in A New Trick to Cheat the Devil — Davenport, Robert
Metadata
Play
A New Trick to Cheat the Devil
Author
Davenport, Robert
Year (catalogued)
1639
First performance
1625
Decade
1630s
Genre
Comedy
Play type
Adult Professional
Company
Queen Henrietta Maria's Men (?); Lady Elizabeth's Men (?)
Speech prefix(es)
Gen. 2.
Words
222
Characters
1185
Typicality
0.30 (cosine to cluster centroid)
TCP id
A19888
BritDrama no.
2198
Cluster
Cluster 20 — Conjurers, witches & physicians
Important excerpts
Passages from this character's speech that contain the most distinguishing words for Cluster 20 (ithimore, nat, invisible, notary, glycerie, humfrey…). Matches are highlighted.
John, whom Islington hath Made famous through London. Wondrous sir; he can transhape his spirits, if fame Lie not, into what form he please, to imitate me, Or personate you; he could produce a Devil In shape of this good ancient Gentlewoman. H'hath done't in habit of a Constable, And may doe't in a Gentlewoman's; for his commons
Full speech
Slight you so? Good, prompt us that. All is pardoned. Excellent Tutor. Here's none such. Six penny Gleek? I am content. Hath none seen the Vision? Good, you call to my remembrance Among them, one expert in the Art of Necromancy, His Name Friar John, whom Islington hath Made famous through London. Wondrous sir; he can transhape his spirits, if fame Lie not, into what form he please, to imitate me, Or personate you; he could produce a Devil In shape of this good ancient Gentlewoman. H'hath done't in habit of a Constable, And may doe't in a Gentlewoman's; for his commons In the Friars he cares not, he can for a needs Conjure his bred from Spain, from France his wine, His diet from the utmost of the Earth, Thus hath his fame given out. And all things to man useful. Here comes the Friar, the man can best instruct us. Come, we know you are and Artist in that hidden skill, And have commerce with mighty Asterothe, That great Arch Devil. Come, we know what you can do, good Friar. N or I. I never met with a more generous debtor, I only trusted him with some few sums, And he hath paid me use and principal, A thing I never expected. Sparks no doubt, of his first madness. Exeunt.
Plot summary
Plot — A New Trick to Cheat the Devil
Anne Changeable wants to marry Slightall, with her father’s consent, but her mother persuades her that marriage to Lord Scales will be better for her social standing. Slightall takes rejection badly: he turns to misogyny and voluptuous hedonism. One of his servants, Roger, tries unsuccessfully to dissuade him from squandering his money, while the other, Geoffrey, helps make an arrangement with a usurer to supply him with a further £1,000 — the usurer’s objective being to acquire his land. Lord Scales visits Anne, and she finds that he is not a good kisser: Slightall is the better catch in every respect save his lack of a title; but when she tries to reactivate the romance, Slightall rejects her. He has been ruined by prodigality and pays off his servants; Geoffrey is taken on by Lord Scales, but Roger declines a similar offer. Anne insults everyone who persuaded her to jilt Slightall, but this only makes Lord Scales more attracted to her. Changeable promises Anne that he will get Slightall back for her. Driven out of his wits with melancholy, Slightall conjures up Beelzebub, and makes a contract: the devil will give him enough money to pay his debts in exchange for the right to take his soul when he no longer owes anyone anything. On the day his debt to the usurer falls due, he turns out to have ample money to pay, so the usurer gets his money back rather than the lands he coveted. Asked by Anne to give Slightall some financial support, Lord Scales finds his offer rejected with contempt. The Changeables’ house is troubled by a female spirit; Slightall agrees to help exorcise it by spending the night in the haunted room. When he does so, he is visited by the ghost in Anne’s form. Beelzebub comes for Slightall’s soul, but Slightall demonstrates that he is not yet clear of debt: he paid the usurer with money loaned by Beelzebub. The devil accepts the situation and offers to marry him to the she-devil who haunts the Changeables’ house. Anne’s mother and Lord Scales give their consent, and watch as a friar performs the ceremony. In fact it is not a ghost in Anne’s form, but Anne herself; and ‘Beelzebub’ was really Changeable: Anne has finally got her man back. In the sub-plot, two friars are detained until late by charitable visitation, and find themselves locked out of their abbey. They ask Nan to give them a bed for the night. She is expecting an assignation with the Constable in her husband’s absence, but agrees to lodge them in a garret so long as she…