Early Modern Drama · Character Archetypes

SAUFELLUS

in Messalina, the Roman Empress — Richards, Nathaniel

Metadata

PlayMessalina, the Roman Empress
AuthorRichards, Nathaniel
Year (catalogued)1640
First performance1635
Decade1640s
GenreTragedy
Play typeAdult Professional
CompanyKing's Revels Company
Speech prefix(es)Sauf. | Sauf
Words1295
Characters7156
Typicality0.24 (cosine to cluster centroid)
TCP idA68655
BritDrama no.2472
ClusterCluster 1 — Wives, widows & intimate counsel

Important excerpts

Passages from this character's speech that contain the most distinguishing words for Cluster 1 (nony, tailors, butler, mall, jesu, massinissa…). Matches are highlighted.

exceed the devil, act any sin. Oh Dulce, Divinest goddess whom my soul adores, Multiply that sweet touch of rare delight, And from the Garden of Hesperides, Those delicate delicious Ruby lips, Make me immortal, quench, quench the burning heat Which Like immoderate thirst of Tantalus, (Scorching the meadows of my solid flesh) Dries

Full speech

Here, here my most precious procurers Down, and adore our royal Empress, And me the messenger of these glad tidings; Proud is her highness of the wager won, Yet scorning the advantage of the lose Trebly returns your own, with a reward, And sign of her high favour ever after. Yes, with your house a little bold her yet, Silius comes hither straight brought by his friends Valens and Proculus, your best wills work, To make him serve her pleasure. But he's a man of precise abstinence, And hardly will be drawn by any woman. See, here they come prepared; I must withdraw For a more apt employment, show your skills, Women through lust and Hell will work their wills. With deepest Art. Spoke Like your self beyond thought excel lent Oh it becomes you rarely; think what you are All glory dross is, in comparison Of that all rare inestimable worth, You truly owe; all admired beauty passed, And that to come with full attractive force Have fixed their lively characters in you. Divinest fair; earth breathes not such another, It madness longer your delights to smother: I'm fierd with joy to see your high blood free. Continue with increase, add flame to flames. Burn high bright glorious wonder of thy Sex, Act what your thoughts shall prompt too, I in all Am only yours at whose commanding will I'll death and horror wade to save or kill. Menester (glorious Empress) thats his name. Know mighty Queen I by your looks perceived he graceful Actor pleasing to your eyes, And therefore already here in court, I Have prepared him. Come, come, come, this way, f oh how I sweat, This venery is a stirring business, Remain you here, I'll instantly return. Exit. Fortunate Actor, Now let thy best of Actium to the life Court Rome's rare Emp'resse to the height of pleasure, Muster up all the powers of man in thee To and united strength, prepare a partly To ravish, pleasure win and Empress heart, Look to't, prove active to yield full content, Or else ou die, die a most shameful death, So speed as you shall please. Exit. Oh dog; not do; Up with the Snow ball, melt him, so, so, so. Oh are you here. Them there, whose paltry puling honesty, Merits no favour but a world of mischief, They must live at Court. Dispatch, resolve to go or die. Go and a mischief dambe you, and all your Pitiful Sex. And all those Fortune's, favours, life and all, Shall Like and Atlas undergo the weight Of your imperious will, be it toth' death Of Parents, massacre of all my kin, To exceed the devil, act any sin. Oh Dulce, Divinest goddess whom my soul adores, Multiply that sweet touch of rare delight, And from the Garden of Hesperides, Those delicate delicious Ruby lips, Make me immortal, quench, quench the burning heat Which Like immoderate thirst of Tantalus, (Scorching the meadows of my solid flesh) Dries up the Rivers of my crimson blood, And as the gaping tongue tide earth for rain Opens her grief, so in my looks behold, View my distress; make me to live or die. Music, rich music there; Oh that my skill Could transcend mortal. What devil sends her back, Hold, hold, y're wounded all; As you'll incur our Emp'resse deep displeasure Hold, and resolve why thus you have exposed Your lives to danger. It's, it's Montanus, Sure as I live, I took full view of him Before and after the fight; then with drawn Within you grove of Oaks. Hail to Montanus. It's th'Emp'resse pleasure you attend her will. Delay not with demands th'are frivolous Will you along. Sure Jove's high love to his loved Gaenymed Descends in triumph on the Noble Silius. Their love to you and fear of prodigies Pretended for to dim dull Caesars glory Will work constraint. At the Bachanalian feast which now Draws nigh, then a rich stirring Mask will best Express it self in greatest glory; the Tunes for song I'll take that charge on me. What says Menester, he that has born the Prize; leapt Madam Venus in her height of pride For graceful Actium and sweet Poesy. What think you Of a wooden Cupid brought in, in And antic amble making it wag Like The Apish head of a French Fiddler, when he Firkes with his Fingers. 'Tis well; else shee'd rail faster then any City Pupper. Oh a hell, none Like it, let Scorpios itch Reign in her middle sphere, phy how shee'l Play the devil with Cuckold simplicity Her hu band for want of performance, it Passes all admiration, and that with No little wonder, yet demand the Act, And then you shall have my nice o'recurious dame, Upon the Tiptoes of her apish pride, Protest, with Oh no—I will not wrong my Husband for earth's treasure, stand upon her Honesty, then smile, change in a moment, And then wantonize, mop, mew, bite lip and Wriggle with the bumbe to put a man in mind, Then touch, shee'l gripe, and clip with a kiss, Melt into all the forms of Venery Thought can devise, and ther's her honesty. The vestal Virgins from the Temple hailed They shall supply that want it's so decreed By the Empress strict command. All from the age of ten, to twenty five Must suffer Rape, and shall, stood hell in fight. Laughs thou mad mawde Go with a burning mischief, Z'heart I could cut Her throat, but something in her looks there is That shakes me; what a gen. But we'll prevent you, come Lords to Court, She shall be silenced or her tongue cut out. Search, search about, My Genius whispered in mine ears last night The vestals lodge worser within this mad Mawdes house She die for't, while the chaste puppets we will Drag to court, there ravish and there kill, I will prove and excellent closing to the Masque. Find or find not, for that I'm sure th'are here We'll fire the house and flame it into Air. How's this. Horror of darkness, what dread sighed is this What black Red-raw-eyd witch hath charmed this ground Sinkest thou my limbs supporter; must I yield, Dost thou then faint proud flesh, mount mount my blood, And Like Enc ladus out dare thy fate, Oh that my wish were suited to my will Now would I cuckold all the world, leave not A man unhorned, a maid unrap't, beget A b ood of Centaur's to supply, and work The world's confusion; would more horror yet, Why silly dams, I confess your murders, But to repent the fact, know that my heart. Is Like the Corsick Rock, more hard; far more Unpassable then Chymera mount, whats That in white there, what so ever it be; the Majesty it bears, trembles my sinews, Oh how it shakes me; came Furies clad in Flames, not all hells totturts, affrights & horrors Equals the thousand partly the pains I feel Through sighed of that, that flaming Crystal, sink Me Oh—earth; Pindus and Ossa cover Me with Snow, hide me Cimerian darkness Let me not see it, my Eye sighed fails Ingeniosi sumus and salendum nosmet ipsos, Farewell Rome's Emp'resse To all ambitious vermin, Punks, Pimps, and Panders, Whores and Bawds farewell. Confound the world, the worst of death is hell. And hells curse on thee; 'tis high time to speak, Oh be your self divinest fair on earth, This idle superstitious lecturing Proceeds of malice; what? to make you child And slave to her desires. It'll be excellent, Rare, I fat with laughter at the rich conceit, We'll play at Tennis with their maiden heads, Fifty at a breakfast, shall not give me Content.

