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Plot summaries for the 183 plays represented
The Temptation of Our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, by Satan in the Desert
Bale, John · 1538 · Biblical
After his baptism, Christ goes out into the desert to be tempted. Satan has heard the voice of God at the baptism, and intervenes in an effort to prevent Christ from redeeming mankind.Posing as a hermit, Satan points out that Christ must be hungry, having fasted for forty days. He encourages Christ to turn the stones into bread, but Christ refuses, trusting in God to provide. Satan warns him that his mission of redemption will result in his own death, and encourages him to abjure it. Christ refuses, and cites scripture. Satan takes him to the pinnacle of the Temple in Jerusalem and encourages him to prove his divine invulnerability by throwing himself off. Christ refuses, and cites scripture. Satan takes him to a mountain and offers him the kingdoms of the world. Christ refuses, and cites scripture. Satan admits defeat, plans Christ's death in four years' time, and anticipates that some future Christians will be his friends, notably the Pope. God sends two angels to bring Christ food. They encourage the audience to follow Christ and resist the devil, and sing Christ a song.
The Three Laws of Nature, Moses, and Christ, Corrupted by the Sodomites, Pharisees, and Papists
Bale, John · 1538 · Moral
God gives mankind three laws to guide him one by one through the three stages of his history. The Law of Nature has an altercation with Infidelity, who then raises Sodomy and Idolatry to confound the law and pervert mankind’s body and soul. He equips them with the paraphernalia of the Catholic church, and through their work the Law of Nature is afflicted with leprosy. Infidelity next engages Covetousness and Ambition to defeat the Law of Moses: they will exhaust the clergy with long services, and have devotions in Latin to inhibit understanding by the laity; laymen will also be deceived with false interpretations of the Bible, and strict laws against heresy will be enforced. The Law of Moses becomes a blind, lame cripple. Next Infidelity summons Hypocrisy and False Doctrine, who provide religious schism and popish relics. They raise up the clergy, the universities, and local government in opposition to the Law of Christ, who comes to preach. Infidelity competes with a sale of indulgences, and the Law of Christ is arrested, stripped, and taken to be burnt for heresy. Infidelity’s triumph is cut short by the arrival of a vengeful God, who ignores his claim that he is not responsible for the corruption of the laws, and smites him with water, the sword, and fire. God banishes the vices, curing the three Laws, and assigns them to teach Christian Faith, who then goes out to see those laws obeyed in all nations and the Catholic church extirpated.
Impatient Poverty
Anonymous · 1547 · Moral
Persuaded by Peace to embrace reason, charity, and clean living, the debtor Impatient Poverty becomes Prosperity. Conscience rebukes Abundance for his usury and unethical mercantile practices, but is persuaded by Envy to go into exile in the belief that his public office has been taken over by Covetise and that he is himself in danger of execution. Envy conspires with Misrule to lead Prosperity into a dissolute life. He gambles away all his money and becomes Poverty once more. Poverty is summoned to face a charge of slander and is forced to do public penance because he cannot afford to bribe the corrupt summoner. Peace points out the abuse whereby Abundance, in contrast, has been allowed to buy his way out of an adultery charge. Poverty is reconciled to Peace, who points out how important it is to avoid bad company and acknowledge mutability and the vanity of worldly possessions.
Lusty Juventus
Wever, R. · 1550 · Moral
Juventus accepts Good Counsel’s advice not to waste time but lead a pious life; Knowledge explains that he can be saved by faith alone, but that good works are also a necessary sign of his penitence. The Devil worries that his plans are going awry: although Hypocrisy has set up the Catholic church to further his cause, piety and respect for God’s word are rife among young people. Commissioned by the Devil, Hypocrisy intercepts Juventus on the way to a sermon and persuades him to go instead to breakfast with Abominable Living, who seduces him into a dissolute lifestyle. Good Counsel confronts Juventus and persuades him into repentance and despair. He is restored to hope by God’s Merciful Promises, and the play ends with prayers for the King and nobility.
Nice Wanton
Anonymous · 1550 · Moral
Barnabas goes to school, but his siblings Ismael and Dalilah prefer to spend their time on pleasure rather than learning. Their neighbour Eulalia complains to their mother about their behaviour, but Xantippe refuses to impose discipline through corporal punishment. Ismael and Dalilah gamble with Iniquity;Ismael loses all his money, but Dalilah tries to deceive beat her by way of reprisal, she leaves him. Iniquity about her winnings. When Iniquity tries to Later, diseased and destitute, she meets Barnabas, who presents her condition as God's punishment; she dies of venereal disease, but penitent. Ismael is tried and hanged for burglary and murder; Iniquity, whom he names as his accomplice, is also sentenced to death. A remorseful Xantippe tries to commit suicide, but Barnabas prevents her and enjoins her to repent. In the epilogue he encourages parents to bring their children up well.
Ralph Roister Doister
Udall, Nicholas · 1552 · Comedy
Ralph Roister Doister seeks Matthew Merrygreek’s help in wooing Dame Custance, who is already affianced to Gawyn Goodluck. They send her a letter using her nurse, Madge Mumblecrust, as a go-between, but Dame Custance will not read it. They also send her a ring, but Tibet the maid gets into trouble for accepting it. Merrygreek tells Ralph that Dame Custance has not only rejected him but disparaged his manhood; Ralph despairs, but is persuaded to try again. Dame Custance is persuaded in turn to hear the love-letter read aloud, but Merrygreek reads it without regard for the punctuation, and reverses its meaning: it seems to promise her an unpleasant married life. His hopes dashed, Ralph seeks revenge on the scrivener who composed the letter, but the fault is shown to lie with the reader of it. Ralph continues to press his suit, and arouses the suspicions of Gawyn Goodluck’s servant. Ralph and Custance prepare to use force against one another, and Merrygreek admits that he was only helping Ralph for fun. When the men and women do battle, he hits Ralph while pretending to attack Dame Custance. Ralph has the worst of it, and retreats in disarray. Gawyn Goodluck hears of his fiancée’s apparent disloyalty, but accepts Tristram Trusty’s word as to what really happened. He makes his peace with Ralph, despite Dame Custance’s doubts.
Gammer Gurton's Needle
Stevenson, William (?) · 1553 · Comedy · at University;
Gammer Gurton loses her needle while mending Hodge’s breeches, after the cat spills a pail of milk. She takes out her distress on her servants, and Diccon of Bedlam takes advantage of the ensuing domestic chaos to steal a rasher of bacon from the house. Frantic searching fails to locate the needle, but the bacon is missed and the cat blamed, so Hodge goes hungry with only a piece of bread. Diccon makes mischief. His talk of the devil frightens Hodge so much that he defecates in his breeches. Then he sets Gammer Gurton and her neighbour Dame Chat at odds: he tells Dame Chat that she has been accused of stealing Gammer Gurton’s cocks, but suggests to Gammer Gurton that Dame Chat stole the needle. The neighbours confront one another and a fight breaks out. Gammer Gurton sends for Doctor Rat to resolve the matter. The cat chokes and it is suspected that she has swallowed the needle; Hodge proposes cutting her open to recover it. Doctor Rat arrives, and Diccon persuades him to sneak into Dame Chat’s house to catch her with the stolen needle; but he tells Dame Chat that the intruder is Hodge out to kill all her hens. The result is that Doctor Rat has his head broken. He complains to the Bailiff, who questions Dame Chat. She insists that she was defending her property against Hodge, but on examination his head turns out to be intact. The investigation then turns to the stolen needle, and the Bailiff establishes that Gurton and Chat have been at cross-purposes: Diccon is identified…
Wealth and Health
Anonymous · 1554 · Moral
Wealth and Health enjoy a playful dispute about the relative value of material riches and spiritual health; Liberty also asserts his importance in the scheme of things. After sharing the spoils of a theft, Ill-Will and Shrewd Wit enter Wealth’s service, disguising themselves by suppressing the damaging parts of their names. Remedy, whose job is to protect prosperity and freedom in England, warns Health, Wealth, and Liberty against excess and prodigality. He recognizes Wit and Will as miscreants, and expels their confederate Hans as a parasitic foreigner draining England’s national substance. Wit and Will are retained as servants, with the result that Wealth is spent, Health grows sickly, and Liberty is imprisoned. Remedy apprehends the bad servants and sends them to prison. He restores Wealth, Health, and Liberty to their former condition and assures them that justice will ultimately prevail and deceit be exposed.
The Life and Repentance of Mary Magdalene
Wager, Lewis · 1558 · Moral
Christ has recently come to Jewry, and Infidelity is keen to interfere with his work: his plan is to influence the religious establishment against Christ and thereby ensure his crucifixion. Meanwhile, he encourages Mary Magdalen to enjoy her youth while she can, and introduces her to three companions who will help: Pride, Cupidity, and Carnal Concupiscence (all of whom go under less damaging names). They recommend fashionable clothes and hairstyles, which will attract men, but also advise her against marriage. Mary meets The Law of God and Knowledge of Sin, and experiences the stirrings of conscience: she despairs, thinking herself surely damned and God unjust. Christ casts seven devils out of Mary and drives away Infidelity: she is given the grace to repent. Simon the Pharisee is suspicious of Christ because he is lower-class and uneducated, and invites him to dinner. During the meal, Mary washes his feet with her tears and anoints them. Simon is outraged, but Christ emphasizes the universality of forgiveness: Mary is a genuine penitent, whereas Simon is merely a hypocrite wanting to show off his wealth and presumed holiness. Simon is offended and sets Infidelity and Malicious Judgement to follow Christ, spy on his preaching, and have him brought to trial. Mary ends the play in the company of Love and Justification, who emphasize that she is saved through her faith alone.
The Disobedient Child
Ingelend, Thomas · 1560 · Moral
A rich man's son, afraid of corporal punishment, refuses to go to school. He also rejects his father's suggestion that he find gainful employment, perhaps as a soldier; instead, against his father's advice, he insists on marrying. His father disinherits him. He leaves his home in London for St Albans, gets into debt, and marries a young woman. They have a lavish and expensive wedding feast. His father refuses to pay the money he owes. When he proves reluctant to go out to earn a living, his wife becomes shrewish, beats him, and sends him on domestic errands. He regrets his marriage, and goes home to his father. Satan reveals that the marital discord was his doing. The rich man refuses to take in his son and insists that he return to the wife he chose, but promises him a little money. The moral is explained in a peroration: spare the rod and spoil the child.
The Pedlar's Prophecy
Anonymous · 1561 · Moral
An itinerant pedlar possesses a stone which confers on him the gift of prophecy. The play shows him encountering a series of social types to whom he utters cryptic, apocalyptic prophecies about the land of Ilion and the city of Tyre, whilst also offering goods for sale. First he touches on family discipline with two parents and their daughter, who is secretly no longer a virgin. Next he meets three working men and deals with economic malpractice, but learns that he stands in danger of being charged with witchcraft. Then he poses as a third party reporting the pedlar’s words to members of the ecclesiastical and legal professions, and focuses on matters of religion and judicial corruption. The prophecies repeatedly criticize immigration and social abuses arising out of the ownership of land and property; they regularly threaten not only destruction but also bodily metamorphosis; and the pediar offends
Supposes
Gascoigne, George, trans.; Ariosto, Ludovico · 1566 · Comedy
Polynesta loves Dulippo, whose suit has been promoted by her nurse, and who is supposed a poor servant. In fact he is not Dulippo at all but Erostrato, who two years ago gained access to Polynesta by swapping identities with his servant and entering her father Damon’s household. Meanwhile Cleander seeks her hand, and the supposed Erostrato (the true Dulippo) becomes his rival for trust with him. Cleander appears to offer the best dowry, but Damon gives ‘Erostrato’ a fortnight’s grace pending his father Philogano’s arrival to underwrite his counter-offer. ‘Erostrato’ duly arranges to produce a false Philogano, recruiting a Sienese gentleman for the role by persuading him that a diplomatic incident has made Ferrara an unsafe place for a Sienese visitor. Overhearing an argument between two women servants, Damon discovers that ‘Dulippo’ and Polynesta have been sleeping together. ‘Dulippo’ is apprehended and imprisoned in the dungeon of his master’s house, and therefore unable to warn his servant of the arrival of the true Philogano: he misses his son and has come to take him back to Sicily. By chance, Philogano meets the true Dulippo, who refuses to acknowledge him. After the locals confirm that they know the young man as Erostrato, Philogano suspects that he has murdered his master and stolen his identity, and seeks legal assistance from Cleander. However, Dulippo turns out to be Cleander’s son, whom he lost as a child when evacuating Otranto during the Turkish conquest; he was…
The Trial of Treasure
Wager, William · 1567 · Moral
Lust and Just wrestle and Lust is defeated; Just disappears before he returns with Sturdiness to take reprisals. Inclination tries to cure Lust’s melancholy by leading him into sexual adventures with Carnal Cogitation. Sapience advises Just that material things are perishable, whereas spiritual treasure is permanent. They bridle Inclination, but Lust rescues him and is introduced to Treasure. She in turn introduces him to ===== PAGE 5 ===== 1567 Pleasure, but God’s Visitation rebukes Lust and torments him with pain. Pleasure abandons him to accompany Just, but Treasure promises to remain with him forever. Time destroys them both, and Just imprisons Inclination.
The Interlude of Vice (Orestes)
Pickering, John · 1567 · Tragedy
The Vice (who gives several aliases but eventually reveals his name as Revenge) is sent by the gods to incite Orestes to avenge his father's murder. Orestes is living in exile in Crete under the protection of King Idumeus, who grants him permission to return home and supplies a thousand-strong army. Nature tries to dissuade Orestes from matricide. He lays siege to Mycenae, forcing Clytemnestra and Aegisthus to leave their life of sexual dalliance and give battle. After Orestes' ultimatum is answered disdainfully, he conquers the city, hangs Aegisthus, and orders his mother's death. In consequence, ill fame attends him, and Menelaus, his uncle, demands revenge in turn on him.
Like Will to Like (Quoth the Devil to the Collier)
Fulwell, Ulpian · 1568 · Moral
The devil commissions the vice Nichol Newfangle to tempt men into a preoccupation with new fashions, which will lead them to hell. The ensuing action turns on the recurrent introduction of similar characters to one another. The vice introduces a dishonest collier to the devil, then Tom Tosspot to Rafe Roister; ina ~ mock trial he judges which is the bigger wastrel ===== PAGE 35 ===== 1568 (the prize, unknown to them, is to be hanged), but considers them equal. A comic drinking scene follows with Tosspot’s followers. He also sets in motion a plot to cozen two cutpurses over an inheritance of land. The vicious characters are driven off stage by the arrival of Virtuous Life, who is enthroned and crowned. Tosspot and Roister lose all their possessions: Roister gambles his away, and Tosspot has to leave his as security for his alehouse bill. Newfangle gives them the equipment to start a mew career as beggars, and they assault him. He is found injured by a judge, Severity, and betrays the two cutpurses; they are led away to execution, and Nichol and the hangman share their clothes. Tosspot’s followers end up in hospital suffering from gout. Lucifer carries the vice away on his back. The virtuous characters pray for the Queen, the Lords, and commons.
The Most Virtuous and Godly Susanna
Garter, Thomas · 1569 · Moral
Satan commissions Ill Report to bring about the downfall of Susanna, a paragon of virtue. Since pride, gluttony, envy, sloth, and covetousness have failed to achieve this, Ill Report decides to use lust. He selects the elders Voluptas and Sensualitas as his instruments of temptation, and they are tempted in turn when they see Susanna. Susanna’s husband Joachim leaves to inspect his realm, leaving the elders to administer justice in his absence. The elders spy on Susanna as she bathes in her orchard after dinner, and proposition her for sex. When she refuses, they slander her with whoredom. Meanwhile Joachim discovers that the elders are corrupt and hated by the people. The elders’ perjured testimony ensures that Susanna is sentenced to death, but God intervenes, sending Daniel to reveal the truth. The elders are stoned, and die penitent. Ill Report is hanged, and a frustrated Satan arrives to carry him to hell and tormenters for his failure. Susanna and her family count their blessings.
2 Promos and Cassandra
Whetstone, George · 1578 · Comedy · Unacted
Alerted by the raped @assandra, King @6nihGs is coming to Gyula to investigate the activities of his deputy, Lord Promos. PHalaX has to organize the city’s dramatic welcome at short notice. The King makes his royal entry, but refuses the town’s gift of a purse. Sir WIFIES is appointed and proclaimed as the ombudsman to investigate allegations of official corruption, pending a hearing before the King. The complaints flood in, and promoters take the opportunity to extort money with the threat of arrest. At the hearing, Phallax is accused of extortion, and confesses; his goods are seized and he is forced to resign his office, but his admission saves him from other punishment. Then Cassandra discloses Promos’s treachery in raping her and murdering her brother. Promos confesses, and the King sentences him to death, but requires him to marry Cassandra first. Vice is suppressed in Gyula: Baila the courtesan is arrested and carted, and Phallax leaves town in search of easier pickings. AaTuBIG has been living in the forest. Told of recent events by John A@roynes, he returns to the town in disguise, where he witnesses Cassandra’s pleas for her new husband’s life. Promos is led to execution, but is reprieved when Andrugio reveals himself to the King. Promos and Andrugio are pardoned, and Andrugio required to marry P6lifia. Promos is restored to office, with a warning to act justly and beware his subordinates’ corruption.
1 Promos and Cassandra
Whetstone, George · 1578 · Comedy · Unacted
The King of Hungary appoints Lord Promos as his deputy in the city of Gyula. Believing in the efficacy of judicial severity, Promos re-enacts legislation against promiscuity. The brothel business instantly goes from prosperity to disaster, and Cassandra’s brother, Andrugio, who has had premarital sex with Polina, is condemned to death. Cassandra pleads with Promos, and, attracted to her, he grants a temporary stay of execution to allow her to plead further, At this meeting, ===== PAGE 167 ===== 1577 he offers her a reprieve in return for her love: the price of her brother's life is her participation in the very crime for which he was condemned, She refuses, but he gives her two days to think about it; if she changes her mind, she is to come to court at night dressed as a page. When she visits her brother to tell him to prepare for death, they dispute which is the lesser of two evils, and he persuades her to submit to Promos. Phallax, Promos’s corrupt deputy, is busy making himself rich by taking bribes. His accomplices bring in the courtesan Lamia, but he dismisses them and tries to seduce her. She invites him to her house the following night. Lamia can now live with impunity, and her servants lay in food to entertain Phallax. Grimball is keen to seduce Dalia, the maid, but when he goes to clean himself up, Rosko arranges for him to be robbed while being barbered. Cassandra submits to sex with Promos, but not before extracting from him a promise of marriage. Promos…
The Three Ladies of London
Wilson, Robert · 1581 · Moral · Leicester's Men
Lady Love and Lady Conscience are concerned that Lady Lucre now rules in London, but Fame assures them that she and her adherents will meet their due punishment in the end. Four knaves and Simplicity, a penurious miller, go to London in the hope of employment by one of the ladies. Conscience rejects their applications, but Love agrees to take on Simplicity; the knaves find positions in Lucre’s household. Out of work because foreigners have taken all the jobs, Artifex also seeks a place with Lucre. Simplicity procures a testimonial from Conscience for his cousin Sincerity, who seeks a benefice; but he is unable to get anything from Simony because he has no bribe to offer. Dissimulation fobs him off with the parsonage of St Nihil — nothing - and an invitation to dine with Nemo — nobody — is likewise worthless (though Simplicity has _ difficulty understanding this). Simony employs Sir Peter Pleaseman, who can be either Protestant or Catholic as it suits his circumstances, as Lucre’s chaplain. Conscience is forced to sell her cottage to Lucre, but hopes to stay on as a sitting tenant. Usury threatens eviction; there is a proposal to pack the house with foreigners who will require less living space than English tenants. Eventually he relents and quadruples the rent instead. Love and Conscience are reduced to sending Usury their clothes in lieu of payment, but Dissimulation gives Simplicity money to redeem one of the gowns. He intended it to be Love’s, since he cares nothing for…
Pedantius
Forsett, Edward · 1581 · Comedy · at University;
Crobolus and the schoolmaster Pedantius are rivals. for the love of Lydia. Crobolus asks his servant Pogglostus to bilkk money from Pedantius and his friend Dromodotus. After failing with a hard-luck story, Pogglostus robs them at sword-point. Crobolus wins Lydia’s love by entertaining her to dinner. He is slow to pay his landlady for the meal, but assures her he can easily trick the money out of Pedantius. Through the parasite Tyrophagus, he lets Pedantius know that a former pupil, Leonidas, has secured a position at court, and intends to use his influence to get a royal appointment for his old tutor. On the strength of this, Pedantius is persuaded to loan Leonidas money. Tyrophagus is bringing the cash back to Crobolus when he is robbed by Pogglostus, who doesn’t know that he and his master are in league. Pedantius tries to woo Lydia, but has less success, partly because he does it using academic logic and partly because she has already accepted Crobulus. In any event, whoever wins her will need to pay her avaricious master to manumit her. She feigns interest in him after hearing of his supposed successes at court, and he tries to raise the money by offering to sell his books to the audience. The tailor Gilbert pursues him for payment of his bills, but Pedantius only gives him a string of classical authorities and quotations; Gilbert threatens to sue him. Pedantius sends Lydia money and a ring, but the news comes back that she is dead. She has sent him back his ring, and,…
The Arraignment of Paris
Peele, George · 1581 · Pastoral · Children of the Chapel (first) (Oxford's Boys) · before the Court;
Minor deities greet Juno, Pallas, and Venus and present them with gifts. Intending Troy’s downfall, Ate leaves a golden apple where the three goddesses will find it. Seeing that it is addressed to the most beautiful, they quarrel about which of them should be the recipient, then refer the case to the judgement of the next passer-by. This proves to be Paris, who has just pledged his love to Oenone. Each goddess offers him a reward for judging in her favour: Juno offers wealth, Pallas fame, and Venus love, in the person of Helen. Paris chooses Venus, and wins the enmity of the other two. Colin the shepherd dies for love of Thestylis. Not knowing that he has jilted Oenone, Venus tells Paris of the unpleasant consequences for lovers who break their vows, and punishes Thestylis with unrequited love for an ugly old man. Mercury summons Paris to the court of Jove, to answer charges of partiality laid by Juno and Pallas. He pleads his case before the Council of Gods: the court acknowledges its justice and sends him home to the doomed city of Troy. Juno and Pallas appeal, and Venus gives up the golden apple, confident that it will be awarded to her a second time. At Apollo’s suggestion, Diana is appointed judge in the case, since the incident originally happened near her bower. Diana awards the golden apple to the nymph Eliza, ruler of Elysium (representing Queen Elizabeth, in the audience). The goddesses of destiny, according to their annual custom, also resign their symbols of…
Campaspe (Alexander, Campaspe, and Diogenes)
Lyly, John · 1583 · Comedy · Children of the Chapel (first) (Oxford's Boys) · before the Court;
King Alexander has conquered Thebes and brought its captives to Athens, where he means to spend a peaceful interlude with the philosophers. Mo~t 1.:on 1 e and debate for him, but Diogenes churlishly refu:;t:"s to comply. Alexander becomes enamoured of Campaspe, and has her painted by Apelles, who himself falls in love with her. Knowing he must not challenge Alexander in love, he creates an excuse to see her again by blemishing the painting so that a second sitting is needed. Diogenes sends his servant to draw a crowd with a report that he will fly, but it is only a pretext to rail at them. Using a false report of a fire in Apelles' shop, Alexander tricks the painter into revealing his feelings for Campaspe, and, establishing that she reciprocates them, graciously withdraws his suit and allows them to marry. Having subdued his own amorous feelings, he will now go to war with Persia and conquer the world.
