Early Modern Drama · Character Archetypes

MERCER

in The Knave in Grain, New Vamped — D., J.

Metadata

PlayThe Knave in Grain, New Vamped
AuthorD., J.
Year (catalogued)1640
First performance1625
Decade1640s
GenreComedy
Play typeAdult Professional
CompanyUnknown
TheaterFortune;Outdoor Professional
Speech prefix(es)Mer.
Words178
Characters910
Typicality0.28 (cosine to cluster centroid)
TCP idA19750
BritDrama no.2199
ClusterCluster 3 — Citizens, tradesfolk & neighbors

Important excerpts

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

Full speech

You know my price: for the fineness of the silk, the working of the stuff, and the pleasantness of the colour, the whole street shall not afford you a better, I'll assure you 'tis died in grain. I protest sir, I cannot, and save by it, and I know you would not wish me to be a loser. My servants are all busy for the present, you see my shop is full of Customers, and every one strives who shall be first served. I pray you, sir, be expeditious, and my man shall be with you by that time you have told out the money. Dispatch me that Customer quickly, and follow this Gen tleman to his lodging: you hear where he lies. We have many cheapners, but few buyers, many such customers as this would make quick riddance. Three yards of Satin and a half at seventeen, eight yards of Plush at four and twenty; nay, there are diverse other parcels, the sum is soon cast up: thou shalt have a note of all. Be quick there.

Plot summary

Plot — The Knave in Grain, New Vamped
Jorezzo, banished after his father’s conviction for treason, has returned to Venice under the alias Julio, confiding his identity only to his old schoolfellow Franciscus. He plans to raise his fortunes by marrying Franciscus’ sister Phemone. Unfortunately for him, she is already in love with Antonio; so he tells Franciscus that Antonio is attempting to seduce his wife Cornelia. The jealous Franciscus fights a duel with Antonio, leaves him for dead, and goes into exile. Antonio is found and nursed bya shepherd. Franciscus’ property is seized by the state, and Cornelia’s father, believing the accusation of adultery, turns her out of his house; Phemone leaves Venice with her. They are given shelter by the disguised Antonio, but do not realize his identity. Antonio’s father Arbaces offers a reward for the capture of the fugitive Franciscus, who is living in disguise near Venice. Julio seeks him out, pretending remorse, but really intending to claim the «reward. Franciscus accepts his company, but sneaks off to fetch Arbaces and the watch. Franciscus is arrested and brought before the Duke. At first he is condemned for Antonio’s murder, but the judgement is reversed when Antonio himself comes to the court. Franciscus generously asks the court to spare Julio, but his plea backfires when he lets it slip that Julio is really Jorezzo, the son of a traitor. The Duke sentences him to be branded on the forehead with the word ‘knave’, then banished. In the sub-plot, Stultissimo comes off worst in a fight with Clariflora, Lodowick’s courtesan, and falls in love with her. He sends her amorous verses, takes his revenge by giving her a powerful laxative, and then marries her, only to regret it when he realizes this makes him a cuckold. Meanwhile Lodowick’s friend Valentius is enamoured of the physician Vanderman’s wife Sibylia. Lodowick gets him taken into the doctor’s care as a mental patient in order to have easier access to her. The stratagem is successful, and Valentius has his way with Sibylla. Vanderman discovers the adultery, so Valentius is pronounced sane and discharged. Both Vanderman and Stultissimo appeal to the Duke in connection with their wives’ adultery, but are merely mocked as cuckolds. B-Text In this version, Julio sets up a brothel called the Leaguer, in association with the whore and bawd, and sets out to live on his wits. Three new episodes are inserted in relation to this. In the first, he buys cloth from a mercer on credit, asking him to send 1626…