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Plot summaries for the 177 plays represented
The Play of the Weather
Heywood, John · 1528 · Comedy
Discord between the four gods responsible for snow, sun, rain, and wind is making the weather inconsistent. Jupiter calls a parliament to settle the matter and sends Merry Report to summon any suitors. Eight representatives of various professions and occupations ask for different kinds of weather to suit themselves. Jupiter declares the need for compromise: all their jobs are mutually interdependent despite their differing needs, so the weather will continue to be inconsistent. The suitors all praise the decision.
The Chief Promises of God unto Man (God's Promises)
Bale, John · 1538 · Biblical
Though mankind is sinful and deserves death, God promises life through his Son. He curses Adam for his disobedience, but Adam’s repentance persuades him to promise the chance of salvation. But mankind proves a disappointment, and God plans to annihilate his creation with a flood. Noah pleads for the human race and is saved; God promises never again to seek mankind’s destruction in this way, and confirms it with the covenant of the rainbow. Mankind persists in sin, and God plans further reprisals: having promised not to use water, he chooses fire as his weapon to destroy the Sodomites. Abraham, who honours God and is therefore to be spared, asks his maker not to destroy the righteous people in Sodom along with the wicked. God agrees to spare the city if it is found to contain 50 righteous people, and Abraham talks him down to 10. God makes his third promise: Abraham will be the father of a blessed race; the sign of the covenant is circumcision. Man does not improve, so plague is to be God’s next instrument of judgement. Moses pleads for mercy: God has spared his people from the plagues of Egypt, helped them to escape from bondage, and kept them alive in the wilderness. But they are ungrateful: while Moses has been talking with God, they have erected a golden idol. God makes his fourth promise: a prophet will arise from the Jewish people; the sign of the covenant is the Passover lamb. Given the promised land, the Israelites persist in their ingratitude to God, and resume…
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.
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.
Enough Is as Good as a Feast
Wager, William · 1560 · Moral
Remembering his father’s bankruptcy, the Worldly Man hoards treasure for the future, seeing such behaviour as provident thrift, whereas the Heavenly Man relies on God to look after him and regards wealth as a distraction from spiritual things. He and Contentation persuade the Worldly Man to change to a godly lifestyle, but the vices, using innocuous aliases to inveigle their way into his confidence, cause him to backslide into covetous materialism. He becomes a miser and maltreats his tenants, servants, and hirelings: he raises rents, fails to pay the wages he owes, and seizes property adjacent to his own. After a bad dream about God’s punishment, he falls ill and dies. Satan carries him to hell on his back, advising the audience to live their lives in the same way. The virtues advise the contrary.
Cambises, King of Persia
Preston, Thomas · 1561 · Tragedy
Gamibyses leaves Sisamimes in charge of his kingdom while he conquers Egypt. After a comic incident in which soldiers going to the war are beaten by a prostitute, the deputy, encouraged by AlmibiGextér, grows corrupt and takes bribes. Cambyses returns victorious and has him executed and flayed in the presence of Sisamnes’ son @tiaii, whom he appoints as his father’s successor. Praxaspes criticizes Cambyses’ drunkenness, so the King demonstrates his steady hand by shooting the courtier’s son dead. SHIEFAIE is also critical, but bides his time awaiting Cambyses’ death and his own succession to the throne; but Cambyses grows fearful of his ambition and has him murdered. After another comic incident in which Ambidexter first entraps two rustics into speaking ill of the King and then denounces them as traitors, Menus and @upid induce Cambyses into an_ incestuous marriage with a kinswoman. She criticizes him for the murder of Smerdis and he has her killed too. ===== PAGE 46 ===== Finally Cambyses accidentally impales himself on his own sword when leaping onto his horse, and dies. This is interpreted as divine punishment for his tyranny.
Oedipus (Seneca's Fifth Tragedy)
Neville, Alexander, trans.; Seneca, Lucius Annaeus · 1563 · Tragedy
Plague ravages Thebes. Apollo’s oracle declares that the sickness will subside with the banishment of the murderer of King Laius. Oedipus, who has also received mysterious instructions to flee his mother’s bed, intends to comply with the gods’ command: he curses the murderer, wishing incest and parricide upon him. He consults Tiresias, who conjures up the ghost of Laius. The ghost names Oedipus as the murderer of his own father; but Oedipus’ parents are still alive, and he proposes to produce them in evidence. Oedipus imprisons his brother-in-law Creon, even though Creon insists that he has no ambition to depose the King. Ten years before, Oedipus killed a man who was trying to stop his chariot; now he realizes that this was King Laius. He is recalled to take the throne of Corinth after the death of his father; but he is reluctant to go for fear of fulfilling his own curse by marrying his mother. He then learns that he was an adopted child: he was the son of Laius, whom Phorbas the shepherd was commissioned to expose in infancy; but Phorbas gave him to a Corinthian instead. Oedipus realizes that he has indeed committed parricide and incest. Overcome with guilt, he blinds himself. The suicidal Jocasta has him hold a sword, and impales herself on it.
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…
Jocasta
Gascoigne, George, trans.; Kinwelmershe, Francis, trans.; Yelverton, Christopher, trans.; Euripides; Dolce, Lodovico · 1566 · Tragedy
Oedipus unknowingly murdered his father and married his mother Jocasta; on learning the truth, he blinded himself. His sons imprisoned him and agreed to alternate annually as kings of Thebes: Polynices went into exile while Eteocles took the first turn on the throne; but Eteocles refused to give it up at the end of his year in office, and Polynices has besieged Thebes in association with the King of Argos. Jocasta intervenes as their mother, and persuades Polynices to enter Thebes and meet Eteocles under truce. Eteocles will not hand over power, but offers to accept his brother back as a private citizen. Jocasta is unable to reconcile her sons, and Polynices’ forces prepare for battle. Eteocles names Creon as his successor, and asks him to marry Antigone to his son Haemon. Creon consults Tiresias, and learns that Thebes is doomed to destruction in divine revenge for Jocasta’s incest; only the death of his other son, Menoeceus, can save the city. Keen to die for his country, Menoeceus refuses to go into exile as his father wishes, reports the prophecy to Eteocles, and kills himself. Meanwhile, the battle is indecisive, and Eteocles and Polynices agree to settle their dispute in single combat. Jocasta and Antigone are too late to stop them killing each other: arriving to find them both dying, Jocasta stabs herself with Polynices’ dagger. The besieging army is massacred by the Thebans. Antigone brings the three bodies back to Thebes and tells her father what has happened. Creon…
Agamemnon (Seneca's Eighth Tragedy)
Studley, John, trans.; Seneca, Lucius Annaeus · 1566 · Tragedy
The ghost of Thyestes describes his crimes and foretells the death of Agamemnon. During her husband’s long absence at the Trojan war, Clytemnestra has had an affair with Aegisthus; but now Agamemnon is coming home. She tells Aegisthus her doubts about their liaison, but when he proposes suicide, she agrees to join him in finding another way to dispose of their problems. Agamemnon arrives after a stormy crossing from Troy, bringing Cassandra with him as a prisoner. She foretells his murder by Clytemnestra, which duly comes to pass. Clytemnestra wants to kill her children 1566 too, but Orestes has escaped, and Aegisthus is reluctant to behead Electra; instead she is imprisoned in a distant dungeon. Cassandra exults in the overthrow of Troy’s conqueror, and predicts Clytemnestra’s downfall. She is beheaded, but Orestes survives to avenge his father’s death.
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.
The Conflict of Conscience
Woodes, Nathaniel · 1572 · Moral
Satan, concerned about the spread of godliness on Earth, procures Hypocrisy, Tyranny, and Avarice to counteract it by propagating vice through the Roman Catholic church. Philologus and Mathetes discuss the danger to Protestantism, and conclude that worldly torments are sent by God to test men’s faith. After arguing about their mutual precedence, the vices resolve to help the papal legation, and adopt innocuous aliases. Tyranny is commissioned as an inquisitor to hunt heretics, while Avarice accepts their bribes to save them from arrest. Caconos alerts the vices to the heresies of Philologus, who is arrested and tried by the Cardinal in consistory court. He is examined on the topics of papal authority and transubstantiation, and found guilty. His property is confiscated and his family’s distress used to put psychological pressure on him; he is also threatened with imprisonment, torture, and execution, but promised money and power if he recants. He does, persuaded by the glass of vanity given by Sensual Suggestion. Spirit and Conscience call on Philologus to renounce his apostasy and embrace martyrdom, but he rejects them. In prosperity, he is visited by Horror, who torments him with the knowledge of his own damnation. Theologus and Eusebius urge the continuing availability of God’s grace, but Philologus blasphemes and curses God. Despairing of salvation, he hangs himself. (In the B-text, he is given grace to repent at the last moment.)
All for Money
Lupton, Thomas · 1577 · Moral
The play satirizes the domination of money in a sequence of discrete episodes. Theology, Science, and Art lament that they are now primarily studied out ofa desire for money. Money becomes ill and vomits up Pleasure, who in turn gives birth to Sin in the same manner, whose progeny in turn is Damnation. Satan is pleased that Money’s wide popularity will consign so many souls to hell, and asks Sin to assist in the process. The relative values of money and learning are assessed in an encounter between four characters who have or lack them in various permutations: learning is shown to be superior to money, and poverty in this world carries the promise of a heavenly reward in the next; the clinching point is that Learning with Money gives alms to the poor where Money without Learning refuses. Money feels overworked and Sin gives him an associate, All for Money, who presides over a corrupt court: he pardons theft and assault, infanticide, and bigamy, but hangs a poor thief who is unable to bribe him. He also advises two suitors to procure false witnesses to support their causes, and protects a corrupt and incompetent cleric. Judas and Dives, two souls damned for monetary sins, lament their situation; Damnation drives them off to hell. Godly Admonition warns the audience not to repent too late, and to give up cupidity.
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…
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 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…
Fedele and Fortunia (Two Italian Gentlemen)
Munday, Anthony, trans. (?); Pasqualigo, Luigi · 1584 · Comedy · Children of the Chapel (first) (Oxford's Boys) · before the Court;
Bedelé and Bortunid, rivals for the affections of WWictoria, are both melancholy for love. Victoria once favoured Fedele, who still loves her; but he has been away, and she now loves Fortunio instead. A third would-be suitor is @aptain§@rmekstenée, whom Fortunio has asked for help. Fedele in turn is loved by Mirginia, his original love whom he jilted when he fell for Victoria. Victoria seeks M@@USA’s magical help to compel Fortunio’s love. Both Fedele and Crackstone see her going to raise spirits at night. They throw candles into a tomb, but Crackstone has hidden inside it; his emergence convinces them that they have raised the devil, and they run away, leaving behind a wax image which was to be used in the spell. Crackstone sends the incriminating image to Fedele, who confronts Victoria and tells Fortunio everything. Victoria engages Crackstone to kill Fedele. Meanwhile P@danté has been promoting Fedele’s cause through Victoria’s maid, Alttilia, and has fallen in love with her. He visits Victoria’s house disguised as a beggar. Fedele shows this to Fortunio, convincing him that Victoria has a lover. Attilia leaks the murder plot to Pedante, who tells Fedele. Crackstone pretends to kill Fedele, fighting with the air, with the intention of telling Victoria that he is dead and marrying her before she discovers the truth. However, Fedele catches him in a net, and Victoria mocks him and pours urine over him. Crackstone swears revenge, and Pedante offers to help; but for his part…
Gallathea
Lyly, John · 1585 · Comedy · Children of Paul's (first) (?) · before the Court;
Every five years, Lincolnshire’s fairest and chastest virgin is sacrificed to N&@ptumé; this ancient custom keeps the land safe from the monster Agat. The fathers of Galatea and PHyllidd independently attempt to preserve their respective daughters from selection for sacrifice by disguising her as a boy and sending her to hide in the woods. They meet: each takes the other for the boy she seems, and falls in love with ‘him’. Meanwhile, to make mischief among Diana’s nymphs, @upid cross-dresses too and gives them all amorous thoughts about the two disguised girls; but Galatea and Phyllida reject them all, each preferring the other. Cupid is captured, and set fiddly tasks by way of punishment. The day of the sacrifice arrives. M@be, the most suitable remaining virgin, is offered in sacrifice, but Neptune has seen through Galatea and Phyjllida’s disguises and will not take her; Hebe is relieved to-have survived and disappointed not to be the fairest virgin. WenGsS arrives to release her son, and appeals for Neptune’s help. He offers to discontinue the custom of sacrifice if Dia@iia will release Cupid, and, knowing it will save the lives of future virgins, Diana agrees. Galatea and Phyllida each discover the other's true gender, but Venus agrees to change one of them into a boy, but they are not to know which of them it is until they are married. In the sub-plot, three brothers are shipwrecked on the Lincolnshire coast, and seek their fortune by some other means than the sea.…
1 Tamburlaine the Great
Marlowe, Christopher · 1587 · Tragedy · Admiral's (Nottingham's) Men
Encouraged by a prophecy that he will one day rule Asia, Mambuarlainé robs travellers passing through Persia. He ambushes the party escorting Zénderate to her husband-to-be, purloins their treasure, and. woos her. [iferidamas is sent by Mycetés, the Persian King, to attack Tamburlaine, but Tamburlaine persuades him to switch sides with eloquent promises of wealth and power. The Persian nobles conspire to depose Mycetes in favour of his brother @GSEGE] Mycetes offers battle, and Cosroe joins forces with Tamburlaine against him. Advised by his counsellor M@amdgét Mycetes plans to beat Tamburlaine’s soldiers by laying out gold on the battlefield: they will stop fighting to pick it up, and so be massacred. The stratagem fails. Tamburlaine encounters Mycetes on the battlefield, but rejects the opportunity to steal the crown Mycetes is trying to hide: he will win it in battle instead. MIyG8tés is killed: Tamburlaing presents @6sf6e with his crown, and is created Regent of Persia; but the prospect of coronation attracts him. He betrays and kills Cosroe and makes himself king. Zenserate remains with Tamburlaine, nominally as his captive; though reputed his concubine, she grows to love him. When Ajpydaas tries to persuade her to reject Tamburlaine, the Scythian induces him to commit suicide. The Emperor of the Turks, Bajazethi leaves the siege of Constantinople to challenge Tamburlaine. He is defeated and taken captive with his wife Zabifial Tamburlaine refuses to ransom him, and…
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 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…
The Three Lords and Three Ladies of London
Wilson, Robert · 1588 · Moral · Queen Elizabeth's Men (?)
