in Messalina, the Roman Empress — Richards, Nathaniel
Metadata
Play
Messalina, the Roman Empress
Author
Richards, Nathaniel
Year (catalogued)
1640
First performance
1635
Decade
1640s
Genre
Tragedy
Play type
Adult Professional
Company
King's Revels Company
Speech prefix(es)
Vir. | V • r.
Words
185
Characters
1070
Typicality
0.41 (cosine to cluster centroid)
TCP id
A68655
BritDrama no.
2472
Cluster
Cluster 2 — Allegory, Nature & pageant voices
Important excerpts
No keyword-matching excerpt could be extracted (the cluster label doesn't share vocabulary with this character's speech).
Full speech
Ridiculous indeed here it's comfirm'd. Which with the rest are piercing motives, that Of necessity (as food and raiment To the bodies health) will force the people Constant; they in their love and fear must make Your more then royal spirit most endeared That state best rules, rul S to be loved and feared The marriage of our Emp'resse with Caius Nam illud oh nem fidem excesserit, quod nuptits quas Messalli nam cum adultero Silio fence as, abellas dotis & ipse consigna verit: inductus, quasi de industria simula ent , and overtendum transferendum que periculum im ere ipsi po Q aedam, ostenta portenderetur. Suet n. Silius we fairly Like; and to that end, Read. (For approbation of our Copious Grant) With our imperial signet willingly Have sealed this assurance, granting a Dower Out of our Treasury to be exhaust, And of our royal pleasure to be given With her our only happiness on earth. By whose persuasions we are confident The sa worser Nuptials, to be but colorably, Only of purpose avert the danger Of certain prodigies, aimed at our lose Of life and Empire.
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.