in 1 The Honest Whore (1 The Converted Courtesan) (The Patient Man and the Honest Whore) — Dekker, Thomas; Middleton, Thomas
Metadata
Play
1 The Honest Whore (1 The Converted Courtesan) (The Patient Man and the Honest Whore)
Author
Dekker, Thomas; Middleton, Thomas
Year (catalogued)
1604
First performance
1604
Decade
1600s
Genre
Comedy
Play type
Adult Professional
Company
Prince Henry's Men
Speech prefix(es)
Tow.
Words
338
Characters
1678
Typicality
0.20 (cosine to cluster centroid)
TCP id
A20062
BritDrama no.
1431
Cluster
Cluster 16 — Errand servants & brief parts
Important excerpts
No keyword-matching excerpt could be extracted (the cluster label doesn't share vocabulary with this character's speech).
Full speech
yes forsooth, I am one of the implements; I swepe the madmens rooms, and fetch straw for em, and buy chains to tie em, and rods to whip em, I was a mad wag my self here once, but I thank father Anselm he lashed me into my right mind again. Marry he's gone but eene now. Why to God a mighty. How all, theres a wise question indeed: why if all the mad folks in Milan should come hither, there would not be left ten men in the City. O yes? abundance, abundance, lands no sooner fallen into their hands, but straight they run out a their wits: Ci tize ̄ S sons & heirs are free of the house by their father's copy: Farmers sons come hither Like geese (in flocks) & when they would should all their corn fields, here they fit & pick the straws. O, I: a plague on em, theres no ho with them, they are madder then march hairs. O no, not one: never any lawyer, we dare not let a lawyer come in, for heel make em mad faster than we can recover em. Why according to the quantity of the Moon thats God into em, and Alderman's son will be mad a great while a very great while, especially if his friends left him well, a whore will hardly come to her wits again: a puritane ther's no hope of him, unless he may pull down the steeple and hang himself it'h bell-ropes. Yes In, we have blocks for all heads, we have good store of wild oats here: for the Courtier is mad at the Citizen, the Citizen is mad at the Country men, the shoemaker is mad at the cobbler, the cobbler at the carman the punk is mad that the Merchants wife is no whore, the Mar chants wife is mad that the punk is so common a whore: gods so, heres father Anselmo. pray say nothing that I tell tales out of the school. Exit.
Plot summary
Plot — 1 The Honest Whore (1 The Converted Courtesan) (The Patient Man and the Honest Whore)
Count Hippolito attempts to make a scene at the funeral of the Duke’s daughter, Infelice, but is restrained. In fact, Infelice is not dead: the Duke administered a sleeping draught to prevent her from marrying Hippolito. When she wakes, he tells her Hippolito is dead and sends her away to Bergamo, then accepts Dr Benedict’s offer to poison Hippolito. Bellafront the courtesan falls in love with Hippolito when his friend and her client Matheo brings him to meet her. He mistrusts her protestation that, for him, she will become honest, and speaks harshly against whores. But she fulfils her promise: dismisses her pander Roger (who quickly finds alternative employment) and sends away her former clients, including Matheo. On a Monday, she goes to visit Hippolito, disguised as a page; she finds him in solemn meditation (since Infelice supposedly died on a Monday), and he rejects her again. Dr Benedict tells the Duke that he has been poisoned, and is banished for it; but in fact he has done no such thing, and tells Hippolito that Infelice is not only alive, but waiting at the madhouse to marry him. Meanwhile, Fustigo returns to Milan to find that his sister has married Candido, a man apparently incapable of anger. This is demonstrated in a wager between three gentlemen who try to make him lose his temper: first Castruccio poses as a customer and makes unreasonable demands, which Candido meets even though it means spoiling a piece of cloth; then Fluello steals a beaker from the household, for which Candido has them arrested, but then genially invites them to dinner. Viola also wants to make her husband angry, and has Fustigo pose as a swaggerer and attempt to seduce her. When he tries, however, Candido’s apprentices take it upon themselves to beat him while their master is away, and Candido’s equanimity remains intact. Viola continues to behave provocatively: she refuses Candido the key to fetch his gown for a senate meeting, so he goes wearing a carpet instead; she has George dress in his clothes and 1604 pose as him on his return, but Candido’s good-natured response is to dress himself as an apprentice; and he even looks on the bright side of a beating administered by ruffians hired by Fustigo to avenge his injury. Finally Viola has him committed to the madhouse, but soon changes her mind and petitions the Duke for his release. The Duke hears of Infelice’s plans, goes to the madhouse, and, while they wait to interrupt the marriage that afternoon, pass the time…