The three lords of London, in want of wives, plan to marry the three ladies. There are two complications. ===== PAGE 450 ===== First, it emerges that they all want the same lady, Lucre. More pressingly, all three ladies are in prison. The lords agree to secure their freedom and worry later about who marries whom. But Judge Nemo has heard petitions for the ladies’ release before: many men wanted Lucre, some wanted Love, and nobody cared about Conscience. His conditions are that either all three ladies go free or none of them, and that, if they do, he shall decide which lady marries which lord. The ladies are taken from prison and sat on uncomfortable penitential stones. They are visited by Lucre’s former servants, who were banished from London but now want their old jobs back; Lucre is unable to accommodate them. Falsehood and Double- Dealing offer the ladies clothes to replace their prison rags, but they refuse. Nemo arranges for them to have more virtuous garments, the first stage in their rehabilitation. When the three lords continue to quarrel over which of them should have Lucre, Nemo agrees to give up his right to make the marital dispositions, on condition that the lords accept the lady’s own choice. He then has Conscience pose as Lucre. Each lord offers her a different benefit — power, magnificence, and hedonism - and she eventually bestows herself on Pleasure. He is happy with his fiancée even when he learns of the deception. Conscience declares that Policy should…
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…
The Wounds of Civil War, or Marius and Scilla
Lodge, Thomas · 1588 · Tragedy · Admiral's (Nottingham's) Men
King Mithridates has defied Roman power in Asia Minor, and the consul Sulla has been selected by lot to take reprisals. But Sulla lingers with the army in Capua, and the Senate votes to transfer the command to Marius, a more experienced soldier. Sulla invades the Senate with his troops and threatens to uphold his rights with violence. The senators take sides, and a civil war follows. Sulla is victorious; Marius takes refuge at Minturnum. Sulla proscribes Marius and his allies as traitors, and leads the army to Asia Minor. Marius is warned that his hosts plot his murder, but accepts his fate and goes to sleep. The assassin, Pedro, is unable to go through with the killing, so the magistrates simply ask Marius to leave town. He flees to Africa, and lives in the mountains on a diet of roots. Marius’ son comes to recall him to Rome: the new consul, Cinna, is sympathetic to him. But Sulla returns victorious from the east, and attempts to prevent his rival from entering Italy. Nevertheless Marius reaches Rome, and begins to settle old scores with violence. Cinna deposes and murders his fellow consul Octavius, Marius’ enemy, and Marius is appointed to fill the vacancy. Sulla is proscribed and his property confiscated, and Marius sends his son to engage Sulla’s army in battle. Sulla’s wife and daughter are arrested as they attempt to leave Rome; Marius threatens them with death, but then sends them honourably back to Sulla. Marius dies in office. After a bloody battle, Sulla enters…
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…
Friar Bacon and Friar Bongay
Greene, Robert · 1589 · Comedy · Queen Elizabeth's Men
Primce Bdwafd is in love with the country wench Margarety and he orders Bay to woo her on his behalf. He does so, but she falls for him rather than the Prince. Meanwhile BRiamlBaeoH is questioned by his academic superiors, who suspect him of practising black magic. He explains his plans to make a brazen head which will lecture in philosophy, and to surround England with a defensive wall of brass. The one sceptic, DEIBOTGER, is shown up when Bacon uses his powers to reveal that he sneaks off at night to play cards at a tavern when he should be reading. Prineejkdward and Ralphithelfeal swap clothes and identities when visiting Bacon, but he sees through the deception with ease. Bacon shows Edward events at Suffolk through a magic mirror: Daey is wooing Margaret for himself, and they are to be married by FriamBungay; but Bacon magically strikes Bungay dumb, then brings him to Oxford for dinner. Edward rides to Suffolk to confront Lacy, but Margaret’s determination reconciles him to the situation: even if he tries to remove the obstacle by killing Lacy, she will never love him and will kill herself to be with Lacy. Prince Edward’s future wife, Elifi@f of Castile, arrives in England with a group of foreign potentates. The Emperor of Germany has brought along Wandérmast} a famous magician, to compete with England’s best scholars at Oxford. Vandermast’s first opponent in magic is BriamBuiigay, who conjures up a golden tree. Vandermast summons Hercules to pull it down, but Hercules…
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.…
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…
2 Henry the Sixth (The First Part of the Contention betwixt the Two Famous Houses of York and Lancaster)
Shakespeare, William; Marlowe, Christopher; Anonymous (?) · 1590 · History · Pembroke's Men (?)
Siiffolk brings KingiHenryiVd his new queen, Margaret, having been his proxy at their wedding in France; the agreement means peace with France, but also the surrender of some of England’s French possessions. In England, factions develop for and against Gioueester, the Lord Protector, while WOFk intends to claim the crown for himself; moreover, rivalry brews between the Queen and Gloucester’s ambitious wife, who also covets the throne. Common talk about York’s claim to the crown means that SOimierset supplants him as Regent of France, and this talk is later verified in a trial by combat. _ ile incites the DGGHESSIGAEGIONEESEr to solicit demonic predictions about England’s political future (some of which come true later in the play); she is forced to do penance, and banished. By careful questioning, Gloucester establishes that a supposed miracle is actually fraudulent. Somerset’s regency results in the loss of all England’s French lands; the Queen and barons unite to lay the blame on Gloucester and have him first arrested for high treason, then murdered. Suffolk is . banished by popular acclamation, captured at sea by pirates, and beheaded. MH@NCaFdifial dies in a delirium ‘of guilt for his part in Gloucester’s murder. , ’ York goes to put down a rising in Ireland, and arranges for a rebellion in his absence to give him a reason to return in arms: Jaeki@ade and his men duly wreak havoc in London before Glifférd quells the rebellion with a promise of pardon; Cade himself is…
The True Tragedy of Richard the Third
Anonymous · 1591 · Tragedy; History · Queen Elizabeth's Men
Twenty-two years ago, the House of York seized the throne from Henry VI. Since then, RiéHard has sought to clear his path to the crown by murdering the deposed M@firy and his own brother, @IMFenee. The dying BGWardli] tries to make peace between Lord Hastings and Marquess Dorsét, and appoints Richard as Lord Protector during his son’s minority. As the new King travels to London for his coronation, Richard allies himself with his former enemy, BUCKingham. and Dorset and other noblemen flee the kingdom. Travelling to London with the new King, RIVERS is left behind to negotiate with Richard and Buckingham. Richard arranges to have him locked in his room at the inn where he is staying, and arrests him; he then catches up with the King and arrests the rest of the Queen’s family, despite the King’s protests. The QG@8H and her other children take sanctuary, but the Duke of WGrk is removed to the Tower to keep the King ===== PAGE 490 ===== company. Richard has the arrested men executed without trial. The King and York are declared bastards and the crown offered to Richard. Edward IV’s death is bad news for Mistress SHGFé, too: she loses all her influence at court and has to face the prospect of an enemy in power. Accused of plotting with her to bewitch the King and Buckingham with a view to seizing power, Lord Hastings is arrested and executed. Mistress Shore’s property is confiscated and Londoners ordered not to give her food or shelter; even those she helped in earlier times are…
Phillis and Amyntas (Ivychurch) (Amyntas' Pastoral)
Fraunce, Abraham, trans.; Tasso, Torquato · 1591 · Pastoral
Cupid’s mother wants him to exercise his power at "court among lords, but he rebels and runs away to work in a pastoral setting disguised as a shepherd. The objects. of his attention are to be Amyntas and the - . loveless Phyllis: by making them fall for one another, he will demonstrate that he has power over rustics as well as over kings. . Three years ago, Amyntas ‘fell in love with his ‘neighbour and childhood friend Phyllis; but when he “declared his love, she rejected it and has refused his ‘ company ever since, despite others’ efforts to persuade __ her. Now that a soothsayer has told him there is no - hope, Amyntas is suicidally melancholy: he will kill himself, and then she'll be sorry. Phyllis has also attracted the attentions of a Satyr, but she scorns him too; so he plans to rape and murder her at the well ' where she washes. Thyrsis and Daphne plan to bring Amyntas to the well, too: seeing her naked will arouse his amorous propensities, and, in spite of herself, she will enjoy being raped by him. The Satyr gets there first, -and Amyntas finds Phyllis stark naked, tied to a tree “ with her own hair. He beats off the Satyr, but Phyllis is ungrateful and runs away when he releases her. - Phyllis flees to Fulvia, who clothes her and takes her hunting at Ivychurch. There she wounds a wolf, and pursues it into the forest. Fulvia follows her, and finds a pack of wolves devouring a corpse, and nearby a bloody hair-tire which she recognizes as Phyllis’s. She reports this…
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…
Mother Bombie
Lyly, John · 1591 · Comedy · Children of Paul's (first)
Menmiphio and Stellig each has a fool for his only child, — a son and a daughter respectively, but both have managed to conceal the fact from the neighbours. Each plans to marry his offspring to the other’s without disclosing the heir’s mental debility, and each tasks his servant to make the arrangements. Meanwhile, @amidiliis and [ivid are in love with one another, but their parents disapprove, wanting them to marry wealth instead: Candius is made to woo Stellio’s daughter Sil@mla, and Livia is intended for Memphio’s son Al@GiiS] The four fathers’ boy servants conspire to frustrate these various . marital plans, and go off to drink at the tavern. Candius meets Silena as she sneaks out to hear her fortune, and offers to read her palm. He is momentarily struck by her beauty, but quickly discovers that she is an idiot, a legitimate impediment to marriage. Mother Bomibié tells Silena’s fortune in cryptic terms: she is not the child of her parents. The fortune teller is also consulted by the siblings M@eStiiS and Sérénaj] who have developed an incestuous passion for one another; Mother Bombie tells them that they shall be married and each will displace a fool. The boys arrange for Candius and Livia to swap apparel with the two idiots, and they are married in disguise, with their own fathers as witnesses. Accius and Silena court one another in disguise, but their marriage prospects take a turn for the worse after each father identifies the other’s child as a fool. DE@Rilio is…
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 Royal Entertainment at Bisham Abbey
Anonymous · 1592 · Entertainment
At the top of the hill, the Queen is accosted by a wild man, who tells her that Sylvanus has been frightened away by music and Pan is courting nymphs; he has lost 1h ene NAR TRAIN Ne RRR RN EA tS we te eal REO RE REE INR BH ===== PAGE 191 ===== 1592 all respect for them. He identifies the Queen as the woman of the Satyrs’ dreams, greets her, and joins her train. Further down the hill, Pan attempts to woo two shepherdesses. They reject him and ask him to give their mother warning of the Queen’s approach, but he is rooted to the spot with wonder. He submits to the Queen and wishes her a happy visit. At the bottom of the hill, Ceres presumptuously declares her power to be greater than Cynthia's, but falls off her harvest cart and has to acknowledge the Queen’s superiority.
The Taming of the Shrew
Shakespeare, William · 1592 · Comedy · Pembroke's Men · Blackfriars;Globe;Indoor Professional;Outdoor Professional
: GHHStSpHEMSIy is ejected from a tavern after breaking some glasses and refusing to pay for them. A lord finds him in a drunken stupor, takes him home, and plays a prank on him: he is treated as if he is himself a lord who has just woken from a dream of being a beggar. Players visit the lord and he engages them to perform for Sly. ; In the play, BaptistalMindla refuses to allow his younger daughter Bidi@a to marry any of her suitors before her elder sister Kath@filia is married. Katherina is not considered a desirable wife: she is aggressive and disobedient. The rival suitors H@HEnSio and Greiilio agree to find someone to marry Katherina. Hortensio jokingly suggests the idea to his friend PEHWEEID, only to find that Petruccio is willing to co-operate, so long as Katherina brings an adequate dowry; Hortensio and Gremio agree to pay his expenses. Baptista asks the various suitors to provide schoolmasters to instruct Bianca, and two of them see this as an opportunity to get closer access to her: Hortensio poses as Bifi6, a music master, and gets Petruccio to present him to the household; and Digentio, a new arrival in Padua, poses as Cambio, a Latin teacher, while his servant [faiio assumes his identity and presents himself to Baptista as another suitor for Bianca. Petruccio woos Katherina by insisting on her beauty and refusing to rise to her bad behaviour. Afterwards he tells her father that she has consented to marry him, and pre-empts her contradiction by claiming they…
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…
Cleopatra
Daniel, Samuel · 1593 · Tragedy
Antony is dead, but Cleopatra still lives, holed up in her monument. She wants to join her lover in death, but is restrained by fear of how her children will be treated afterwards. Egypt has been conquered by Caesar, who visits the defeated Queen; she asks for mercy and hands over an inventory of her treasure, but her secretary Seleucus betrays her by notifying Caesar that she has kept some items back. Attempting to get her son Caesario out of Egypt, she entrusts him to his tutor Rhodon; but Rhodon is bribed by Caesar’s agents and hands the boy over to be killed by the Romans. Charmed by her beauty, Dolabella warns Cleopatra that Caesar intends to display her in his triumph, so she procures two asps and kills herself with them. ‘ —— ° ; 1593 B-Text In this version, more is told of the death of Antony before the start of the action: how Cleopatra sent him a false report of her death, which precipitated his attempted suicide, and how he was hoisted up into the monument to die. Cleopatra’s wish to kill herself is initially kept secret: she is first seen making arrangements to send Caesario to India, intending that he should one day return to supplant Caesar as the ruler of the Roman Empire.