Dido, Queen of Carthage
Marlowe, Christopher; Nashe, Thomas · 1586 · Tragedy · Children of the Chapel (first) (Oxford's Boys)
JMipHEEE tries to seduce Gahiymiede] who complains of Juno’s ill usage, but succumbs when offered gifts. Meanwhile J@m6 has suborned Aeolus to wreck Aeneas’ fleet, which is carrying refugees from Troy to Italy; WEMUS seeks Jupiter’s help: Jupiter prophesies that ASHEa8 is destined to wander until he founds a new Troy in what will become Rome; but also sends Mereury to calm the seas. Separated from his fleet, Aeneas lands on the coast of north Africa and meets the disguised Venus, who encourages him to present himself at Dido’s court. The Trojans are reunited in Carthage, where Dido greets them. At her request, he recounts the fall of Troy. Venus abducts AS€amius and substitutes @apid in his shape. He makes Dido fall in love with Aeneas, and she offers to help repair his ships on condition that he remains with her in Carthage; her attentions make her suitor [aeba8 jealous. Juno attempts to kill the sleeping Ascanius, but Venus intervenes, warned by her doves. Submitting to destiny, Juno agrees to help Dido win Aeneas, and causes a storm during their hunting expedition. They shelter together in a cave, and, wooed by Dido, Aeneas promises never to leave Carthage during her lifetime. Iarbas prays for Jupiter’s help against Aeneas; AiR tries to interest him in her instead of her sister, but fails. Hermes appears to Aeneas in a dream and instructs him to leave for Italy, but Dido crowns him King of Carthage. As further insurance, she has ‘Ascanius’ taken into the country, and the…
The Wars of Cyrus, King of Persia
Anonymous · 1588 · Tragedy · Children of the Chapel (first) (Oxford's Boys)
Cyrus has conquered the rulers of Lydia, Arabia, and Assyria, and now he divides the spoils with his men, accepting none for himself. Unwilling to serve the new King of Assyria, who murdered his son, Gobryas defects to Cyrus and is given a command in his army. Panthea is taken captive: the Persians propose to present her to Cyrus, but she is faithful to her husband, Abradatas, and Cyrus refuses the temptation to love her. Appointed Panthea’s keeper, Araspas falls in love with her. When she rejects him, he resorts to magic; but the charm fails, and she reports him to Cyrus. Antiochus, the new King of Assyria, seeks revenge on Cyrus for his father’s death, and sends Ctesiphon as a feigned defector to the Persian camp. He also has vengeful designs on Gobryas’ daughter, Alexandra, but she swaps clothes with her page Libanio, who persuades Antiochus to hold ‘her’ hostage while ‘her page’ goes to persuade Gobryas to return. However, these plans go awry: Ctesiphon is so impressed with Cyrus that he renounces Antiochus’ sovereignty, confesses his former King’s plot, and offers to kill him; and when Dinon attempts to seduce the false Alexandra, ‘she’ sings him to sleep, kills him, and absconds to the Persian camp. Gobryas randomly selects a Persian husband for his daughter using the custom of blindfold turf-throwing; the clod lands on Hystaspas. Cyrus sends Ctesiphon back to Antiochus with a letter purportedly offering peace terms; in fact, it tells the Assyrian king of Ctesiphon’s…
A Looking Glass for London and England
Lodge, Thomas; Greene, Robert · 1588 · Biblical Moral · Derby's (Strange's) Men
Triumphant over the King of Jerusalem, the Assyrian king Rasni declares himself divine and marries his sister, Remilia; a viceroy who objects is banished and the flatterer Radagon given his place. Inordinately proud of her beauty, Remilia is struck by lightning. Rasni is unable to revive her, and buries her in state; but is encouraged by Radagon to think of the living rather than the dead, and to take Alvida, wife of the King of Paphlagonia. When her husband objects to the adulterous liaison, she poisons him. Alvida continues to be unfaithful: her ambition attracts her to Rasni, but her sexual appetite favours the Viceroy of Cilicia, so she takes both. Thrasybulus and Alcon are both cheated by a usurer to whom they are trying to repay money: he keeps them talking beyond the due hour and then secures possession of Thrasybulus’ farm and Alcon’s cow as a penalty for non-payment. They attempt to sue him, but he bribes both the judge and their lawyer, and they lose their cases. Alcon appeals to Radagon, his son, to help his starving family, but Radagon is too proud to acknowledge his parent, and Rasni has him ejected from the court. Radagon’s mother curses him, and: he is swallowed by subterranean fire. Thrasybulus ard ===== PAGE 473 ===== 1589 Alcon turn to begging and theft in their destitution, and try to pawn stolen clothes to the usurer. Adam, a smith’s man, goes off with some ruffians to get drunk. After a drunken quarrel over a woman, one of them is killed. Rasni finds…
The Misfortunes of Arthur (Certain Devices and Shows Presented to Her Majesty)
Hughes, Thomas; Fulbecke, William, rev. · 1588 · Tragedy · before the Court;
Three Muses present five members of Gray’s Inn to the Queen: they are law students who have been trained to disdain the arts, but the Muses have taken them captive so that the show will be poetical. A student retorts that they are willing prisoners, and denies the antithesis between the law and the arts: they are able to turn their hand to anything. The ghost of Gorlois rises from the underworld to wreak revenge: Pendragon stole his wife, and now Pendragon’s son has lost his wife to adultery. Arthur is returning to Britain, victorious after nine years’ foreign wars, during which time Guenevora has lived with the usurper Mordred. Initially she plans to murder Arthur on his arrival, but eventually decides to go into a nunnery instead. Mordred is unsuccessful in his attempt to prevent Arthur from landing, but refuses to surrender when Arthur offers peace. Instead he secures the support of his allies by dividing his kingdom with them. Arthur reluctantly accepts that he must fight for his kingdom, and likewise musters his allies. Many are slaughtered in the ensuing battle, and, seeing he cannot win, Mordred spits himself on Arthur’s sword, enabling himself to get close enough to give Arthur a mortal wound. Arthur dies full of military glory, but the kingdom has been laid waste. Gorlois gloats over his revenge and predicts a time when the golden age will return to a Britain ruled by a virgin. B-Text a The opening speech of Gorlois indicates that he has been sent back to Earth by…
2 Tamburlaine the Great
Marlowe, Christopher · 1588 · Tragedy · Admiral's (Nottingham's) Men
Q@reames has invaded Europe, but the advance of @amiburlaine in Asia forces him to make peace: he concludes a defensive treaty with SigiSiOHa) and both swear by the gods of their respective religions. Sigismond breaks his vow and makes war; Orcanes prays to Jesus Christ for victory, and Sigismond interprets his defeat as divine vengeance for his perjury. Bajazetli’s son @allapimé escapes from prison in Egypt by offering his jailer wealth and a crown. He is installed as Emperor of Turkey, and he and (Bamiburlaine muster their forces for war on one another. Tamburlaine encourages his sons to martial pursuits, and promises to settle the succession on the most warlike, not the eldest. He teaches them courage by wounding himself, but @alypHaS proves reluctant. Zenoeraté dies. Tamburlaine has her body embalmed and takes it with him; Bamissa, the town of her death, is burned. @echelles and [iieridamas besiege BalSSPA at the Syrian frontier. The fort is taken and its captain shot; determined not to outlive him, his wife Olympia kills her son but is captured before she can kill herself. Miteridamias woos her, and threatens rape when she rejects him. She offers him an ointment that will make him invulnerable, and offers to test it by anointing her own throat; this turns out to be a trick to make him kill her. Wamburiaine’s forces arrive at the frontier and give battle. GalyphasiStays away, preferring to play cards, so Tamburlaine kills him. Callapine’s subject kings are captured and…
The Jew of Malta
Marlowe, Christopher · 1589 · Tragedy · Unknown · before the Court;Phoenix/Cockpit;Whitehall;Indoor Professional
For ten years, Malta has failed to pay tribute to the Turks; now Séliml(@alymath comes to collect the arrears, but grants Bémeze, the Governor, a month to find the money. Ferneze requires the island’s Jews to contribute half their assets towards the sum, on pain of forcible conversion; but Bafabas, a wealthy merchant with trading links all over the east, refuses either to pay or to become a Christian. His entire estate is seized and his house converted to a nunnery. Unbeknown to the authorities, there is a cache of money and jewels hidden in the house; Barabas has his daughter, Abigail, become a nun in order to get access to it. After retrieving the gold, she leaves the convent, and Barabas buys a new house. The Spanish Vice-Admiral, Martin(§@elgposcs} arrives in Malta after routing the Turkish navy. He is granted permission to sell his prisoners as slaves on the island, even though this will be provocative to the Turks; Ferneze decides to keep the gold he levied to pay the tribute, and count on Spanish aid in the war that will follow. Barabas visits the slave market and buys [fiamiore; they swap stories about their exploits in villainy. A Turkish pasha comes to collect the tribute money, but Ferneze refuses to pay. War looms. Mathias and WEdGwiek both love Abigail. Barabas asks her to encourage Lodowick, even though she prefers Mathias; he doesn’t want her to marry either, but particularly wants to destroy Lodowick to get revenge on Ferneze, his father. He tells Mathias of…
The Battle of Alcazar
Peele, George · 1589 · Tragedy · Unknown
The law of Barbary provides that the sons of Ml} Mahanietieque shall succeed one another, but the eldest son has arranged to bypass his brothers and pass the kingdom to his own eldest son, MilyMahamet The third son of Xeque, AIBGEIMIEIEE, flees into exile, and, after his father’s death, Muly Mahamet has his own brothers and his eldest uncle murdered to secure his power. Abdelmelec returns to Barbary with military support from the [RG@FKISHINEMIperor, deposes Muly Mahamet, and re-establishes the succession on his own younger brother, Sth Muly Mahamet lives rough, eating the raw flesh of wild animals, and solicits military help from S@bastian of Portugal, offering him the crown of Morocco. Sebastian in turn seeks aid from other princes; SHURE and his allies, delayed in Lisbon on the way to convert Ireland to Catholicism, are also conscripted. Spurred on by a promise of Spanish troops which fail to arrive, Sebastian sets sail for Africa. The two sides prepare their forces and join battle at Alcazar. Abdelmelec dies after initial setbacks, but Seth rallies the troops by displaying the dead body propped ===== PAGE 430 ===== up to look as if alive. As the tide of battle turns, Muly Mahamet procures a horse to flee, but is drowned when the horse throws him in the river. Stukely’s men turn on him, and he dies after telling the audience his life story. Sebastian is also killed in the thick of battle. Seth becomes King of Barbary, and orders Muly Mahamet’s body flayed and stuffed as a…
1 Henry the Sixth
Nashe, Thomas; Marlowe, Christopher; Shakespeare, William; Anonymous · 1590 · History · Derby's (Strange's) Men
King Henry Vis dead, and England's French lands are lost. After a military setback, the French accept the offered aid of Joan Pucelle , who claims supernatural powers from the Virgin Mary; but they also release Talbot in an exchange of prisoners. With Joan 's help the French recapture the occupied town of Orleans, but the English take it back in a night attack led by Talbot. The Countess of Auvergne invites Talbot to visit her. intending treachery, but he second-guesses her and brings soldiers with him. In England, feuds brew between Gloucester and Winchester, and between Richard Plantagenet and the Duke of Somerset, whose supporters show their allegiance by picking different coloured roses. Richard , who has been deprived of his titles through the attainder of his father, learns from the imprisoned and dying Mortimer that he has a claim to the throne . King Henry restores him to his inheritance, creating him Duke of York. Joan takes Rouen by a ruse , but Talbot recaptures it the same day; she then persuades England's ally Burgundy to join the French. After King Henry's coronation in Paris, York is left in command of Prance, but personal tension between him and Somerset means that troop reinforcements arrive late; in consequence, Talbot is defeated, surviving only long enough to learn that his son has perished in battle. Joan conjures devils, but they will not help her: she is captured by York and burned at the stake. The French and English agree a peace which will entail…
The Reign of King Edward the Third
Anonymous; Shakespeare, William (?) · 1590 · History · Derby's (Strange's) Men (?)
KingledwWardlll of England hears of his claim to the French throne by his mother’s right, and plans an invasion. The French have induced the Scots to invade England, and they have laid siege to the Countess of 1593 Salisbury’s castle. King Edward goes north to deal with them, and they flee at his approach, but the Countess persuades him to stay rather than pursue them. He falls in love with her, but neither his wooing nor her father’s unwilling advocacy can overcome her fidelity to her husband. She breaks his obsession by first demanding the deaths of his queen and her husband, then threatening to stab herself. With his troops mustered, Edward sets off for France. The French gather their allies about them, but their navy fails to prevent the English from landing. Edward’s army lays waste the country, and the inhabitants flee. PRGSIBAWArd is formally armed, and his father refuses to commit troops to help him out of danger at the battle of Crécy; the honour of his victory is thereby the greater. MHeEArNonSalisbiity releases his prisoner Willli@rs to seek safe conduct for him to Calais, on condition that he returns a prisoner if unsuccessful. His insistence on keeping his oath to return persuades the reluctant Dalipiin to issue a passport. Emboldened by an ambiguous prophecy, the French give battle to Prince Edward. Salisbury is captured, but produces his passport; Kimggohih is reluctantly compelled to honour it. The terms of the prophecy are fulfilled: the French army is…
The Scottish History of James the Fourth
Greene, Robert · 1590 · Romance · Unknown
Bohan has shut himself up in a tomb and scorns the world. He is visited by GB@FGn, who gives blessings to his sons: preferment for Nad, and for Slippér the promise of fairy help when he is in danger. Bohan shows him a story of King JameSEIV to justify his misanthropy. During the action, Oberon falls asleep. The King of Scots marries the English princess Dorothea, but in the church his eye lights on [da and he falls in tove. Al@iiKin offers to help him with his affair, hires servants (among them Slipper), and woos Ida on James’s behalf. Although Dorothea assumes the King’s pursuit of Ida is only a sham to test her own love, his behaviour and his liking for flatterers is ===== PAGE 35 ===== 1590 driving the nobles away from his court; James secretly welcomes this, since their absence gives him greater freedom of action. Ateukin attributes his lack of success with Ida to the adulterous nature of the proposal: if she had an expectation of marriage, she would be more pliable; therefore Dorothea must die, and Ateukin engages Jaqwes to murder her, with the promise of promotion at court. Ateukin uses his influence at court to sell favours. His own servants are equally corrupt: Sir Bartram bribes Slipper to steal a lease from Ateukin’s pocket, but what Slipper actually takes is the murder warrant. When the document is missed, Ateukin orders Andrew to find it; because reporting Slipper will expose his own malfeasance, Andrew instead robs him of the bribe- money to teach him a lesson.…
George a Green, the Pinner of Wakefield
Greene, Robert (?) · 1590 · Romance · Sussex's Men
(helEarlSfKendal, inspired by a prophecy that he and e KinglfiSeets will meet in London and defeat the KingofEngland, musters his troops and communicates with King James. THENMEHIOPOrKShize, of his treason, refuse to victual his army. When Sir Nicholas Maniniering threatens the people of Wakefield, GGrge- aeGreehe tears up his commission and makes him eat the seals. Infuriated, Kendal plans revenge: he and his allies go to Wakefield in disguise, but George impounds their horses. Kendal tries to entice George to: join him in rebellion, insisting that he seeks social justice rather than power. Encouraged by George, he visits a hermit to hear his fortunes; but the hermit is actually George himself in disguise, and the visit a ruse to get Kendal and his henchmen alone. George fights them, takes Kendal prisoner, and hands him over to the authorities. King James brings troops into England, but is distracted by his passion for JARGMANBaHEy, whose husband is away. When she refuses him, he besieges her castle. The aged war veteran Milsgrave, who refuses to hand over the responsibility of arms to his n Gay, arrives and raises the siege. James is taken prisoner, and both he and Kendal are brought before King Edward. Kendal is imprisoned and Edward visits the north to meet George. Willy liberates George’s love, B@HGHS, from Grime her father by visiting her disguised as a woman and swapping clothes with her. The lovers are reunited, leaving Willy still at Grime’s house. However, Bettris…
The Old Wives Tale
Peele, George · 1590 · Romance · Queen Elizabeth's Men
PLOT Lost in the woods, three pages encounter Clunch the smith, and accept the hospitality of his cottage. One of them goes to bed with him while his wife, Madge, tells the others a tale. Delia, the daughter of the King of Thessaly, has been abducted by the sorcerer Sacrapant, who can only be killed by a dead man, and whose power depends on a light in a glass which can only be broken by a woman who is neither wife, widow, nor maid. Delia's two brothers come to England in search of her, and meet Erestus. They give him alms and he prophesies to them. He too is a victim of Sacrapant, who has transformed him into an old man by day and a bear by night, and driven his betrothed lady, Venelia, out of her mind. The brothers enter Sacrapant's domain, but are imprisoned by Furies and set to work digging for gold. Delia, forgetting her identity under the influence of a potion, is appointed as their overseer. Others are also searching for Delia. One is the wandering knight Eumenides, another the braggart Huanebango; the former gives generous alms to Erestus, but the latter refuses. Eumenides happens upon a fight between Wiggen and the parish officials, who are refusing to bury Wiggen's dead brother Jack; Eumenides resolves the dispute by giving all his remaining money to pay for the funeral. Huanebango attempts to force his way into Sacrapant's cell, and is ejected by the Furies; Sacrapant strikes him deaf and Corebus blind. Lampriscus has two daughters, one ugly in looks and the other…
Jack Straw
Anonymous · 1591 · History · Unknown
MHENKING is gathering taxes to finance war in France. After a EARN@OM@Gfr attempts an intimate physical examination of JaeRMStawSMdaughter to establish whether or HOMISHEMISNSIEMEnSughtoNbeMliazble forltaxatiomjastraw loses his temper and kills him. ParSOHMBAll speaks out against social abuses and inequality, inciting the men of Kent to rise in rebellion under Straw and MW&@HllTyi@F; they are joined by men of Essex, and send their demands to the King through Sir J@HBMIMG@EHGh, holding his family hostage. The King agrees to meet them at Greenwich, but breaks the appointment when he sees their disorderly conduct. The rebels advance on London, freeing prisoners, burning legal documents, despoiling their fellow countrymen, and murdering immigrants who cannot speak English properly. The King makes a second attempt to parley, meets the rebels at Smithfield, and hears their grievances. The issue of a general pardon induces the Essex men to go home, but the Kentish rebels remain in arms under Tyler and Straw. At the third encounter with the King, Straw demands a courtier’s sword, and the BOFaIMA¥ar of London stabs him. The rebellion is put down, but the King is reluctant to order mass executions; only the ringleaders, Tyler and Ball, are to die. The Lord Mayor is rewarded with a knighthood.
King John
Shakespeare, William · 1591 · History · Lord Chamberlain's (Hunsdon's) Men
The Plantagenets have a dynastic dispute: J@lih is de facto King of England, but Alptiillir, the young son of his dead elder brother, has a better claim in primogeniture; France takes Arthur’s side. John is asked to adjudicate in another case of . disputed inheritance: Robert Falé@nbridge claims that his elder brother BHiliip is a bastard, begotten in his father’s absence by the dead King Richard. John rules for Philip’s legitimacy irrespective of parentage, since he was conceived in wedlock; but Philip decides to be a king’s son rather than a knight’s heir, cedes his brother the family lands, and joins John’s court. John meets the Kinglofibrance outside the town of Angers, which claims loyalty to the English crown but is holding out against both claimants until the issue is decided. England and France decide to defer their differences until they have subjugated Angers, but the citizens save themselves by suggesting an Anglo- French marriage between DOUISNEHEMDapHin and John’s niece BI@HEHE; France expediently transfers its support from Arthur to John. After the wedding, the papal legate Pandulph excommunicates John for his interference in ecclesiastical affairs, and declares his assassination legitimate. The French revert to support for Arthur, leaving Blanche with a conflict of interests. Arthur is captured in battle and taken back to England ===== PAGE 337 ===== 1596 in MWbert’s custody; John instructs Hubert to arrange the boy’s death. Anticipating this outcome, Pandulph…
Descensus Astraeae (The Descent of Astraea)
Peele, George · 1591 · Civic Pageant
; As the new Lord Mayor is embarking for Westminster, a sea nyimph sails up in a pinnace and makes a speech to him. On his return, he encounters a pageant. Jove has sent Astraea back to Earth in the person of Queen Elizabeth to restore the golden age. Her authority inhibits Ignorance from his plot, fostered by Superstition, to poison a fountain, and, because she has divine protection, ===== PAGE 115 ===== 1591 malcontents are unable to assassinate her no matter how hard they try. The other characters sing her praises.
1 The Troublesome Reign of King John
Anonymous (?) · 1591 · History · Queen Elizabeth's Men
Jel becomes King of England; but young Prince (Athi son of his elder brother, also has title to the throne, and his claim is supported by Philip of France. John refuses to give up his kingdom and prepares to invade France. Before he goes, he has to settle a dispute between the brothers Falconbridge: the younger brother RObéft alleges the bastardy of the elder, PHilip} thereby establishing Philip as the natural, if illegitimate, son of King Richard and Robert as rightful heir of Falconbridge. Philip is impelled to accept royal parentage, the better to pursue his ambitions, and he joins King John’s expedition to France. The Kings of England and France confront one another outside the English-held town of Angers. When the citizens refuse to yield to either John or Arthur until one or the other is proven the rightful King, the bastard suggests that the warring kings should join forces against the town, and cement the alliance with a marriage between fh@§Daphin and John’s niece, Blai@He (even though he covets Blanche for himself). John and King Philip agree terms: Blanche’s dowry is to include a substantial part of England’s French possessions, and King Philip transfers his support from Arthur to John. Seeking vengeance for his father, King Richard, the bastard challenges Allisttid to a duel, but Austria will not accept even when John creates the bastard a duke. Cardinal Pandulphiéxcommunicates John for his interference in ecclesiastical affairs. John refuses to submit to papal…
Master Arden of Faversham in Kent
Anonymous; Kyd, Thomas (?); Shakespeare, William (?); Watson, Thomas (?) · 1591 · Tragedy · Pembroke's Men (?)
lige Arden is having an affair with M@sbBy, which makes her husband jealous and melancholy. The lovers proliferate murder plots against him: both offer marriage to SHi8Zh Mosby as an inducement, but to different accomplices, Michaelland GlakKe the painter. Clarke supplies a poison, but when Arden feels ill upon eating the contaminated broth, Alice throws it on the ground. Alice meets GFSeHe, who has a grudge against Arden in connection with land ownership, and gives him money to hire murderers. He engages BIAEKIWil) and ShakeBap, and they follow A¥d@h to London, where he is visiting his friend BFaHKIB. Greene writes an incriminating letter to Alice, which is carried, innocently, by Bradshaw. An attempt on Arden’s life in St Paul’s churchyard fails when a shop front is let down and bonks Black Will on the head; Arden escapes, knowing nothing of the danger. The murderers conspire with Michael to gain access to Franklin’s house at night, but Arden finds the door unlocked: the murderers are shut out and Michael reproved for negligence. The killers next pursue Arden to Rainham Down, where he meets Lord Ghee and is invited to dinner the following day. Cheyne recognizes and distracts Black Will, so Arden escapes again. His luck still holds the next day: following him on his way to Lord Cheyne’s house, Black Will and Shakebag lose their way in the fog and Shakebag falls into the marsh. Meanwhile, Mosby and Alice have a falling-out, but are reconciled, and Clarke supplies a poisoned…
The Comedy of Errors
Shakespeare, William · 1592 · Comedy · Pembroke's Men (?)
Egeon, a merchant of Syracuse, has been arrested under an Ephesian law which forbids Syracusans to set foot in Ephesus; he is unable to pay the fine and must face execution. He tells the Dike his story: long ago, a storm at sea separated him from his wife and one of his twin baby sons, along with one of a pair of infant twins destined to be family servants; once his remaining son grew up, he went looking for his lost brother; and now Egeon is looking for him. The Duke pities him and grants him a day to raise his fine from the Ephesians. Altipholis of Syracuse arrives in Ephesus and is advised to lie about his place of origin; he sends his servant D¥@iiio to take money to his lodgings. But Ephesus has an identical Antipholus and Dromio already in residence. The local Antipholus is late for dinner, much to his wife M@#iana’s annoyance, but it is the visiting Antipholus who is summoned by the local Dromio. When the latter reports that Antipholus denies even being married, Adriana suspects infidelity. She upbraids the Syracusan Antipholus and cajoles him in to eat. Though he suspects that her uncanny knowledge of him is attributable to witchcraft, he decides to take advantage of the proffered meal, and instructs Dromio to keep intruders out of the house. One prospective intruder is the house’s rightful owner, Antipholus of Ephesus; but Dromio of Syracuse refuses to open the door to him. He is ready to break in, but his friends advise him that this would publicly dishonour his…
A Knack to Know a Knave
Anonymous (?) · 1592 · Moral · Derby's (Strange's) Men
. . Concerned for the good order of his kingdom, King Edgar commissions Honesty to seek out and expose knaves. The dying Bailiff of Hexham advises his four sons to live by fraud and deceit in their various: professions, and to enrich themselves at the expense of the commonweal and the poor..He dies and is carried off by the devil. While Edgar deals with the case of 1592 Philarchus, a courtier who has abused his father, Honesty observes the corrupt dealings of the Bailiff’s sons: Cuthbert, a cony-catcher, who bears false witness in an attempt to take possession of a farm; Walter, a farmer, who oppresses his neighbours and exports corn to feed the enemy; John, a priest, who refuses to give to charity; and Perin, a courtier, who misuses the royal seal and sells Walter an export licence for his corn under pretext of raising revenues for the crown. Meanwhile honest members of the state, from knight to ploughman, complain of their economic decline. Edgar sends Ethenwald to woo Alfrida by proxy, but Ethenwald falls in love with her himself and marries her. The King forgives him and visits the couple (receiving a petition from the mad men of Gotham on the way), but the jealous Ethenwald is convinced that Edgar plans to cuckold him, and has Alfrida and the kitchen maid swap identities during the royal visit. An outraged Edgar sees through the subterfuge and plans to take revenge, but Bishop Dunstan, with the help of the devil, persuades him to pardon Ethenwald instead. Honesty…
Edward the Second
Marlowe, Christopher · 1592 · History · Pembroke's Men
GavestGn, banished by KangpyBdwardl is recalled to England on the accession of BdWardllll. His presence exacerbates tension between the King and barons, but Edward gives him multiple offices of state. Together they assault the BiSHOplomi@oventry, whose title also goes to Gaveston. The nobles and church contrive the minion’s banishment, but QWeenilsabella, neglected by Edward, arranges his reprieve in the hope of winning favour. King and barons make their peace and Lord MOrtimier, leaving for war in Scotland, advises his nephew to tolerate Edward’s love for Gaveston. The King’s preoccupation with his minion leads him to neglect public affairs, jeopardizing the political and economic stability of the crown: the unpaid army mutinies, rebellion breaks out in Ireland, and English territory is invaded by both Scotland and France. Lord Mortimer is taken prisoner in Scotland, but Edward refuses to ransom him. The barons, now joined by Edward’s brother, the B@gi§6fK@nt, increase the pressure to banish Gaveston again, while Edward begins to suspect Isabella of adultery with the younger Mortimer. Gaveston is captured by the barons. Edward asks to see him one last time; P@mibrOke agrees to conduct Gaveston there and back, but the minion is captured and killed en route by WaRWIEK’s treachery. Isabella and the Prince go to parley with the French King over the invasion of Normandy. The barons demand the removal of the Sp@me@r family, whom Edward has advanced, and battle ensues. The King…
The Two Gentlemen of Verona
Shakespeare, William · 1593 · Comedy · Lord Chamberlain's (Hunsdon's) Men (?)
