Early Modern Drama · Character Archetypes

ASPATIA

in The Blind Beggar of Alexandria (Irus)

Metadata

PlayThe Blind Beggar of Alexandria (Irus)
Year (catalogued)1598
First performance1598
Decade1590s
GenreComedy
Play typeAdult Professional;Professional
CompanyAdmiral's (Nottingham's) Men
Speech prefix(es)As. | Aspa.
Words156
Characters836
Typicality0.56 (cosine to cluster centroid)
TCP idA18402
BritDrama no.1032
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

Nay rather let him hail me to my de that Then gainst my will constrain me match my self. No bloody Count but I will clear my self, And tell thy murders to the amazed court. Go wretched villain hide thy hated head, Where never heavens light may shine on thee, Whose there, Come forth for here is murder done, Murder Murder of good prince Doricles. Who calls out murder Lady was it you. As I was walking in the pleasant weeds, With Doricles the young Arcadian prince, rushed in Count Hermes and in desperate words, Hath slain this prince. Wicked Count Hermes for this monstrous , Egypt will hate thee. and thou sure must die, Then hie thee to the hills beyond the Aipes, Fly tovnknowne and unfrequented climes, Some des ert place that never saw the sun, For if the king or any of his friends, Shall find Count Hermes thou art surely dead.

Plot summary

Plot — The Blind Beggar of Alexandria (Irus)
Before the start of the action, Queen Aegiale proposed an adulterous liaison with Cleanthes, but was rebuffed. She then engineered his unjust banishment, but now wants to find him to renew her advances. To that end, she consults the blind beggar and fortune-teller Irus. who recommends that she publish his image throughout Egypt and offer a reward for his apprehension. What she doesn't know is that Irus is himself Cleanthes in disguise. He is maintaining a series of separate identities, passing the time by simultaneously wooing Elimine and Psamathis, while awaiting the opportunity to return and claim the Egyptian crown. The girls also consult lrus about their love-lives , and he makes predictions designed to facilitate his maJ:"riage to them both: Elirnine marries honouJ:" in the person of'Count Hermes', Psamathis marries money in the person of 'Leon', a usurer. and their friend Martia marries status in the person of the Burgomaster of Alexandria, who is really lrus ' clownish brother. lrus then uses his different personas to cuckold himself. As Leon, he seizes a nobleman's property for defaulting on a loan, even though the debt has been repaid, and produces both Hermes and lrus as witnesses in support of his version of events. Egypt is without a male heir after an enchantress transformed King Ptolemy's son into a mandrake. Now he plans to marry his daughter against her will to Prince Doricles, thereby fulfilling a prophecy that such a marriage will enable Egypt to conquer the four neighbouring kingdoms. To forestall such an eventuality, the four respective kings take advantage of the absence of Egypt's greatest general, Cleanthes, and mount an invasion. In his persona as Count Hermes, Irus murders Doricles and then, as Leon, reports Hermes' death; to defraud his clients, he then has his brother report that Leon has committed suicide. The invading kings give battle, and Cleanthes is sought when things go badly. Ptolemy is killed in battle, but Cleanthes leads the Egyptians to victory and is elected king. He accepts the defeated kings' surrender and submission, but refuses to take their crowns; he further arranges for his 'widows' to marry two of them, and promises the others Egyptian brides too.