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…
Love's Labor's Lost
Shakespeare, William · 1595 · Comedy · Lord Chamberlain's (Hunsdon's) Men · before the Court;
The King of Navarre has proclaimed a three-year period of study during which his courtiers must live abstemiously and refrain from seeing women; no woman may even approach the court. Unfortunately the Princess of France is due to arrive on a diplomatic mission concerning a dispute over money and territory, and the King is forced to meet her; however, the evidence in support of France’s claim against Navarre has not arrived, and the issue is deferred. Costard is caught canoodling with Jaquenetta and is remitted to Don Armado’s custody. Armado is himself enamoured of Jaquenetta, and sends Costard to her with a love-letter. Biron also pays Costard to carry a similar letter to his love, Rosaline, and Costard mixes up the two letters. Armado’s causes amusement to the French ladies when they receive it; Biron’s causes embarrassment to himself when, directed by Holofernes, Jaquenetta brings it to the King just after Biron has attacked him and the other lords for falling in love. Biron argues the illegitimacy of their original vows, and they set about wooing the ladies, first with gifts, then by appearing in a masque of Russians. The ladies confound the latter by wearing masks themselves and swapping gifts so that each lord woos the wrong lady; they also refuse to dance. Don Armado and the locals offer the court a pageant of the Nine Worthies, devised by the schoolmaster: it is mocked by the lords and breaks up in confusion when Costard accuses Don Armado of fathering the pregnant…
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…
The Death of Robert, Earl of Huntingdon (2 Robin Hood)
Munday, Anthony; Chettle, Henry · 1598 · Tragedy · Admiral's (Nottingham's) Men
SimDoncaster. whose life was saved by RGbimjHGad, is ungrateful: jealous of Robin’s popularity, he tries to regroup his enemies, and wins over {H@§PHOr who agrees to poison Robin. Hearing of the Prior’s wondrous elixir, Robin invites EHEIKGG to taste it at a feast, but drinks it first himself; it proves to be poison. He accuses Doncaster and the Prior of treason — it also emerges that Doncaster is a rapist as well as a murderer ~— and they are sentenced to death. The King assigns the Prior’s lands, which were once Robin’s, to Mariani and, on his deathbed, Robin makes PHHE@JGlHin swear to treat Marian honourably and not to love her beyond the bounds of chastity. Marian reverts to her original name of Matilda. The King dies and is succeeded by John, who resists the temptation to invade Austria, disposes of Alpthur, the rival claimant to his throne, and marries [Sabél, who was already betrothed to another man. Obsessed with Matilda, however, he soon divorces Isabel, and unsuccessfully attempts to woo Matilda in a masque. Matilda’s allies, Bady§Briiée and her younger sGfi, are taken hostage and imprisoned. Seeking to remove her rival, Isabel confronts and assaults Matilda, but she is rescued by §HeiBrices. Though Matilda graciously attempts to exculpate her, Isabel’s behaviour causes her relationship with King John to deteriorate further. Seeking revenge on the entire Bruce family, John has Lady Bruce and her son starved to death. B@BEH is sent to apprehend Matilda, but she…
Englishmen for My Money, or A Woman Will Have Her Will
Haughton, William · 1598 · Comedy · Admiral's (Nottingham's) Men
The usurer Pisaro intends to marry his daughters to three foreigners, while also using them to acquire wealth from their English suitors. Anthony, their tutor, is sacked for acting as a go-between for the Englishmen, but he disguises himself and is hired in as his own replacement. The daughters encourage their suitors to borrow more money from Pisaro, in the expectation that the debt will be cancelled when they marry. Pisaro, distracted by rumours that his ships have been ambushed in the Mediterranean by Spanish pirates, mistakenly invites the English suitors to dinner. They take up the invitation, meet their foreign rivals, and arrange a nocturnal assignation with the sisters. Learning of this, Pisaro plans to substitute the foreigners, but Anthony forewarns the sisters, so that the Englishmen are able to misdirect the foreigners in the darkness. One of them is actually the clown Frisco, who has taken the Dutchman’s place, and who now leads the two foreigners even further astray. The Dutchman himself finds his way to Pisaro’s house, and the sisters trap him in a basket. The lovers arrive, ready to marry and then sleep with the sisters, but Pisaro intervenes. It seems that the daughters are to be married against their will in the morning, but Anthony devises three schemes: Walgrave impersonates a woman and spends the night with Mathea; Laurentia impersonates Anthony and escapes from the house to- marry Heigham; and Harvey pretends to be mortally ill, forcing Pisaro to let…
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.
Every Man Out of His Humor
Jonson, Ben · 1599 · Comedy · Lord Chamberlain's (Hunsdon's) Men
Cordatus and Mitis are brought by Asper to watch a satirical play, in which he is to be an actor, playing malicious Macilente. They keep up a running commentary between, and sometimes during, the scenes. Each character in the play has a ‘humour’ or obsession to be purged. Sogliardo wants to be a gentleman: he takes instruction from Carlo Buffone and purchases himself a coat of arms; he is eventually used to humiliate the conceited court lady Saviolina by showing that she cannot tell true gentility from false. The farmer Sordido is hoarding grain, and resists a court order to sell it because he is gambling on the price going up after a bad harvest; when this does not happen, he tries to hang himself, and repents on hearing the comments of the rustics who cut him down. Puntarvolo plays chivalric wooing games of mock- adultery with his wife, and plans to travel to Constantinople with his wife and dog, venturing money on their safe return; but he loses the inclination when Macilente poisons the dog. Fungoso tries to imitate the courtier Brisk’s fashionable suit, but is continually frustrated because Brisk keeps changing his clothes. The uxorious Deliro seeks advice on how best to please his contrary wife, Fungoso’s sister. Shift, wanting to be known for a machismo he doesn’t really have, represents himself as a robber, but the threat of hanging forces him to admit the truth. Carlo Buffone has a humour of talking: at a tavern, he performs a comic dialogue between two cups,…
The Shoemaker's Holiday, or The Gentle Craft
Dekker, Thomas · 1599 · Comedy · Admiral's (Nottingham's) Men · before the Court;
Before the start of the action, Lacy went bankrupt on a Continental tour, and learned the cobbler's trade in Wittenberg. On his return to England, he fell in love with Rose Oatley, but they fall foul of disapproving relatives: the Earl of Lincoln contrives for Lacy to leave the country. as a commander in the French wars, and her father takes her away to his country house. The newly married shoemaker Ralph is recruited into the army and takes a sad leave of his wife, Jane, and his colleagues. Lacy, however, deserts after the troops take ship: he sends his cousin to war in his place, and returns to London in the hope of making contact with Rose. Disguised as a Dutch shoemaker, Hans, he seeks employment with Simon Eyre and, though the business does not need another journeyman, he is accepted because Eyre's other workmen like him. A Dutch ship arrives in London with a rich cargo of luxury items, which the skipper offers at a bargain price; Lacy helps Eyre to buy the goods, using the money Lincoln gave him for his expenses in France. Eyre grows prosperous and becomes first an alderman, then Sheriff, and makes over his shop to his foreman. Hodge. In the country, Rose meets Hammon during a hunt, and her father thinks him a suitable son-in-law; at the betrothal, however, she rejects him and declares that she will live a maid. Hammon decides to try his luck with a London shopkeeper instead. The English rout the French in battle with relatively few fatal casualties, but Ralph is…
As You Like It
Shakespeare, William · 1599 · Comedy · Lord Chamberlain's (Hunsdon's) Men
Before the start of the play, Duke Senior was usurped and banished by his younger brother Frederick. Some loyal lords have gone into voluntary exile with him in the Forest of Arden, but his daughter, Rosalind, has remained at court with her beloved cousin, Celia. Upon inheriting his father’s estate, Oliver has neglected his responsibility to educate his younger brother Orlando, keeping him instead in rustic poverty. Orlando remonstrates with Oliver about it without success, then asks for his small inheritance, determined to make his own way in the world. He intends to compete against Charles the wrestler, who has challenged all comers at a forthcoming court show. Charles consults Oliver, concerned that he may injure the young man, but Oliver persuades him that Orlando is a bad lot and that the world would benefit if Charles were to kill him in the match. In the event, Orlando is victorious, but Duke Frederick’s pleasure in his success disappears on learning that he is the son of Sir Rowland, a personal enemy. Rosalind falls in love with Orlando, but he is too tongue-tied to speak to her. Frederick banishes Rosalind. She and Celia flee to the forest in disguise, taking the court fool Touchstone with them; for security, Rosalind poses as a youth, Ganymede, and buys a cottage on arrival. Frederick hears rumours that Orlando may have absconded with them. Meanwhile, Oliver attempts to murder Orlando by burning down his lodging, so the young man escapes to the forest with the old…
A Larum for London, or The Siege of Antwerp
Anonymous · 1599 · History · Lord Chamberlain's (Hunsdon's) Men
Sancho D'Avila needs money to pay his troops. and plans to raise it by sacking Antwerp. He conspires with the captain of the city's garrison, Cornelius van End, and summons Spanish forces from across the Netherlands. Claiming to be retaliating over Antwerp's support for the Prince of Orange, he makes an artillery attack on the State House while the rulers are dining there; three people are killed. The Spanish commander, Alva, fakes his own death in order to give a pretext for further reprisals against the city. The rulers of Antwerp, including a fat burgher, do not take the threat seriously. considering defence expenditure to be a waste of money; but they are finally persuaded to accept help from the Marquis d'Havre and Count Egmont, so long as they don't have to pay for it. Van End leaks the information to D'Avila. The Spaniards attack and the garrison under van End defects to their side. The rulers of Antwerp struggle to organize their troops. Havre and Governor Champagny are killed, but Egmont Is saved by Alva and sent to Spain as a prisoner. Antwerp falls swiftly; thousands of citizens are killed, and the victorious Spaniards execute a further 10,000 survivors in reprisal for 300 Spanish deaths. They also renege on a diplomatic agreement between England and Spain protecting English lives and property in the Low Countries: Alva demands an impossible sum by way of ransom, and rejects what they can offer as too little.Another Englishman pays his own ransom, but is hanged by…
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…
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…
Histriomastix, or The Player Whipped
Marston, John · 1599 · Moral · Unknown
Under the benevolent rule of Peace, various orders of society turn to learning in their different ways: Mavortius and his fellow noblemen and gentlemen become students of the liberal arts, professional people appoint the scholar Chrisoganus as their lecturer, and some artisans organize themselves as a company of players, Sir Oliver Owlet’s Men. However, the new reign of Plenty tempts many of them away from their studies, leaving only Chrisoganus loyal. While the lawyers and merchants take advantage of the leisure of the vacation to go hunting, Mavortius entertains his guests with a play given by Owlet’s Men. Plenty is succeeded by Pride, who encourages a dedication to fashion and a neglect of proper decorum: the lawyers and merchants enrich themselves unjustly, Mavortius dismisses many of his servants to release more money to spend on pleasure, and both Chrisoganus (who has turned playwright) and Owlet's Men price themselves out of the market. Next, Envy comes to power, causing class resentment in the realm: the citizenry’s adoption of the latest fashions causes resentment among the nobility, envious behaviour disrupts the players’ rehearsal, and Mavortius becomes belligerent. The next ruler is War, under whom the players are conscripted as soldiers, Mavortius fights with his friends, the common people rise in rebellion against their social superiors, and the Spanish invade the realm. Out of this chaos comes Poverty, leading aristocrats, merchants. and peasants alike to…
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…
Jack Drum's Entertainment (Katherine and Pasquil)
Marston, John · 1600 · Comedy · Children of Paul's (second)
The liberal Sir Edward Fortune has two daughters, Katherine and Camelia, and numerous would-be sons- in-law; he is concerned that the girls should marry their own choice of husband. Katherine is pursued by the usurer Mammon, who criticizes Sir Edward for excessive generosity, and by Master Puff, but she © prefers Pasquil. Camelia loves Ned Brabant, but others, including the foolish John Ellis and the lustful ~ - Frenchman Monsieur John fo’ de King are interested in her. Witnessing an early-morning encounter between Pasquil and Katherine, Mammon engages _ ===== PAGE 217 ===== 1600 Monsieur John to murder Pasquil, but Pasquil pays him more to report the deed done without actually committing it. On hearing the rumours that Pasquil is dead, Katherine disappears. Camelia’s waiting-woman Winifred has been bribed to promote John Ellis’s suit, and Camelia duly transfers her affections to Ellis, jilting Ned Brabant. Outraged, Brabant’s friend Planet bribes Winifred to change her recommendation. Camelia changes her mind just as Ellis and her father are about to agree a marriage contract, and wants Planet instead. She sends a love- gift to Planet, but he rejects her, thereby avenging her treatment of Brabant. But Brabant does not know what Planet is up to, and becomes murderously jealous when he sees the offer of Camelia’s favour. He sends his page to shoot Planet, then takes Planet’s hat and coat in order to pose as him for an assignation with Camelia. Wer behaviour makes Planet’s…
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…
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…
Antonio's Revenge (2 Antonio and Mellida)
1602 · Tragedy · Children of Paul's (second)
The war between Venice and Genoa is over, and peace is to be sealed with a marriage between Antonio and Mellida, the children of the two dukes; Antonio's mother Maria is on her way to Venice to attend the wedding. But Duke Piero's commitment to peace is not sincere: he secretly murders Felice and Duke Andrugio, and hides Felice's body in Mellida's bedroom. When Antonio comes to wake her on the wedding morning, he finds the body hanging in the window, and Piero claims that he killed Felice in rage upon finding him and Mellida fornicating; Mellida herself is imprisoned. Andrugio in tum is reported to have died of joy. Piero's plan is to kill Antonio, marry Mellida to the heir to the duchy of Florence, and marry Maria himself, thereby extending his dominion across three Italian states. To this end, he plans to frame Antonio and establish Mellida's innocence. Antonio visits Andrugio's tomb and sees his ghost, who calls on him to avenge his death, assures him of Mellida's chastity, and warns him that Maria is going to marry Piero. Antonio murders Piero's son. The day before Maria's intended wedding, the ghost appears to her in her bedroom and reproaches her for disloyalty in widowhood. He further tells her that he was poisoned by Piero, and insists that Antonio should flee the court in order to seek revenge. Instead, Antonio stays at court disguised as a fool, and has it put about that he is dead. Mellida is put on trial, and Strozzo makes a false confession vindicating her and…
