in The Humorous Courtier (The Duke) — Shirley, James
Metadata
Play
The Humorous Courtier (The Duke)
Author
Shirley, James
Year (catalogued)
1640
First performance
1631
Decade
1640s
Genre
Comedy
Play type
Adult Professional
Company
Queen Henrietta Maria's Men
Theater
Phoenix/Cockpit;Indoor Professional
Speech prefix(es)
Car.
Words
609
Characters
3201
Typicality
0.36 (cosine to cluster centroid)
TCP id
A12141
BritDrama no.
2339
Cluster
Cluster 10 — Mourners, mothers & doleful 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 saw your entrance, you bring news from Court, Let me share in't. What does your lop say? My Lord I am not guilty of a cause That can warrant your suspect either of My love or duty. Sir make it known, I cannot be so slow In any performance of your will, as you Are to reveal it. You were not wont to be thus pleased, show me Which way I may requite your passion, speak The suit you talk on. What is it. Sir I suspect your health, you were not wont To show your speech so much estranged from reason. Scarce has the Moon expired a change since you Received me in your bed a cold Virgin; Are you so soon tired with sacred marriage, Desirous to motive my eternal Absence and by a means so cruel sir, How have I deserved your hatred, or please But to reveal the profit which by death Can bring you. You fright my soul. We have a certain faith, a faith That can assure reward, or punishment For deeds, we know our dwelling after death, Which Roman souls unlawfully did seek, And found too soon, we are prescribed those act That makes us Angels. It were safer for my soul; if your self Would be my Executioner. What said your Lop. Should I kill my self. You counsel strangely, I have deserved more Kindness from your tongue. Heaven secure me, have you the use of all Your senses, you speak thus? You have a bloody mind. I dare not hate the thought y'have tempted me, Beyond mortal patience, o unkind Destiny. I am not sad, my faculties preserve Their wonted harmony: your excellence Will not enforce me to belie my passion. What not strangers? My gratitude will teach me to conform. Will you not see what you condemn? Can he be serious? I dare not signiour, already we have exceeded. I spent all my thoughts In wonder Madam. Something in such a plenty may delight Your dulled fancy. My Lord 'twill become me to receive Whom you give up so noble, I should sin Against obedience; you are most welcome signiour. With my best care, please you walk. Thank your love for't, that provided Such a cure for melancholy; To my self I seem not to go but dance, When shall we have a mask My Lord? I am all for sport, your honour is much bound To the Gentleman your friend, trust me my Lord He is a rare physician. Theres no fear my Lord, But heel recover me, I do Like him infinitely For my body, the best in Padua. No Esculapius Could would behaved him more judicially Did our Court Ladies know his skill They would be all his Patients, and be sick a purpose. He has a way So easy to do good upon's. It more compassion, and I am bound To acknowledge it, I was all heaviness; A thousand plummets hung upon my heart, 'Tis by your means I am made light. Does your Lordship love bastard next your heart, Though some hold wine unwholesome, it may thaw Your congealed blood; o the difference of constitutions. My Lord, you seem Troubled, does your head ache, I'll into the garden And gather a few simples. That's a small matter. That's a poor favour, Well, I'll think on't to morrow. I am thinking where the sign is, Hah, 'tis in Capricornus, I'll go let My self blood ith' knees, and die praying, That your Lordship may recover your wits again. Madam, I would more wonder To tell your grace, when you are pleased to hear me.
Plot summary
Plot — The Humorous Courtier (The Duke)
PLOT It is vital that the Duchess of Mantua marries; otherwise the King of Spain will assert his interest in the succession. But the Duchess has turned away three foreign princes proposed by her courtiers, most recently Foscari, who left Mantua annoyed. She declares that she will choose a husband from her own court, which puts the courtiers into a competitive frenzy of ambition. In this they are each abetted by a Florentine visitor to the court, Giotto. Giotto tells Comaccio that the Duchess is interested in his foolish nephew, de Pazzi. At Comaccio’s request, Giotto gives de Pazzi advice on wooing technique designed to make him appear undesirable: he is to talk unchastely and dispraise the other men and women of the court. He composes an offensive poem for the Duchess, but she finds it funny and shows de Pazzi greater favour than before. Comaccio asks Giotto to get de Pazzi out of the way for good, by murdering him; Giotto persuades him to go into hiding until after the marriage is decided. The soldier Orseollo is misled into thinking he is the chosen suitor, and starts to regret his public displays of misogyny. Even after his U-turn, Giotto tells him there is a slight problem: his former attitudes could be taken as evidence of his impotence, perhaps the result of a battlefield injury; so Orseollo attempts to secure his reputation as a stud by revealing the prodigious extent of his secret whoring. Old Contarini regrets his recent marriage to a young wife, which puts him out of the running; so he asks her to commit suicide. When she refuses, he procures Giotto to commit adultery with her in order to provide grounds for divorce. A messenger arrives with the news that the Duchess’s decision is to be announced that night, before the divorce can go through, so Contarini asks Giotto to kill his wife instead, and quickly. When the courtiers gather to hear the Duchess’s decision, de Pazzi denounces Giotto as a traitor for seeking to kill him, the next Duke. He is disabused of his expectations, and the Duchess exposes the corruption and hypocrisy of each of her ambitious courtiers. Her choice is Giotto, who is really Foscari in disguise: the whole exercise has been a ruse to enable him to find out the truth about his new court. All are forgiven.