Walefifihe leaves Verona to broaden his horizons. Protelis stays at home and woos Jiilia) but no sooner is his suit successful than his father decides to send him after Valentine to court. He and Julia exchange rings. In Milan, Proteus finds that Valentine has fallen in love with Sil¥ia and plans to elope with her, using a rope ladder to reach the tower in which her father locks her up at night. Proteus falls for Silvia himself and, knowing that her father prefers Valentine’s rival Hiro, betrays his friend’s confidence to the Duke, who duly banishes Valentine. This only succeeds in ‘alienating Silvia from Thurio and her father, so Proteus is asked to woo her on Thurio’s behalf. Valentine is ambushed by banished Saws, who make him their chief. Leaving her property in the care of her waiting- woman Hwee’, Julia follows Proteus to Milan disguised as a page-boy; there she learns of Proteus’ interest in Silvia, and witnesses one of his wooing attempts. Proteus sends Silvia a gift of a dog, but Bane loses it and offers her his own dog, which behaves badly and relieves itself under the table; Lance takes the blame for the latter offence. Proteus employs the disguised Julia as a go-between, sending her ring as a gift to Silvia, who will not accept it. With Bglami6ii’s help, Silvia absconds to join Valentine; the Duke rides after her with Thurio; Proteus follows in search of Silvia, and the disguised Julia follows him. All except Eglamour are captured by the outlaws. When Silvia…
A Knack to Know an Honest Man
Anonymous · 1594 · Tragicomedy · Admiral's (Nottingham's) Men
Sempronio has attempted to commit adultery with Lelio’s wife, so Lelio fights and wounds him in a duel. The affray is witnessed by three shepherds, who pursue him as a murderer, leaving Sempronio dying. He is found by an old hermit, Philip, who attempts to heal his wounds. His uncle, Servio, appeals to the Duke of Venice for justice against Lelio - though, glad to inherit Sempronio’s estate, he is motivated more by malice than moral outrage. The Duke pronounces Lelio guilty of murder and sentences him to death in his absence; his estate is confiscated, but his wife and daughter are allowed to keep his house. The Duke m ===== PAGE 250 ===== further puts a price on his head and orders that nobody should succour him on pain of banishment. Lelio’s father-in-law Brishio helps him to escape from Venice, but Servio sees him being winched into the ship. Brishio is arrested and banished, and his sons, Zepherius and Orphinio, are left destitute. Philip revives Sempronio, whose near-death experience has made him chaste and ascetic. Philip disguises him as an old man, and he swears not to reveal his true identity until the hermit permits it. He assumes the alias Penitent Experience, and meets Fortunio and Marchetto, who are discussing their interest in Lelio’s family and estate: Fortunio wants the love of Lelio’s daughter, Lucida, but Marchetto is more interested in the money. Sempronio tells them that both gold and beauty are evanescent, and offers to show them how to recognize an…
Two Lamentable Tragedies
Yarington, Robert · 1594 · Tragedy · Unknown
MOmicide is frustrated at finding the town so virtuous, but AWaige recommends two men as suitable agents of violence. [Filth overhears them and introduces the stories. In one plot, MRGM@SIMERY, who would like to be richer, notices how well off B&BGh is. He lures Beech to his inn and murders him there with a hammer. The other members of his household quickly discover what has happened; his man MWilli@fhs leaves his service rather than condone the crime, but nevertheless agrees to keep it a secret. Merry is concerned that BEGeh’sIBSy may know too much, and murders him too. Thinking there are thieves in Beech’s shop, a Maid gives the alarm, and the dying boy is found with the hammer still embedded in his head. Beech comes under suspicion. Merry wants to get the other body out of his inn before it starts to putrefy, and chops it up to facilitate disposal. The various parts of the body are found around London; the torso is in an identifiable sack, but when a house-to-house search is instigated, its vendor fails to recognize M@PySisister as the woman who bought it. Merry begins to feel secure, but the melancholy Williams finally reveals the secret after close questioning by a friend. Merry and his sister are arrested and hanged; Williams is allowed benefit of clergy. In the other plot, ——- —f% die, leaving him in the custody of his uncle, , who will inherit everything should the boy die. Fallerio plans murder, but when his son All@H8o will not co-operate, he hires two ruffans…
Richard the Second
Shakespeare, William · 1595 · Tragedy; History · Lord Chamberlain's (Hunsdon's) Men
HennyiBolingbroke and THOMasIMGWbiay accuse one another of treason. Bolingbroke claims that Mowbray has misappropriated money intended to pay the army, and is responsible for the murder of the Duke of Gleweester. Mowbray insists that the money he kept was in reimbursement of legitimate expenses, but has no very clear rebuttal to the murder charge. They challenge one another to fight, and KimglRi@hard is unable to persuade them out of it. On the appointed day, however, he intervenes to halt the trial by combat and banishes them both, Bolingbroke for a term of years and Mowbray forever; Bolingbroke’s sentence is ===== PAGE 288 ===== cut from ten years to six to please his father, JOHMIS Gaunt Richard is using unorthodox means to raise revenue, including leases and forced loans. He goes to visit Gaunt, who is mortally ill, hoping to find him dead so that he can seize the estate to pay for his Irish wars; but he arrives too soon and has to listen to some dying words of wisdom. He then sequesters Gaunt’s property, despite fRelDUKeIOMork's protest at the dispossession of the rightful heir, Bolingbroke. He goes to Ireland, leaving York to rule England in his absence. NOrhUmbeHand and other nobles, discontented with Richard’s fiscal practices, learn that Bolingbroke is returning to England with an army, and join him. York mobilizes troops to defend the kingdom, but Bolingbroke insists that he only comes to claim his inheritance. Richard returns from Ireland, intending to crush the…
The Merchant of Venice (The Jew of Venice)
Shakespeare, William · 1596 · Comedy · Lord Chamberlain's (Hunsdon's) Men
Bassanio plans to woo the heiress Portia, hoping that, if successful, her wealth will get him out of debt. His friend and principal creditor, the melancholy merchant Antonio, agrees to finance the venture, but all his money is tied up in commercial activity. He seeks a loan from the Jew Shylock, who himself raises the money by borrowing from his co-religionist Tubal. ===== PAGE 342 ===== 342 |. 1047. The Merchant of Venice Shylock is resentful of Antonio’s attacks on him for taking interest on loans, but frames a ‘merry bond’ which will entitle him only to a pound of Antonio’s flesh should the money not be repaid on the due date. Lancelot Gobbo leaves Shylock’s service and is hired by Bassanio, who is planning a going-away feast. Lancelot brings a letter from Shylock’s daughter Jessica to Lorenzo, whom she wishes to marry. Shylock is invited to the supper, and, while he is away, Lorenzo helps Jessica to escape from her father’s house; afterwards, it is unclear whether Shylock is more distressed by the loss of his daughter or the money she took with her. Bassanio leaves for Belmont, accompanied by Gratiano. Portia’s marital prospects are regulated by the will of her dead father: her suitors must choose which of three caskets contains her picture, and she may only wed the suitor who gets it right, while suitors who get it wrong must remain unmarried ever after. The Prince of Morocco chooses the golden casket, signifying a much-desired object, but gets only a death’s head. The…
2 Henry the Fourth
Shakespeare, William · 1597 · History · Lord Chamberlain's (Hunsdon's) Men
After the battle of Shrewsbury, there are contradictory rumours abroad as to the outcome: some say that the King and his son have vanquished Lord Hotspur of Lancaster, whereas in fact they won. Now Lord John of Lancaster is travelling north with a power, including Sir John Falstaff, to crush the regrouping remnants of the Percy rebellion. Mistress Quickly tries to have Falstaff arrested for debt, while threatens to prevent him setting out for London, but he talks his way out of it. Back from a military expedition in Wales, Prince Henry and Poins disguise themselves as drawers and eavesdrop on Falstaff’s conversation: he says uncomplimentary things about them, but Falstaff excuses himself inventively when confronted. Northumberland’s family persuade him to flee to Scotland rather than join the other northern rebels. Falstaff musters troops in Gloucestershire, but the best men bribe their way out, leaving him with the least suitable soldiers. Prince John sees the rebels and agrees to redress their grievances if they disband their army; but when they do so, he has them arrested for treason. Falstaff arrives in the north late, but meets the rebel Sir John Colville, who promptly surrenders without a fight, having heard Falstaff’s reputation. Prince John returns to court, but Falstaff goes via Gloucestershire to visit Justice Shallow. The sickly King prepares for death, and worries about the kingdom’s future in the hands of his eldest son. News arrives of the defeat of all the…
Much Ado About Nothing
Shakespeare, William · 1598 · Comedy · Lord Chamberlain's (Hunsdon's) Men
Returning to Messina after a war, Claudio falls in love with Hero. At a masked revel, Don Pedro woos her for him by proxy; Don John maliciously tells Claudio that Pedro has wooed her for himself, but the truth soon purges Claudio’s jealousy and he and Hero are engaged to be married in a week’s time. In the interim, Don Pedro undertakes to make Beatrice and Benedick, who have a humour of mutual hatred, fall in love with each other. This is done by letting each of them overhear a conversation about how much in love the other is. Don John attempts to prevent Claudio’s marriage by showing him what he takes to be a nocturnal assignation between Hero and another man; in fact it is Margaret in Hero’s clothes, wooed by Borachio whom Don John has suborned. Claudio rejects Hero at the wedding, and the Friar proposes that she feign death to inculcate remorse in him. Borachio and his associate Conrad are arrested and examined, and confess the plot. As penance, Claudio undertakes to marry another ===== PAGE 61 ===== 1598 lady, said to be Leonato’s niece, without first seeing her; she is actually Hero. Benedick and Beatrice join Hero and Claudio to make it a double wedding. Don John flees Messina, but is apprehended and brought back to face punishment.
2 Edward the Fourth
Heywood, Thomas (?) · 1599 · History · Derby's (Strange's) Men
King Edward invades France; but the Duke of Burgundy and the Constable of France fail to supply the military aid they promised. Several English soldiers are shot by the Constable's men in a failed attempt to assassinate Edward; the Constable pleads an accident,The English herald sent to King Louis is offered peace terms, which Edward modifies: Louis must submit to his suzerainty, and pay both the expenses of the invasion and an annual tribute thereafter. Louis accepts the offer and a treaty is agreed. Burgundy and the Constable try to double-cross both Edward and one another: each writes independently to both Edward and Louis, offering Louis Edward's murder and Edward assistance against Louis. Edward feigns deafness, forcing the envoys to speak loud enough for the hidden Louis to hear; then confronts the envoys with their masters' treachery. He returns to England, leaving troops in France to help Louis rout the traitors. Jane Shore visits the London prisons, distributing alms to the prisoners. Brakenbury solicits her help to procure a pardon for his kinsman Strangwidge, whose actions against French shipping were committed in ignorance of the recent treaty which made them piratical. Also condemned is his passenger, known as Flood but actually Matthew Shore. The Queen first confronts, then forgives Jane for her adultery with Edward. The King pardons Strangwidge and his crew, and Jane pays their prison fees herself. Brakenbury employs 'Flood' at the Tower. Edward has fallen ill…
1 Edward the Fourth
Heywood, Thomas (?) · 1599 · History · Derby's (Strange's) Men
Although he has made diplomatic arrangements to marry a French princess, King Edward impulsively takes an English bride instead, much to his mother's disapproval. The bastard Falconbridge leads a rebellion to reinstate the deposed King Henry VI. The London authorities prepare the city's defences: Falconbridge is unable to penetrate the gates, the city apprentices make a significant contribution to the battle, and the rebels are beaten back to Mile End. When they regroup, the Londoners rout them again, and Matthew Shore defeats a rearguard attempt to take the city while the militia are at Mile End. The King rewards the civic officials with knighthoods, but Shore modestly declines. Falconbridge flees with a price on his head, and he and his associate Spicing plan to betray one another and claim the reward. A miller captures Spicing, but Falconbridge escapes. Spicing is hanged by his former comrade in arms, Chub. While out hunting, members of the court encounter Hobs the tanner. King Edward, pretending to be his own butler, tries to induce Hobs to say something uncomplimentary or treasonous about him, but fails. He accepts the tanner's invitation to supper, where he takes a fancy to Hobs's daughter Nell. Meanwhile, things are going King Edward's way: his brother Gloucester sends word that King Henry VI is dead, and Falconbridge is captured and executed. Back in London, he dines with the Lord Mayor, where he meets Jane Shore. He is attracted to her and grapples with his…
1 Sir John Oldcastle
Munday, Anthony; Drayton, Michael; Wilson, Robert; Hathaway, Richard · 1599 · History · Admiral's (Nottingham's) Men
Despite a royal prohibition on disorder during the preparations for the invasion of France, Lords Herbert and Po·wys fall out over their religious differences, and brawl with their followers in the streets of Hereford;Herbert is wounded, and Powys flees, with orders given for his arrest. The Bishop of Rochester does his best to associate dissent and conspiracy with Sir John Oldcastle, but the King is not convinced. Powys takes refuge in Oldcastle's house, just before two orders arrive: one to attend at court, the other to answer charges before Rochester's ecclesiastical court; Oldcastle's servant Harpoole forces Rochester's summoner to eat his own summons, wax and all. The King advises Oldcastle to keep his religious views private: he can believe what he likes so long as he does not antagonize the bishops or encourage Protestant rebellion. In turn. Oldcastle intercedes for Powys, and the King signs his pardon. Rebellion is brewing in England. On the basis of a superior dynastic claim, the Earl of Cambridge intends to seize the throne with French support. Oldcastle is invited to join the plot, but he procures an incriminating document and takes it to court. Meanwhile, Protestant rebels muster their forces in London. The King plans to spy on them in disguise, but is robbed by the renegade priest Sir John; the priest gets him to promise to secure the King's pardon for robbery, and gives him half a coin as a token by which they can know one another again. On the night before the…
Henry the Fifth
Shakespeare, William · 1599 · History · Lord Chamberlain's (Hunsdon's) Men
Faced with the prospect of parliamentary legislation to sequester church lands, the Bishop of Canterbury encourages King Henry V to consider his claim to the French throne: he demonstrates that the Salic law debarring succession through the female line does not apply to France, and promises the church's financial support for a war. The Dauphin hears of Henry's ambitions and sends him a mocking gift of tennis balls; annoyed by the suggestion tl1at he should go away and play, Henry gathers his troops. The French bribe three noblemen to assassinate him before he leaves England, but he discovers the plot and has the traitors put to death. The French prepare for battle, but the Dauphin scornfully underestimates Henry. Exeter, sent as ambassador to the French King, demands surrender and delivers to the Dauphin Henry's personal contempt. The French offer a few dukedoms and a marriage alliance if Henry will withdraw. He considers this inadequate, and attacks Harfleur. The Dauphin and his troops fail to arrive in time to relieve the town, so its Governor surrenders to Henry. Exeter is left in command while Henry takes his disease-ridden troops back to winter in Calais, but the French force a battle en route at Agincourt. The night before, the French anticipate victory over the bedraggled English. Henry tours his army and listens to their worries about the battle. He quarrels with one of his soldiers, Williams, and they agree to settle their differences after their battle: they will…
The Maid's Metamorphosis
Anonymous · 1600 · Pastoral Romance · Children of Paul's (second)
Considering Eurymine too low-born to be a suitable match for his son Ascanio, Duke Telemachus orders two of his gentlemen to escort her from the court and murder her. In the event, however, Phylander persuades his colleague that they have no obligation to follow unlawful orders. They plan to present the Duke with an animal’s heart, claiming it to be hers, and Eurymine agrees to live away from the court in country exile. She meets a forester and a shepherd, each of whom wants her to live with him; when they become competitive, she agrees to accept a cottage from the forester and a flock of sheep from the shepherd. Ascanio goes into the woods looking for Eurymine. Juno finds him asleep and, eager to prove her superiority to Venus, arranges for him to dream of where to find his love. Meanwhile, Eurymine meets Apollo, who is also attracted to her. To save herself from rape, she claims to disbelieve his claims of godhead, and asks him to prove himself by working a miracle: specifically, she asks him to change her sex. He does, but with an associated curse: as a man, she will fall hopelessly in love with another man, and long to be a woman again. Ascanio learns from an echo that Eurymine is nearby but inaccessible, and the hermit Aramanthus, who is also a dispossessed prince, explains her metamorphosis. This disappoints not only Ascanio but also her country admirers, and Aramanthus recommends that she should ask the Graces to intercede with Apollo on her behalf. Apollo eventually…
Alaham
Greville, Fulke · 1600 · Tragedy
Before the start of the action, an oracle foretold that the kingdom’s security depended on the death of the King’s eldest son, Zophi; but the pashas, ruling during the King’s senility, merely banished him. Hala, wife of the younger son, Alaham, has had a series of affairs with pashas: first Muhammad, who was forced into exile as a result, then Cain. Seeking to secure his position, Alaham has recalled Muhammad, ===== PAGE 189 ===== 1600 but Muhammad has recalled Zophi in turn, cutting Alaham out of the succession. Hala seeks to make Cain king, and persuades him to murder Muhammad; but he changes his mind after Muhammad warns him of Alaham’s ambition: Cain will tell Alaham that Muhammad is dead, but in reality he will go into hiding. Meanwhile Alaham corrupts the guard, blinds his father and brother, and seizes power. When Cain tells him of Muhammad's death, he is sent for execution — if not for murder then for lying about it, as he is told when he tries to save himself. Alaham’s sister Caelica helps Zophi and their father to take sanctuary in the temple. Alaham has the city searched, finds Caelica, and arrests her. Her cries bring the old King out of hiding, and he too is arrested. The King, Caelica, and Zophi are all burned to death; as they die, their souls call out for vengeance. Seeking to avenge Cain’s death, Hala sends Alaham a poisoned robe, and plans to kill their son before his face, so that the other child, Cain’s bastard, will inherit the kingdom; but she…
Thomas Lord Cromwell
S., W. · 1600 · History · Lord Chamberlain's (Hunsdon's) Men
So devoted is young Thomas Cromwell to his studies thathe tries to stop his father's workmen from making a noise. Old Cromwell is concerned at his ambitious son's lavishness with money: he seems not to understand the economic realities of life. He is making a living by working as a copyist, but accepts a job as a secretary in Antwerp. Banister owes Friskiball £1,ooo. Bagot has him arrested in Friskiball's name, and hardens the creditor's heart by telling him that Banister has enough money to pay his debts, if he were willing to do so. Frisk.iball relents after Mistress Banister pleads for her husband, and defers the debt until the couple have become prosperous; but the vindictive Bagot buys Banister's debts in order to oppress him. Banister flees to Antwerp, but Bagot pursues and arrests him. Cromwell agref!S to help the Banisters, and speaks to Bagot; but fails to move pity in him. Bagot negotiates with the Governor of Antwerp over some jewels, w:hich turn out to be stolen. Bagot is arrested and sent back to England; Banister is released, and awarded his confi.s.cated property. Cromwell goes to Florence with his servant Hodge, but they are robbed of their clothes. Following Italian custom, they set up bills describing their misfortune, and the anglophile Friskiball gives them money. They travel on to Bologna to relieve the Earl of Bedford, who is trapped in a house surrounded by French troops. Cromwell rescues the Earl posing as a Neapolitan hired by the French to abduct…
Il Pastor Fido, or The Faithful Shepherd
Dymoke, Tailboys, trans.; Guarini, Giovanni Battista · 1601 · Pastoral
Years ago, AWAVRE, two-timed by DUST prayed to DiSNa for vengeance. She sent death to Arcadia, and the oracle decreed that her wrath could be appeased only when Lucrina is sacrificed at the hands of Amyntas. Lucrina was brought to the altar, but Amyntas took pity on her and killed himself; recognizing the truth of his love, Lucrina then herself committed a remorseful suicide in turn. But the curse was remitted only temporarily, and {i#@@nnualhuman SAGHHEES must continue; Diana will be permanently pacified only by a marriage between a couple, both of GivVi@NGSS2hH) and by the pity of a faithful shepherd. Such a couple has been identified: SHMSl and AMmamillis; but Silvio is uninterested in women, preferring to hunt the boar which has been ravaging the countryside. ; A chain of failed amours proceeds from. this. AMaHGS is loved by MEFGHG) who thinks himself too poor and lowly to be worthy of her. He has tried to get access to her by dressing as a nymph; in this disguise he became unwittingly involved in a Sapphic kissing contest, and was adjudged the winner by Amarillis. Returning home to tend to his sick father, he pined away, and an oracle reported that his only hope was to go t@NAIRGadial — so here he is. He in turn is both loved and hated by G&HiSE4) who has learned the amorous arts in the city: she loves him for his beauty, hates him for his interest in Amarillis. She offers to promote his suit to ABZ) in order to take revenge on them both. Corisca has led on a…
Blurt, Master Constable, or The Spaniard's Night Walk
Anonymous · 1601 · Romance · Children of Paul's (second)
Camillo and Hippolito return home to Venice after a war with France. Camillo brings the French lord Fontinelle as a prisoner, and presents him to his love Violetta. She falls for the Frenchman, so Camillo sends him to prison. Hippolito takes charge of the situation. He makes the courtesan Imperia dote on Fontinelle by sending her his picture; but Fontinelle refuses to accept her love and is taken back to his dungeon. Meanwhile Camillo’s attempts to woo Violetta back are met with rejection. Fontinelle escapes by changing clothes with Frisco, and, using Violetta’s page as a go-between, makes an assignation at a chapel, where they are secretly married. Afterwards, though, he takes up with Imperia. Camillo swears revenge on all three and leads a party of armed men to kill them and hang out their dead bodies. Violetta also goes to find her husband at Imperia’s, and is invited to join him in bed. Camillo’s men, the watch, and the Duke all arrive simultaneously at the brothel. The Duke prevents murder being done, but has Fontinelle arrested for adultery, which is a capital crime in Venice. Violetta denies that infidelity has occurred: it was all a plot laid by her and Fontinelle. In the sub-plot, Lazarillo also arrives in Venice from the wars and gets lodgings with Blurt the constable. He goes to Imperia’s house to lecture the ladies on Spanish marital conduct, and makes a nocturnal assignation with Imperia. Simperina makes another assignation with old Curvetto, but when he tries…
The Contention between Liberality and Prodigality
Anonymous · 1601 · Moral · Children of the Chapel (second) · before the Court;
Fortune rules the world even though her gifts are unreliable, whereas Virtue rewards genuine merit. The roisterer Prodigality and the miser Tenacity both sue to Fortune for the custody of her son Money, and this is granted to Prodigality. Meanwhile, various suitors approach Liberality, Virtue’s steward: the good are rewarded and the impatient told to wait and accrue desert. Prodigality falls into bad company and loses everything: Money has to pay all the bills, grows lean, and goes home to his mother. He is then granted to Tenacity, is kept indoors and grows fat for lack of exercise. Prodigality turns to burglary to steal back Money, but Fortune puts a halter around his neck as he is climbing into the house; he is saved from hanging when the rope snaps. He fatally assaults Tenacity, finds Money, and offers medical treatment for his obesity. Pursued by a hue and cry, he is arrested for robbery and murder. Money is given into the safe keeping of Liberality, and Prodigality is indicted and sentenced to death. He admits that his situation is the result of a bad life and over-reliance on Fortune. The court petitions Queen Elizabeth, in the audience, for a reprieve.