May Day
Chapman, George · 1602 · Comedy · Children of the Queen's Revels · Blackfriars;Indoor Professional
It is May morning. In accordance with the season, old Lorenzo is planning an amorous, adulterous adventure with Francischina, and approaches her kinsman Angelo to act as go-between. Francischina’s husband too is going out with his gull, Innocentio, who is to observe gentlemanly behaviour at an ordinary. Lodovico makes doubly sure of his absence by introducing him to an admirer, Giovanelli, and they go to a tavern together. He is implicated in a second plot which in turn requires Lorenzo to be away from his home: Lorenzo’s daughter Aemilia, whom he plans to marry against her will to Gasparo, loves Aurelio, and Lodovico has promised to bring him to her at the house’s rear terrace. Meanwhile, Leonoro conspires with Temperance to win the love of Lucretia, Aurelio’s cousin. Nothing goes entirely according to plan. Lorenzo comes to Francischina disguised as a chimney-sweep, so that he can enter the house without risk to her honour, but Lodovico lets his friends in on the secret and they tease him on the way; later Angelo pretends to be Quintiliano coming home early, and frightens Lorenzo into hiding. Aurelio’s assignation with Aemilia turns out to involve more than talking when Lodovico provides a rope ladder and he climbs up onto the terrace, which gives access to her bedroom. Lodovico waits below, muffled in his cloak, and Temperance mistakes him for Leonoro; she invites him in just as the real Leonoro arrives and is taken to Lucretia’s chamber. When he gets into bed with her,…
Antonio and Mellida
1602 · Tragicomedy · Children of Paul's (second)
The Genoese navy is routed by the Venetians, and the defeated Duke and his son Antonio are banished; the victorious Venetian Duke Piero proclaims a price on both their heads. Meanwhile, aristocratic suitors have come to Venice to woo Mellida, Piero's daughter and Antonio's love. Shipwrecked in Venetian territory and believing his father dead, Antonio disguises himself as an Amazon. He meets Mellida and is received at court; at first he maintains his alias, pretending to have seen Antonio die, but then reveals himself to Mellida. He makes arrangements to abscond with her to England; the plot is discovered, but they escape, separately, in disguise. Andrugio too is alive, believing Antonio to have perished, and he too has been washed up in Venice. Father and fugitive son are reunited in the Venetian marsh; then Antonio meets the disguised Mellida. Piero's search party captures Mellida; she is imprisoned and will be forced to marry her suitor Galeazzo. The courtiers perform a wedding masque, during which Andrugio arrives, to claim Piero's proffered reward for bringing his own head. Piero is astounded at his courage and renounces their enmity. Antonio prompts further remorse by feigning his own death; he rises from his coffin when Piero wishes Mellida's love could bring him back to life. Galeazzo agrees to give up Mellida (he was never that fond of her anyway), and Piero gives her to Antonio, along with the promised gold.
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…
All's Well That Ends Well
Shakespeare, William; Middleton, Thomas, rev. (?) · 1603 · Tragicomedy · King's Men
When Béftrami’s father dies, he becomes a royal ward, and is summoned to court. H@léfhi loves him and is sad to see him go, but knows she can never have him because of the disparity in their rank. Phe@uDowager (@GuntEesS learns of her love and permits her to go to court and use her father’s medical knowledge, passed on to her on his deathbed, to cure the King of the fistula which afflicts him. ‘The Kimig has been advised to remain neutral in the war between Florence and Siena, but allows his lords to join on either side; Bertram, however, is deemed too young and required to stay at court. Helen wagers her life on the efficacy of her cure, and asks as her reward to be allowed her own choice of husband. She successfully heals the fistula and selects Bertram. He protests vehemently, but the King browbeats him into marriage. Rather than consummate the union, however, he runs away to the war and sends Helen word that he will only acknowledge her as his wife if she gets the ring from his finger and presents him with a child which he has lawfully begotten on her. She takes herself off, leaving word that she is going on a pilgrimage. Bertram acquits himself well in battle, but his companion Paroles allows the company’s drum to be captured by the Sienese. Passing through Florence, Helen encounters a widow whose daughter, Diama, is being solicited by Bertram for sex. She arranges for the widow to agree, on condition that Bertram gives up his ring; Helen then takes Diana’s place in…
The Wise Woman of Hogsdon
Heywood, Thomas · 1604 · Comedy · Unknown
Chartley and Boister are both in love with Luce, but Luce insists on marriage before sex; Chartley agrees, but wants the marriage to remain a secret for a month, after which his inheritance will be secure. Their plans are overheard by Chartley’s former fiancée, another Luce, who was jilted by him on the eve of her wedding day, and who has come to London after him in disguise. She gets herself hired as a page by the Wise Woman of Hoxton, who takes a hand when Chartley offends her. He is privately married at the Wise Woman’s house, though not to Luce as he thinks, but to the second Luce (which the Wise Woman, taking the latter for a boy, thinks is just a prank); Luce herself is also married, not to Chartley as she thinks but to the masked Boister. The Wise Woman then furthers the confusion by having the two Luces change clothes, so that each new husband will mistake his wife. Senser woos Gratiana, who prefers his friend Haringfield; but when her father learns they come as suitors, he has them thrown out. Senser boasts that he will return, be welcome, and even be hired to stay; Sir Harry promises that in that event he will consent to the marriage. Senser duly fulfils the condition: Sir Harry seeks a Latin tutor for Gratiana, and the disguised Senser gets the job after making the other candidate, Sir Boniface, sound inept and bawdy in Latin. Chartley arrives to woo Gratiana, whom he has seen in the street: he brings with him a forged letter from his father offering a good…
The London Prodigal
Anonymous · 1604 · Comedy · King's Men
Old Flowerdale returns secretly from Venice and hears tales of his son’s prodigality. Wanting to think the best of his offspring, he tests the young man by posing as Christopher, a sailor bringing news of his own death and a will disinheriting his son. Under his new identity he lends his son money to enable him to pursue an advantageous marriage to Sir Lancelot’s daughter Luce, and enters his service to observe him at close quarters. Sir Lancelot is trying to get husbands for all three of his daughters, but Delia prefers a virgin life. For Luce, Sir Lancelot initially favours the wealthy bumpkin Oliver, and takes his part when Young Flowerdale challenges him to a duel. However, ‘Christopher’ forges a will which makes Flowerdale seem richer than Oliver, so Sir Lancelot changes his mind and persuades Flowerdale to go to his own wedding rather than keep his appointment to fight Oliver. It is to be a double wedding: another daughter, Frances, is marrying a merchant’s son. Flowerdale makes no secret of the fact that he intends to exploit Luce financially. Disappointed in him, Old Flowerdale arranges for his uncle to have him arrested for debt immediately after the wedding; apart from teaching the young man a lesson, it will also establish whether Luce genuinely loves him. When Sir Lancelot tries to shrug off the debt, the will is exposed as a fraud. Luce, who only married Flowerdale in obedience to her father, now insists on honouring her marital vows. Intending that Flowerdale…
1 The Honest Whore (1 The Converted Courtesan) (The Patient Man and the Honest Whore)
Dekker, Thomas; Middleton, Thomas · 1604 · Comedy · Prince Henry's Men
Count Hippolito attempts to make a scene at the funeral of the Duke’s daughter, Infelice, but is restrained. In fact, Infelice is not dead: the Duke administered a sleeping draught to prevent her from marrying Hippolito. When she wakes, he tells her Hippolito is dead and sends her away to Bergamo, then accepts Dr Benedict’s offer to poison Hippolito. Bellafront the courtesan falls in love with Hippolito when his friend and her client Matheo brings him to meet her. He mistrusts her protestation that, for him, she will become honest, and speaks harshly against whores. But she fulfils her promise: dismisses her pander Roger (who quickly finds alternative employment) and sends away her former clients, including Matheo. On a Monday, she goes to visit Hippolito, disguised as a page; she finds him in solemn meditation (since Infelice supposedly died on a Monday), and he rejects her again. Dr Benedict tells the Duke that he has been poisoned, and is banished for it; but in fact he has done no such thing, and tells Hippolito that Infelice is not only alive, but waiting at the madhouse to marry him. Meanwhile, Fustigo returns to Milan to find that his sister has married Candido, a man apparently incapable of anger. This is demonstrated in a wager between three gentlemen who try to make him lose his temper: first Castruccio poses as a customer and makes unreasonable demands, which Candido meets even though it means spoiling a piece of cloth; then Fluello steals a beaker from the…
Westward Ho
Dekker, Thomas; Webster, John · 1604 · Comedy · Children of Paul's (second)
Through the bawd Birdlime, an earl is trying to corrupt Mistress Justiniano, but despite her husband’s jealous suspicions she has so far resisted his advances and remained chaste. He pretends bankruptcy, and tells her he is going abroad; but in fact he remains in London disguised as a writing teacher, Parenthesis. Meanwhile his wife, feeling the force of her poverty, is tempted by the Earl The wives of three citizens, Tenterhook, Wafer, and Honeysuckle, have a tavern assignation (arranged by ‘Parenthesis’) with Sir Gosling Glow-worm and friends; there they plan a journey westward by boat for a sexual night out in Brentford, with the wives’ absence explained by a ruse. ‘Parenthesis’ agrees to report that they have gone to visit Wafer’s sick child, and does so disguised as a collier. Mistress Tenterhook arranges for her kinsman Monopoly to be arrested for an unpaid debt to her husband, then bribes the arresting officer to free him so that he can join the party going to Brentford. ‘While their wives are away, the three citizens all try fo visit the same prostitute; Birdlime tries to juggle 1604 them, but they discover each other’s identities. Justiniano reveals himself and tells them where their wives really are, then takes his wife’s place, cross- dressed, at her assignation with the Earl. Discovering the substitution, the Earl thinks he has been visited by a succubus. Justiniano pretends he has poisoned his wife and shows the dead body; this is only a ruse, but the Earl is…
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…
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 Dutch Courtesan (Cockle de Moye)
1605 · Comedy · Children of the Queen's Revels · Blackfriars;Indoor Professional
Mulligrub is morose: Cocledemoy has stolen some goblets from him. As the play goes on he gets increasingly infuriated as Cocledemoy continues to get the better of him. First the cheater borrows barber's instruments, visits him posing as a northern barber, and steals his bag of money while shaving him. Next, Mulligrub buys a goblet from Burnish and has it sent to his wife. Posing as Burnish's man, Cocledemoy pretends that he has been sent to arrange a meal for the Mulligrubs and Burnishes, leaves a gift of salmon, and takes the goblet back for engraving. Mulligrub returns home and, knowing nothing of the meal, decides to eat the salmon before anyone realizes the mistake, but loses his appetite on realizing that the goblet is gone. After he leaves to raise the alarm, Codedemoy returns and cons the salmon out of Mistress Mulligrub too. Finally Cocledemoy arranges for Mulligrub to pick up his cloak, then has him arrested for theft.Freevill invites his friend Malheureux to join him on a visit to the courtesan Francischina, in the hope that he will reconsider his disapproval of prostitution. He does: on seeing the courtesan, he falls in love. She grows jealous on hearing that Freevill is to marry Beatrice, and asks him to give her Beatrice's ring. When he refuses, she asks the infatuated Malheureux to prove his love by killing Freevill; she will reward him sexually when he brings her the ring. Malheureux soon comes to his senses: he tells Freevill everything, and they conspire to…
Nobody and Somebody
Anonymous · 1605 · History; Satire · Queen Anne's Men
The British nobles are discontented at the way Archigallo, recently succeeded to the throne, has grown vicious and lascivious. This is demonstrated in the way he decides a series of disputes among his subjects. Morgan and Malgo both claim the ownership of an island; Archigallo takes it for himself and appoints Lord Sycophant as its governor. The clown has stolen and married Rafe’s fiancée; Archigallo adjudicates in the clown’s favour, but then promises the woman advancement if she will stay at court. ===== PAGE 191 ===== 1605 Finally, a petition is presented against Nobody for his excessive charity; at Sycophant’s suggestion, Somebody is appointed to bankrupt Nobody. The nobles plot rebellion, but are overheard by the unworthy princes Vigenius and Peridure. Realizing they have been caught, the nobles continue the conversation by suggesting that the princes will become joint rulers after Archigallo is deposed. The princes decide not to expose the treachery after all, but as they discuss how they will divide the kingdom, they are themselves overheard by Archigallo and sent to prison. The Council deposes Archigallo. Elidure is reluctant to take the crown, but his wife, eager to lord it over the Queen, forces him to do so. He releases Vigenius and Peridure. Out hunting, he meets Archigallo, who was banished but has remained in the kingdom. Elidure decides to resign the crown, but the Council is initially unwilling to have Archigallo back: they would rather have a foreigner as…
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…
The Masque of Blackness (The Twelfth Night's Revels)
Jonson, Ben · 1605 · Masque · before the Court;Whitehall;
Black is beautiful, argues the river Niger, bringing his dusky daughters to visit Oceanus. They are distressed by the poetic convention which asserts otherwise, and their tears have so swelled the river that it has become geographically displaced. A prophecy by the moon goc::ldess Aethiopia has led them to seek a land where a light greater than the sun will make all things beautiful. They have accordingly come to Britain, where the King's refulgence will turn them white. Dancing ensues . .The travellers are called back to the sea, but only Niger returns home: his daughters are to remain in Britain. Aethiopia gives them some beauty tips and instructs them to return to court in a year's time to be exposed to the beams of Britain's sun king.
