Early Modern Drama · Character Archetypes

MONK

in The Cruel Brother — Davenant, William

Metadata

PlayThe Cruel Brother
AuthorDavenant, William
Year (catalogued)1630
First performance1627
Decade1630s
GenreTragedy
Play typeAdult Professional
CompanyKing's Men
TheaterBlackfriars;Indoor Professional
Speech prefix(es)Monke. | Monke, | Monks.
Words151
Characters828
Typicality0.29 (cosine to cluster centroid)
TCP idA19876
BritDrama no.2202
ClusterCluster 24 — Gods, cupids & celestial agents

Important excerpts

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

Full speech

Your leisure shall produce my utterance. Oh Son, your fame is of complexion clear, Such as ensnares the virtuous Eye, to love And adoration. Such as would procure All the skilful Angels suitors to her, And such as serves for my encouragement For I no letters have from Noble friends, Which a requital from themselves invite, By Courtship bold, and troublesome to others, Noram I with that wicked mettle stored, That rules the mighty, and betrays the mind To toil in a design, which anger's Heaven, And makes the Devil blush. But yet (deer Son) I have a suit to thee. Heaven prosper your designs. In the ancient Covent of S. Austin There is a holy brother lately dead, Whose place if you will but confirm on me By the Dukes letter to the brotherhood, Then shall I better leisure have to pray For you my Patron. It knows no other.

Plot summary

Plot — The Cruel Brother
As a favour to Lucio, to whom he is devoted, the Duke appoints the low-born Foreste his secretary, the first port of call for ali suitors seeking monopolies and preferment. Lucio also wants to marry Foreste’s sister, 1627 Corsa, arguing that she is ennobled by her virtue, though not her ancestry. He goes through with the marriage secretly, without the Duke’s permission; but the Duke is impressed by Corsa when they are introduced, and has her brought to court so that the marriage can be properly celebrated with masques and revels. Foreste humiliates the satirist Castruccio, but his elevation to the secretaryship prevents Castruccio from challenging him to a duel. The poet initially takes a literary revenge, but, when the Duke asks about his satires, he is too cowardly to admit that Foreste is the target. The rustic Lothario comes to court, dressing foppishly in the hope of becoming a ducal favourite. Castruccio persuades him that his lack of success is Foreste’s fault. Lothario accosts Foreste offensively and finds himself imprisoned in a tiny cell. The Duke’s real intention in bringing Corsa to court is to seduce her. He engages Foreste’s wife as an unwitting go-between, then sends Lucio away overnight on a diplomatic mission. With Castruccio’s assistance, he visits Corsa, and rapes her. Foreste learns of the rape and slits the dishonoured Corsa’s wrist; she bleeds to death. On his return, Lucio takes a more lenient view than Foreste — he places more weight on the compulsion than the sexual penetration — but both agree to take revenge on the Duke, and visit him in bed. In the end, they decide to spare him, but he has already arranged assassins to dispose of them: the job was given to Castruccio, who subcontracted it to Lothario. Lothario kills the Duke by mistake; Castruccio and his accomplice kill him, then finish the job by killing Foreste and Lucio. The conspirators are kept alive to answer questions, and then suffer a death of exemplary horribleness.