How a Man May Choose a Good Wife from a Bad
Anonymous (?) · 1602 · Comedy · Worcester's Men
Arthur has fallen out with his wife: he is bored with her, convinced she is always trying to put him down, and also just wants a change. When the couple’s fathers visit in an effort to achieve marital harmony, they enter without knocking and find Arthur beating his wife. Her father, Old Lusam, wants to take her home, but she won’t go; she also resists the efforts of Anselm to seduce her and rejects his criticisms of her husband. The fathers take her to Justice Reason in an attempt to have him intervene, but she will not co-operate and Reason will not get involved. Arthur becomes attracted to Mary, a courtesan whom the schoolmaster Aminadab also loves. Seeing her attentions to Arthur makes Aminadab suicidal, and he tries to obtain poison from Fuller, pretending he needs it for an infestation of rats; Fuller gives him a sleeping potion instead. Seeking to kill his wife, Arthur takes the ‘poison’ from Aminadab under cover of preventing his suicide, and holds a dinner party. One of the guests is Mary, but Mistress Arthur puts up even with this, only to be given ‘poisoned’ wine by her husband. Mistress Arthur is interred in her family vault. Anselm visits her tomb and she revives when he kisses her. He hides her in his mother’s house, but despite everything she remains faithful to her husband 1601 and resists her rescuer’s advances. Meanwhile Arthur marries Mary, but finds her an unloving, disobedient, spendthrift wife. In an attempt to win her trust, he tells her the guilty…
The Famous History of Sir Thomas Wyatt
Dekker, Thomas; Webster, John; Heywood, Thomas (?); Chettle, Henry (?) · 1602 · History · Worcester's Men
The King of England is dying. Northumberland and Suffolk conspire to disinherit his sister, Mary, in favour of Suffolk’s daughter, the reluctant Lady Jane Grey. When news arrives of the King’s death, they have her proclaimed Queen. Sir Thomas Wyatt, refusing to be a party to this, leaves court, and brings the news to Mary, who is living in frugal retirement. Northumberland and Suffolk raise an army against Mary, but Wyatt and the Lord Treasurer speak in the Council for a legal succession in accordance with the will of King Henry VIII. Mary is proclaimed Queen in London, and Lady Jane and her husband Guildford Dudley are arrested. Northumberland is ordered to discharge his troops and come to court, and is arrested. Suffolk is on the run. His servant, Holmes, brings him food, but also brings the Sheriff to arrest him. Holmes is paid well, but later strangles himself in remorse. Queen Mary begins to make fiscal arrangements, and reneges on her promise not to make any alteration in state religion: she plans to restore the Roman Catholic church. She also plans to marry Philip of Spain, contrary to the laws established by her father. Northumberland is executed. Disgusted at the prospect of Spanish infiltration, Wyatt raises rebellion in Kent. Part of Norfolk’s army defects to Wyatt on nationalist grounds, but when Pembroke bars the gates of London against him, his supporters slink away and he is arrested. Jane and Guildford are tried, and declare their innocence; Guildford notes…
The Family of Love
Barry, Lording · 1603 · Comedy · Children of the King's Revels
Glister forbids his ward Maria to see Gerardine, and confines her to his house. He is invited to a supper party at Purge’s, where Gerardine’s will is to be read. On the way, Gerardine and his friends pass beneath Maria’s window, and she warns him how dangerous it would be for him to climb up to see her, thereby dropping a hint. The will is read: Gerardine is going On a voyage overseas, and has made Maria his heir; his property is in a trunk, which is to be given into Glister’s safe-keeping until he returns. Glister takes delivery of the trunk. Once Maria is alone with the trunk, Gerardine emerges from it. Their tryst is interrupted by Lipsalve, who overheard Maria’s indirect instructions and now poses as Gerardine in hope of an assignation; he goes away unsuccessful, and Gerardine has sex with Maria, promising to marry her later. Glister is consulted first by Lipsalve and then by Gudgeon, each of whom wants magical help in cuckolding Purge. Glister agrees to a stratagem: Lipsalve must pretend to be away for a few days, but stay in his lodgings; Glister will conjure a spirit to bring Mistress Purge there. Each would-be lover is told that the spirit will take the form of the other, and that he must attack it with a whip supplied by Glister. Each keeps the appointment, and whips the other before they realize the trick that has been played on them. Mistress Purge is a member of the Family of Love, a radical Christian sect which is also a women’s sex club. Her husband overhears…
Sejanus His Fall
Jonson, Ben · 1603 · Tragedy · King's Men
While disaffected Romans whisper, the favourite Séjamus dominates the court with his spies and corruptly sells offices; it is rumoured that he seeks imperial status for himself. He has an affair with Livia and arranges the death by poison of her husband Drasiis} He and the Emperor MibETUS plot to destabilize the opposition, effectively led by Agtippinal To that end, they have Silii§ and @6rdus tried for treason before the Senate; Silius pre-empts the verdict by publicly committing suicide. Sejanus persuades Tiberius to retire from: Rome, but makes him suspicious by seeking to marry Livia (and so become part of the imperial family). Leaving Sejanus as his deputy in Rome, Tiberius also assigns Maer to watch and act against him. Sejanus returns to favour when he saves the Emperor’s life after a rockfall. The legalized harassment of dissent is stepped up: Agrippina’s son @aligala escapes from Rome with Macro, but his mother and brothers are arrested and condemned. Rumours of Tiberius’ debaucheries circulate in Rome, while his treatment of Sejanus seems increasingly ambiguous: the favourites’ allies and enemies seem both to be given high office. Portents like the appearance of a Biantisiake inside Sejanus’ statue prefigure his fall. He professes atheism, accepting only the power of Fertile, but at a religious ceremony the statue of Fortune turns her face from him. The Senate is summoned to hear a communication from the Emperor, and rumours circulate that Sejanus is to be invested…
The Phoenix
Middleton, Thomas · 1604 · Comedy · Children of Paul's (second) · before the Court;
The old Duke of Ferrara has reigned 45 years, and is now near death. He accepts his nobles’ advice that his son, ===== PAGE 76 ===== Prince Phoenix, should travel to other nations in order to prepare himself for government. Phoenix suspects a stratagem to have him out of the country at the time his father dies, jeopardizing the succession, so he decides instead to travel incognito within Ferrara itself, witnessing abuses which require reformation, but which would be concealed from a visitor known to be of high rank; he will be attended only by his servant Fidelio. Fidelio has a new stepfather, a sea-captain: against all advice, his mother Castiza has remarried, only to find herself tied to an abusive bully. The captain also regrets the marriage and is looking for a way out of it; so he agrees to sell his wife to the courtier Proditor. Phoenix and Fidelio hear of this and infiltrate the sales meeting in disguise: Fidelio poses as the scrivener who has.drawn up the contract, and Phoenix as a potential investor in the captain’s next voyage. Once the contract is signed and the money handed over, they confront the captain and force him to go into exile, giving the money to Castiza. Fidelio’s girlfriend has just lost her father, whose will leaves her in the custody of her uncle, the corrupt Justice Falso. He proposes to marry her, threatening to withhold payment of her dowry if she should marry anyone else (such as Fidelio). Fidelio goes to see her in disguise, bringing a letter…
Law Tricks
Day, John · 1604 · Comedy · Children of the Queen's Revels
Prince Polymetes arrives home with news that his sister Emilia has disappeared after an attack by the Turks on her temple; grieving at the news, Duke Ferneze goes to seek her, leaving Polymetes as his deputy. Meanwhile Emilia has escaped from the galleys by feigning lunacy, and now arrives in Genoa. She adopts an alias in order to test her brother, whom she has never met. His interest in her is not very brotherly: he loses his bookish tendencies and grows prodigal, spending public money on her. He arranges for her to lodge with his uncle, Count Lurdo, in order to facilitate access. Lurdo, who has just divorced his wife, the Countess, for alleged unchastity, tries to seduce Emilia with a view to getting his hands on the money Polymetes is spending on her. Meanwhile, Horatio fails in his efforts to seduce Lurdo’s ex-wife, the Countess, and takes her steadfastness in chastity badly. ===== PAGE 127 ===== 1604 He and Lurdo plot to get rid of her by poison, administered by Horatio. Ferneze returns in disguise with news of his own _death, and Polymetes makes plans to squander his inheritance. Then Ferneze returns in his own person, and Polymetes has to reassume his original studious persona. The Countess is buried, and the penitent Horatio visits her tomb; his page, who swapped the poison for a sleeping potion, is also there to take charge of her when she wakes, and scares Horatio by pretending to be her ghost. Polymetes pretends that his dissolute behaviour was just an act to test…
Arches of Triumph (The Royal Entry of King James I into London)
Harrison, Stephen; Dekker, Thomas; Middleton, Thomas; Jonson, Ben; Ruytinck, Simon; Cool, Jacob; Thorius, Raphael · 1604 · Royal Entry · before the Court;
King James formally enters the City of London. Arriving in Fenchurch Street at the first triumphal arch (representing London), the King is welcomed to London by the Genius of the City: with his accession, Britain has gained a liberty which the Genius anticipated ever since the city’s foundation by King Brute. He rebukes his daughters for their silence in the King’s presence, and commands the River Thames to utter some praise; the river replies that not all sincere joy has a tongue. The Genius commends the Lord Mayor of London to the King, and also greets Prince Henry and Queen Anne. At the second arch in Gracechurch Street, a Latin speech on behalf of the city’s resident Italians wishes him well and flatters him with his achievements as a philosopher. At the third arch by the Royal Exchange, a boy (speaking for the city’s resident Dutchmen, again in Latin) praises his virtues, especially in religion. The upper end of Soper Lane is the location of the New Arabia Felix Arch. The King’s approach wakes up some allegorical figures. Oblivion and Detraction are seeking to drain the fount of virtue, but they are dispelled by the King’s presence, and the fountain, hitherto almost dry, flows abundantly once more. King James is identified as the Phoenix and therefore Queen Elizabeth’s true successor, England as the Arabian nest where the monarch-bird is reborn from its own ashes. At the Little Conduit, he is approached by Sylvanus, a messenger from Lady Eirene, who has been banished…
The Widow's Tears
Chapman, George · 1604 · Comedy · Children of the Queen's Revels · Blackfriars;Whitefriars;Indoor Professional
Renouncing Fortune and devoting himself instead to the goddess Confidence, Tharsalio intends to woo the widowed Countess Eudora. His wooing technique is grossly sexual, and he also quarrels with a rival, Rebus. Rebuffed and mocked by his family, he seeks out Arsace and bribes her to advise Eudora not to marry him, but when he returns to her and throws out Rebus, he is rejected a second time. Finally, however, she accepts him, and their wedding is marked by a masque. ===== PAGE 180 ===== Lysander is concerned about his wife Cynthia’s constancy, and plans to test it by faking his own death: with the help of Lycus he undertakes a journey and sends back a report that he has been murdered by mountain bandits. His body is interred in the family monument; Cynthia and her waiting-woman go to live in the tomb in order to be near him. Lysander returns incognito, disguised as a soldier assigned as the sentinel of the cemetery. He successfully seduces Cynthia, but she insists that their liaison be conducted privately to avoid compromising her reputation. Tharsalio sees them kissing inside the tomb and takes revenge on the ‘sentinel’ by stealing one of the crucified bodies he is supposed to be watching. When this is discovered, Cynthia suggests disinterring Lysander’s body and substituting it for the stolen one. Lysander goes to fetch a crowbar, removes his disguise, and meets Tharsalio, who deduces what is happening and informs Cynthia. She is thus able to pretend that she knew who the…
The Fair Maid of Bristol
Anonymous · 1604 · Tragicomedy · King's Men · before the Court;
Chaloner, who expects to marry Sir Godfrey Umphreville’s daughter Annabel, takes his friend Vallenger to Sir Godfrey’s birthday party. Vallenger falls for Annabel himself, and a violent quarrel with Chaloner ensues; Vallenger is wounded, and Chaloner is disgraced in Sir Godfrey’s eyes. Annabel needs little persuasion to transfer her affections to Vallenger, and they become engaged. On hearing this, Chaloner returns to Bristol from London, disguised as an Italian doctor. Sentloe lives a hedonistic life with Florence, a courtesan, and ignores the moralistic advice of his friend Herbert. To demonstrate his friendship, Herbert follows the couple to Bristol and, taking the alias Blunt, gets himself hired as a servant by Sentloe. They attend Vallenger’s wedding, and, despite the occasion, Vallenger is smitten with Florence, and asks the Italian doctor to poison Sentloe and Annabel. In the meantime he meets with Florence, who admits that her true interest in Sentloe is limited to the contents of his purse. When Florence admires Annabel’s clothes, Vallenger gives them to her, leaving Annabel in her underwear. Florence asks Blunt to murder Sentloe. Outraged by his behaviour, Vallenger’s father turns him out, but Florence refuses to take him in. Blunt tells her that Sentloe is dead - too late, as Vallenger is no longer an eligible suitor, and Florence wishes the murder undone. In reality, Blunt has only given Sentloe a sleeping potion; but, ordered by Florence to frame Vallenger, he…
1 If You Know Not Me You Know Nobody, or The Troubles of Queen Elizabeth
Heywood, Thomas · 1604 · History · Queen Anne's Men
Wyatt's rebellion in support of QW@eenjane has been put down. QweenyiMary is enthroned, and rejects a Protestant petition for liberty of conscience; she then secures her power by imprisoning potential enemies and marrying PHilipyofiSpain. Her sister, BliZaBEthy is brought to Westminster under guard, examined about her complicity in the rebellion, and sent to the Tower. Philip rules England well, despite tension between Englishmen and Spaniards. Noblemen and commoners alike regret Elizabeth’s harsh treatment and the strictness of her imprisonment, and intervention by SUSSEX and Philip secures first better conditions, then a transfer to SimJHenry Bedingheld’s custody; he is horrified by her use of an English Bible. A murder attempt by two friars is prevented by the intervention of angels, and an attempt to trick Philip into sealing her death warrant is foiled when Gresham overhears the plot. Philip discharges Bedingfield and has Elizabeth brought to court. The royal sisters are reconciled, and, leaving England on his father’s business, Philip vows to return. The Catholic establishment continues to plot against the princess, and Queen Mary continues to promote Elizabeth's enemies. She dies, and prominent men rush to inform Elizabeth that she is now Queen, while the common people celebrate their liberation. Elizabeth reappoints all the old Queen’s officers, and declares her wish to reconcile the state. IHEIMayorsf WondGH gives her an English Bible.
Parasitaster, or The Fawn
Marston, John · 1604 · Comedy · Children of the Queen's Revels · Blackfriars;Paul's;Indoor Professional
After failing to persuade his son Tiberio to marry, Hercules, the widowed Duke of Ferrara, plans to marry Princess Dulcimel of Urbino, and sends Tiberio to negotiate the treaty. Hercules goes to Urbino himself, assumes the alias Faunus, meets Nymphadoro and Herod, and hears some unflattering remarks about himself in his other persona, Hercules. He gets them to introduce him at court, and becomes a favourite with the Duke of Urbino. Dulcimel would rather marry Tiberio than Hercules, and contrives to woo him using her father, Duke Gonzago, as an intermediary. She brings him a scarf which she has embroidered with a message, and tells him that it was sent by Tiberio; the outraged Gonzago gives it to the young man, thinking he is returning an unwanted would-be lover's gift. She then reports to ===== PAGE 176 ===== Gonzago that Tiberio intends to climb up the tree by her bedroom window and surreptitiously marry her. Gonzago repeats the plan back to Tiberio, revokes his diplomatic status, and orders him to leave Urbino. Instead, Tiberio. puts the plan into effect and marries Dulcimel in her bedroom. Faunus: observes the foolish behaviour of the courtiers at Urbino. Herod cuckolds his brother, the impotent Sir Amoroso, and gets his sister-in-law with child — in effect, dispossessing himself of the estate by producing an heir apparent. Donna Zoya, who bas not slept with her husband Zuccone for four years, feigns pregnancy, and the gossip spreads rapidly through the court, each person…
The Queen's Arcadia (Arcadia Reformed)
Daniel, Samuel · 1605 · Pastoral · before the Court;at University;
Arcadia is no longer the place of pastoral simplicity it once was: old shepherds have grown litigious, young ones are falling in love unwisely and unrequitedly, and the nymphs, who seem less beautiful than before, have abandoned the modest simplicity of traditional Arcadian dress in favour of quirky new fashions. The problems arise from foreign influences on this previously sequestered land. Colax has travelled abroad, and brought back with him the city woman Techne, and they are selfishly interfering in the love- lives of the nymphs and shepherds: they have made Silvia and Palaemon jealous of one another with mendacious tales of infidelity; and Colax has persuaded Dorinda to jilt Myrtillus in his favour, making her the latest in a string of sexual conquests. Meanwhile Lincus, a lawyer, and Doctor Alcon have both come from town to set up practices in Arcadia. Lincus has found the local amity bad for business: the Arcadians do not covet one another’s property and so never go to law. For Alcon, however, the Arcadians’ fellow-feeling is profitable, because when one falls ill, others follow suit, and they all want the same medicine from him — which is just as well, because he has only one to offer, and that is a placebo. Both are keen to drum up trade, so Lincus has set Montanus and Acrisius against one another, and Alcon has introduced the Arcadians to an unhealthy habit: tobacco-smoking. Carinus (who has recently jilted Amaryllis) and Amyntas are rivals for the love of Cloris,…
Eastward Ho
Chapman, George; Jonson, Ben; Marston, John · 1605 · Comedy · Children of the Queen's Revels · Blackfriars;Indoor Professional
The goldsmith [owehstone has two apprentices, the rebellious prodigal QUIEKSIWVEF and the virtuous Golding, and two daughters, the proud Gertrude and the modest Mildréd. Mistress Touchstone insists that Gertrude should marry above her rank to Sim@PéetronelFlash, while Touchstone bestows Mildred on Golding. Quicksilver is sacked after appearing for work drunk; Golding is also released from his indentures to become his former master’s son-in-law. Quicksilver considers becoming a merchant, then conspires with Security to entrap Sir Petronel Flash into debt to finance the secret expedition to Virginia he is planning. While Gertrude travels to her new husband’s fictitious country castle, Sir Petronel plans a _ - sexual liaison with [Winifméd| Security’s wife. Quicksilver and Sir Petronel both set sail, each in a different vessel, with the jealous S€@uirity following in a third, but a storm wrecks all three boats at Cuckold’s Haven. Winifred convinces Security that his suspicions are groundless. Quicksilver and Sir Petronel are arrested and sent to prison by Golding, now a deputy alderman, on suspicion of stealing from Touchstone. They and Security become penitent in their incarceration, but Touchstone is determined to prosecute them. Golding wishes to be more forgiving, and feigns his own imprisonment to bring his father-in-law to the jail. There Touchstone sees and accepts the sincerity of the miscreants’ repentance; Quicksilver, Sir Petronel, and Security are released, and…
The Triumphs of Reunited Britannia
Munday, Anthony · 1605 · Civic Pageant
‘The ship the Royal Exchange returns to London laden with merchandise. Its crew are delighted to learn that the ship’s owner has just been sworn in as the new Lord Mayor, and fire the guns in a joyous salute. Britannia and Brute discuss how, in the distant past, he conquered her. He civilized the land by driving out the giants, changed her name from Albion to Britannia, a variant of his own, and built New Troy. He then divided Britain into three kingdoms for his three sons. The kingdoms argue that the result was war: Humber, King of the Huns, invaded and killed Albanact, only to be defeated by an alliance of Locrine and Camber and drowned in the river which now bears his name. Later ===== PAGE 238 ===== Locrine committed adultery with Elstrid, and both were killed by Locrine’s wife, Gwendoline. So much for the past. But now a second Brute has emerged from Albanact’s kingdom to undo the damage and reunite Britannia: that is why she now rides in triumph. New Troy (latterly London) and England's principal rivers welcome the King. Pheme leads a chariot of dignity bearing the shields of seven kings of England who favoured the Merchant Taylors’ Company. The seven figures on the chariot describe the institutional evolution of the guild under these successive kings. But there is a seat vacant, the highest place of all, to be occupied by King James. Neptune and Amphitrita pronounce blessings on King James and the new Lord Mayor, and enjoin the latter to rule justly and well.
Northward Ho
Dekker, Thomas; Webster, John · 1605 · Comedy · Children of Paul's (second)
Luke Greenshield has failed to seduce Moll Mayberry in her husband’s absence; now he dines with Mayberry at Ware and describes how he slept with an unnamed wife, showing him her wedding ring. Mayberry grows jealous and hurries back to London to confront Moll, but is satisfied by her explanation that the ring was stolen. Seeking revenge, he has her play up to Greenshield’s advances on his next visit to the house. Greenshield arranges lodgings at one of Mayberry’s houses for himself and Kate, a young woman whom he introduces as his sister, but who is actually his wife. The servants are soon aware that they are sleeping together, and also that Kate has a habit of sleep- walking around the house and ending up in Featherstone’s bedroom; actually she is shamming with a view to visiting Featherstone, her lover. ===== PAGE 241 ===== 1605 Meanwhile, Philip is arrested for debt after spending lavishly on the prostitute Doll. His father Bellamont grudgingly pays up and he is released; the price of Philip’s freedom is to have to listen to some moralistic exhortation. In response, he conspires with Doll (who has a tendency to swindle her clients out of money and valuables by way of love-gifts). She poses as a wealthy lady who wants to hire Bellamont to write some verses; Philip then introduces her as the girlfriend whom Bellamont criticized. Doll is smitten with the old man and visits him at home; but when she arrives, he is engaged with Captain Jenkins, Doll’s client, who also wants to…
All Fools
1605 · Comedy · Children of the Queen's Revels · before the Court;Blackfriars;Indoor Professional
alerio and Fortunio are both in love, but the strictness of Valerio's father Gostanzo crosses them both: Valerio has married Gratiana in secret and must keep the fact from Gostanzo, who wrongly thinks him a model of virtue; and Fortunio loves Valerio's sister Bellanora but can gain no access to her. Rinaldo resolves both problems by tellingGostanzo thatGratiana is Fortunio's wife and that his father Marc Antonio, angry at not being consulted about the match, has disowned him. Gostanzo offers to take in the 'couple' until Marc Antonio's displeasure passes; there Fortunio will learn from Valerio's good example. However, when he sees Valerio behaving amorously with Gratiana, Gostanzo insists that she leaves. Rinaldo next lodges Gratiana with Marc Antonio, telling him the truth that she is really Valerio's wife and that the story about Fortunio was a blind to gull Gostanzo. Marc Antonio believes this at first, until Gostanzo persuades him otherwise; when Valerio seeks his forgiveness for his secret marriage, he thinks this a device to deceive Marc Antonio, and gives the couple his blessing. Valerio has been made to look a fool when Cornelio and Dariotto persuade him to sing and play for them. He gets even by spreading a rumour that Dariotto has cuckolded Cornelio, who wounds the courtier in reprisal and then sets about divorcing his wife. As he is signing the divorce papers, however, he gets a nosebleed and, thinking it ominous, defers it till the next court day. On being told…
2 The Honest Whore (2 The Converted Courtesan)
Dekker, Thomas · 1605 · Comedy · Prince Henry's Men
On his way to court, Hippolito receives petitioners, including the reformed courtesan Bellafront: she wants his help in petitioning the Duke to pardon her husband Matheo, who has been condemned to death for homicide. Hippolito solicits the help of Bellafront’s father Orlando, but he is still morally outraged at her former sexual misconduct. Nevertheless he secretly arranges for Matheo’s release, and enters his household disguised as a servingman, Pacheco. Matheo proves dissolute, and when ‘Pacheco’ gives him money for safe keeping, he gambles it all away. Bellafront is trying not to let poverty and Matheo’s prodigality force her back into prostitution. Hippolito, who converted her from whoredom, now tries to seduce her back again. She sends ‘Pacheco’ to return his love-tokens, but ‘Pacheco’ instead takes them to Infelice, who identifies them as her own gifts to Hippolito. She interrogates Hippolito’s go-between, Brian the footman, then tells her husband that Brian gave her the love-tokens and had an affair with her. Brian is dismissed and goes home to Ireland. Desperate for money, Matheo strips the gown from his wife’s back and sells it. Lodovico promises to furnish him as a gentleman, so he is properly dressed when Orlando visits in his own person. The old man feigns lack of sympathy, then returns as Pacheco in time to prevent Matheo assaulting Bellafront. Prompted by Orlando, the Duke takes a hand: he issues a warrant to arrest Matheo for robbing two pedlars (who were…
Caesar and Pompey (The Wars of Caesar and Pompey)
Chapman, George · 1605 · Tragedy · Unacted (?)