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 Puritan, or The Widow of Watling Street (The Puritan Widow)
Middleton, Thomas · 1606 · Comedy · Children of Paul's (second)
Lady Plus has just been widowed, but her son Edmond. does not grieve appropriately at the funeral. She mourns a good, liberal husband, who strove to make his family rich by fair means and foul; she swears not to remarry, and her elder daughter Frances renounces marriage too. Not so her younger daughter, Moll, who entertains a suitor. The other two Plus women are also being pestered by unwanted suitors, one of whom has bribed Lady Plus’s brother-in-law, Sir Godfrey, to recommend him. Captain Idle is taken to prison for highway robbery; there he is visited by his puritan kinsman Nicholas, one of. the Plus household’s servants, and also by Skirmish and Pieboard, two tricksters who plan to get him out. To that end, they persuade Nicholas to steal Sir Godfrey’s chain. Pieboard visits Lady Plus posing as a fortune teller, and tells her that her husband is in purgatory, from which he can be released only if both she and her daughters reverse their marital intentions (which he has overheard): she and Frances must marry, and Moll must not. As a puritan, Lady Plus doubts the theology of this, so he establishes his authenticity by predicting that, before the day is out, there will be bloodshed outside her door and Sir Godfrey will suffer a loss, with worse to follow for the women of the household. The first two events are prearranged: Nicholas steals Sir Godfrey’s chain, and Skirmish and Corporal Oath feign a street-fight which results in a wound for Oath and arrest for Skirmish.…
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,…
Macbeth
Shakespeare, William; Middleton, Thomas, rev. · 1606 · Tragedy · King's Men
With the aid of some treacherous noblemen, the Norwegians have attacked Scotland. In the ensuing battle, Macbeth is instrumental in expelling the invaders, and is created Thane of Cawdor. Before he learns of this honour, he is greeted with the title by three witches who tell him he is to be King; they also tell Banquo that, though he will not be King himself, his descendants will. King Duncan names his son Malcolm the heir apparent, and invites himself to Macbeth’s castle, where Macbeth murders him, abetted by his wife. The night is troubled by unnatural, portentous events. When the assassination is discovered, Malcolm and Donalbain flee the country; suspicion falls on them, and the succession on Macbeth. Macbeth is troubled by the witches’ prophecy about Banquo. He has Banquo murdered, but Fleance escapes; Banquo’s ghost then appears when Macbeth wishes him present at a feast. Hecate rebukes the witches for failing to involve her in their dealings with Macbeth. Disgraced after his failure to attend Macbeth’s feast, Macduff goes to England to rally military support against Macbeth, who has become an egregious tyrant. The witches show Macbeth three apparitions which warn him to beware of Macduff, but also assure him that he cannot be harmed by anybody born of a woman, and that he shall never be defeated until Birnam Wood comes to Dunsinane; he is also shown a vision confirming that Banquo’s heirs will rule Scotland. Learning of Macduff's defection, Macbeth has his wife and…
Your Five Gallants (The Five Witty Gallants)
Middleton, Thomas · 1607 · Comedy · Children of the Queen's Revels · Blackfriars;Indoor Professional
The bawd-gallant Primero needs to dress Novice, his new courtesan, attractively, so he hires a recently pawned gown from Frip, the broker-gallant, in return for a lesson in how to cheat at cards. The heiress Katherine is the object of many suitors, including five gallants and Fitzgrave. Fitzgrave gives 1607 her a chain of pearl, which is almost immediately stolen for the pocket-gallant Pursenet. Katherine wishes to be left alone for a month, so Fitzgrave decides to spend the time in disguise, spying on his rivals, the gallants, in the hope of discovering something to their discredit. He joins them in visiting Primero’s brothel, where his pocket is picked and a jewel he received from Katherine is stolen. Pursenet-gives the pearls and the jewel to a courtesan, but afterwards she gives them to the whore-gallant Tailby, whom she loves. The gallants repair to a tavern. The cheating gallant Goldstone steals two beakers, replacing them with replicas of lesser value; he also steals a goblet, using sealing-wax to stick it to the underside of the table so that it will not be noticed when sought. Tailby gambles, but keeps losing and pawns his clothes to Frip to get more stake-money. The next day, he receives new clothes and money sent by importunate mistresses; one of them wants an assignation with him in her husband’s absence. He goes off to see her, but first tells Pursenet, who ambushes him on the way and robs him of his money and the pearls. Pursenet recognizes the latter, and…
What You Will
1607 · Comedy · Children of Paul's (second) (?)
Only three months after her husband Albano was reported dead in a sea battle, Celia has many suitors. Tomorrow she intends to marry Laverdure, a French knight; but Alban.o 's brothers, Randolfo and Adrian, disapprove. After fruitlessly petitioning the noctumal. party-loving Duke to stop the wedding, thcr decide to make it illegitimate by introducing an impostor, a perfumer named Francisco, to pose as Albano, claiming that he did not die after all; but Laverdure's page Bidet witnesses their scheming and warns his master. In fact, Albano survived. On his return to Venice he is unimpressed to hear that his supposedly faithful and loving wife is getting married again so soon; but when he accosts Laverdure, he is taken for Francisco. Even his own brothers take him for the disguised perfumer, so he begins to believe that he has indeed become Francisco by metempsychosis. He interrupts the performance of a play at court to protest at the way he has been treated, and the Duke assures everyone that he really is Albano. He decides to forgive everyone, including Laverdure and Celia. In the sub-plot, Simplicius saves the schoolboy Holofernes Pippo from a thrashing and takes him on as his page. A group of pages trick Simplicius into arranging an assignation with a merchant's wife, who turns out to be Holofemes in disguise.
The Turk (Muleasses the Turk)
Mason, John · 1607 · Tragedy · Children of the King's Revels
Julia, the under-age Duchess of Florence, has been promised by her uncle, Borgias, in marriage to the Duke of Ferrara; but the Senate has promised her to the Duke of Venice. The rival dukes lay siege to Florence, but Borgias gets them to raise the siege by hiding Julia and telling them that she is dead. To supply a body for the funeral, he has his wife Timoclea poisoned by the Turk Muleasses. Borgias intends to marry his daughter Amada to Muleasses, marry Julia himself now that he is a widower, and make himself King of Italy; Muleasses will help him in order to secure Turkey a foothold in Christendom. They also plot to murder Venice and Ferrara, using a poison with a thirty-day time delay, so that they will not die until after they have left Florence. But Borgias still has another dead body to find, to stand in for Timoclea at her funeral, and he asks Eunuchus to help supply one. Eunuchus inveigles Bordello into a false assignation with Timoclea, intending to leave him instead in Borgias’s bedchamber to be killed. In fact, Timoclea is not dead: Muleasses only gave her a sleeping draught, and when she wakes he releases her from Julia’s tomb and promises to help her take revenge on her husband. She appears to Venice posing as Julia’s ghost, and denounces Borgias as her murderer. Bordello sees her en route to his assignation, and is scared off. Eunuchus is also haunted, flees, and ends up running into Ferrara’s dagger, with fatal consequences. After overhearing Muleasses…
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…
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…
Antony and Cleopatra
Shakespeare, William · 1607 · Tragedy · King's Men
Antony dallies with Cleopatra in Egypt while the Roman world collapses into faction. His wife and brother make war on Caesar, and Pompey takes advantage of his absence to foment a sea war with the state and avenge his murdered father. At first Antony ignores Caesar’s messages, but his wife’s death draws him back to Rome, where he and Caesar are reconciled; to seal the league, Antony marries Caesar’s sister, Octavia. A soothsayer, who has told the fortunes of members of Cleopatra’s court, warns him that, although he is a better man than Caesar, Caesar will always prove the more successful of the two. Antony, Caesar, and Lepidus meet Pompey with an army, but war is averted. Lepidus gets egregiously drunk at the feast on Pompey’s galley to celebrate the treaty. Pompey refuses his ally Menas’ dishonourable proposal to kill the triumvirate and make him master of the world. Antony’s lieutenant Ventidius defeats the Parthians in battle, but is cautious about taking too much of the credit for himself. Meanwhile, news of Antony’s marriage reaches Cleopatra; she does not take it well. Antony leaves Rome with his new wife, but absence breeds suspicion between him and Caesar. Caesar breaks the truce with Pompey and deposes Lepidus on a pretext. Antony, in turn, sends Octavia home and returns to Egypt, where he creates Cleopatra queen of several dominions. War between east and west follows. Antony perversely chooses to fight by sea, and Cleopatra insists on being present at the battle.…
Coriolanus
Shakespeare, William · 1608 · Tragedy · King's Men
The. citizens of Rome riot for corn. They insist that the patricians are hoarding the commodity, but Menenius Agrippa tells them a fable suggesting that the Senate has made an equitable distribution of what there is. The Senate grants the people tribunes to represent their interests, to the disgust of the patrician soldier Martius. ‘The Volsces put troops in-the field in an attempt to capture Roman territory. The Romans split their powers: the general Cominius takes on the attacking army under the Volscian commander Aufidius, while Martius and Titus Lartius attack the Volscian town of Corioles. Martius ventures alone into the town and is trapped when the gates close behind him. When he re-emerges, bleeding from the fight, he invigorates the troops and Corioles is conquered. He goes to relieve Cominius, while Titus Lartius finalizes the terms of the Roman occupation. Martius confronts Aufidius in single combat. They are long-time rivals who have sworn to fight to the death, but they are balked when Aufidius’ troops intervene to rescue him. Meanwhile, Aufidius realizes that he will never beat Martius in a fair fight: it will have to be by stealth. Martius, now surnamed Coriolanus, returns triumph to Rome, and is put forward for the consulship. By custom, he must humbly ask the consent of the people and show them his war-wounds. He is reluctant, partly through contempt for the plebeians and partly out of a concern that his valour might be misinterpreted as political ambition.…
The Conspiracy of Charles Duke of Byron
Chapman, George · 1608 · History · Children of the Queen's Revels
The Duke of Savoy comes to the court of Henry IV, angry with his Spanish allies over the relative dowries ===== PAGE 463 ===== 1608 paid to him and his brother-in-law, the Archduke Albert, and keen to resolve a territorial dispute with France; in particular, he has his eye on the good offices of the Duke of Biron. At present, Biron is in Flanders, one.of the French commissioners sent to witness the signing of a peace treaty with Archduke Albert. Eager to compromise his loyalty to the French crown, Albert’s men shower him with honours and flattery. When Biron returns to France, he listens sympathetically to the complaints of the court malcontent La Fin, and offers him an introduction to Savoy. What he doesn’t realize is that Savoy has put La Fin up to this: the object of the exercise is to arrange a meeting between Savoy and Biron, not Savoy and La Fin. Savoy sets up a mutual enmity between Biron and King Henry. He tells the King, who is already concerned about the honours showered on Biron in Flanders, about Biron’s reputation for supreme valour; this irritates Henry, who was himself the commander in the military engagements Savoy describes. Conversely, Savoy flatters Biron and makes him annoyed that the King undervalues his soldierly service. Henry sends Biron to England as an ambassador. Before he goes, Biron shows his horoscope to a magician, who finds indications in it that Biron has recently done something that will cost him his head. On Biron’s return from England,…
Pericles, Prince of Tyre
Shakespeare, William; Wilkins, George · 1608 · Romance · King's Men · Globe;Outdoor Professional
Pericles comes to Antioch to woo the daughter and heir of King Antiochus. Her suitors must solve a riddle about her, or be executed. Pericles realizes that the riddle cryptically reveals that she and her father are an incestuous couple. Seeing that the game is up, Antiochus pretends that Pericles is mistaken, grants him a forty-day reprieve so that he can try again, and makes arrangements to have him poisoned. Pericles flees to Tyre, but the murderer, Thaliard, follows him. On realizing the danger, Pericles leaves his principality in the care of Helicanus; he has already gone by the ===== PAGE 413 ===== 1607 time Thaliard arrives. He goes to Tarsus, which has been stricken by a famine, and supplies corn to Cleon, the Governor. In Tyre, Thaliard’s murderous intentions are discovered, and Pericles is recalled home. In Antioch, the King and his daughter are destroyed by fire from heaven. On his way home, Pericles is shipwrecked on the coast of Pentapolis, where King Simonides is holding a tournament for the hand of his daughter, Thaisa. Some fishermen retrieve Pericles’ armour from the sea, and, though it is rusty, he is able to compete. He is victorious, and Thaisa falls in love with him. Simonides sends away the other knights, telling them that Thaisa has taken a vow to the goddess Diana not to marry for another year. She insists that she will marry Pericles, with or without her father’s consent. Simonides makes a show of disapproval, but in fact her choice accords with his…
