Early Modern Drama · Character Archetypes

TENANT

in Enough Is as Good as a Feast — Wager, William

Metadata

PlayEnough Is as Good as a Feast
AuthorWager, William
Year (catalogued)1570
First performance1560
Decade1570s
GenreMoral
Play typeInterlude
Speech prefix(es)Tenant. | Tenant
Words609
Characters3040
Typicality0.29 (cosine to cluster centroid)
TCP idA14627
BritDrama no.468
ClusterCluster 22 — Ghosts, curses & horror voices

Important excerpts

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

Full speech

Alaz, alaz, to whom should I make my moan? For ever and a day cham quite undone. My Londlord is so covetous as the devil of hell: Except chil give him such a shameful rend. As cham not able, away ich must incontinent. Chaue dwelled there this zix and therty year: Yea these vorty, ich may tell you well near. And ich never paid above yearly vive pound: And by our Lady, that to be enough chaue vound. Well, now I must give him even as much more: Or else ich must void the next quarter or bevore. O Master's, is not this even a lamentable dhing? To zee how Londlords their poor tenants do wring. And they are not so covetous to ask neither, ich believe: But a zorte of vooles are as ready to give. And especially Strangers, you a shameful zorte: Are placed now in England and that in every Port. That we, our wives and Children, no houses can get: Wherein we may live, such price on them is zet. Chad thought a while a go my Londlord would not have done thus For he said he would be a heavenly man I wus. But zoule, the Devil is as Heavenly as he: Three times worse then he was be vore as var as I can zee. What servant? I pray Thee what news with Thee? I see well that I complain not of him alone: But others as well as I, have good cause to moan. Well Servant, weeping will not help this geer: But God will plague him for it, I do not fear. He looks as lustily, freshly and as well: As all the Servants that with his master do dwell. Nay by the mass that words is but to true: So that his riches increases he careth not who rue. Yea Sir, even to desire your worship my vréend warrant to to be. Ich have a zertain petition to your maship to move: And ich desire you to be my vréend in it warrant Gods Love. By my truth Sir I beseech you warrant me to speak a good word: To your good master and my Londlord: Ich have dwelled in his house this vorty years almost, And thereupon chaue bestowed much money and cost. And now ich hear zay ich must double my rend: Or else void out of it and that incontinent. I beseech you warrant Gods sake on me take some pity and bone: If I be put out for ever I cham undone. O good Sir, I know that you may do much: But they shall never thrive on it then I believe. Ich know what he may do with the house and ground: He may chance to vinde rend enough of vive pound. Well Sir, yet me thinks there should be a conscience I think God hates such covetous, sir by your patience. O Londlord me thinks this is to much extremity: Alas upon mine age take you some pity. Cham old & have many Children and much charge: I trust lendlord ich shall vinde you better at large. This reasonable speaking continued ̄ meth from ̄ and unreasonable mind: Woe be to him that to such inconveniences shall a man bind. Well Hireling, let us depart this place: It prevaileth not us of him to crave any grace. thou fool (says Christ) this night will I fetch thy soul from ̄ Thee: And then who shall have the things that thine be? Well, let him alone, I hope all will prove for the best: Even as he leads his life so shall he find rest.

Plot summary

Plot — Enough Is as Good as a Feast
Remembering his father’s bankruptcy, the Worldly Man hoards treasure for the future, seeing such behaviour as provident thrift, whereas the Heavenly Man relies on God to look after him and regards wealth as a distraction from spiritual things. He and Contentation persuade the Worldly Man to change to a godly lifestyle, but the vices, using innocuous aliases to inveigle their way into his confidence, cause him to backslide into covetous materialism. He becomes a miser and maltreats his tenants, servants, and hirelings: he raises rents, fails to pay the wages he owes, and seizes property adjacent to his own. After a bad dream about God’s punishment, he falls ill and dies. Satan carries him to hell on his back, advising the audience to live their lives in the same way. The virtues advise the contrary.