Early Modern Drama · Character Archetypes

CUT

in The Royal Entertainment at Sudeley Castle — Anonymous

Metadata

PlayThe Royal Entertainment at Sudeley Castle
AuthorAnonymous
Year (catalogued)1592
First performance1592
Decade1590s
GenreEntertainment
Play typeOccasional
Theaterbefore the Court;
Speech prefix(es)Cut.
Words205
Characters1052
Typicality0.12 (cosine to cluster centroid)
TCP idA21246.2
BritDrama no.936
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

No question of a Queen, for they are harden to be answered, but any commandment, for that must be oh beyed. Half a dozen of each. My wits work Like new bear, and they will break my head, unless it vent at the mouth. I have forsworn that since cuckoo-time, for I herd, one sing all the summer, and in the winter was all bald. Tailors craft, a knock on the knuckles, will make one fast a fortnight, my belly and back shall not be retai ners to my fingers. Any so it be of love. No, but fantastical. A single Accidens. In love there are eight parts. Joy Hope Truth Counterfeit ̄ sta ̄ cy all tole rabble. Sorrow Anger Jealousy Despair all intole rabble. These contain all, till you come to the rules, and then in love, there are three concords. 1 The first, betwixt a Bachelor, and a maid, 2 The second, betwixt a man and his wife, 3 The third, betwixt any he and she, that loves strag ling. What mean you, a starmonger, the quipper of the firmament, here is one. I ever carry it, to know the hie ways, to every good town, the fairs, and the fair weather.

Plot summary

Plot — The Royal Entertainment at Sudeley Castle
Arriving at Sudeley, the Queen meets an old shepherd, who apologises for the homeliness ofher entertainment: the Cotswolds can only offer shepherds. He greets her and presents her with a lock of wool. A shepherd relates that Apollo has attempted to steal his girlfriend, Daphne, but she has been miraculously transformed into a laurel tree. He asks the Queen for help. The tree splits asunder, releasing Daphne, and Apollo relinquishes her to the shepherd. Daphne attributes both her metamorphoses to the chaste agency - of the Queen, and presents her with a flattering poem. The Queen is presented with the ovine High Constable of Cotswold, who proclaims a shepherds’ holiday and invites her to witness their pastimes. The shepherds choose a king and queen by cake lottery. They sing, play music, discourse of love, and read the weather reports in an almanac, which speak of bad weather on 12 September and the departure of summer the following day. The Queen is given a suit of shepherd’s clothes, and the rustics hope that at some time she will wear them.