A Shoemaker a Gentleman
Rowley, William · 1608 · Romance · Prince Charles's Men (first) · Red Bull;Outdoor Professional
The Roman Emperors, Diocletian and Maximinus, bring an army to Britain to crush the Christians. Alured, the British King, is killed in battle. His sons, Eldred and Offa, change their identities and get themselves apprenticed to a shoemaker. They see their mother taken to prison after being captured on the battlefield; their sympathy for her plight impresses their new master. Alban is appointed to rule Britain and continue the persecution. Amphiabel comes from Wales and converts him to Christianity. Maximinus arrests Alban, and Amphiabel flees back to Wales, pursued by the Roman army. Meanwhile, the Welsh Queen Winifred, also converted by Amphiabel, asks her suitor Sir Hugh for a moratorium on his wooing efforts; when he completes the agreed period, however, she announces that she has given herself wholly to heaven and cannot marry him. One of the Romans pursuing Amphiabel mocks the power of Winifred’s holy well, and smears the water on his eyes; it blinds him. His sight is restored, but he ascribes the miracle to the pagan gods. Winifred and Amphiabel are both arrested and brought to see the martyrdom of Alban. Leodice, Maximinus’ daughter, becomes enamoured of her new shoemaker, Crispin, who is really Offa; she continually finds reasons to asks for new shoes and new fitting sessions. She offers to show him the image of his future wife in a magic mirror; but in fact it is an ordinary mirror, and he sees her reflection. He confides that he is not really base-born, but a…
Cupid's Revenge
Beaumont, Francis; Fletcher, John · 1608 · Tragedy · Children of the Queen's Revels
Leontius, King of Lycia, promises his daughter Hydaspes anything she asks for on her birthday. She wants him to ban the cult of Cupid in Lycia: the god’s naked statues are to be taken down and burnt, and Cupid-worship to be made a capital offence. Leontius agrees, persuaded that the religion is the cause of national immorality. His nephew Ismenus demurs: he will promulgate the Duke’s orders, but will himself take no hand in obeying them. As his temples are dismantled, Cupid declares vengeance on the kingdom. The Lycian royal family begins to behave with inappropriate amorousness. Hydaspes fixates on Zoilus, a deformed dwarf, and asks to be allowed to marry him; her father’s response is to have him beheaded, and she pines to death. Prince Leucippus falls for Bacha, a strumpet only interested in his wealth and power, but, questioned by his father, denies sexual misbehaviour and praises her virtue and chastity. Leontius is so impressed that he sends Leucippus away ===== PAGE 378 ===== and woos Bacha for himself, affecting youthful clothing and behaviour. Bacha becomes Queen of Lycia. When Leucippus returns to court, Bacha tries to seduce him again. He refuses to cuckold his father, and, annoyed at his refusal, she plots his death; this will leave her daughter Urania as the only heir to the throne. She makes Leontius jealous of his son’s popularity with the people and courtiers, and persuades him that Leucippus is plotting his assassination. The court parasite Timantus tells…
The Masque of Beauty
Jonson, Ben · 1608 · Masque · before the Court;Whitehall;
Boreas reminds January of the twelve Ethiopian women who were to return to court the following year after being made beautiful: they have twice failed to do so. Boreas explains that this was not through ingratitude: four of their sisters, also hoping to be beautified, have been intercepted by the envious Night and kept prisoner on a floating island, and the whitened women have been delayed in seeking their freedom. Vulturnus arrives with the news that the prisoners are freed, the women have taken command of the island, and are using it to travel to England. They arrive and are welcomed by the Thames. Singing and dancing ensues. The island ceases to float and comes to rest permanently in Britain.
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…
Cymbeline, King of Britain
Shakespeare, William · 1609 · Romance · King's Men
Imogen has been the heir to Cymbeline’s kingdom since the disappearance of her infant brothers twenty years ago. Now her father intends her to marry her foolish stepbrother Cloten; but she pre-empts this by marrying Posthumus instead. Cymbeline objects to Posthumus, whom he took in as an orphan and brought up at court, and banishes him. The Queen pretends support for the couple, but is really the source of Cymbeline’s hostility; her objective is to bring the succession into her own family line, if necessary by destroying Imogen. Claiming to be studying toxicology, she asks Cornelius to give her some poison for experimental purposes. He mistrusts her motives: the ‘poison’ he supplies is really only a sleeping potion. She then gives it to Posthumus’ servant, Pisanio, claiming it to be a powerful medicine. Posthumus goes to Rome, leaving his bracelet behind with Imogen as a love-token, and taking her ring. There he boasts of his wife’s beauty and chastity, and bets Iachimo the ring that she will never succumb to his seduction. Iachimo comes to Britain, tells Imogen that Posthumus is behaving adulterously in Rome, and tries to persuade her to do the same. When she refuses, he claims he was only testing her, and asks her to take charge of a chest of valuables, partly paid for by Posthumus, and lodge them for the night in a safe place, her bedroom. He hides in the chest and emerges when she is asleep, giving him the opportunity to inspect the room, look at her in bed, and take…
A Christian Turned Turk (The Two Famous Pirates)
Daborne, Robert · 1610 · Tragedy · Unknown
By a ruse, the pirate Ward takes prisoner two French merchants, Ferdinand and Albert. He attacks the ship taking Alizia to her bridegroom, Young Raymond, and kills her brother; she escapes by disguising herself as a ship-boy, Fidelio. Another pirate, Francisco, challenges him for the spoils; they engage in single combat, and ultimately agree to share the booty. During the fight, Ward’s men Gismund and Gallop mutiny and steal a ship, and make for Tunis, taking the disguised Alizia with them. Ward swears vengeance, seizes further prisoners, among them Alizia’s fiancé, and sells them into slavery in Tunis. Gallop makes his peace with Ward by pretending he was abducted, like ‘Fidelio’. The Turkish authorities in Tunis attempt to convert Ward to Islam. He is initially reluctant, but agrees when Voada offers herself as his wife; even so, he evades circumcision by putting an ape’s tail under the knife instead of his penis. He marries Voada as planned and gives her ‘Fidelio’ as her page; but in fact ‘Fidelio’ has been the object of her affections all along, and she has no sexual interest in Ward. ‘Fidelio’ agrees to sleep with her if she arranges for a particular slave to escape, claiming him to be a brother (though of course it is really Young Raymond). To evade the sexual part of the bargain, ‘Fidelio’ then makes an alternative arrangement with Ward, who agrees to help her, but then double-crosses her by telling his wife. Voada kills Raymond, thinking he is trying to rob her of…
The Golden Age, or The Lives of Jupiter and Saturn
Heywood, Thomas · 1610 · Classical Myth · Queen Anne's Men · Red Bull;Outdoor Professional
King Uranus of Crete is dead. Titan is the eldest son, but his younger brother Saturn is the popular choice to ascend the throne. Titan agrees to make way for him provided that he agrees to settle the succession on Titan’s issue and kill his own sons as soon as they are born. Saturn is declared a god, and under his benevolent rule, the people learn agriculture, ship- building, and architecture, and begin to make weapons for hunting. His wife, Sibylla, becomes pregnant, but Saturn keeps his promise to Titan and kills the baby. During a second pregnancy, an oracle foretells that the child will depose Saturn. This time Sibylla demands the privilege of killing her own child; but neither she nor her women can bring themselves to do it, so the baby is sent to a foster mother, the Princess of Epirus, and Saturn is deceived with the blood of a goat. Jupiter grows up in the court of King Melisseus of Epirus, and is sent as an envoy to conclude a peace with King Lycaon of Pelasgia; but Lycaon has murdered the Epirote hostage and offers his limbs to Jupiter as a cannibalistic banquet. Jupiter deposes Lycaon and the people elect him their King. During the conflict, he encounters Callisto, Lycaon’s daughter, and is attracted to her. She asks him to grant her a boon to prove his love; he promises, but her request is to live a chaste life as a nymph of Diana. She joins Diana, but the nymphs are already paired off, so she must await the next recruit to have a bedfellow. This turns out to be…
The Alchemist
Jonson, Ben · 1610 · Comedy · King's Men
With his master absent to avoid the plague in London, Face has set up an occult consultancy in his house in association with the formerly itinerant rogues Subtle and Doll Common: Face fetches in the clients and Subtle poses as the alchemist. They quarrel over the relative merits of their contributions to the enterprise, but resolve to collaborate competitively in the day’s ===== PAGE 80 ===== business. They are visited by successive clients: Dapper, who wants a familiar to help him win at gambling; Drugger, who wants advice on the most auspicious layout for his shop; Sir Epicure Mammon, who seeks the philosopher’s stone to fulfil his fantasies of wealth, luxury, and voluptuousness, and who brings along with him the sceptic Surly; and the religious sectarians Ananias and Tribulation, who want both the stone and Subtle’s claimed expertise in counterfeiting foreign coins. Dapper is persuaded that he is the Fairy Queen’s nephew and heir, and is promised an introduction to her. Mammon brings various domestic articles for aurification, which Subtle then sells on to Ananias and Tribulation, saying they belong to orphans. Clients come thick and fast. Drugger introduces his neighbours, Kastril (who wants te learn how to quarrel) and the wealthy widow Pliant (who wants her fortune told and whom Face and Subtle both want to marry). They are sent away so that the tricksters can deal with Dapper, who in his turn is secreted in the privy while they attend to Mammon. The knight courts…
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…
The Maid's Tragedy
Beaumont, Francis; Fletcher, John · 1610 · Tragedy · King's Men · Blackfriars;Indoor Professional
At: the King’s request, Al@minf6f breaks off his engagement to his fiancée AlSpatia and instead marries Evadne) sister of his friend Melantius. After a wedding masque, Evadne prepares for bed. When Amintor arrives, however, she refuses him sex and explains that she is the King’s mistress: the marriage has been arranged as a cover for their continuing relationship, and to provide a nominal father for any bastards that may result; it will never be consummated. Amintor is unable to satisfy his impulse to take revenge, because his wronger is the King, but on learning the truth, Melantius has no similar scruples. A successful rebellion depends upon control of the city’s: defensive fort, but this is in the hands of Melantius’ enemy, ASpatia’sifathier Caliana who partly blames Melantius for the way Aspatia has been treated. Melantius asks Calianax to hand over the fort, knowing this will be reported to the King; but when the King confronts him with the accusation, his bare-faced denial. discredits Calianax and makes the accusation look like senile malice. Calianax is sent away from court and sees no option but to give Melantius the fort after all. M@@lantivis]? threat of violence secures a confession from Bya@méj and she agrees to join the conspiracy. Summoned by the King that night, Evadne ties him to the bed and kills him when he wakes. Melantius retreats to the fort and agrees to come out only once the mew King has granted him a pardon on his own terms. The despairing AlSpatia…
A New Wonder, A Woman Never Vexed
Rowley, William; Heywood, Thomas (?) · 1611 · Comedy · Unknown
Old Forster has recently made his fortune by marrying a rich widow, but they are both dissatisfied with the financial irresponsibility of his brother and son, whom ===== PAGE 17 ===== 1624 they are on the point of disowning. Robert, the son, has purloined some of his stepmother’s money to buy his uncle, Stephen Forster, out of debtors’ prison; he also gives Stephen money to buy new clothes. Stephen uses the money for gambling, and is cheated. Robert is disappointed to find him in the gaming-house, and he himself likewise gets into trouble with his stepmother for going there, even though he only went in to look for Stephen. Mistress Forster has an uncommonly even- tempered friend, another rich widow, who enjoys miraculous good fortune. When she loses her wedding ring in the river, it turns up inside a salmon bought by her maid. She meets Stephen at the gaming-house and likes him. She suggests that he should marry for money, and offers herself. He accepts, and they perform a hand-fasting. Jane is being pursued by two undesirable suitors, an old knight and a young fool. Her father, Alderman Brune, suggests Robert Forster as a third option, if he can be reconciled with his father. Brune is Old Forster’s partner in a mercantile venture, but accepts Forster’s offer to buy him out; he takes payment in cloth rather than cash, which clears Forster’s warehouses for the new merchandise due in any day. However, Forster continues to look askance at Robert. News arrives that the ships…
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…
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 Tempest
Shakespeare, William · 1611 · Comedy · King's Men