The armies of Caesar and Pompey are both dangerously close to Italy: Pompey’s has been summoned by the Senate, fearful of Caesar’s ambition, and this provoked Caesar to bring up his own forces. The Senate meets to discuss the issue. Caesar’s agents unsuccessfully try to keep out his incorruptible enemy, Cato. Caesar arranges for a motion to be put to allow Pompey’s army to enter Italy, as a pretext to allow his to do the same; but this meets with the opposition of Cato. A quarrel erupts between Caesar and Pompey, and the Senate orders Caesar to disband his army, whilst requiring Pompey to mobilize in defence of the state. Civil war ensues. Fearing that the war will put a stop to his long criminal career, Fronto tries to hang himself. The devil Ophioneus prevents him and offers him a senior position in the priesthood in return for his service. Fronto declines ecclesiastical preferment, but is content to accept a more secular office. Pompey flees Rome to avoid an early battle. His ally Vibius is taken prisoner after a daring exploit goes wrong; Caesar salutes his bravery and sends him back to Pompey with an offer of peace. Pompey’s troops are gathering: Brutus joins him, despite bearing him a grudge, and so do the kings of five of Rome’s satellite states. Meanwhile the convergence of Caesar’s forces is hindered by Pompey’s navy, until it is dispersed by a tempest. Vibius brings Caesar’s offer of peace, but Brutus persuades Pompey that it must be a trap. Pompey prepares for his…
A Trick to Catch the Old One
Middleton, Thomas · 1605 · Comedy · Children of Paul's (second)
The spendthrift Witgood has mortgaged all his lands to his uncle, Lucre, but he is still in debt, and fear of his creditors keeps him away from London. Nevertheless he must go there if he is to make his fortune by marrying Joyce, the wealthy niece to Lucre’s enemy Walkadine Hoard. He conspires with Jane, a courtesan, to give the impression that he now has good prospects: she poses as a rich country widow who plans to marry him. Lucre’s attitude to his nephew is immediately transformed: hoping to acquire the widow’s lands too after the wedding, he denies the existence of the mortgage and lends Witgood money for new clothes. News of the widow also attracts Witgood’s creditors, but he persuades them that if they are over-attentive they will break his engagement, and thereby wreck their chances of repayment: the widow must continue to believe him to be financially secure. To that end, they eagerly agree to lend him even more money. Meanwhile Jane herself is a magnet for suitors, including the young men who were earlier trying to woo the reluctant Joyce, who is only interested in Witgood. Hoard throws his hat in the ring, bringing gentlemen to give Witgood a bad testimonial and discredit Lucre’s claims that there is no mortgage. Jane denies that she has any lands, but Hoard takes it for winsomeness and insists that her love is all that matters. They arrange an elopement; she absconds from Witgood at a tavern and marries Hoard. Lucre intervenes, not knowing he is too late, and…
The Fleer
Sharpham, Edward · 1606 · Comedy · Children of the Queen's Revels · Blackfriars;Indoor Professional
Before the start of the action, Piso deposed Antifront, whose daughters thereupon fled from Florence. Antifront now travels in search of his missing children. He arrives in London under the alias Fleer, and meets some gentlemen. One of them, Spark, gets him a job with two of his countrywomen, a pair of Florentine courtesans working in London. Antifront is dismayed to discover that they are his missing daughters. Two sisters, Susan and Nan, are interested in Spark and his friend Ruffle, who are among the courtesans’ many clients. They dress up as boys and try to get the gentlemen to employ them as pages; Spark and Ruffle refuse, and the ‘pages’ end up working for two other clients, Sir John Havelittle and Piso junior, the son of the Florentine usurper. ‘Fleer’ wants to engineer a marriage for his daughters, selecting Havelittle and Piso as the eligible bachelors. The daughters prefer Spark and Ruffle, but are refused; taking offence, they ask Piso and Havelittle to kill the gentlemen, and suggest poison as the safest method. The plot is overheard by ‘Fleer’ and the ‘pages’. ‘Fleer’ gets himself another job looking after an apothecary’s shop, and sells Piso and Havelittle a poison which is really a sleeping potion. Spark and Ruffle dine with Piso and Havelittle and apparently die. The hosts are at once arrested on suspicion of poisoning and are committed for trial. Fleer is sent on an errand to the senior judge, who is unable to attend through illness, and sends word back for…
Volpone, or The Fox
Jonson, Ben · 1606 · Comedy · King's Men
The wealthy Welpone has no family to inherit his gold. Seeking to augment his riches, he pretends to be mortally ill, and receives visitors bringing gifts and false solicitude in the hope of being named his heir. His servant Mosea encourages one of them, SlG@IGGrbaccio} to make a will in Volpone’s favour in hope of reciprocation, temporarily disinheriting his own son Bonario. He also engages Volpone’s interest in @éliaj the wife of @Grvinid) another visitor. Eager to see her, Volpone poses as a mountebank selling potions; Celia watches from a window and expresses her interest by dropping her handkerchief before the jealous Corvino intervenes and locks her away. The sight of Celia has inflamed Volpone’s sexual desire, so Mosca makes the necessary arrangements. He tells Corvino that the mountebank’s medicine, bought by his rivals, has wrought an improvement in Volpone’s condition, and that physicians have prescribed a cure: Volpone must sleep beside a healthy, vigorous young woman. @6rviniG decides to proffer Gélid for the purpose, getting himself back into favour; even if the cure works, Volpone can always be murdered later once he has made his will. On the way back to Volpone’s house, Mosca meets BOnari6, tells him of Corbaccio’s plans to make a new will, and counters Bonario’s scepticism by offering to place him where he can watch it happen. He then returns in time to free Volpone from the unwelcome company of the loquacious Dady§WoOulasBe: on being told that her husband…
The Isle of Gulls
Day, John · 1606 · Comedy · Children of the Queen's Revels · Blackfriars;Indoor Professional
Three members of the audience ask the Prologue about the play they are to see, The Isle of Gulls. They prove to have irreconcilable tastes in drama: one wants satire, one bawdy, and one bombast, but all eventually agree to give the play a chance. Concerned about his daughters’ unsuitable suitors, Basilius retires with them for a year to an uninhabited, fortified island, leaving his brother to rule Arcadia in his stead. A proclamation challenges royal would-be suitors to win the princesses by stealth. This attracts Julio and Amintor to the island, alerted by Basilius’ unworthy favourite Dametas; and also Lysander and Demetrius, respectively disguised as Zelmane, an Amazon, and Dorus, a woodman. ‘Zelmane’ becomes Violetta’s companion, and Demetrius enters Dametas’ service. Dametas arranges an opportunity for Julio and Amintor to rape the princesses by isolating them during a hunt. They kidnap the girls, but ‘Zelmane’ and ‘Dorus’ rescue them. ‘Dorus’ is rewarded with an appointment as Hippolita’s attendant, but the incident also casts doubt on ‘Zelmane’s’ gender, so Lysander loses his access to Violetta. Basilius and Gynecia are both enamoured of Lysander (each believing him to be a different sex), and each persuades him to accept the other’s advances for sport. Meanwhile Dametas’ daughter Mopsa falls in love with ‘Dorus’. Amintor and Julio continue to have ill success: they pose as envoys from Basilius’ brother, appealing for him to deal with an outbreak of abuses, corruption,…
A Yorkshire Tragedy
Middleton, Thomas · 1606 · Tragedy · King's Men · Globe;Outdoor Professional
News arrives from London that a young woman's absent lover has married somebody else. It was a lucky escape for her: he has turned out to be a wastrel and a gambler, has got into debt, and is treating his wife badly; he will not listen to remonstrance and responds ungratefully to attempts to help him. An appeal by the Master of his brother's college, made after the brother is imprisoned for his debts, finally makes him realize what his prodigality has cost his family and descendants. Stricken with remorse, he takes command of his fate by murdering his son and heir, then assaulti
The Miseries of Enforced Marriage
Wilkins, George · 1606 · Tragedy · King's Men
The ward William Scarborow betroths himself to Clare Harcop, but on his return to London he is forced to marry Katherine, the niece of his guardian, Lord Falconbridge. He is rewarded with control of his own’ and his younger brothers’ property. He writes to tell Clare the news of his unwelcome marriage; upon receiving the letter, she dies (possibly by suicide). ===== PAGE 337 ===== 1606 Scarborow takes her death badly: he blames his wife, and becomes prodigal. Ilford fakes his own arrest for debt in order to induce Scarborow to guarantee the supposed loan, thereby defrauding him of his money. This still leaves him with the patrimony of his younger brothers, Thomas and John; but he spends it, and drunkenly assaults his friends and kinsmen. The brothers and the honest family servant Butler are forced into theft to keep themselves from starvation. They steal £300 from Harcop, Clare’s father, which they use to make their sister appear to be a rich woman. Butler tricks Ilford into marrying her, but on learning that she is penniless her new husband throws her out; Butler offers to support her out of his meagre wages. Thomas confronts and fights with his elder brother, but saves his life when they are attacked by Ilford. Now penitent, Thomas declares his intention to confess to Harcop that he and John stole the money, even though it will mean hanging for them both. John falls out with him over this, but they are reconciled by Butler. Dr Baxter, who married Scarborow to Katherine,…
The Two Maids of More-Clacke
Armin, Robert · 1606 · Comedy · Children of the King's Revels
Before the action, James Humil wrote to his wife from what he took to be his deathbed. Believing herself widowed, she made swift arrangements for her remarriage to Sir William Vergir, with the support of her son, who hoped to marry one of Sir William’s daughters, Now, on her way back from the wedding, she sees James in the street. She loses her glove, and offers a reward for its discovery: the person who finds . it will have the honour of deciding the festivities in celebration of her second marriage. This is a ruse to enable her to see James, who has found the glove. She tells him that, though she genuinely thought him dead, she contracted her second marriage as a means of paying his debts and securing a desirable match for ===== PAGE 471 ===== 1608 their son. She takes on James as a servant, and tells her second husband that she will only consummate the marriage once Young Humil is married to his elder daughter, Mary. Since both daughters are already engaged, Sir William tries to put off the fiancés by setting impossible conditions: Toures will only be allowed to marry Mary after she has died and come back to life; Young Filbon will get Tabitha only if he becomes a woman. Filbon sends a letter to Tabitha via Touch, Sir William’s servant, but the letter is found and Touch dismissed; Tabitha becomes estranged from her father. Toures visits Mary disguised as a tinker, and they go off to Putney to get married. Tabitha has two other suitors ~ Auditor, Toures’s father, and the…
The Whore of Babylon
Dekker, Thomas · 1606 · Allegorical History · Prince Henry's Men
WitaHid becomes Queen of Fairyland and restores respect to Truth and her book; friars, cardinals, and other ecclesiastical figures are expelled from the kingdom. All this infuriates theiBmpressioriBabylony who had banished Truth to the wilderness, claiming her to be an impostor. She sends three Kings to Fairyland to seduce Titania, while Cardinalg@omoG sends agents to convert the populace at grass roots level. The Kings woo Titania with a masque, but, advised by her fairy lords, she rejects them. Two of the Kings leave Fairyland, but the third, Satyrane} stays on to plot against her; one of his stratagems entails a magical attack via a wax effigy, but the conjurer is caught burying it in a dunghill and arrested. Titania pardons her physician, DejParidelly who has ~ been sentenced to death on a charge of attempted murder, but he secretly resents being beholden to her. He secures her permission to travel abroad, where he is recruited as an agent of Babylon. She refuses to receive the malcontented scholar @amMipeiis at court. He encounters Satyrane, who sympathizes with his annoyance at Fairyland’s treatment of academics, assures him that they are better used overseas, and persuades him to defect to Babylon. Since marriage overtures have failed, the Empress’s policy turns to assassination. She receives Campeius and the physician Ropus and sends them back to Fairyland. Traitors emerge out of the earth, summoned by Falsehood posing as Truth, but all are identified and arrested:…
The Revenger's Tragedy
Middleton, Thomas · 1606 · Tragedy · King's Men
Nine years ago, the DUKE poisoned Gl@fiana when she refused to submit to his sexual advances; Windies has preserved her skull. HippOlit6 is given the task of recruiting a pander for the Duke’s son [iisstinioso, and brings Mimdiee, his brother, to court in disguise. The object of seduction turns out to be their sister, @AStiZa. Vindice undertakes the task, incognito as the pander (Piato’; he is delighted at Castiza’s outraged rejection, but less pleased at their mother’s venal readiness to countenance a liaison between her daughter and the heir apparent. ‘Piato’ reports this limited success back to Lussurioso. The Prince changes his initial plans to visit Castiza that night when he learns of a chance to catch his bastard brother Spud in bed with the DweHessl However, Spurio has changed his plans too, in the expectation of catching Lussurioso in the act of raping Castiza; so when Lussurioso bursts in on the Duchess with his sword drawn, it is the Duke who is with her, and he is arrested. Two of the Duchess’s sons plead insincerely for their stepbrother’s release, and put their pleas into reverse when the Duke, recognizing their malice, agrees to pardon him. Finally, without their knowledge, he sends order for Lussurioso to be freed. Meanwhile, the Duchess’s younger son, Jaimi6r has raped Ammtonio'siwifé at a recent court masque. He is tried and convicted for the crime, but the Duke defers sentencing until a later date. The victim poisons herself in shame; and a group of lords,…
The Devil's Charter, or Pope Alexander the Sixth
Barnes, Barnabe · 1606 · Tragedy · King's Men · before the Court;
During a papal election, Roderigo Borgia both bribes the conclave and sells his soul to the Devil. These actions ensure his election as Pope Alexander VI. He makes his son Caesar a cardinal and his other son, the Duke of Gandy, the general of the papal armies. To nepotism he adds incest with his daughter, Lucretia; among many other crimes, he also poisons cardinals for their money and makes homosexual advances to the vanquished prince, Astor Manfredi. Later, seeking to acquire the lands of Astor and his brother, he has them put to sleep with opium, then kills them with poisonous snakes and gives out that they died from over-exerting themselves at tennis. King Charles of France enters Italy to press his claim to the Neapolitan throne, and is given assistance by Lodowick Sforza. Their army marches on Rome. Alexander has secured a marriage alliance with the current rulers of Naples, and so: favours Ferdinand, Charles’s rival claimant. On Caesar’s advice, he ===== PAGE 344 ===== reluctantly allows Charles to enter Rome and capitulates to his demands. Charles takes Naples, but dies after returning to France, and Ferdinand takes back the throne; Charles’s successor, King Louis, invades again. Frustrated by the restrictions imposed by her jealous husband, Lucretia Borgia traps him in a trick chair which immobilizes him; she agrees to spare his life on condition that he signs a document she has prepared, but afterwards she stabs him to death anyway. The document turns out to be a…
Lingua, or The Combat of the Tongue and the Five Senses for Superiority
Tomkis, Thomas · 1607 · Allegorical Comedy
Lingua wants to be a sense, but feels that the five established senses are preventing her from pleading her cause with the judge Common Sense. Having failed to appeal to the senses’ various proclivities, she decides to cause discord between them. She is in possession of a crown and robe which were to have been the prize in a public-speaking competition, but which came to her, as the patroness of oratory, when the five contestants were all adjudged equal; now the inscription promising the crown to the greatest of the five will put the five senses at odds. Tactus comes upon the robe and crown: he puts them on, gets delusions of grandeur, and unsuccessfully tries to conceal his find from the other senses. When Lingua’s page Mendacio tells them that the objects were left by Mercury, they begin to quarrel over precedence and mobilize troops against one another. Lingua reports the discord to Common Sense, and Mendacio describes the various animals in the armies. Common Sense defuses the conflict by deciding to judge the senses’ relative worthiness: each sense will present his case in a show. While the shows are in preparation, he hears Lingua’s petition to become the sixth sense: she asserts her importance as a medium of communication; but the senses put in a counter-plea drawing attention to her misdeeds. The shows are performed. Visus presents Light and Colour, Heaven and Earth, while Auditus offers Comedy and Tragedy. Olfactus’ show features Odour and Tobacco, currently the…
Croesus
Alexander, William · 1607 · Tragedy
Alexander the Great is dead, poisoned by Cassander. He leaves behind a pregnant widow but no definite heir. Unable to get into the underworld because as yet unburied, his ghost returns to earth and recounts his life story, a tale of escalating atrocity as power progressively divorced him from ordinary humanity. He decides to inspire his captains with ambition and bloodlust. The captains are unable to agree on how best to secure the Macedonian Empire, and various proposals are advanced: to await the birth of Alexander's posthumous child, and appoint a regent in the interim; to crown either Alexander’s bastard brother or his elder son, who is half-barbarian and so unacceptable to the people; to split up the empire between themselves. The only thing they can agree on is that the common foot-soldiers should have no say in the decision. Lysimachus and Seleucus decide to bide their time, let their fellow captains wear themselves out with wrangling, and then step in to take the empire for themselves. Meleager tries to have Perdiccas, his rival, murdered, but the plot fails and Perdiccas responds in kind with more success. When Alexander’s child is born, it is a son. Perdiccas and others become his joint regents, but Perdiccas schemes for personal supremacy. He removes his two colleagues in the regency, gives the other captains their own kingdoms in an effort to secure their loyalty, and plans to marry into the royal family. Two of his new subject kings, Antigonus and Ptolemy, ally…
The Insatiate Countess
Machin, Lewis; Barkstead, William; Marston, John · 1607 · Tragedy · Children of the Queen's Revels (?); Children of the King's Revels (?) · Whitefriars;Indoor Professional
Suitors visit Isabella, who is in open mourning for her dead husband, but secretly glad to be free of his jealousy and restrictions. She accepts Count Roberto’s suit and they are married the following day; but when she dances with Count Rogero in the wedding masque, her affections turn. She woos Rogero by letter and elopes with him to Pavia; Roberto enters holy orders. At Pavia, Rogero is visited by his friend Gniaca; Isabella falls in love with the newcomer, and feigns illness to give herself an opportunity to seduce him. After bedding Gniaca, she then feigns penitence to free herself from Rogero. The spurned lover takes his revenge by circulating bitter satires on Isabella’s promiscuity, so she sets on Gniaca to kill him. In the attempt, Gniaca is reconciled with his former friend, so Isabella seduces Don Sago, colonel in the Spanish power occupying Pavia, to murder both Rogero and Gniaca. Sago kills Rogero, and is arrested, but pardoned by the Duke of Medina. Isabella’s attempt to bribe the Duke fails to secure her freedom, and she is beheaded after a scaffold reconciliation with Roberto. In the sub-plot, the enemies Claridiana and Mizaldus are both married on the same day. They quarrel when they meet, and Mizaldus’s wife Abigail and Lady Lentulus, who are close friends, compare notes and swap places: each receives her own husband in the other’s bedroom. Meanwhile their friends Mendosa and Lady Lentulus, attracted to one another, try to circumvent the latter’s vow not to…
Ram Alley, or Merry Tricks
Barry, Lording · 1608 · Comedy · Children of the King's Revels
The rich heiress Constantia Somerfield disguises herself as a page and enters the employ of her beloved, Boucher, intending to keep an eye on his fidelity. The rich widow Taffeta drops a handkerchief to get Boucher’s attention, and invites him into her house. Despite a prophecy that a widow will endanger his life, soul, lands, and reputation, Boucher is attracted to her. He has several rivals, including the old knight Sir Oliver Smallshank and Captain Puff, who claims marital rights in Taffeta and threatens to attack anyone who shows any sexual interest in her. Sir Oliver comes to woo Taffeta, but hides under her farthingale when Puff arrives. Puff assaults her, and Sir Oliver is forced out of his hiding place. Seeing the advantages of being a courtier’s wife, Taffeta agrees to marry him. Sir Oliver’s younger son, Will, is in debt, and his lands are mortgaged to Throat the lawyer. He pretends to have eloped with Constantia, but the woman he introduces to his family is actually his whore, Frances. He leaves her with Throat while he goes to arrange the wedding, asking Throat to confirm his cover story: that he has expectations of becoming a lord. Throat tells her the truth, that Will is a penniless fortune-hunter, and woos the lady for himself. When Will takes her, ostensibly to a nocturnal marriage ceremony, Throat has them attacked in the darkened streets. They are separated from Frances, whom Throat then marries himself. Will arranges to have himself arrested for debt when…
The Faithful Shepherdess
Fletcher, John · 1608 · Pastoral Tragicomedy · Children of the Queen's Revels
Having buried her love, @I6Tifi swears to live a life of chastity ever after, abstaining from her fellow shepherdesses’ amorous sports; instead she will live by his grave and devote herself to herbal medicine. She attracts the attentions of a passing Saji, but he only wants to give her fruit; as her mother always told her, preserving her virginity has protected her from harm. Périgot makes a date with Almoret] and refuses the advances of Almiaryllis} who then plots with a sullen, malcontented shepherd to cross their love. Using herbs and a magic well, she transforms herself into Amoret’s shape, and makes unchaste advances to PeHgOu thinking the worst, Perigot then attacks the real Amoret. After he has gone, the sullen shepherd tries to finish the job by throwing her into the well, but the God of the River rescues her and heals her wounds. GhIGE) eager for sex, propositions a number of boys. [HEHE is only interested in Ql6rin, but(GHIGe manages Daphnis turns out to want a chaste lover, so Chloe sends him off on a fool’s errand looking for a hollow tree, and hopes for better luck with Alexis. She also takes the fancy of the sullen shepherd, who attacks and wounds Alexis; but the confrontation is interrupted by the chance arrival of the Satjr. The sullen shepherd is scared off, and the Satyr brings \ANGRIS to Clorin for medical treatment. Chloe decides that joining Daphiig inside his hollow tree will be better than nothing. Ammaryllis confesses her shape-shifting ruse to a…
The Tragedy of Charles Duke of Byron
Chapman, George · 1608 · Tragedy · Children of the Queen's Revels
The ambitious Duke of Biron has been offered the crown by a conspiracy of France’s foreign enemies. He pacifies a Huguenot rebellion in Brittany, but suspects - that, now the country is at peace, his military services will no longer be required or even valued by the King. His ally, La Fin, supplies the King with incriminating evidence of his involvement in a plot. [A lacuna in the text follows. The Queen has a quarrel with the King’s mistress, and slaps her.] The two rival ladies make it up by performing together in a masque: Biron is recalled to court. La Fin assures him that all suspicions about his loyalty have been cleared, and- encourages him to go. Against the advice of his other friends, Biron does, thinking his reputation for valour — will make his enemies think twice about arresting him. Henry’s declared intention is to spare him if he will only confess, but Biron is proud and stubborn. He finds himself shunned by the courtiers, and learns that various horses he was given have all died, just as happened when the Earl of Essex fell. He and his ally D’Auvergne are both arrested. A Spanish ambassador asks permission for an army to cross French soil en route to Flanders; King Henry suspects it was originally levied to invade France, but nevertheless gives his permission. He sends despatches to inform foreign courts of Biron’s treason. The French - peers decline to be present at the trial. Biron is confronted with La Fin as chief prosecution witness, and claims that La…
The Dumb Knight
Markham, Gervase; Machin, Lewis · 1608 · Tragicomedy · Children of the King's Revels
The King of Cyprus, in love with the Queen of Sicily; lays siege to her city, but accepts the Queen’s proposal that they settle the affair with a trial by combat: the King and his champion Philocles versus the Duke of Epire and Lord Alfonso. Epire defeats the King but is bested in a play-off with Philocles; the Queen accepts the outcome and submits to the King’s love, but Epire swears to avenge his dishonour. Philocles woos Epire’s sister, Mariana, but gets the brush-off. Asked to set him a task to prove his love, she demands that he remain silent for a year; when he swears to do so, she is pleased not to have to listen to any more love-talk from him. His dumbness is taken to be a malady, which medicine fails to remedy. The King offers a reward for a successful cure ~ but those who try unsuccessfully will be executed. Mariana offers to achieve the cure, but Philocles will not speak at her command and she is duly sentenced to death. Philocles waits until the headsman is about to strike before speaking out. She is spared, but Philocles refuses to marry her until she demonstrates that she cares as much for him as he for her. Epire’s vindictive vexation grows. Epire suggests to the King that the Queen is having an affair with Philocles: he takes his opportunities to put the Queen into Philocles’ company, and arranges for the King to see them dancing and playing cards together. They are arrested and imprisoned, and parliament condemns them to death. Epire’s plan is to proclaim…
Epicene, or The Silent Woman
Jonson, Ben · 1609 · Comedy · Children of the Queen's Revels
Dauphine's obsessively noise-hating uncle, Morose. has threatened to disinherit him by taking a wife and begetting a son and heir. He has engaged a gen ts to seek a silent woman for his bride, and the barber, Cutbeard, seems to have found him one, Mistress Epicoenc. Truewit goes to him in disguise and tries to dissuade him from marriage; but this makes him the more determined to go ahead with it straight away. He inspects Epicoene, is pleased by her silence, and marries her. Almost at once he learns that she is able to speak loudly. Sir Amorous La Poole is holding a dinner for the members of a college of ladies, but the gallants divert the collegians to Morose's house, to celebrate his wedding. They persuade La Poole that Sir John Daw has arranged this to dishonour him. La Foole dresses up as a sewer to serve the meat. Mistress Otter comes along with him, and the gallants arrange for her to witness her henpecked husband criticizing her behind her back - which earns him a beating. The collegians hold her up as an example to Epicoene: she must establish her dominance in the household. The gallants persuade Dauphine that the two knights have slandered him, and tell each of the knights in turn that the other intends to fight him. Both are so anxious to avoid a duel that each agrees to be beaten by the other; Dauphine does the beating and takes their swords from them. The ladies witness the event, and see the knights' unworthiness; they transfer their affections to Dauphine and…
A Woman Is a Weathercock
Field, Nathan · 1609 · Comedy · Children of the Queens Revels (Children of the Whitefriars) (?) · before the Court;Whitefriars;Whitehall;Indoor Professional
Scudmore is in love with Bellafront, and his friend Nevill persuades him, with difficulty, to show the love- letter he has received from her. There is a slight complication: Nevill is on his way to .Bellafront’s wedding. She is to marry Count Frederick that morning. The whole family is mired in matrimonial competition. Bellafront’s sister Lucida also loves Frederick, and has sworn never to marry for his sake; but she is being courted by the foolish Sir Abraham Ninny, who has got himself knighted expressly to make himself a more eligible son-in-law. The youngest daughter, Katherine, is also to be married that morning, to Strange the merchant, but she too has another admirer, Captain Pouts. Unbeknown to Scudmore, Nevill impersonates the parson who is to officiate at the wedding. Scudmore tries to catch Bellafront at the church door, but she refuses him; this convinces him that all women are perfidious. After the wedding, Pouts publicly declares that Katherine has slept with him on many previous occasions. Strange seems reluctant to seek legal redress for this slander, but only because he doesn’t want anyone to stop him secretly taking a more immediate revenge. He tries to see Pouts at his lodging, but Pouts assumes he has come to serve a writ and will not let him in. Pouts then prepares to flee England and his creditors, but Strange intercepts him disguised as a soldier, claiming that Katherine engaged him to murder her new husband and that she loves only Pouts. Pouts admits…
The Revenge of Bussy D'Ambois
Chapman, George · 1610 · Tragedy · Children of the Queen's Revels · Whitefriars;Indoor Professional
Before the start of the action, the Duke of Guise had Bussy D’Amboise and his brother Clermont brought ===== PAGE 63 ===== 1610 to court. Montsoreau had Bussy killed in reprisal for his adultery with Tamyra, and he died prophesying the deaths of Monsieur and Guise; his ghost then appeared to Clermont demanding revenge. Their sister Charlotte also seeks to avenge Bussy, and made her marriage to Baligny conditional on his swearing to participate in the plot; but Clermont insists on doing it alone, as the ghost commanded. Baligny’s role is, therefore, to deliver Clermont’s challenge to Montsoreau; but he cannot get access because Montsoreau has fearfully barricaded himself into his house. Two allies help him. Renel, who is selling his lands to Montsoreau, enables him to get in. When Montsoreau refuses to accept the challenge, Baligny leaves it behind anyway and Tamyra, who has reluctantly gone back to her husband, promises to make him read it. Unknown to the others, Baligny is reporting to the King on potential troublemakers like Clermont and Renel. The King is concerned at the growing power of Guise’s faction, so he and Baligny arrange for Clermont to be arrested: Clermont is to travel with Baligny to inspect the troops at Cambrai, and there he will be taken into custody by Baligny’s lieutenant, Maillard; thus Baligny will not have to participate directly in his brother-in-law’s downfall. Clermont has to leave Paris before concluding his business with Montsoreau. In Cambrai,…
