching excerpt could be extracted (the cluster label doesn't share vocabulary with this character's speech).
Full speech
Five hundred sixty pounds; Read the gross sum of your broad clothes. Just; lead, xix tun. This morning Sir, he said he would go visit his Uncle Sir, mine a servants duty, his a sons, Nor know I better how to express my love Unto your self, than by loving your son. I dare not call them so; he is my second Master, And methink 'tis far above my limits Either to check, or to complain of him. Not yet, Sir; but by account from the last, when they Put from Dover, this Tide should bring them into Saint Catharins Pool; the wind has been friendly. But the worst accent Sir, that ever you herd, I speak a Screechowles note. O you have made The most unhappiest bargain that ever Merchant did! I would you could conceit it, that I might not speak it. Now y'ave spoke it half; it's sinking I must treat of Your ships are all sink. Even in the Mouth, and entrance of the Thames They were all cast away. I shall do both, Sir. I never could speak worse. Some men were saved, but not one pennyworth of goods. Good Sir, resolve not thus; return again, Your debts are not so great, that you should yield Your body thus to prison unconstrained. Dear Sir, be patient. I'l do my best Sir, to procure your peace.
Plot summary
Plot — A New Wonder, A Woman Never Vexed
Old Forster has recently made his fortune by marrying a rich widow, but they are both dissatisfied with the financial irresponsibility of his brother and son, whom ===== PAGE 17 ===== 1624 they are on the point of disowning. Robert, the son, has purloined some of his stepmother’s money to buy his uncle, Stephen Forster, out of debtors’ prison; he also gives Stephen money to buy new clothes. Stephen uses the money for gambling, and is cheated. Robert is disappointed to find him in the gaming-house, and he himself likewise gets into trouble with his stepmother for going there, even though he only went in to look for Stephen. Mistress Forster has an uncommonly even- tempered friend, another rich widow, who enjoys miraculous good fortune. When she loses her wedding ring in the river, it turns up inside a salmon bought by her maid. She meets Stephen at the gaming-house and likes him. She suggests that he should marry for money, and offers herself. He accepts, and they perform a hand-fasting. Jane is being pursued by two undesirable suitors, an old knight and a young fool. Her father, Alderman Brune, suggests Robert Forster as a third option, if he can be reconciled with his father. Brune is Old Forster’s partner in a mercantile venture, but accepts Forster’s offer to buy him out; he takes payment in cloth rather than cash, which clears Forster’s warehouses for the new merchandise due in any day. However, Forster continues to look askance at Robert. News arrives that the ships have sunk in the Thames: Forster is bankrupt, and voluntarily commits himself to prison in order to avoid his creditors. Stephen takes charge of his new wife’s property, and proves, against expectations, to be provident rather than spendthrift. He asks Robert to help him manage the estate, and adopts him as his heir, insisting only that he does nothing to help his father. However, Stephen himself pays the prison-keeper to ensure that his brother remains comfortable. When Jane’s two other suitors complain of the favour shown to Robert, Stephen produces evidence that they are in debt to the widow’s first husband (and therefore now to him), and the threat of arrest gets rid of them. The widow generously accepts their payment of £200 to discharge a debt of ten times that amount. Unable to resist his sense of filial obligation, Robert purloins the money and gives it to his father. Stephen pretends to be angry, but secretly pays off his brother’s creditors and thereby secures his release.…