Twelve years ago, Prospero, Duke of Milan, was deposed. He devoted himself to his studies, leaving the management of the state to his brother Antonio. Antonio conspired with Alonso, King of Naples: he was installed as Duke in exchange for accepting the suzerainty of Naples over Milan. The people’s love saved Prospero from assassination; he was put to sea with his magic books and his infant daughter Miranda. He arrived on a Mediterranean island once ruled by an Algerian witch, released the spirit Ariel whom she had imprisoned in a tree, and took in her son Caliban as a household servant. Now, Alonso is passing the island when his ship encounters a tempest raised by Ariel, who creates the illusion of a shipwreck. The passengers come to shore in separate groups; Alonso and Ferdinand, father and son, are made to think one another dead. Ariel sees to 1611 it that Ferdinand meets Miranda and falls in love with her; but Prospero, seeking to test his love, makes him carry logs. After Ariel charms Alonso to sleep, Antonio persuades Sebastian to kill him and seize the Neapolitan throne; but Ariel warns the sleeping Gonzalo and the murder is forestalled. Prospero’s spirits serve the group a banquet, which disappears when they attempt to eat it; disguised as a harpy, Ariel reminds them of their treachery to Prospero, identifies this as the cause of their current disaster, and drives them out of their minds. Meanwhile, the butler Stephano has come ashore on a butt of wine. The liquor…
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,…
If It Be Not Good, the Devil Is in It (If This Be Not a Good Play, the Devil Is in It)
Dekker, Thomas · 1611 · Comedy · Queen Anne's Men · Red Bull;Outdoor Professional
Hell has a population problem: so few new souls are arriving that Charon’s earnings are in decline, but Pluto is reluctant to allow him to raise his fare lest the new price should prove a deterrent. Instead, he sends devils to Naples in human disguise to tempt people into sin in the court, the abbey, and the city. They are later to rendezvous in a grove to report their progress. Ruffman goes to court, assuming the identity of the foreign courtier Bohor. The newly crowned King of ===== PAGE 144 ===== Is In It Naples, Alfonso, intends to be a just and godly ruler, and plans out his week to devote each day toa different state task. Bohor persuades him to spend more time on pleasure and less on duty, so Saturday is designated a day of hedonism. Alfonso proclaims a reward for whoever entertains him best, and Bohor wins with a display of airborne fireballs. Alfonso’s devotion to pleasure starts to extend beyond Saturdays, and he neglects his state duties. He also breaks off his engagement with Princess Ermenhild, who retires to a convent and lets it be known that she is dead. Shackle-Soul becomes Friar Rush, a novice in the abbey. On learning that the friars eat frugally, he tempts them to gluttony and is appointed the abbey cook. Only Clement, the Sub-Prior, dissents, and Rush identifies him as an enemy who will have to be dealt with. He also makes an enemy of Scumbroth, his predecessor as cook, when he lays an untrue accusation of unchastity. Obtaining gold from a spirit, he…
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…
The White Devil (Vittoria Corombona)
Webster, John · 1612 · Tragedy · Queen Anne's Men
Count Lodovico is banished from Rome after a career of drunkenness, riot, and murder; but, he comments, not all malefactors fall foul of the law, for the Duke of ===== PAGE 257 ===== 1612 Bracciano seems to be getting away with his designs against the honour of Vittoria Corombona. In this, Bracciano is abetted by Vittoria’s brother Flaminio, who persuades her husband Camillo that their sleeping apart will make her more amorous. Vittoria tells Bracciano of a dream which seems to suggest the murder of Camillo and the Duchess Isabella; but the liaison is forestalled by the intervention of Vittoria’s mother, Cornelia. Flaminio inveighs against Cornelia for compromising his chances of preferment. Isabella comes to Rome to effect a reconciliation with her husband. Cardinal Monticelso and the Great Duke of Florence also put pressure on him to fulfil his responsibilities, both marital and political. In a private interview with Isabella, Bracciano vows never again to sleep with her, but she tries to limit the political damage by making the same vow herself in public. Florence and Monticelso plan to tempt Bracciano into adultery by getting Camillo out of Rome on public business, but Bracciano plots murder: Isabella is killed when she kisses a poisoned picture of Bracciano, and Flaminio breaks Camillo’s neck. Vittoria is arrested and arraigned before an ecclesiastical court; unable to prove her complicity in Camillo’s murder, it convicts her of adultery and commits her to a house of…
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…
Cynthia's Revenge, or Maenander's Ecstasy
Stephens, John · 1613 · Tragedy
PLOT The King of Sparta has decreed that henceforth only women need to worship Cynthia, goddess of change; men are to be exempt. Cynthia takes revenge. The King dies, but his son Menander begins his reign by confirming the edict and marrying Favorina, daughter of a senior counsellor. Malindo plots with Cassius, Governor of Epirus, to murder Menander and the peers as they watch a play, but Malindo’s letter falls into the hands of the playwright Perillus, who writes a special prologue to warn Menander. Malindo is beheaded, the Spartan army mobilized, and Cassius repelled. Malindo’s estate is given to Amilcar, son of the new favourite, Pheudippe, who is himself allowed to marry Lucilla, Menander’s sister. Reading Lucan tempts Pheudippe to aspire to be King, and these thoughts are reinforced by the invisible influence of Malindo’s ghost. Against his better judgement, Pheudippe confides in Lucilla, encouraging her jealousy that Favorina has supplanted her as the top woman at court. Their plan has three heads: Pheudippe will corrupt Laelio, Captain of the Guard, to assassinate Menander; Amilcar will kill Favorina; and they will secure control of the corn supply in order to starve the people into submission. Amilcar has his own agenda, however. He is sexually attracted to Favorina, tells her about the plot in confidence, and invites her to help him circumvent it: he will abduct her with her assistance and procure someone to confess to her murder and implicate Lucilla; once Lucilla…
The Hog Hath Lost His Pearl
Tailor, Robert · 1613 · Comedy
Haddit has spent all his money and mortgaged his lands to Hog the usurer, and now ekes out a living selling jigs to players. He aims to solve his financial problems by marrying Rebecca, Hog’s daughter, whose affections he had previously refused in the belief that she was too low-born for him. Hog intends Rebecca to marry young Lord Wealthy, but she refuses, and helps Haddit trick her father. Haddit’s uncle, Lightfoot, helps to get the servant Peter out of the way by picking a quarrel, to give him a pretext for making peace with a drinking contest; Peter imbibes himself insensible in the cellar. Rebecca steals Hog’s keys, giving Haddit and his accomplices access to his bedroom, where he keeps his gold. Lightfoot appears to Hog as the ghost of Croesus, come to make the usurer rich: a spirit will ===== PAGE 291 ===== 1613 take his gold and transform it into pearl, which is even more valuable; in reality, Haddit steals the money and retrieves his mortgage, then absconds with Rebecca and marries her. Hog goes to complain to old Lord Wealthy, but his supernatural experiences induce a conversion: he renounces avarice and gives the couple his blessing. In the sub-plot, Carracus plans to elope with young Lord Wealthy’s sister Maria, and entrusts his friend Albert with the arrangements. Albert visits Maria early, posing as Carracus, and has sex with her; she then leaves with Carracus as planned, and marries him: Albert suffers remorse and decides to leave human society. Some time…
The Royal Entertainment at Caversham
Campion, Thomas · 1613 · Entertainment; Masque · before the Court;
As the Queen arrives at Caversham Park, her way is barred by a woodland Cynic, who wants to be left alone in his happy poverty. He is rebuked by a traveller, who 1613 debates with him the virtues of a poor, solitary life; the Cynic is convinced and renounces it. After the Queen has entered the park, she is welcomed by the keepers with a song. As she approaches the house, the gardeners strive to outdo the woodmen with their song. Further singing welcomes her as she passes into the upper garden. After supper, the Traveller, Gardener, and Cynic return, praise the Queen, and sing. Sylvanus arrives, does homage to the greater goddess visiting the house, and introduces some masquing semi-deities. Dancing ensues, in which the Queen herself participates. The following day, the Queen is to depart. As she is given three home-made presents, the gardeners sing their sorrow at her going.
The Hector of Germany, or The Palsgrave, Prime Elector
Smith, William (?) · 1614 · Pseudo-History · Red Bull;Curtain;Outdoor Professional
. Defeated in his attempt to seize power in Spain, Henry the Bastard attempts to get himself elected Holy Roman Emperor; he secures the support of three of the seven Electors, promising that Saxony will be the power behind his throne. But the other Electors, including the sickly Palsgrave, prefer the Duke of Savoy’s candidature, so the Bastard uses force: he defeats the opposing Electors in battle, imprisons two of them, and has himself crowned, then breaks his word and excludes Saxony from power. News of the ===== PAGE 311 ===== 1613 usurpation cures the Palsgrave, who prepares to mobilize an army. Spain is the theatre of war for their first confrontation. The Palsgrave is victorious, and the Bastard is captured, but rescued by Saxony. The warring potentates seek alliances against one another: the Palsgrave goes to England, the Bastard to France. The Palsgrave competes in an English tournament and is installed in the Order of the Garter. King John of France is reluctant to fight the English again (they have too good a track record of victory in France), and hopes to use diplomacy to secure Edward III’s neutrality. Refused the chance to conduct the mission, Saxony goes to England in disguise, but is identified by the Palsgrave, who dishonours him by pulling off a lock of his hair. Diplomacy fails, and Edward and the Palsgrave invade France, dispatching troops to free the imprisoned Electors. The Palsgrave defeats and kills Saxony in single combat. King John withdraws his…
Hymen's Triumph
Daniel, Samuel · 1614 · Pastoral Tragicomedy · before the Court;
Hymen has come to Arcadia incognito to promote married love; but Envy, Avarice, and Jealousy have also come to try and cross his objectives. Thyrsis mourns for his dead love Silvia, while his friend Palaemon tries to persuade him to forget her, but he has been told by the oracle that he wil] be happy again on the day he dies. Cloris sends her boy Clarindo to Thyrsis as a messenger of her unrequited love, remarking that he is rumoured to be in love with another nymph. This distresses Clarindo, who is actually Silvia: though deemed dead, she was in fact abducted by pirates, and has now returned in disguise in order to avoid a forced marriage to her father's preferred suitor (who is now to marry another woman). Meanwhile Phyllis, who once scorned love, has fallen in love with ‘Clarindo’. Her encounter with the ‘boy’ is witnessed by Montanus, who loves her, but when he jealously confronts her, he is persuaded that his eyes deceived him; as penance, he is asked to frighten the ‘boy’. Having witnessed Thyrsis’ grief, Silvia plans to reveal her true identity to him. First she leaves a message carved on a tree, then, at his request, tells him a story based on her own life: how one Sulia, beloved by Syrthis, was taken by pirates, entered the service of the pirate captain’s wife in Egypt dressed as a boy, and after two years was rescued and brought home by Corinthian merchants. Montanus stabs her, and is arrested; Thyrsis, tending to the body, realizes her identity and determines to…
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…
Albumazar
Tomkis, Thomas · 1615 · Comedy · before the Court;at University;
The neighbours Pandolfo and Antonio, both widowers, have arranged to marry each other’s daughters; but before they can do so, Antonio is lost and presumed dead on an overseas voyage, and the plan goes into abeyance because his son Lelio disapproves of Pandolfo as a potential brother-in-law. Albumazar’s accomplice Furbo has gained access to Pandolfo’s household, posing as his daughter’s tutor, and has learned of his .- amorous aspirations, and also his credulity about. magic and astrology. Albumazar plans to trick him, and sets about demonstrating his occult power. Ronca shows Pandolfo some of the astrologer’s amazing inventions: a telescope and an ‘otacousticon’ (actually a pair of ass’s ears) which allow him to see and hear things at a distance. Albumazar then predicts Pandolfo’s marriage, and also a stabbing which his associates then enact in a brawl. Pandolfo asks the astrologer to raise Antonio’s ghost, but instead Albumazar undertakes to transform the tenant farmer Trincalo into Antonio’s likeness for one day, so that he can give Flavia in marriage to Pandolfo. Trincalo agrees because this will give him access to Antonio’s household, and therefore to the maid Armellina, whom he loves. Pandolfo is required to prepare a room for the metamorphosis, laid out with valuable possessions. When he begins to have second thoughts about paying Albumazar, his servant Cricca suggests that he should pretend to have been robbed of his valuables; but when they are indeed stolen,…
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…
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…
Hans Beer-Pot (See Me and See Me Not)
Belchier, Dabridgcourt · 1618 · Comedy
Hans is sent to town to sell corn for his master, Cornelius; his mistress, Hanneke, gives him money to give to her younger son, a student, anda shilling on top for beer-money. Cornelius suspects that Hans is cheating him, and follows him to town. There he finds his son and son-in-law drinking with Hans at a tavern; they have been losing bets with Sergeant Goodfellow about his linguistic ability, and discussing the relative merits of infantry and cavalry (with extensive reference to Turkish history). Hans sneaks away, thinking he has not been spotted; but in fact he has. The town characters go to the country as Cornelius’ guests at Christmas dinner. There they discuss the decline in public respect for soldiers, making extensive reference to the great military men of the Elizabethan era, including some with whom Cornelius served in his younger days.