The Winter's Tale
Shakespeare, William · 1610 · Romance · King's Men
Polixenes of Bohemia is coming to the end of a nine-month stay at the Sicilian court of Leontes, his childhood playmate. Leontes cannot persuade him to extend his stay, but the pregnant queen, Hermione, has more success. Leontes conceives a suspicion that Polixenes and Hermione have committed adultery, and that her unborn child is a bastard. He commands Camillo to poison Polixenes, but instead Camillo warns the intended victim and escapes with him to Bohemia. Leontes arrests Hermione and sends to the oracle of Apollo for confirmation of her adultery. She gives birth to a daughter in prison, and Paulina hopes to bring Leontes to his senses by showing him the baby; instead, he orders her husband, Antigonus, to take it out of his dominions and abandon it. Hermione is tried for adultery and treason. The oracle, when read, exonerates her and foretells that, unless the lost be found, Leontes will have no heir. Leontes refuses to believe it, whereupon his son Mamillius, who fell sick when his mother was arrested, dies. Hermione collapses in court and is later reported dead. Antigonus abandons the baby on the coast of Bohemia, and is eaten by a bear. The child, Perdita, is found and adopted by an old shepherd. Sixteen years pass. The penitent Leontes, still mourning Hermione, attempts to recall Camillo to Sicily, but Polixenes will not let him go. Worried by rumours that Prince Florizel is courting a shepherd’s daughter, Polixenes attends the sheep-shearing feast in disguise. When…
Match Me in London
Dekker, Thomas · 1611 · Tragicomedy · Red Bull (Revels) Company (first) · Red Bull;Phoenix/Cockpit;Indoor Professional;Outdoor Professional
It is midnight, and Tormiella is missing from her father Malevento’s house. He wonders if she is visiting Gazetto, her fiancé, but in fact she has eloped to Seville with the man she loves, Cordolente. There they get married and open a shop. The bawd Dildoman recommends her to the King, who comes to the shop on the pretext of buying a glove. Tormiella is taken to court and her escort disposed of by a ruse; Dildoman tries to persuade her to yield to the King. The Queen becomes jealous of Tormiella and attempts to stab her. Cordolente realizes he has been cuckolded; he and Malevento are both offered places at court, but only Malevento accepts. Don John intends to depose the King, his brother, with the help of the Portuguese nobility. He persuades his doctor to poison Don Valasco, the Queen’s father, having first told him that the King is having an affair with Tormiella. Valasco eats some grapes, falls sick, and is then poisoned with the medicine the doctor administers; Don John sends the body home. In fact, it was only a sleeping potion, and the King confronts Don John with the living Valasco; when their quarrel escalates to the point of a duel, the King puts Don John under house arrest. He discovers documentary proof of the conspiracy, and sends Valasco to supervise Don John’s execution, which is to be done in private and using a method selected by Don John himself from an illustrated book of deaths. Valasco reports him dead. The King uses Martines, who is implicated in Don…
The Roaring Girl, or Moll Cutpurse
Dekker, Thomas; Middleton, Thomas · 1611 · Comedy · Prince Henry's Men · Fortune;Outdoor Professional
Sebastian Wengrave was contracted to marry Mary Fitzallard until his father, dissatisfied with the dowry, cancelled the arrangement; Sebastian plans to reverse 1611 his father’s decision by pretending infatuation with Moll Cutpurse. Sir Alexander employs Trapdoor to enter Moll’s service as a spy and agent provocateur. Trapdoor forewarns Sir Alexander of an assignation between Sebastian and Moll, and they plot to entrap her in.a false charge of theft. In fact, Moll uses the meeting to bring Sebastian together with Mary. Sir Alexander eavesdrops on them and gives Moll counterfeit coins. Moll recognizes Trapdoor as a spy and sacks him. He turns to begging, posing as an discharged soldier, but she sees through his disguise and buys his true allegiance. Sir Alexander hears that Sebastian has absconded with Moll to get married, but is stymied when Trapdoor brings him additional, contradictory (and false) information about their movements. This enables Sebastian to carry out his clandestine marriage with Mary unmolested. Relieved that his son has not married into the criminal classes after all, Sir Alexander settles lands on the couple and forgives Moll. In the second plot, Laxton and Goshawk are having adulterous affairs with the citizen wives, Mistress Gallipot and Mistress Openwork. Laxton also has a date with Moll, but changes his mind about it when she turns up cross-dressed. He sends Mistress Gallipot a love-letter and asks her for money. Gallipot catches her reading it, and…
Amends for Ladies
Field, Nathan · 1611 · Comedy · Children of the Queen's Revels · Blackfriars;Indoor Professional
Three ladies debate the relative happiness of maids, wives, and widows. The maid, Lady Honour, is courted by Ingen, but she disdains him and he speaks ill of some women. He sends her word that he has married,and she seeks revenge. The wife, Lady Perfect, has her chastitytested by her jealous husband, Sir John Loveall, who engages his friend Subtle to seduce her; Subtle secretly hopes to succeed, but Lady Perfect is determined to uphold the honour of her sex by remaining chaste. The widow, Lady Bright, accepts a waiting-gentlewoman preferred by Lord Fee-Simple; but the servant is really his rival in love, Bold, in disguise. Lady Honour visits Ingen disguised as an Irish footboy with a message, meets his 'wife', who is really his brother Frank in disguise, and is accepted into his service. Her brother, Lord Proudly, comes looking for her at Ingen's house, and Frank's true identity is revealed; but Ingen challenges Proudly to a duel the following morning. This leaves Lady Honour in a quandary whether she should support her brother or her lover. Proudly plans to marry Lady Honour to the Count, Lord Fee-Simple's father. Hearing that in consequence he is likely to be disinherited, Fee-Simple wants to be able to quarrel, and so needs a cure for his longstanding phobia of drawn swords. Well tried introduces him to the swaggerers ofTurnbull Street and they get into a drunken brawl. Meanwhile, Bold undresses Lady Bright and is asked to sleep with her; but ·when his true gender is…
Catiline His Conspiracy
Jonson, Ben · 1611 · Tragedy · King's Men
Piqued at his rejection for a military command, Catiline has assembled a group of ambitious and malcontented men, and plans to take over the Roman state: some ~ are motivated by envy of those in authority, and by the prospect of wealth, power, and the opportunity for unlimited self-indulgence; another, Lentulus, believes that a prophecy has named him as a future ruler of Rome — an interpretation commissioned by Catiline himself. At a clandestine meeting, the conspirators drink blood to mark their commitment to the plot. Meanwhile Aurelia recruits a network of powerful women supporters. Curius visits his mistress Fulvia, whose resistance to his advances provokes a rape attempt. He excites her curiosity and she wheedles details of the conspiracy out of him. Catiline stands in the consular election, but is defeated by Cicero. When Cicero speaks of the need to protect the Roman state, Caesar and Crassus suspect that he may secure his position by manufacturing a threat for himself to overcome; they set the other consul, Antonius, to keep an eye on him, but Cicero turns him by bribery. Upset that Sempronia has been given pre-eminence in the conspiracy, Fulvia leaks to Cicero what she knows about it; Cicero confronts Curius with the information and recruits him as a double agent inside the plot. The conspirators plan to burn the city, having first assassinated Cicero; the plot is secretly backed by Crassus and Caesar. Curius sends Fulvia to warn Cicero of the attempt on his life,…
The Atheist's Tragedy, or The Honest Man's Revenge
Tourneur, Cyril · 1611 · Tragedy · Unknown
Montferrers has forbidden his son Charlemont from going to war and refused him the money necessary to equip himself. Charlemont gets a subvention from his uncle, D’Amville, and this persuades Montferrers to change his mind. But D’Amville is an atheist who believes that he must make his happiness in this world rather than wait for reward or punishment in the next, and he has an ulterior motive for wanting his nephew out of the way. Castabella loves Charlemont, and has privately agreed to marry him when he returns. They entrust their secret only to the Puritan Languebeau Snuffe. D’Amville bribes Snuffe to betray them and persuade Belleforest, her father, to make her marry Rousard, his son. Castabella is pressured into the match, despite the protestations of Sebastian, Rousard’s younger brother. As soon as he is married, Rousard falls ill with symptoms which include impotence. On the wedding day, D’Amville’s accomplice Borachio brings false news that Charlemont has been killed in battle. Montferrers makes a new will in D’Amville’s favour. D’Amville gets Montferrers’s torchbearers drunk at the wedding celebrations, and tricks them into quarrelling with one another when lighting their master home; the torches go out in the fight, allowing Borachio to murder Montferrers under cover of darkness. Montferrers’s ghost appears to Charlemont, tells him of the murder, and enjoins him not to take revenge. Charlemont returns to France to find himself presumed dead and his fiancée unhappily…
Greene's Tu Quoque, or The City Gallant
Cooke, John · 1611 · Comedy · Queen Anne's Men
The gallant Geraldine woos the mercer’s daughter Gertrude. She is attracted to him, but feigns lack of interest. Her father, Sir Lionel, is newly knighted at court. He plans to give up life as a tradesman and leaves Spendall to run his shop. Spendall is prodigal with the shop’s money: he sups with a whore and her associates, borrows money, gambles, and_ lives extravagantly. Staines is in the clutches of a usurer, his servant Bubble’s uncle, and plans to cut and run: he dismisses Bubble and is about to flee London when news arrives that the usurer is dead. Bubble inherits the estate, hires his former master as a servant, and plans, with his advice, to make himself a gallant. Staines intends to bilk his money back from Bubble and then use it buy back his lands once Bubble is forced by prodigality to sell them. Bubble sends him to buy new clothes, but Staines wears them himself and uses the money to gamble; Bubble himself joins the game as one of his opponents. Staines cheats with false dice, but is discovered by Spendall. They fight a duel; after both sustain slight wounds, they become friends. Sir Lionel plans to marry Gertrude to Bubble, hoping to get control of his inheritance. Her sister Joyce tries to get her to accept Geraldine, but she is _ steadfast. Joyce tells Geraldine that Gertrude does love | him, and he induces her to reveal her true feelings by feigning suicide. Bubble comes to Sir Lionel’s house to woo Gertrude, but Staines advises him that the best way to win…
The Valiant Welshman (Caradoc the Great)
A., R. · 1612 · History · Prince Henry's Men
The Earl of. Monmouth seeks to usurp old King Octavian’s throne, and has won two significant victories over him. Cadallan and his sons come to support Octavian. Cadallan is killed in the ensuing battle, but his son Caradoc avenges him by killing Monmouth. Re-established on the throne, Octavian rewards Caradoc with marriage to his daughter and heir, Guinevere. This displeases his bastard son, Codigune, who had regarded Guinevere as his only obstacle to the succession. King Guiderius has failed to pay tribute to the Romans, so the Emperor Claudius invades Britain. Guiderius appeals to Octavian, and Caradoc is sent, fresh from his wedding, to offer military aid. In his absence, Codigune conspires with Gloucester and Cornwall: they poison Octavian and imprison Guinevere, and Codigune seizes power. Gloucester writes warning Guiderius not to trust Caradoc, so Guiderius, about to go into battle, orders the Welsh troops to observe from a hilltop and intervene only ifa British defeat seems likely. Caradoc disregards this, joins the battle in disguise, and bests Claudius in hand- to-hand combat; he refuses Claudius’ offer to buy his freedom, but accepts a token of the Emperor’s friendship, a golden lion. Prince Gald is impressed by Caradoc’s single-handed contribution to the British victory, accompanies him back to Wales, and marries his sister Voada. Finding Codigune installed as King of Wales, Caradoc offers to settle matters in single combat. Codigune is beaten, refuses an offer to…
Chabot, Admiral of France
Chapman, George; Shirley, James, rev. · 1612 · Tragedy · Unknown · Phoenix/Cockpit;Indoor Professional
Admiral Philip Chabot has been supplanted at court by a new royal favourite, the Duke Montmorency. The King intervenes to put a stop to their rivalry, but Montmorency is encouraged by his fellow courtiers to renege and seek Chabot’s downfall. The opportunity arises when Montmorency proffers a suit, concerning a merchant ship seized by the Spanish, and has the bill approved by the King and Council; it is forwarded to Chabot for signature, but he insists on reading it and, finding it unjust, tears it up. The Queen encourages her husband to treat Chabot’s action as criminal defiance, but the King claims he was only testing the Admiral’s probity, and expected him to destroy the bill. He sees Chabot privately and tries to persuade him to relent and allow the bill, but Chabot is adamant that no injustice must be done in the King’s name. Offended by his stubbornness, the King asks Poyet, the Lord Chancellor, to prepare the case against him. His secretary Allegre is racked, but confesses nothing against him. At his trial, the inferior judges point out that the only crimes mentioned in the accusation are trivial ones, but Poyet is adamant that Chabot must be convicted of high treason, and the judges sign the condemnation under duress. Meanwhile, the Queen meets Chabot’s wife and, impressed by her loyalty and humility, has a change of heart. She and Montmorency approach the King to plead for Chabot, but he says he cannot interfere with the workings of the law. The news of the…
Henry the Eighth (All Is True)
Shakespeare, William; Fletcher, John · 1613 · History · King's Men
The Kings of England and of France meet for a magnificent summit conference organized by Cardinal Wolsey. The English nobles resent Wolsey’s influence with the King, but Wolsey strikes first against the ringleader, Buckingham: evidence from his former surveyor, who bears him a grudge, secures his arrest; conviction for treason and execution follow. Queen Katherine persuades the King to repeal taxation which is causing hardship; Wolsey has it put about that his intercession secured this. King Henry attends a banquet at Wolsey’s house, performs in a masque of shepherds, and meets Anne Boleyn. Rumours circulate that he and the Queen are at odds: he claims to be troubled by the fact that she was originally married to his brother, but others notice that he is keen to marry Anne. Wolsey counsels divorce. A legatine court is summoned to judge the case, but Katherine refuses to co-operate and the court breaks up without reaching a decision. The King secretly marries Anne. The nobles conspire to overthrow Wolsey. Documents proving his corruption and treachery accidentally fall into the King’s hands, and Buckingham’s surviving allies serve him with articles of impeachment. He falls sick and dies. Anne is crowned Queen. Katherine too falls sick. Before her death she is visited by benevolent spirits, and by Caputius, the Imperial Ambassador, by whom she sends the King a request to love their daughter and provide for her former servants. Anne goes into labour and produces a daughter. A…
The Scornful Lady
Beaumont, Francis; Fletcher, John · 1613 · Comedy · Children of the Queen's Revels · Blackfriars;Indoor Professional
The Loveless brothers are in trouble. The younger owes money to Morecraft and stands to lose his land, while the elder has been ordered by his lady-love to go into exile for a year as penance for his over-eagerness. He leaves his brother in charge of his house during his absence, with an allowance for his maintenance, and the steward Saville to restrain him, but the young man associates with rogues. Together they reinterpret his brother’s written instructions in order to license his prodigal behaviour. While they are drinking and wenching, the elder Loveless returns in disguise bringing news of his own death: young Loveless inherits his brother’s land, and promptly mortgages it to Morecraft. The elder Loveless also reports his death to the Lady, who consoles herself by chatting up another lover, Welford. When Loveless reveals his true identity, she retorts that she knew it was him and sends him on his way, but also disappoints Welford. Loveless returns and abuses her, pretending to be out of love. She faints and he relents: it was a trick to test her; but, she says, she knew that all along, and Loveless is sent away again. The elder Loveless dismisses Saville for negligence and reclaims his mortgaged property, but his younger brother not only keeps the money but also steals Morecraft’s intended fiancée, a rich, socially ambitious widow. She objects to his low-life friends, but he persuades her that they are cheaper than servants. The Lady’s affections begin to turn: she…
Bartholomew Fair
Jonson, Ben · 1614 · Comedy · Lady Elizabeth's Men
Bartholomew Cokes has two objectives in life: to visit the fair which shares his name, and to marry Grace Wellborn, who, as a ward, faces a financial penalty should she refuse. He sends his servant Wasp to Littlewit the proctor to obtain a marriage licence, but then, impatiently, comes himself. He brings Grace with him, and she attracts the interest of Winwife, present with his friend Quarlous as a suitor to Littlewit’s mother-in-law, Dame Purecraft. Littlewit is more interested in Cokes’s talk of the fair, having secretly written one of the puppet plays to be performed there. The only snag is that the puritanical Dame Purecraft will disapprove of their visit, thinking fairs profane. Busy, an elder of Purecraft’s church, advises the family that fairs may lawfully be visited for good reason, and comes along with them to partake of the pork. After some unfortunate experiences involving mistaken identity, Justice Overdo no longer trusts informers and has decided to do his spying personally. He visits the fair in disguise to seek out ‘enormities’ perpetrated by the fairground folk. He is impressed by one young man, Edgeworth, and decides to rescue him from the clutches of the cheaters; but he does not know that Edgeworth is a cutpurse. While Overdo is busy telling him about the wickedness of tobacco, Edgeworth steals Cokes’s purse; Overdo gets the blame. When it happens a second time, Overdo is arrested and put in the stocks. There he encounters the madman Trouble-All, who…
The Sophister (Fallacy, or The Troubles of Great Hermenia)
Zouche, Richard · 1614 · Comedy
. . The envious bastard Fallacy Sat to Sdtiinintent a oo to his father, Discourse, which will drive him-mad. His eager servant, Ambiguity, provides two options, one of |. - which will only induce drunkeriness. During. a’ - telling-off, Fallacy slips his father the drug and Discourse’s attitude changes: Fallacy becomes his. favourite son. The madness disables Discourse from being the ruler of Hermenia, so a regent must be _ appointed. Fallacy bribes Opposition to support his claim against his legitimate younger brothers, Topicus and Demonstration. He also tells Invention and ~ Judicium that Intellect has left. the kingdom, and persuades them to go looking for him; in fact, he has Intellect under lock and key. The counsellors debate. - the three brothers’ claims, and Topicus fights a duel : ar with Demonstration in which both are. wounded. -. Fallacy becomes Regent, appoints Opposition his chief -. counsellor, and banishes the others who supper’ Bs ' ' brothers. Hermenia declines ehder Fallacy’s jindtighbened. x rule. He locks up Scientia and Opinion, his brothers’ fiancées, and their mother, Truth. His attempts to woo © - Scientia are rebuffed, but he tricks Opposition into thinking that the lady is willing but unable to accepthis ©. proposal because Judicium knows her secret vows to... - _.the- contrary. ls Judicium. Fallacy then persuades Opposition’s son, Contradiction, to fight a duel ‘with an unknown. ~°0° | opponent. Father and son fight. and wound one Tae ‘another with…
The Honest Lawyer
S., S. · 1615 · Comedy · Queen Anne's Men
Richard Vaster’s lands are mortgaged to Gripe the usurer for £300. Jealously believing himself to have been cuckolded, he sells his wife Florence to the bawd and innkeeper Marmaid, claiming her to be his sister. He then challenges Benjamin Gripe, the usurer’s son, to a duel, and pretends to be killed; the remorseful Benjamin is determined to make amends by looking after Vaster’s family. Valentine sets himself up as a phoney doctor and is asked to cure Gripe’s gout, which entails driving a large nail through the affected toe. While Gripe is inconvenienced by the nail, Valentine steals his purse and keys. Gripe also sends Benjamin to foreclose on Vaster’s mortgage; when Benjamin asks him to give the bereaved family a three-month respite, he is disinherited. Surprisingly, the nail does indeed drive out the gout. Curfew has passed himself off as the deputy Abbot of Newnham after the death of the real deputy, his brother, and he uses the abbey as a base for highway robbery. His first two victims are Valentine and the disguised Vaster, who both prove as rascally as he; the three of them end up going into partnership. They proceed to rob travellers: Vaster happily relieves Gripe of his money, but lets Benjamin off with an injunction to be good to the Vaster family. Whenever they leave anyone tied up on the road, Florence comes out of the nearby inn and releases them. She is proving a 1614 disappointment to Marmaid ~ all her clients seem to end up with a new moral outlook on…
Monsieur Thomas (Father's Own Son)
Fletcher, John · 1615 · Comedy · Unknown · Blackfriars;Indoor Professional
Old Valentine returns home from a Continental tour with a new young friend, Francis. Francis falls ill and is attended by physicians, but Valentine learns that he is really sickening for love. Unfortunately the woman who interests him is Valentine’s own intended, Cellide. Valentine asks Cellide to offer herself to Francis. Though offended, she does so, but Francis will not betray Valentine by accepting. Witnessing the encounter, Valentine gives his blessing to their union. Both Francis and Cellide abscond from the household: Francis attempts to join a merchant ship, but is apprehended by Valentine’s friend Michael; Cellide enters a nunnery. Thomas also returns home from travels abroad, thoroughly Frenchified. To his father Sebastian, who prizes the family tradition of madcap eccentricity, he behaves with unwelcome sobriety. To his sweetheart Mary, who would like him to calm down, he is grossly rude, to the extent of sending her a letter full of offensive oaths. He then serenades her late at night with bad music, and climbs up to the window to kiss her. Mary responds with a practical joke: when he reaches the window, Thomas finds himself kissing a servant in a devil mask; startled, he falls and hurts his legs. When Thomas denies his servant’s report of their riotous night, Sebastian pays him his portion and decides to marry again and beget an heir more like the father; but Thomas prevents him by claiming to have already slept with every woman he has in mind — which proves to…
Work for Cutlers (Sword, Rapier, and Dagger)
Anonymous · 1615 · Academic Entertainment · at University;
Sword quarrels with Rapier. Dagger intervenes in an effort to stop them fighting one another, and threatens to call in the cutler to deal with them. The two weapons boast of one another’s martial prowess, and comment on the soldiership of other weapons they know. When the quarrel threatens to erupt again, Dagger reminds them that duelling is now illegal, and offers his services as an arbitrator. He allows each of them their own distinctive sphere of influence: Sword will hold sway in the army camp and Rapier in the court. With this agreed, the weapons go off for a drink at the Dagger inn.
A Merry Dialogue between Band, Cuff, and Ruff
Anonymous · 1615 · Academic Entertainment · at University;
Ruff and Band quarrel over which of them is the more modish, and make a date to fight a duel the following day. Cuff tries to keep the peace, threatening them with a beating from the laundress and hanging by the seamster, but is unable to dissuade them. They disagree about who should umpire the fight, but finally agree to appoint Cuff moderator. Cuff defuses the situation by arguing that both are the height of fashion with different people: ruffs are favoured by clerics (other than Puritans) and bands by gallants.
Sicelides (The Sicilians)
Fletcher, Phineas · 1615 · Pastoral · at University;
A year before the start of the action, Olinda rejected the love of Thalander, a friend of her brother Perindus. Thalander pined away, but sent Atyches to her with a final message and gift. Since then, Atyches has wooed her with equal lack of success. Now an enchanter has framed her for the crime of picking fruit from Neptune’s tree, and she is to be sacrificed to a sea-monster, the Orca, unless a champion comes forward to fight it on her behalf. Atyches does so, and kills the monster. In accordance with custom, she is - obliged to marry him. Atyches reveals to Perindus that he is really Thalander in disguise. Perindus once loved Glaucilla, but now refuses her after an oracle foretold trouble associated with both his and Olinda’s marriages: Olinda would die when married, and either Perindus or his bride would be cast from a rock. Cosma has come from the city to the seaside, where she attracts a number of lovers, including the foolish Pas, the ancient Fredocaldo, and the local Cyclops Rimbombo. She in turn is interested in Perindus, who does not reciprocate. She gives Glaucilla a medicine to cure the pangs of love, which Glaucilla gives to Olinda, who is secretly grieving for Thalander’s death; the medicine is poisoned, and Olinda dies. Glaucilla is condemned to be thrown from a rock for the murder. The long-lost father of Perindus and Olinda returns home to learn that his daughter is dead. Moreover, Perindus chooses to sacrifice his own life to save Glaucilla’s, and is thrown…
The Staple of News
Jonson, Ben · 1616 · Comedy · King's Men
. _ Pug the junior devil is keen to visit earth. Satan svarns him that his ideas of effective devilment are half a century out of date, but grants him leave to spend the day in London, made flesh and subject to all the frailties and limitations of the human body. A ready-made body is available, in the shape of a recently hanged cutpurse, but Pug will have to make his own arrangements for clothes. Another proviso is that he must serve the first man he meets. Unfortunately for Pug, he turns out to be a twit: Fabian Fitzdottrel. Fitzdottrel longs to see the devil, and agrees to accept Pug as an unpaid servant because he gives his mame as Devil. The same obsession makes Fitzdottrel eager to see a new play, The Devil is an Ass, but he needs some finery to show off as he sits on the stage. Wittipol is eager to sleep with Fitzdottrel’s wife, and offers him a suitable cloak in exchange for fifteen minutes’ uninterrupted conversation with the lady. He uses the time to proposition her, and engages her interest even though she has been forbidden to reply. Fitzdottrel is introduced to Merecraft, a purveyor of imaginative financial schemes, who offers to make him rich and a duke through land reclamation in the eastern fens. Fitzdottrel agrees to meet with him, leaving Pug to ensure that nobody attempts to visit his wife. Pug instead brings her a follow-up message from Wittipol, then makes advances to her on his own account, but is caught by Fitzdottrel and gets a beating. Wittipol’s…
The Bloody Brother (Rollo, Duke of Normandy)
Fletcher, John; Massinger, Philip; Field, Nathan (?) · 1617 · Tragedy · King's Men
The old Duke of Normandy has left his dukedom to be shared by his two sons, Rollo and Otto, but the brothers are mutually antagonistic. Civil war is averted by the intervention of their mother Sophia, and they agree to celebrate the new accord at a banquet. Latorch persuades Rollo to renege on the truce, but proposes to dispose of Otto by craft rather than by force, and suborns the kitchen staff preparing the banquet to poison Otto's food. At the feast, however, Otto is off his food and will not eat. Rollo pretends to take offence, claiming that Otto's reluctance is tantamount to accusing him of a poisoning attempt, and leaves the banquet. He later murders Otto in their mother's presence, and sends Latorcb to convince the citizens that he was acting in self-defence. Gisbert and Baldwin, two senior courtiers, are beheaded for refusing to abet his usurpation; a third, Aubrey, recognizes that, the murder notwithstanding, Rollo is the only legitimate heir left. Rollo makes it known that the poisoning plot was instigated by Otto, and has the caterers hanged. Rollo proves to be a tyrant who preys not only on his nobles but also his meaner subjects. Among the latter is Allan , Gisbert's servant, who is condemned to death for burying his executed master; his brother Hamond, the Duke 's Captain of the Guard, cannot persuade Rollo to spare him. Latorch asks permission to have Rollo's horoscope cast; his objective is to get the astrologers to foretell danger to the Duke's life from a…
Orestes
Goffe, Thomas · 1617 · Tragedy · at University;
Agamemnon returns home after ten years of war. When he takes his neglected wife Clytemnestra to bed, she and her lover Aegisthus murder him. Roused by bad dreams, his son Orestes finds the body in bed. Feigning innocence, Clytemnestra curses the murderer, while the surviving Trojan glories in the death of the enemy commander: Troy is avenged. Recognizing that he is in danger, Orestes goes into hiding with Pylades until the murderer is identified, and sends a report that, unhinged with grief, he threw himself off a cliff into the sea, and that Pylades also went over trying to stop him. Aegisthus, the next in line, ascends the throne and marries Clytemnestra. She bears him a son, establishing his dynasty, and in celebration he proclaims a general pardon for all crimes. Orestes and Pylades consult the witch Canidia, who shows them a vision of Clytemnestra and Aegisthus committing the murder. They return to court in disguise. Their plotting is overheard by Misander, and they kill him to preserve secrecy, but are immediately arrested. In judging the case, Aegisthus faces two problems: the crime is covered by the general pardon, and each defendant, seeking to save the other, claims that he alone was the murderer. Aegisthus decides not to pass a death sentence on either, and is further impressed when Pylades introduces Orestes as a doctor who has perfected the secret of rejuvenation. Aegisthus asks for a demonstration, using himself and Clytemnestra as the subjects. Agamemnon’s…
The Triumphs of Honor and Industry
Middleton, Thomas · 1617 · Civic Pageant
As he returns by river from taking his oath, the new Lord Mayor of London witnesses a show of Indians on an island, who gather spices. Industry expounds the importance of hard work in youth, which leads to fame in old age, and describes how industry generates both wealth and love. A pageant of nations follows, and the Frenchman and Spaniard wish him well. At the Castle of Fame, there is a seat vacant. Reward invites the Lord Mayor to sit in it, but Justice says that he must first earn it by acting justly during his term in office; Reward is confident he will get his seat in a year’s time. When the Lord Mayor returns home that evening, Honour bids him welcome and asks him to embrace honour. Middleton's text implies that the pageant of Indians is water- borne, but Busino seems to describe it as a land pageant.
