Early Modern Drama · Character Archetypes

JUSTICE

in Albion Knight — Anonymous

Metadata

PlayAlbion Knight
AuthorAnonymous
Year (catalogued)1566
First performance1537
Decade1560s
GenreMoral
Play typeInterlude
Speech prefix(es)Iustice
Words359
Characters1841
Typicality0.18 (cosine to cluster centroid)
TCP idA15979
BritDrama no.408
ClusterCluster 7 — Pedants, satyrs & Latin wit

Important excerpts

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

Full speech

¶Thou speakest like a Lorell full large & full lewdly And not like a child got of true matrimony And yet though thy person induce no likelihood That in thee should be any manhood Yet beside that thou seemest of manhood frail Because so abused is thy light apparel. ¶ Oh yet in apparel is great abusion If it be framed without dyscretion For in apparel there may a great token be Of fraylenes, of pride, and instabylytie, If continued ̄ men assize therein use no measure For then is apparel a wanton foolish pleasure And folly, best mede is of presumption When nature or reason used resumption, And therefore Christ taught a great wise prose Saying Ex fructibus eorum cognoscetis eos. ¶Nay sir Albion I will not draw back If that of me you have lack, So that I were in perfect surety That this man here should manhood be. ¶Sir if manhood be his name As he hath sworn I would be glad That his frenshyp also I had. ¶Sir you ought to be contented best of all Where justice is treited with endue equity And where no favour nor mede should be And when reason hath tried there every deal That such and act were good for the come weal If therein any lose may be To the disadvantage of Principaltie Such and act leseth all his suit With a little indoysing of reason astute And if it touch the Lords sprytuall Or be disauauntage to the Lords temporal Fare well, go bet, this bill may keep As well as through the parliament creep And if that Merchants be moved with all Or any multitude of the come hall This is not for us say they than This bill is nought but for to wipe a pan And this is all your new equity And for all your message, yet thus will it be. ¶Well if this be true it is more pity Yet let us endeavour both you and I To taste our message that it were done To help here of some reformation. ¶Then God be your speed for I will forth my way

Plot summary

Plot — Albion Knight
[The start of the play is lost.] Justice and Injury argue about the latter’s clothing. Albion wishes them both to be his friends. [A lacuna in the text follows.) There is ===== PAGE 429 ===== 1565 dispute over a statute to be passed to establish justice in the land. Injury plans to foment a civil war, and Division helps him by sending spies to stir up suspicion and mistrust in Parliament and among the various estates of the realm. A marriage is planned between Albion and Plenty, but Division goes to tempt Albion away from political rectitude and into hedonism. [The rest of the play is lost.}