in Greene's Tu Quoque, or The City Gallant — Cooke, John
Metadata
Play
Greene's Tu Quoque, or The City Gallant
Author
Cooke, John
Year (catalogued)
1614
First performance
1611
Decade
1610s
Genre
Comedy
Play type
Adult Professional
Company
Queen Anne's Men
Speech prefix(es)
Hold.
Words
172
Characters
868
Typicality
0.21 (cosine to cluster centroid)
TCP id
A19260
BritDrama no.
1649
Cluster
Cluster 14 — Law & judgment
Important excerpts
No keyword-matching excerpt could be extracted (the cluster label doesn't share vocabulary with this character's speech).
Full speech
Yes Sir. Thirty-seven pound odd money, A fourtnights Commons. Not any sir: and he has sold all his Clothes. I will sir. Master Spendall, My Master has sent to you for money. Faith sir, his occasions are so great, that he must have money, or else he can buy no Victuals. If you have no money, You're best remove into some cheaper Ward. Why to the Twopenny Ward, is likliest to hold out with your means: or if you will, you may go into the Holl, and there you may feed for nothing. Why sir, do not scorn it, as good men as your self, Have been glad to eat Scraps out of the Almsbasket. Well sir, your mallapertnes will get you nothing. Fox. A prisoner to the Holl, ache charge of him, and use him as scurvily as thou canst you shall be taught your duty sir, I warrant you. Well sir, you may talk, but you shall see the end, And who shall have the worst of it. Exit Lock.
Plot summary
Plot — Greene's Tu Quoque, or The City Gallant
The gallant Geraldine woos the mercer’s daughter Gertrude. She is attracted to him, but feigns lack of interest. Her father, Sir Lionel, is newly knighted at court. He plans to give up life as a tradesman and leaves Spendall to run his shop. Spendall is prodigal with the shop’s money: he sups with a whore and her associates, borrows money, gambles, and_ lives extravagantly. Staines is in the clutches of a usurer, his servant Bubble’s uncle, and plans to cut and run: he dismisses Bubble and is about to flee London when news arrives that the usurer is dead. Bubble inherits the estate, hires his former master as a servant, and plans, with his advice, to make himself a gallant. Staines intends to bilk his money back from Bubble and then use it buy back his lands once Bubble is forced by prodigality to sell them. Bubble sends him to buy new clothes, but Staines wears them himself and uses the money to gamble; Bubble himself joins the game as one of his opponents. Staines cheats with false dice, but is discovered by Spendall. They fight a duel; after both sustain slight wounds, they become friends. Sir Lionel plans to marry Gertrude to Bubble, hoping to get control of his inheritance. Her sister Joyce tries to get her to accept Geraldine, but she is _ steadfast. Joyce tells Geraldine that Gertrude does love | him, and he induces her to reveal her true feelings by feigning suicide. Bubble comes to Sir Lionel’s house to woo Gertrude, but Staines advises him that the best way to win the ladies’ admiration is to dispraise himself — so he makes a fool of himself. Even so, Sir Lionel continues with his plans — though now Bubble’s wife is to be Joyce, while Gertrude is destined for Scattergood, another gallant. Joyce herself is attracted to Staines, but she too is reluctant to act on it. Her brother Will gets Staines a fashionable suit in place of his servant’s blue coat and brings him to see Joyce, but at first she will not speak; when she does, it is to insult him at great length, making him wish he could shut her up again. Spendall is arrested for debt. He tries to get money from his whore with which to bribe the sergeants, but she will not admit to knowing him. He is taken to prison, where he sells all his clothes; but this fails to clear the debt. A widow hears about his case from Sir Lionel and charitably pays his debts; released, he takes her generosity as evidence of sexual interest, and plans to woo her. The night before the double wedding, she stays at Sir…