Technogamia, or The Marriages of the Arts
Holyday, Barten · 1618 · Academic Comedy · at University;
Astronomia has several suitors: Geographus (whom her mother dislikes), Geometres (whom her friends favour), and Poeta (who has recently jilted Historia to pursue her). Against her kinsman Polites’ advice, Historia still wants to marry Poeta, consummating the long-standing association between history and the poetic imagination. Poeta quarrels with Grammaticus, and Logicus becomes involved in the ensuing affray. Unsure whether to fight a duel with Poeta or sue him for assault, Logicus sets both courses in train. Hearing that Poeta has been hurt in the fight, Historia sends to Medicus for help, but Magus, who is helping Geometres, sees an opportunity to dispose of one of his client’s rivals, and persuades Medicus to send poison instead. Medicus’ man, Sanguis, delivers the poison, but spots that it isn’t medicine. Poeta infers Historia's treachery, but persuades himself out of absolute misogyny by thinking of Astronomia. To reconcile Poeta with Logicus and Grammaticus, Ethicus arranges a banquet. Several of the wooers use magical help in their suits. Poeta meets two gipsies, who pick his- pocket and foretell that he will marry Astronomia. Using sieve- divination, Magus predicts that Geometres will marry Astronomia, and will achieve this mainly through hypnotism, with a little pharmaceutical help. (Geometres finds the third option, conjuration, too frightening to try.) However, when Astronomia drinks the supposed love philtre at Ethicus’ feast, it poisons her. Meanwhile, Poeta…
Pleasure Reconciled to Virtue
Jonson, Ben · 1618 · Masque · before the Court;
Comus’ attendants steal Hercules’ cup for use in their drunken orgies. Fresh from kiWing Antaeus, Hercules sees them off, then is lulled to sleep. Some pygmies try to steal his club and avenge Antaeus, but are scared off when he wakes. Mercury proclaims the coming of a time when the opposites of Pleasure and Virtue shall be reconciled: for the time being Hercules does not need to choose between them. Virtue brings forth twelve princes bred inside the mountain, led by Daedalus, who directs and explains their dances as allegories of the interpenetration of virtue and pleasure, then beauty, and finally love. However, pleasure and virtue are only temporarily reconciled: the masquers must return to the mountain, where virtue remains its own reward.
For the Honor of Wales
Jonson, Ben · 1618 · Masque
The Welsh are annoyed that the Prince of Wales's masquing debut featured an African mountain, so for the second performance, they have changed it to a Welsh one. This has entailed no extra cost: the scenic mountain is the same, only with a different name . They discuss the apparent VI/elshness of the masquers' names, and replace the original antimasques with Vvelsh music and song, which they insist is an improvement. Welsh bards sing to open the mountain, and dancing ensues.
The Devil's Law Case (When Women Go to Law the Devil Is Full of Business)
Webster, John · 1619 · Tragicomedy · Queen Anne's Men
Contarino, who has been wooing Jolenta, asks her family’s permission to marry her, but her widowed mother Leonora misunderstands his oblique request and thinks she is herself the object of his interest. Meanwhile Jolenta’s brother, Romelio, would prefer her to marry Ercole; but she refuses him and Ercole takes offence. Contarino fights a duel with Ercole, and they wound one another. The bodies are sent to a 1618 monastery. Ercole recovers and decides to forgo his interest in Jolenta to Contarino, should he too survive. Concerned that he should not, Romelio visits the monastery disguised as a Jewish physician, and stabs Contarino’s body. He is seen by two surgeons, who plan to blackmail him; but ironically the stab clears Contarino’s wound and facilitates his recovery. Romelio’s financial situation is perilous: he has lost his mercantile carracks of spice. Contarino has named Jolenta his heir; Romelio plans to make her Ercole’s too, by fabricating the story that she is pregnant by him. Romelio himself will supply the eventual baby: he has got a nun, Angiolella, with child, and wants both to cover this up and ensure that his issue will inherit both suitors’ property. Jolenta, however, claims that she really is pregnant, by Contarino; so Romelio proposes that she should produce twins. Knowing of Leonora’s interest in Contarino, he fosters jealousy between mother and daughter. The Spanish judge Crispiano comes to Naples in disguise with three objectives: to observe his son’s…
Two Wise Men and All the Rest Fools
Anonymous · 1619 · Satirical Dialogue
Proberio returns to England from his overseas travels, bringing with him the Italianated Antonio. Aton sets up in business, giving Proberio employment an house-room in return for an investment in the business. Simplo asks to enter his service as an apprentice in order to learn his tricks, and is ies ar provided that Antonio is granted the use of his lan and money. ” Securus asks Hermito to.advise him on a series © issues. They sit down to watch the debates, and witness the rest of the play’s action. Several rustics argue over whether holy days should be abolished: because no work gets done, weeds grow in the gardens and os in the fields. They appeal to Hermito, who rules in favour of Sunday observance. Sperato and Spurco disagree over whether hawking or hunting is the better sport, while Gulato avers that drinking is better than both. The husband Rustico and the bachelor Hortano debate the virtues of marriage: Hortano is afraid of marrying a shrew, whereas Rustico has already done so. His wife Lamia has conceived her son in his absence, and now ===== PAGE 161 ===== 1619 spoils the boy whilst beating Rustico, who reflects that at least he will go straight to heaven when he dies, having endured purgatory on earth. A lawyer, a merchant, and a farmer debate the relative merits and vices of their professions; asked for an opinion, Securus rules in the farmer’s favour, but Hermito argues that all three have their place in society and all three are open to abuse. They also…
The Fatal Dowry
Field, Nathan; Massinger, Philip · 1619 · Tragedy · King's Men · Blackfriars;Indoor Professional
. Before the start of the action, the Marshal Charolais bankrupted himself to pay the army, and died in a debtors’ prison. Now his creditors seek to detain his body, preventing it from being buried. His son appeals in the courts, but the measure is pronounced legal; however, the creditors accept Young Charolais’s offer to be imprisoned himself, and the funeral takes place. Being poor, Charolais has no hope of ever being released, but Rochfort pays the debt and, in return, asks that Charolais marry his daughter Beaumelle. Before the marriage, Young Novall paid Beaumelle’s waiting-woman Bellapert to help him seduce her. Despite now being Charolais’s wife, Beaumelle proves receptive to his continued courting, but their meeting is witnessed by Charolais’s friend Romont. He intervenes and sends Novall packing, much to Beaumelle’s displeasure, then accuses her, first to Rochfort and then to her husband, but neither will believe him. Finally he confronts Novali and forces him at gunpoint to sign a confession and undertake never to see or contact Beaumelle again. Novall does not keep his word: Charolais catches him with Beaumelle and kills him. He then presents his wife to her father as the accused in an adultery trial. As a judge, Rochfort is obliged to condemn her to death, a sentence Charolais readily carries out; but as a father, he takes her part and accuses Charolais of ingratitude. The young man is arrested and tried for Novall’s murder. He admits the killing, but pleads that…
The Heir
May, Thomas · 1620 · Comedy · Red Bull (Revels) Company (first)
In order to facilitate a marriage between his daughter Leucothoe and the wealthy Count Virro, Polymetes has the rumour put about that his son Eugenio has died during a trip overseas, which means that Leucothoe is now his heir. Among her many other admirers is Philocles, the son of Polymetes’ enemy, Euphues; he is barred from direct access to her, but is able to see her through the window of his friend Clerimont’s lodgings, next door to Polymetes’ house. He overhears her admitting that she does not love Virro, who is too old for her, but has fallen in love with a young man she saw riding in the street: Philocles. He throws a letter to her, and she plans an assignation with him in her father’s absence. Eugenio returns home disguised as the scholar Irus, but Polymetes seems less interested in the news of his son’s survival than that the rumour of his death should not be contradicted. Polymetes learns of Philocles’ assignation with Leucothoe; he and ‘Irus’ eavesdrop on it and hear the lovers plan to elope, even though stealing an heiress is a capital crime. Approving of his sister’s choice, Eugenio tells Virro that he will be marrying Leucothoe under false pretences, since the true heir is still alive; but Virro’s response is to hire ‘Irus’ to poison Eugenio. Polymetes catches Philocles and Leucothoe in the act of elopement, and Euphues’ attempts to secure a pardon are fruitless. Leucothoe’s pleading has more effect on the King, but only because he is attracted to her: he swears…
News from the New World Discovered in the Moon
Jonson, Ben · 1620 · Masque · before the Court;
Two heralds announce news, and receive attention from three distributors of the commodity: a printer, a historian, and a writer of newsletters. Each is guilty of abuses: the printer recycles old news, printing it again with a new date; the historian pads out his book with trivia to reach a length agreed in advance with his publisher; and the letter-writer tells different news according to the religious opinions of the recipient. The heralds’ news has come from the Moon: Ben Jonson has just returned from a voyage there and brings an account of its strange landscape, inhabitants, and customs. Also arrived are the Volatees, lunar fauna, who dance the antimasque. The masquers have travelled into space in order to contemplate the King’s greatness and virtue. Now they return, somewhat chilly, but thaw out under the royal refulgence, shake off their icicles, and dance. Then they return to space to spread the news of the King’s magnificence.
The World Tossed at Tennis
Middleton, Thomas; Rowley, William · 1620 · Masque · Prince Charles's Men (first)
The royal palaces of Richmond and St James now have a rival, Denmark House. Richmond is afraid that the newcomer will take all Prince Charles’s attention, leaving them neglected; but Denmark House assures them that each is suitable for a particular season (herself for winter, St James’s for spring, and Richmond for summer), and that the Prince will rotate among them equally. An unemployed scholar and an unemployed soldier consider their options. Their patroness Pallas descends, argues that the complete man combines both their professions, art and arms together, and invokes Jupiter's help. Jupiter presents the Muses and the Nine 1620 Worthies as an illustration of the virtue of former times. Time weeps at the encroaching vice of the present; he finds himself continually abused and hated. Deceit and pride have damaged the world in its latter days, and Jupiter summons the five coloured starches as illustrations of the absurdity of modern fashion. White Starch claims precedence over the others, but Yellow wins acclaim. Simplicity arrives to see what has become of the world (represented on stage by a globe), and is not reassured by his observations. Deceit wants to cozen him of the world, Simplicity to protect it from Deceit’s bad influence. Deceit successively gains the confidence of a series of men with worldly power: a king, a land- captain, a sea-captain, a flamen, and a lawyer. Each in turn is persuaded that the world should belong to him: the King takes it from Simplicity,…
The Maid of Honor
Massinger, Philip · 1621 · Tragicomedy · Queen Henrietta Maria's Men · Phoenix/Cockpit;Indoor Professional
Before the start of the action, Aurelia, Duchess of Siena, refused a marriage proposal by Ferdinand, Duke of Urbino. In reprisal, Ferdinand attacked Siena, conquered it, but then found himself trapped inside the city by the regrouped Sienese troops. To raise the siege, he invokes a defensive treaty with Sicily, but King Roberto refuses to honour it because Ferdinand was the aggressor and has brought his troubles on himself. However, he allows his bastard half-brother Bertoldo to go to war with a volunteer army. The court favourite Fulgentio takes advantage of Bertoldu: absence to woo his fiancée, Camiola. But she misses Bertoldo and refuses Fulgentio; his mpaste 1s to produce Roberto’s ring and make it a reval order that she accept him. She wishes Bertoldo were present to defend her honour: another suitor. Adurni. steps in. fights a duel, and wounds Fulgentio, which gets him into trouble with the King. Far trom raising the siege. Bertolde is routed by Gonzaga, Aurelia’s general. Both men are kKrughts «1 Malta, and Gonzaga is affronted to find Bertalds: unmindtul of chivalry as to be leading an ara searnst a lady’s interests. Roberta seuds Astutio te ransens: the Sicilian prisoners of war, but Bertoldo from the payment of his ransam by any private cen © aiid, expressly crcbeudhe + a ' torbnds ihe arrangement and ignores the order and sends Adurnt Go pay the ratsern Bertoldy is released. abligation to marry Camtola: bat Aurelia asks 1) him, falls in love with huni. arranges a…
The Entertainment at Sir Francis Jones's at Easter (The Four Seasons)
Middleton, Thomas · 1621 · Civic Entertainment
At the Lord Mayor’s feast, the seasons summon Flora, who in turn summons Hyacinth and Adonis. She sends them to take her good wishes, and apologies for absence, to the guests attending supplementary feasts at the sheriffs’ houses. The civic dignitaries have visited an orphanage that day; Flora praises their civic virtue and piety. The seasons sing a song in praise of flowers. Hyacinth and Adonis deliver their messages to the other two feasts.
The Entertainment at Sir Francis Jones's Welcome (Comus the Great Sir of Feasts) (The Servant of Comus)
Middleton, Thomas · 1621 · Civic Entertainment
The new Lord Mayor is served an emblematic dish based on the arms of his livery company, the Haberdashers.
The Noble Spanish Soldier (The Noble Soldier, or A Contract Broken Justly Revenged)
Dekker, Thomas · 1622 · Tragedy · Unknown
The King of Spain claims to have doubts about the legality of his marriage: he was pre-contracted to Onaelia and had an illegitimate son by her. He sends the Cardinal to Onaelia with an offer to have the marriage annulled; she will then be instated as Queen of Spain and her son legitimized. She accepts, and hands over her marriage contract for redrafting. But it is only a ruse to get hold of the document, and the King burns it in the presence of his council. Meanwhile, having heard that the King is considering renewing his contract to Onaelia, Queen Paulina feigns pregnancy; any divorce will thus entail the unpopular step of bastardizing his unborn child. Onaelia’s uncle, the Duke of Medina, swears revenge on the King and begins to assemble a faction. The despised soldier Balthazar offers his services to assassinate the King, but when Onaelia refuses, says that he was only testing her. With the King’s complicity, Paulina engages Balthazar to murder Onaelia and her son Sebastian, but he betrays the plot to Medina, to whom he owes allegiance. Medina counter-plots: Balthazar is to report back that Sebastian has been killed but that Onaelia was too well protected; in reality, Sebastian will be hidden in a monastery. Medina tests Balthazar’s fidelity and the King’s malice by disguising himself as a French doctor and offering the King his services as a poisoner; the King’s acceptance of the offer as a second murder option should Balthazar fail, and Balthazar’s outrage, both tell…
A Game at Chess
Middleton, Thomas · 1624 · Comedy · King's Men · Globe;Outdoor Professional
Ignatius Loyola returns to Earth to find that the Jesuits do not yet rule the world — which serves them right for ===== PAGE 93 ===== 1624 having taken so long to canonize him. Error shows him a vision of a chess game between the forces of Catholicism (the Black house) and Protestantism (the White house). The White Queen’s Pawn has broken off her engagement to the White Bishop’s Pawn after the latter was castrated by the Black Knight’s Pawn. Now the Black Queen’s and Bishop’s Pawns attempt to seduce her, in both religious and sexual terms; the Black King also hopes to use her as a way of getting at the White Queen, both to satisfy his lust and as part of the Black house’s scheme for world domination. In the event, however, she rejects the advances of the Black Bishop’s Pawn and he attempts to rape her, but is interrupted. The discovery of his hypocrisy provides ammunition for the White cause. However, the victim loses credence when the Black Knight produces forged documents purporting to show that the Black Bishop’s Pawn was not in the country at the time of the incident. The White King allows the Black house to determine her punishment, but the Black Knight's stratagem is exposed and the pawn vindicated. The Black Knight takes the White King’s Pawn, who turns out to be an agent of Black anyway; he expects to be made a cardinal, but the Black Knight double-crosses him and he ends up in the bag. The Black Queen’s Pawn pretends sympathy for her White opposite number, and tries…
The Unnatural Combat
Massinger, Philip · 1624 · Tragedy · King's Men · Globe;Outdoor Professional
Malefort Junior, son of the Admiral, has committed treason by allying himself with pirates and threatening the ruin of Marseilles. The Admiral is suspected of complicity and imprisoned. Theocrine, his daughter, reluctantly offers herself to Beaufort Junior, son of the Governor of Marseilles, if he will only persuade his father to allow hers a hearing. Beaufort Senior can refuse his son nothing, so the Admiral gets his opportunity to protest his innocence. Malefort Junior ‘challenges his father to a duel over a wrongdoing which he will not specify. The Admiral refuses to be held accountable by his son, and accepts the challenge. Malefort Junior is killed: the threat to Marseilles is over, and Admiral Malefort is lauded a hero. Malefort suggests that Theocrine should marry Beaufort Junior; Beaufort Senior half-heartedly agrees and invites them to a nuptial feast. The Governor's table is open to any former soldier who needs a free ~ meal, a custom regularly invoked by Belgarde, who is unemployed in peacetime and angry at being denied - his -back pay. Fearing embarrassment at the feast, Beaufort Senior has his steward discourage Belyarde with the suggestion that he is underdressed for the ===== PAGE 200 ===== occasion; but the upshot is that Belgarde turns up in a suit of armour and declares his worthiness. His plain- speaking wins him respect and a gift of money from the Governor. He spends it all on new clothes, but the signs of prosperity attract his creditors, and he is…
A New Trick to Cheat the Devil
Davenport, Robert · 1625 · Comedy · Queen Henrietta Maria's Men (?); Lady Elizabeth's Men (?)
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…
A New Way to Pay Old Debts
Massinger, Philip · 1625 · Comedy · Queen Henrietta Maria's Men · Phoenix/Cockpit;Indoor Professional
Sir Giles Overreach’s schemes for the accumulation of lands and money include a campaign against his prodigal nephew, Welborne, and a plot to marry his daughter Margaret to Lord Lovell. Welborne has sold Overreach all his land to fund a prodigal lifestyle, and now Overreach’s agent Marrall has him ejected from his alehouse lodging: the objective is to force him into a choice between hunger and theft, and so procure his death either by starvation or on the gallows. Welborne goes to see the recently widowed Lady Alworth, who is refusing to see her many suitors, including Overreach’s associate Justice Greedy. Welborne forces his way in and persuades her, trading on his friendship with her dead husband, to entertain him and a guest to dinner. Welborne brings Marrall, who infers from their cordial reception that Welborne is to marry the widow. He is therefore likely to be worth more alive than dead, so Overreach changes his plans and lends him £1,000, with which Welborne pays his old debts. When Overreach attempts to close the trap and force him to sign away Lady Alworth’s lands, however, Welborne refuses, and insists that his own estate is wrongfully detained by Overreach. His uncle produces the deeds to prove otherwise, but Marrall, fed up with Overreach’s maltreatment, has tampered with them and they are invalid. To redeem his lost reputation, Welborne joins the army to fight for king and country. In the other plot, Lord Lovell goes to dinner at Overreach’s house, where…
The Valiant Scot
W., J. · 1626 · History · Unknown
PLOT Scotland is under English rule. An attempt is made to dispossess Old Wallace of his office and lands; but Old Wallace partially circumvents it by transferring ownership of the land to his son. King Edward plans to make war on France, and appoints Bruce his general. Scotland is left in the charge of Queen Elinor and a panel of commissioners. Young Selby, son of one of the commissioners, abducts Peggy Graham, intending to marry her by force. Wallace intervenes and kills Young Selby in a duel. Commissioner Selby arrests Peggy and threatens her with execution for the murder. Wallace gives himself up, and Peggy is released. His own execution is forestalled when the Queen orders him brought to court for interrogation. He escapes en route, marries Peggy, and becomes a rebel. Friar Gertrid prophesies that he will be victorious until betrayed by his own blood. The English capture Peggy, Gertrid, and Old Wallace, and Selby has them killed. King Edward sends Wallace an ultimatum: if he will surrender and beg for mercy, he may be spared. Wallace sends an alternative ultimatum back: if Edward will admit himself to be a tyrant, he may be spared. Upon discovering that one of the ambassadors, the Queen’s nephew, has no diplomatic accreditation, he puts the young man to death. He then cuts out an ambassador’s tongue and blinds another, and accompanies them back to King Edward disguised as a lame soldier. The English plan to entice Wallace into a trap, and send another messenger to…
Apollo Shroving
Hawkins, William · 1627 · Comedy
The people are summoned to do Shrovetide homage to Apollo and'present any grievances they may have; it is rumoured that many will be indicted for encroaching on the god’s prerogative, Novice gets himself enrolled in Compliment’s school of etiquette, which is currently fashionable. Compliment hopes to be granted a licence to run his school, and asks Lauriger to intercede with Apollo to that end. He tries to cheat his rich pupil Jingle, who ===== PAGE 261 ===== LGo2y. pays monthly fees, by reckoning a month as four weeks, so that there are thirteen months in the year. At Apollo’s court, Compliment is launched into the air with fireworks, and his page Implement is sentenced to a year repairing damaged school books. Jingle is sentenced to spend all his inheritance on bodily pleasure, leaving him with nothing to live on in his old age. Novice is simply sent back to school. Amphibius is in love after receiving an amorous letter from Queen Hedone, delivered by Siren, but his friend Philoponus points out that the address is in a different handwriting from the letter: it is a forgery. In fact, Siren is tempting many votaries of Apollo to apostasy. She also attempts to seduce Lauriger into devotion to Hedone, but he resists her alluring song. At the court, Siren is exposed as an ugly monster. For overestimating his academic abilities, Retro was awarded a three-year penance of only being able to speak backwards. His father seeks Apollo’s clemency, and it is granted. Ludio, who prefers…
Antigone, the Theban Princess
May, Thomas · 1627 · Tragedy
Self-blinded and banished from Thebes, Oedipus wishes only for death. His daughter Antigone temporarily persuades him to give up such thoughts, but it is not long before he is dead. Thebes itself is at war: Eteocles has dishonoured a power-sharing agreement with his brother Polynices, and seven Greek champions have besieged the city in support of the latter’s claim. After sustaining heavy casualties, Polynices proposes settling the case in single combat with Eteocles. Both are killed. The new King, Creon, decrees that no Theban shall bury any enemy soldier, including Polynices. He also places Antigone under house arrest and refuses his son Haemon permission to marry her. In defiance of Creon, Antigone goes to the battlefield in search of Polynices’ body. There she meets his widow, Argia, and together they convey the corpse past the watchmen and give it a funeral. Creon too comes to the battlefield, to consult the witches who are gathering Parts of the dead bodies for magical use. They make a dead body tell his fortune: he will die soon, and disorder will come to Thebes. Antigone and Argia are arrested. Creon holds Argia, a foreign princess, for ransom, but sentences Antigone to be entombed alive and left to starve to death. By threatening to take his own life, Haemon persuades his father to allow her release, but it is too late: she has taken poison to hasten her death. Haemon kills himself. Thebes is attacked by Theseus, who has been summoned by another widow to intervene…
The Northern Lass
Brome, Richard · 1629 · Comedy · King's Men · Blackfriars;Globe;Indoor Professional;Outdoor Professional
Against the advice of his kinsman Triedwell, Sir Philip Luckless has contracted to marry Mistress Fitchew, a rich lawyer’s widow. He has second thoughts when he meets his future brother-in-law, the idiot Widgeon, and realizes that he may have allied himself to bad stock. Mistress Trainwell comes to remind him that he is already committed to marry the northern lass Constance, but he is unco-operative, calling Constance a whore and Trainwell a bawd. It later emerges that Constance sent Trainwell in the naive belief that a kiss from Luckless at a fleeting encounter was a binding offer of marriage. Triedwell attempts to save Luckless by dissuading Fitchew from the match. His arguments about the discontents of wifely obedience make no headway: Fitchew has already had her own dominance written into the marriage contract. Moreover, Triedwell falls 1629 in love with her himself. Fitchew suspects Luckless is trying to wriggle out of his obligations. When Luckless proposes having the marriage solemnized early, she takes it to be a bluff, and calls it; by that evening, they are married. They are presented with a wedding masque of forsaken lovers; Triedwell wears the willow for Fitchew and Constance for Luckless. This so offends Fitchew that she refuses to sleep with her new husband; Luckless regrets his hasty marriage. Constance falls into a melancholy over her lost love. Her uncle, the justice Sir Paul Squelch, tries to induce her to marry Nonsense, but she sees through an attempt to…
The Lover's Melancholy
1629 · Tragicomedy · King's Men · Blackfriars;Globe;Indoor Professional;Outdoor Professional
Menaphon returns home to Cyprns after a year's travel, bringing with him Parthenophill, a young man he met in Greece. Neither his love-Life nor that of his friend Amethus is going well: Amethus' love Oeophila is too preoccupied with her father's illness to entertain his suit. and Menaphon 's love Thamasta seems uninterested in men - at least until she meets Parthenophill. She sets her maid Kala to woo the newcomer, to avenge a slight, Kala courts him for herself, but Parthenophill rejects them both. Prince Palador has also been unlucky in love : two years before, during his father Agenor's lifetime, he was to have married Erodea, daughter of the principal minister, Meleander; but Agenor wooed her for himself and attempted to have her kidnapped; Mdeander rescued her and she disappeared, leaving the disgraced Meleander to sink into insanity under house arrest. Now Palador is melancholy, and affairs of state are neglected. The court physician Corax undertakes to tind the cause of Palador's malady, and presents a masque of mdancholy, representing various types of mental disorder: lycanthropia, hydrophobia, delirium, phrenitis, and St Vitus' dance, but not love-mdancholr, v.,-hich is represented by a sizeable blank in the masque's paper programme. Palador's angry reaction to Co-ra."l'.'s commentary on the omission reveals that this is his malady . Menaphon becomes jealous of the attentions Thamasta pays to Parthenophill, but her persistenct: leads the young man to reveal the…
The New Inn, or The Light Heart
Jonson, Ben · 1629 · Comedy · King's Men
Before the start of the action, the aristocratic Framipul family disintegrated. The younger daughter, |. actitia, ===== PAGE 357 ===== 1629 disappeared. Her mother, believing her husband had fallen out of love with her because of inability to produce a son, went mad. Lord Frampul too then vanished and his title devolved to his elder daughter, Frances, who is now enjoying herself spending her inheritance. Lady Frances and her crew of suitors descend on the Light Heart, a country inn, on pleasure bent. Lovel, a melancholy guest at the inn, decides to leave, but Goodstock the jovial host persuades him to stay. He agrees so long as he doesn’t have to meet Frances, and explains that he loves her but is honourably trying to leave the field clear for another suitor, his ward Beaufort. Unfortunately for him, Frances insists that he joins in with the day’s planned entertainment. Her maid Prudence has been appointed to preside over the revels as the mock-queen, even though the new gown she was to wear for the occasion has not arrived. She awards Lovel two hours of the Lady’s undivided attention in which to woo her, and to be rewarded with two kisses. Prudence also borrows Goodstock’s son Frank, dresses him as a woman, and induces Beaufort to fall in love with ‘her’. For the first hour, he discourses of the nature of spiritual love; Beaufort is more interested in love of the physical kind, but Frances is inspired with a new respect for the emotion, and gladly pays Lovel the kiss she…