Plot summary

Plot — Messalina, the Roman Empress
Having successfully competed with the prostitute Calpurnia to see which of them can sleep with more men in 24 hours, the Empress Messalina sets her sights on the chaste Silius as her lover. He is summoned to the brothel and successfully seduced. The Emperor Claudius leaves Rome for an annual religious ceremony. While he is away, Messalina’s debauchery has free rein. Romans are summoned to court to participate: the actor Mnester is tortured into compliance, and three women taking refuge with Lepida, Messalina’s mother, are murdered when they refuse to come. Messalina invokes the Furies to make her sexy, and resists Lepida’s attempts to persuade her to a chaste life; Lepida goes mad. Silius is sent to murder his wife, Silana, but finds himself unable to go through with it; instead he conceals from Messalina the fact that she is still alive. Messalina’s seduction programme is not universally successful: she identifies Montanus as a desirable sexual partner, but he resists her and flees Rome. She decides to go through a ceremony of marriage with Silius, and has a document of approval drawn up and authenticated with the imperial seal. A wedding masque is planned, in which the Vestal Virgins are to be raped; but Lepida overhears the arrangements being discussed, and rescues the Virgins through a secret passage before they are called on to perform. They are pursued by Messalina’s agents, but the earth swallows them and the Virgins are saved; the pander Saufellus is confronted by the ghosts of the three murdered women and struck by a thunderbolt before he goes down. Claudius’ minions inform him of Messalina’s sexual misconduct, and he sends in the guard. The palace is raided and Messalina’s favourites killed. Silana arrives too late to help Silius, and dies kissing his dead lips. Claudius orders Messalina to be tried before the Senate, but his minion Narcissus fears his susceptibility to her feminine wiles, and sends an executioner to kill her. She is visited by the ghosts of her victims, agents, and favourites, and pre-empts the executioner by taking her own life. Claudius decides not to marry again.