The Just Italian
Davenant, William · 1629 · Tragicomedy · King's Men · Blackfriars;Indoor Professional
A few months ago, Altamont married Alteza against the wishes of her uncle, the Duke. She brought a handsome dowry with her, and expects to be the dominant partner in the marriage; in turn, he finds her rebellious, proud, and prodigal, and determines to tame her. Now it is clear that the marriage has broken down, she refuses him access to her bed and proposes to divide the house between them: they will be. in effect, next-door neighbours rather than husband and wife. Altamont tries to discipline his wite by pretending to take a mistress (impersonated by his sister Scoperta'. but Alteza openly receives a lover. the rake Scialte:. However, she savs he must wait for sex and leaves him alone in the house to amuse himself. Wandetinyg around the house, he encounters Scoperta and courts her under the eavesdropping ears of Altamant: she agrees to go away with him if his intentions ware honourable. Once Alteza ts ready to entertamn Scrotte, he is no longer interested in her and is giving up the libertine life. Alteza is reconciled with her husband ond asks him to kill Sciolto. By a ruse, Altamont pets Scoperta to adnut that ste is a willing object of Sciolto’s attentions. He locks her up, and his men seize Sciolte as he scales Che en tora wall for the elopement. Altarmont and Scrolte heb a duel; Sciolto is beaten, but Altamont is wounded in the chest. Alteza is told that he is dead. and giver the power to pass sentence on Sciolta and Scoperta as tin people responsible; she orders them…
The Muses' Looking Glass
Randolph, Thomas · 1630 · Moral · King's Revels Company
Bird and Mistress Flowerdew, Puritan residents of Blackfriars, bring their wares to the theatre, but are appalled when Roscius tells them they have been ordered for use as props in a filthy stage play. Roscius argues that they themselves make a living from the vice of vanity, and invites them to see the play before they condemn it; he will give them a running commentary on its moral import. Despite Roscius’ high claims, Comedy and Tragedy seem initially more concerned about the order of their precedence; they agree to spend a year in competition, staging examples of their respective genres, and whichever is adjudged the better will thereafter have the theatre to herself. The play is a series of episodes showing specific virtues to be the mean: an excess or a deficiency constitutes a vice. A lack of courtesy makes Dyscolus churlishly ready to pick quarrels, whereas too much of it makes Colax sycophantic, to such an extent that he hangs around for the rest of the play flattering all the other vices. Aphobus is over-confident and Deilus cowardly, afraid of his own shadow: they have respectively too much fortitude and too little. Temperance is the next example, illustrated by Acolastus the epicure and Anaisthetus the ascetic, followed by liberality, missing in Aneleutherus the miser and carried to excess in Asotus the prodigal. The over-ostentatious Banausus, full of extravagant schemes for public works, overdoes magnificence, whereas Microprepes balks at replacing a church…
The Traitor
Shirley, James · 1631 · Tragedy · Queen Henrietta Maria's Men
PLOT Lorenzo plots against both the Duke and his political rivals. He induces Pisano to jilt his fiancée Amidea and transfer his affections to the wealthy Oriana, who loves Cosmo; this will block Cosmo’s political ascent by denying him Oriana’s money. Cosmo, motivated by male friendship, agrees to give up his girlfriend. The Duke is warned against Lorenzo, but when he publicly confronts Lorenzo with the letter of denunciation, the traitor argues plausibly that it is a malicious libel. The sexually undisciplined Duke is attracted to Amidea, and Lorenzo arranges an assignation for him, but also inflames her brother Sciarrha with a desire for revenge: the liaison is to be the occasion for the Duke’s assassination. When he comes to Sciarrha’s, the Duke is shown a moral masque rebuking royal lust, but he is so busy chatting up Amidea that he doesn’t watch the entertainment. He visits Amidea in her bedroom, but she keeps him off by threatening suicide, and he returns to his senses. Sciarrha is satisfied: he denounces Lorenzo to the Duke, but when Lorenzo is told that the assassination has taken place, with the Duke eavesdropping, the traitor disclaims all knowledge and again re-establishes his good faith. De Pazzi, Lorenzo’s ally, worries that his part in the treason will lead to his execution, and asks to be excused from further complicity; he gets his wish to leave court when the Duke banishes him. Oriana’s mother, believing Cosmo is a poor match while his enemy Lorenzo is in…
The Humorous Courtier (The Duke)
Shirley, James · 1631 · Comedy · Queen Henrietta Maria's Men · Phoenix/Cockpit;Indoor Professional
PLOT It is vital that the Duchess of Mantua marries; otherwise the King of Spain will assert his interest in the succession. But the Duchess has turned away three foreign princes proposed by her courtiers, most recently Foscari, who left Mantua annoyed. She declares that she will choose a husband from her own court, which puts the courtiers into a competitive frenzy of ambition. In this they are each abetted by a Florentine visitor to the court, Giotto. Giotto tells Comaccio that the Duchess is interested in his foolish nephew, de Pazzi. At Comaccio’s request, Giotto gives de Pazzi advice on wooing technique designed to make him appear undesirable: he is to talk unchastely and dispraise the other men and women of the court. He composes an offensive poem for the Duchess, but she finds it funny and shows de Pazzi greater favour than before. Comaccio asks Giotto to get de Pazzi out of the way for good, by murdering him; Giotto persuades him to go into hiding until after the marriage is decided. The soldier Orseollo is misled into thinking he is the chosen suitor, and starts to regret his public displays of misogyny. Even after his U-turn, Giotto tells him there is a slight problem: his former attitudes could be taken as evidence of his impotence, perhaps the result of a battlefield injury; so Orseollo attempts to secure his reputation as a stud by revealing the prodigious extent of his secret whoring. Old Contarini regrets his recent marriage to a young wife, which puts him out…
Rhodon and Iris
Knevet, Ralph · 1631 · Pastoral
: Aiming to sow dissension among the flowers, Poneria and Agnostus disguise themselves as a virtuous maiden and a wise man. Rhodon has recently breken off his suit to Eglantine, and is now expected to marry Iris. His sister Violetta appeals to him for help against the marauding Martagon, who has trampled on her flowers and forced her to live away from her home. Martagon conspires with Eglantine’s brother to forestall Rhodon’s match with Iris. The jilted Eglantine grows melancholy, but Poneria stops her killing herself and gets her to tart herself up for an assignation with Rhodon. It becomes clear that Martagon has no intention of making restitution to Violetta, so Rhodon will have to take him on by force: a floral war seems inevitable. Iris gives Rhodon a gern which makes the wearer victorious in battle; Violetta gives him a lettuce which guarantees sustenance and prevents poisoning. Martagon suborns Poneria to kill Rhodon, so she gives Eglantine a poison, telling her it is a love-philtre. Posing as Iris, Eglantine gives it to him, claiming it to be a restorative, and expects him to fall in love with her. Instead. he falls iJ, but is cured by the vegetable antidote from his sister. _ 2335. Rhodon and Iris | 499 Rhodon challenges. Martagon to single combat, but. he refuses: the full armies will settle it. Realizing that, since Rhodon is alive, Poneria’s plot has miscarried, Martagon orders her out-of his territory, so she goes to Rhodon and tells him. that it was Eglantine,…
Holland's Leaguer
Marmion, Shackerley · 1631 · Comedy · Prince Charles's Men (second) · Salisbury Court;Indoor Professional
Six years ago, Faustina’s father sent her abroad to keep her away from her love, Fidelio, and made her swear not to marry for seven years. Now the old man is dead, she has returned to London, known only to Fidelio, but insists on keeping her oath for the last remaining year. Her brother Philautus is in love with himself, which distresses his friends and offends his wife, but gives his servant Ardelio the opportunity to steal from him by conveying away property into storage at an accomplice’s house. Fidelio plans to make him fall in love with Faustina; this will both cure him and test her fidelity. He explains it to Faustina as a plan to humiliate a lord who has cast aspersions on women. Philautus makes advances to Faustina on the assumption that all women are libidinous and enjoy being raped from time to time; but he is impressed by her militant chastity, and accedes to her demand that he prove his honour in battle. He later returns from the wars, cured of narcissism, and asks Faustina’s pardon for his earlier insolence. She identifies herself as his sister, and he gives his blessing to her marriage to Fidelio; so she agrees to abandon her oath before the seven years are out. On learning that Ardelio is a villain, Philautus dismisses him. He goes to collect the stolen goods, only to find that his partner in crime will not acknowledge that the items even exist. The ensuing argument is overheard, and the miscreants are both arrested, In the sub-plot, Agurtes intends to cheat…
The Magnetic Lady, or Humors Reconciled
Jonson, Ben · 1632 · Comedy · King's Men
Probee and Damn-Play are sent on stage by the audience to bargain for a good play; what they get is The Magnetic Lady. They watch the play and comment on it between the acts. Visitors flock to Lady Loadstone’s house, some brought by her lodger, Compass, others to pay court to her sickly but wealthy niece, Placentia Steel, on her birthday. By the terms of her parents’ will, Placentia’s marriage portion of £16,000 is to be paid when she marries, but until then is held by her uncle, Interest. There are several suitors, including Practice the lawyer and Silkworm the courtier. Lady Loadstone initially prefers Practice, but the prospect of being made a countess through a friend at court converts her to Silkworm’s suit. Palate also promotes Silkworm, pointing out that Practice is already engaged to the servant Pleasance. Interest is trying to arrange a marriage between Placentia and Bias, who is a younger brother and will be content to accept less than the full dowry. Ironside, Compass’s brother, wounds Silkworm in a violent altercation at dinner, and Compass persuades the courtier to seek redress in a duel rather than at law; Bias hopes that Silkworm will be killed and the court rid of a nuisance, but in the event he merely talks to Ironside about valour. Placentia turns out to be pregnant, and the suitors back off; Practice asks Compass to help him marry Pleasance instead. Compass learns that Pleasance and Placentia were swapped for one another in their cradles, and uses the…
The Rival Friends
Hausted, Peter · 1632 · Comedy · before the Court;at University;
With Placenta’s help, Constantina disguises herself as a boy and leaves her father’s house in search of her missing love, Cleopes; she leaves a former boy-actor in her place. The friends Neander and Lucius both love Pandora, but she cannot decide between them. Each asks old Lively to help him win her love, not for himself but for his friend. Favouring Lucius, Lively plans to arrange a bogus wedding that will remove Neander from the rivalry, leaving Pandora for Lucius, without being subsequently binding. The ‘boy’ whom Lively selects to pose as Neander’s bride is actually Constantina; but he allows the wedding to go ahead even after discovering her identity. Meanwhile Placenta advises Pandora to make her lovers jealous by pretending interest in someone else, so she woos the page Endymion. When she learns that Neander is married, and when Lucius claims to be a eunuch, she transfers her affections to Endymion in earnest. It emerges that Lucius has jilted Endymion’s sister Isabella, who subsequently disappeared. Constantina is brought in apparently dead, killed by Neander, and her brother Love-All recognizes her. In fact, she is only injured, and revives, calling for Cleopes. Neander admits that he is Cleopes: he had wooed her, but became more interested in Pandora, and feigned a voyage overseas; he then returned with a new identity to pursue Pandora. Love-All wants to know who was pretending to be his sister while Constantina has been out of the house; the ‘boy’ is brought in,…
Love Crowns the End
Tatham, John · 1632 · Pastoral
Three days before the start of the action, Cliton became suspicious that his girlfriend Florida was interested in Lysander, and attacked her, leaving her for dead. Since then he has repeatedly returned to the place he left her body, but it has vanished. Looking for a lost lamb, Alexis finds Cliton asleep, hears his story, and decides that he must spend the rest of his life expiating the murder in contrition and penitence. A lustful shepherd, who is so ugly that he cannot get a date, threatens to rape Chloe, but she is rescued by Lysander. She falls in love with him, but he is only interested in Gloriana: having been loved by many, Chloe is now rejected by the man she loves. She goes mad, but the wood-nymphs find her and take her to Claudia, who cures her. Francisco, Lysander’s rival for Gloriana’s love, ambushes the couple with the assistance of two villains; they stab Lysander and carry off Gloriana. Lysander is found groaning by Claudia and Florida, who was not killed as Cliton supposed; Claudia cures him. Meanwhile Gloriana, thinking him dead, goes mad. She meets Cliton, now a hermit, who promises to restore her to Lysander. The characters gravitate towards Cliton’s cell, where Gloriana and Lysander are reunited, as are Cliton and Florida. Gloriana’s father Leon turns out to be a banished courtier; Lysander and Francisco both followed him into exile for the love of Gloriana. The servant Scrub brings news that the Duke who banished Leon has died, and that his lands are to…
A Fine Companion
Marmion, Shackerley · 1633 · Comedy · Prince Charles's Men (second) · before the Court;Salisbury Court;Whitehall;Indoor Professional
Aurelio was disinherited after his father perceived him as a rival in love, so the estate passed to his younger brother, Careless. As a result, Littlegood the usurer no longer considers Aurelio an eligible son-in-law; but Valeria, Aurelio’s girlfriend, is determined to stick with him despite the material disadvantages. Careless has capitalized his inheritance by mortgaging the lands to Littlegood; intending to use his wealth to acquire the reputation of being a fine companion, he has taken up with Captain Whibble and his crew of drinkers. Littlegood favours Spruce as a husband for Valeria. Spruce is really only interested in sex, and intends to jilt her afterwards; but her refusal only increases his interest. Aurelio sends Valeria his ring, but she drops it; Spruce finds it and uses it to make Aurelio jealous. Aurelio had planned a ruse whereby Valeria would feign madness, but now he intends to drive her truly mad. Reports of her distress bring him back to his senses: he confronts Spruce and makes him admit that the accusation against her was malicious and mendacious. Dotario, appalled at his nephew Careless’s prodigality, plans to marry and beget an heir so that the young wastrel will not get his hands on a second estate. He woos Littlegood’s younger daughter, Aemilia, who puts him off by describing what a shrewish spendthrift of a wife she would be. She is more interested in Careless, who pays her a drunken visit, but is pressured by her father into giving Dotario a more…
The Late Lancashire Witches
Heywood, Thomas; Brome, Richard · 1634 · Comedy · King's Men · Globe;Outdoor Professional
Arthur hopes for a subvention from his uncle, Seely, to help him redeem a mortgage, but strange things are going on in the Seely household: the father is dominated by the son, Gregory, who is mastered in turn by his servant, Lawrence; there is a similar inversion of hierarchy among the women of the house. Gregory disapproves of his father’s plans to help Arthur, so the money is not forthcoming; but fortunately Arthur’s friend Generous helps out instead. The truth is that the Seelys have been bewitched in reprisal for some harsh words spoken to an old woman. Many other supernatural events are going on. Mall Spencer, owner of an amazing self-propelled milk-pail, gives Generous’s groom Roberta a high-speed horse so that he can fetch wine from his master’s favourite London tavern in a single overnight journey. Anyone who spends the night in a haunted mill is assaulted, so Gretty the miller gives up his tenancy, and Generous gives it to a poor, demobilized soldier. A witch and her spirit take the form of greyhounds; when Gretty’s son tries to whip the dogs, they scare and then abduct him. Lawrence marries his fellow servant Parnell, but a spirit turns the wedding cake into crumbs, and the rest of the meal magically becomes even less appetizing; the real food is taken to supply the witches’ feast. Mall Spencer gives Lawrence a codpiece point, which makes him impotent, causing marital difficulties. He and Parnell are mocked with a skimmington, but the relationship returns to normal…
The Shepherds' Holiday
Rutter, Joseph · 1634 · Pastoral · Queen Henrietta Maria's Men · before the Court;Whitehall;
Thyrsis, who was found by Montanus as a baby with a mysterious inscribed circlet around his neck, is distraught. He left his girlfriend Sylvia in a grove, and she has disappeared; he self-reproachfully worries that she has been raped by a passing satyr, and neglects his flocks. The oracle of Apollo reassures him that he will get her back, but only when they cease to be Thyrsis and Sylvia. Sylvia is really the Princess, Calligone. She fell in love with Thyrsis when the shepherds last came to court with some musical entertainment, and went into the country in pastoral disguise to be with him; she was also hoping to escape the amorous attentions of Cleander, but he found her in the grove and took her home. Her father, Euarchus, suspects the reason she absconded, and summons the shepherds to perform at court again, in the hope of identifying one of them as her lover. They prepare a masque. Cleander is warned off Calligone by his father, Eubulus. Before she was born, the oracle foretold that King Euarchus would see his only son after having a child who is not really his own, that he would twice condemn that son to death, and that the son would marry Euarchus’ daughter. The King took this to mean that, should the pregnant Queen produce a baby boy, it would be a bastard, so he ordered Eubulus to have the infant killed if male. When the child was indeed a boy, Eubulus plotted with the Queen to swap it for his own new-born daughter, who grew up to be Calligone. He then left the baby…
Comus (The Masque at Ludlow Castle)
Milton, John · 1634 · Pastoral Masque
A peer’s children, two brothers and a lady, get lost in the woods on their way to join their father at his new court. Comus the enchanter is wont to tempt travellers in the wood, offering them his magic drink that will turn them into monsters. The Lady, separated from her brothers, follows the sound of merriment and meets Comus, who creates the magical illusion that he is a shepherd. Attracted to her, he offers her help and shelter, which she accepts. Recognizing the danger, a guardian daemon has come down to earth to help. He too disguises himself as a shepherd, and warns the brothers that the Lady has been captured; they will be unable to rescue her with brute force alone, but need to carry a magic herb. At his palace, Comus traps the Lady in a magic chair and tempts her with arguments for hedonism; she offers counter-arguments for chastity. As he urges her to drink his liquor, her brothers rush in, break the vessel, and drive him and his followers away. Without Comus’s wand to free her, the Lady remains stuck in the chair, but she is released by the river-goddess Sabrina, whom the daemon summons. The children are reunited with their parents; the daemon praises their ability to resist temptation, then returns home to the heavens.
The Example
Shirley, James · 1634 · Comedy · Queen Henrietta Maria's Men · Phoenix/Cockpit;Indoor Professional
Money troubles have driven Sir Walter Peregrine to go to war in Europe to keep him away from his creditors in England. In his absence, his wife Bellamia is being pursued by Lord Fitzavarice, who plies her with rich gifts. She chastely refuses him, but he feels that, since he is known to have courted her, it is a matter of honour that the seduction should succeed. He pursues her to her chamber and offers to surrender her husband’s mortgage if she will sleep with him, then pay off his debts £100 a time in return for subsequent nights of passion. When she still refuses him, he threatens rape, and she faints. The experience converts him from his louche ways: he is relieved to learn that she is not dead, and returns the mortgage anyway, impressed with her virtue. A captain comes from the Netherlands on a recruiting mission. Sir Walter takes the opportunity to accompany him and pays a flying visit to his wife. She proposes to pay his debts with Lord Fitzavarice’s gifts, but he assumes that these are the rewards of adultery and challenges the Lord to a duel. Fitzavarice, recognizing that he is obliged to answer the challenge, appoints Confident as his second. But Confident’s reputation for valour is undeserved: rather than have to prove it by fighting, he tips off Sir Walter’s creditors and has him arrested for his debts before the duel can take place. Lord Fitzavarice disowns the ploy and secures Sir Walter’s release by paying his debts. Sir Walter realizes that his suspicions…
The Hollander (Love's Trial)
Glapthorne, Henry · 1636 · Comedy · Queen Henrietta Maria's Men · before the Court;Phoenix/Cockpit;Indoor Professional
Dr Artless has grown rich by taking in resident lady patients, and is concerned that his house should keep its good name. One of his current guests has a jealous husband, Sir Martin Yellow, who believes the house is really a place of assignation, and sends his nephew Popinjay there in search of evidence. Popinjay meets Artless’s daughter, Dalinea, and falls in love. Meanwhile, the apothecary Mixum has sent Artless a young man, Sconce, as a potential son-in-law; Artless is unconcerned that he is a fool because he is also rich. Sconce’s main preoccupation is with Mixum’s weapon-salve which will cure any wound if applied to the weapon that made it. When Sir Martin wounds him in a jealous rage, he takes away Sir Martin’s sword but finds the salve ineffectual and concludes that there must be something wrong with his blood. Another visitor to Artless’s house is Freewit, a suitor to Mistress Know-worth, but she breaks up with him, having heard from Lovering, her servant, that he has slept with the servant-girl Martha and got her pregnant. When he proves reluctant to marry Martha, Mistress Know-worth gives him an alternative: she will consider his suit if he can persuade Martha to release him from his prior obligation. Artless’s servant Urinal offers to prove to Sir Martin that Lady Yellow is chaste: he is to visit his wife in her bedroom, incognito, while the rest of the household is out at Dalinea’s wedding. The problem is that Dalinea doesn’t want to marry Sconce, to her parents’…
Hannibal and Scipio
1637 · Tragedy · Queen Henrietta Maria's Men · Phoenix/Cockpit;Indoor Professional
rebukes them, but finds himself attracted to one of the A MESSENGER, who brings news from Spain (1.5) local ladies. News from Spain snaps him out of it: BOMILCAR, Hannibal's kinsman Scipio has taken several Carthaginian cities. He decides SYPHAX, King of Numidia, a young, unmarried man; to attack Rome, but is recalled to Carthage before he later Sophonisba's first husband can do so. Carthage has recently lost an African ally, Masinissa, who has been wooed to the side of Rome. In an effort to counterbalance him, Hannibal goes to Numidia to seek an alliance with its king, Syphax. He also finds Scipio there, and suspects Syphax of treachery, but makes the offer anyway: Syphax's military support in return for marriage to Sophonisba, who was previously promised to Masinissa. The lady herself is reluctantshe still loves Masinissa and thinks herself above a petty king like Syphax-but Syphax is agreeable and the marriage goes ahead. The alliance does not help the Carthaginians: Masinissa defeats Syphax's forces in battle, takes Sophonisba prisoner, and marries her (even though Syphax, her husband, is still alive). Scipio wants her to be sent to Rome, but she takes poison rather than be handed over. Hannibal meets with Scipio and offers him a peace, but Scipio refuses, and Hannibal is routed in the ensuing battle. When he returns to Carthage, the Senate rebukes him for initiating unauthorized peace negotiations, and also suspects him of attempting to set himself up as a king. He…
Microcosmus
1637 · Morality;Masque · Queen Henrietta Maria's Men · Salisbury Court;Indoor Professional
The four elements, children of Nature and Janus, fight with one another. Janus' attempts to discipline them prove ineffectual, so Nature tries to persuade them to procreate. She invokes the help of Love, who creates concord between the elements through the music of the spheres. Earth gives birth to Physander, the perfect being. The four humours become his servants, and Love brings him Bellanima to be his wife. But Bellanima brings with her a good and bad genius, who can each influence Physander's moral actions. He succumbs to temptation, dismisses the good genius, and seeks out the whore Sensuality. The four humours suggest ways of wooing her: Choler proposes violence, Blood, dance, Phlegm, language, and Melancholy, pathos. The five senses, Sensuality's servants, conduct him to her, and she seduces him with the promise of luxury. Bellanima attempts to reclaim him, but he refuses her. After sleeping with Sensuality, Physander falls ill. The humours drunkenly attack him, and Sensuality disowns him. He feels ashamed at having left his wife for a whore. Bellanima summons Temperance to cure his wounds; she prescribes a simple life and frugal diet, and he is cured. The evil genius still maliciously seeks his destruction, and plans to drive him to suicide through remorse. He is tormented by Furies and accused before the court of Conscience; Despair prosecutes, andHope speaks for thedefence. Physander admits his marital crimes, but his penitence and commitment to future fidelity…
The Arcadia
Shirley, James · 1640 · Pastoral Romance · Queen Henrietta Maria's Men · Phoenix/Cockpit;Indoor Professional
King Basilius understands an oracle to have foretold that his daughters’ marriage will result in his death and the usurpation of his throne by a foreigner; it has also indicated that he will commit adultery with his own wife. In an effort to thwart any destiny, he has decided to keep the girls unmarried virgins; he leaves court, placing the kingdom under the rule of his deputy, Philanax, and lodges his elder daughter Pamela in the forest with Dametas. Pyrocles and Musidorus are amorously interested in Basilius’ daughters, Pamela and Philoclea, and come to Arcadia in disguise. Musidorus poses as a shepherd, takes a job under Dametas, and, to enable him to elope with Pamela, gets the family out of the way with a series of ruses: Dametas is told a story of buried gold, Miso of her husband’s philandering, and Mopsa of a wishing tree which will enable her to become whatever she wants. (She wants to be a queen, with no obligation to obey anyone.) Pyrocles, meanwhile, gets access to Philoclea by disguising himself as an Amazon, Zelmane, only to find that in his new identity he has attracted interest from Basilius. ‘Zelmane’ helps to quell a rebellion by the people of Arcadia, who are dissatisfied with Basilius’ retirement from government, then arranges an assignation with the King at a nearby cave. Queen Gynecia sees through Pyrocles’ disguise and falls for him herself. He arranges for Gynecia to take his place at the date with Basilius, and approaches Philoclea while they are…
The Strange Discovery
Gough, J. · 1640 · Romance
After the death of his daughter, Charicles decides to leave Egypt and return to Greece so that he can die at home. Before he can go, the Ethiopian legate entrusts him with the care of a maiden, whom he adopts as a daughter and names Chariclea; but the legate is expelled from Egypt before he can reveal more of the girl’s history. Back in Greece, Chariclea seems uninterested in men until she meets Theagenes, who has come to Delphos to participate in a religious ceremony. After that, they are both stricken with love-melancholy. A physician diagnoses Chariclea with green-sickness and prescribes sex, so Charicles plans to introduce her to his nephew, whom he hopes she will marry. The visiting Egyptian priest Calasiris realizes otherwise and helps her to abscond with Theagenes to Africa, taking with them a fascia which explains her origins. Chariclea is really the daughter of the King and Queen of Ethiopia. Her fortunes arise from her skin colour: her mother was looking at a picture of a white woman at the moment of conception, so the child too was born white; fearing a charge of adultery, she disposed of the baby and reported her dead. In Egypt, Theagenes attracts the interest of Arsace while her husband, the Deputy, is away at war with Ethiopia, but he is impervious to her advances, even when she has him imprisoned and scourged. Realizing that the problem lies in his love for Chariclea, Arsace plots to poison her, but the poisoned cup goes astray and it is the bawd Cybele who is…