Nero (Piso's Conspiracy)
Anonymous · 1619 · Tragedy · Unknown
The Emperor Nero celebrates his latest triumph : not a military victory, but success in a singing and acting competition against the Greeks; he also has one of his critics executed. He gives a performance in the role of Orestes; the theatre is guarded so that the audience cannot escape, and those who do not respond with due enthusiasm are marked down for execution. Deciding that he has treated Rome too lenien:tly, he has the city burned down . The wind blows the fire back towards the palace, and his own possessions are destroyed. . Antonius loves _ the Empress Poppaea, despite Petronius' efforts to persuade him to settle for someone of lower rank. Poppaea refuses Antonius, preferring Nymphidius, who has cultivated her affections as a means to make himself Emperor. Scaevinus broaches --a conspiracy to assassinate Nero, thinking it demeaning to have _an Emperor so dedicated to artistic pursuits. Piso is recruited, and the plotters discuss the best way to assassinate Nero; but they are overheard by the freedman Milichus, who reports them to Nero. Piso commits suicide; other conspirators are arrested, and Nero institutes a purge of their sympathizers. Petronius is arrested and executed simply because Tigellinus has -a score to settle with him. A young man is executed merely for pitying Piso's death; Poppaea tries to save him because he resembles a former lover of hers, so Nero kicks her to death in a rage. News arrives from France that Vindex has revolted and chosen · Galba as…
The Courageous Turk, or Amurath the First
Goffe, Thomas · 1619 · Tragedy · at University;
Amurath the Turk is diverted from his programme of European conquest when, having subdued Greece, he falls in love with a Greek concubine, Eumorphe, and marries her. He asks his tutor Lala-Schahin to furnish a wedding masque about the classical gods’ amours; Lala-Schahin does so, but appends a second masque in which Fame extols the military glory of dead heroes. His objective is to turn Amurath back to martial pursuits, since there is no need for him to marry: he has already produced enough heirs. Amurath is troubled, but also melancholy at the limitations his royal status imposes on his love-life. Schahin dresses up as the ghost of Amurath’s father and, as he goes to his marriage bed, rebukes him for squandering his imperial legacy. Amurath beheads Eumorphe in her sleep and plans to attack Europe again. There is discord in the Christian ranks, and the Turks are victorious: many Christians are slain. The prisoners of war are recruited to Amurath’s service as an elite bodyguard of janissaries. Amurath negotiates a marriage treaty between his son Bajazeth and the daughter of the King of Phrygia; this secures him further territorial control in Asia Minor. Amurath breaks off his European campaign to suppress a rebellion by his son-in-law Aladin. He invades Caramania and burns its cities; Aladin is routed, but uses his wife and children to secure Amurath’s pardon. Amurath turns his attention back to Serbia, and appoints Aladin to lead one wing of the army. A series of portents…
A Match at Midnight
R., W. · 1622 · Comedy · Red Bull (Revels) Company (first) (?)
Old Bloodhound is training his younger son Tim in the family pawnbroking business, since Alexander, the elder son, is a drunken wastrel. He intends to marry his daughter Mary to the informer Earlack, even though she prefers Ensign Young, while he himself will marry the young widow Wag. The widow has other suitors, including her servant Jarvis, but wants to get rid of them. She arranges a midnight assignation with Old Bloodhound, intending not to turn up. Jarvis arranges a substitute, and tells Bloodhound that his mistress has come incognito and must be addressed as Mistress Coot; in fact it really is a Mistress Coot, an old bawd, whom Bloodhound takes home that night in preparation for a wedding the next morning. Meanwhile, Mary plans to elope with Young that ' night, retrieving his mortgage from her father’s papers. 1622 The widow's Welsh suitor, Randall, hears about Mary and, though he has never met her, decides he prefers her to Wag. The servant Sim fixes Randall up with an assignation that night, but he ends up encountering Wag's maid, who is returning from a late errand and who also happens to be named Mary. Tim visits the tavern to give Alexander some pawn- money, and becomes enamoured of Sue Shortheels, thinking her a lady of noble descent. In fact, she is a prostitute. Alexander gets into the widow’s bedroom and hides under her bed, then forces her to agree to marry him by threatening to undress just as neighbours appear to be arriving. The various wedding plans…
Herod and Antipater
Markham, Gervase; Sampson, William · 1622 · Tragedy · Red Bull (Revels) Company (first) · Red Bull;Outdoor Professional
Queen Alexandra attempts to flee to Egypt with her son, the High Priest Aristobulus, after King Herod commands a bloody purge of their family. Herod’s troops arrive in time only to seize their luggage, but they are found hiding inside. Herod makes a public gesture of sparing them, but has his bastard son Antipater arrange an ‘accidental’ drowning for Aristobulus during a swimming contest. Herod backed the wrong side in the recent Roman civil war between Mark Antony and Augustus. He goes to Rome to make his peace with Augustus, the new master of the Empire, leaving Antipater with instructions to kill Mariam, the Queen, in the event of his failure. When Herod presents himself, Augustus offers two slaves the chance to murder him: the Briton conscientiously refuses, whereas the Roman eagerly accepts the job. But Augustus was only toying with Herod: he rewards the British slave, has the Roman thrown into the sea, and confirms Herod in his kingdom as an ally of Rome. Mariam learns that Herod has ordered her death, which compounds his crime in killing Aristobulus. Antipater, who seeks the crown, draws inspiration from Hell, and is shown a vision of the murder of Agamemnon. He procures false witnesses to accuse Mariam of attempting to poison her husband in order to facilitate an incestuous liaison with his brother. Herod sentences them both to death; he later changes his mind and tries to reprieve Mariam, but is too late. His two sons, Alexander and the younger Aristobulus, raise…
The Bondman (The Noble Bondman)
Massinger, Philip · 1623 · Tragicomedy · Lady Elizabeth's Men · Phoenix/Cockpit;Indoor Professional
Carthage has territorial designs on Sicily, so Corinth sends its general, Timoleon, to take charge of the defence of Syracuse. On arrival, he criticizes the Sicilians for appointing unworthy and inexperienced senators and for general corruption. He decrees that all private wealth should be sequestered to pay for the war. It is an unpopular measure until Cleora public- spiritedly gives up her jewels, forcing the others to follow her example. Cleora has several suitors, including Pisander of Thebes; but her brother Timagoras, keen for her to marry his friend Leosthenes, slandered Pisander to induce their father to send him away. Now that the young men are going to war, Leosthenes is jealous about what she may get up to in his absence, so she promises literally not to see or say anything until his return. The slaves of Syracuse take advantage of the absence of the army and rebel, enslaving their former masters. The ringleader is Cleora’s slave Marullo, who claims to be motivated by unrequited passion for his mistress, but, when he gains access to her, disclaims any intention of raping her and receives in return a wordless acknowledgement of her regard for him. He encourages the former slaves to treat their former masters well, since their positions may again be reversed. News arrives of a victory over the Carthaginians, with particular military distinction achieved by Leosthenes. The rebellious slaves man the city’s walls and gates to keep out the returning army; from the…
The Renegado, or The Gentleman of Venice
Massinger, Philip · 1624 · Tragicomedy · Lady Elizabeth's Men · Phoenix/Cockpit;Indoor Professional
PLOT Paulina has been kidnapped by the pirate Grimaldi and brought to stock the Viceroy Hassan Bey’s seraglio in Tunis. However, she wears a relic given to her by the Jesuit Francisco, which protects her from violence and ensures that she cannot be raped. Hassan Bey’s attempts to seduce her are proving ineffectual. The Pasha Mustapha arrives in Tunis and presents himself to Donusa with a letter from her uncle, the Sultan, recommending him as a prospective husband. She expresses an interest in seeing the market, and he escorts her there. One of the merchants, Vitelli, is really Paulina’s brother. He is selling pictures of beautiful European women, so Donusa unveils herself to invite a comparison. Vitelli instantly falls in love with her, and, to bring him out of his reverie, she smashes some of his glassware and tells him to present the bill for the damage at the palace the following day. Seeing an opportunity to rescue Paulina, he goes, is admitted to the seraglio, and ends up having sex with Donusa. He returns to the market a made man, and passes on his business to his servant Gazet. The Maltese raid the harbour at Tunis and capture a ship. Having failed to prevent this, Grimaldi is dismissed from Hassan Bey’s services; his seraglio recruitment work counts for nothing. He goes to the market in despair, believing he can never be forgiven the act of sacrilege for which he originally fled Venice: dashing the host out of a priest’s hand as he was saying mass. The priest was, in…
The Duchess of Suffolk
Drue, Thomas · 1624 · History · Prince Palatine's (Palsgrave's) Men
King Edward VI orders the widowed Duchess of Suffolk to marry the Count Palatine, newly elected the . King of Poland. Other aristocratic suitors present themselves, but she contracts herself to her servant Bertie. Bishops Gardiner and Bonner are imprisoned, and Bonner swears revenge when the Duchess insults him. Queen Mary succeeds to the throne, releases the imprisoned bishops and appoints them commissioners to exterminate heresy. Bonner has Bertie arrested, but permits him to go abroad; he then has the Duchess arrested and her household broken up. Forced to choose which of its members will remain in her service, she selects Cranwell above Fox, who takes it badly. Bonner’s men have little success in detaining the Duchess and her associates: Dr Sandys escapes by impersonating a workman, and the Duchess also sneaks out of London with Cranwell, her baby daughter, and its nurse. The workmen are arrested and brought before Bonner, who orders them burned, but forgets about them when he hears news of the Duchess’s whereabouts. He goes with Fox to Leigh, where she and her remaining household have assembled in disguise at Gosling’s house, but Fox helps them to escape by ‘accidentally’ knocking Bonner into a well. The Duchess and Bertie meet at Emden. Still wanted by the English authorities, they decide to travel separately, but Bertie is concerned for his wife’s safety and is on hand to rescue her from being raped when her party is attacked by thieves. The nurse first flees with the…
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…
Fuimus Troes (The True Trojans)
Fisher, Jasper · 1625 · History · at University;
The Romans have invaded Gaul. Caesar reaches the northern shore and thinks himself at the edge of the world, until he sees the white cliffs across the Channel: a new land to conquer. To justify a war, he sends Volusenus to make an offer of peace, expecting the Britons to refuse; Volusenus will also spy out the country in preparation for the Roman assault. News of the Roman invasion plans reaches King Cassibelan, who mobilizes his troops and allies. When Volusenus presents the terms, which require the Britons to pay tribute and send hostages, Cassibelan is advised to reject them, and does. Commius the Gaul makes a last effort to encourage him to come to terms, but is imprisoned for his pains. Caesar invades Britain, but sustains heavy casualties trying to get his troops ashore. Duke Nennius defeats Caesar in the battle, but is killed by Caesar’s poisoned sword. The celebration of the British victory is offset by Nennius’ state funeral. Cassibelan came to power by murdering a previous king and depriving his son Mandubrace of his throne. Seeking revenge, Mandubrace allies himself with Caesar, who agrees to launch a second attack on Britain. Against advice, Cassibelan decides to allow the Romans to land and face them in an inland battle. A storm wrecks forty of Caesar’s ships, and initially the Briton army has the upper hand. The tide turns after many of the British petty kingdoms switch their allegiance to Mandubrace, and Cassibelan realizes that the island will be conquered.…
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…
The School of Compliment (Love Tricks)
Shirley, James · 1625 · Comedy · Lady Elizabeth's Men · Phoenix/Cockpit;Indoor Professional
Selina and Hilaria have each attracted the attention of several suitors. Selina’s brother Antonio is one of those interested in Hilaria; and Hilaria’s recently widowed father Rufaldo, who disapproves of Antonio and would rather she married the wealthy Bubulcus, would nevertheless like Selina for his second wife. Antonio has his friend and servant distract Rufaldo while he sneaks in to visit Hilaria; they do it by persuading Rufaldo that he has been miraculously rejuvenated. Selina’s father is happy to let her have her own way in ===== PAGE 140 ===== her love-life, because her sister Felice absconded after he interfered in hers. He proposes that she should be cautious about marrying Rufaldo, but she declares enthusiasm for the idea and asks for a hasty wedding; on the appointed day, however, she disappears and goes to live in the country disguised as a shepherd. Felice’s abandoned suitor Gasparo sets up a school of compliment to teach people refined behaviour. His clients include: Bubulcus, who wants to learn how to woo Hilaria and scorn Antonio; Delia, a chambermaid keen to brush up her etiquette: a judge who wants to learn how to address the jury; Medulla, a social-climbing widow; an old countryman who wants to turn his oafish son into a courtier; a quarrelsome gentleman; Ingeniolo, a justice’s clerk in love; and Jenkin, an amorous Welshman in search of poetry to turn a shepherdess’s head. The search for Selina sends several people off to the country, including her true…
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…
Aristippus, or The Jovial Philosopher
Randolph, Thomas · 1626 · Academic Entertainment
Simplicius asks after the philosopher Aristippus in the Dolphin tavern, but is served the wine of the same name. On finding the right Aristippus, he enrols as a pupil, and is sworn in with an oath taken in drink. Aristippus encourages him to renounce beer and drink sack instead, to stay up at night, and to sleep in the morning. The Wild Man, who favours beer, beats Aristippus out of the tavern with the help of two brewers. However, he is quickly persuaded of the error of his ways, and seeks to make amends by fetching a surgeon to mend the philosopher’s head. The boastful Medico de Campo - who claims that he has treated many a world leader, and could even cure decapitation by making an artificial head - restores Aristippus to health with a draught of sack. For his reward, he asks that the Wild Man be forgiven, and the Wild Man promises that in future he will be Aristippus’ faithful disciple.
The English Traveller
Heywood, Thomas · 1627 · Tragicomedy · Lady Elizabeth's Men · Phoenix/Cockpit;Indoor Professional
Geraldine has recently returned from foreign travels, to find that, during his absence, a childhood friend, whom he was expected to marry, married old Wincott instead; she did not seek the marriage, but has no complaints. Having no children of his own, Wincott treats Geraldine as a close friend, and is trusting enough to leave the young man alone with his wife. Geraldine agrees with her that, should they both survive Wincott, he will be her second husband, and he agrees to remain single until then. Dalavill spreads rumours that Geraldine and Mistress Wincott are lovers. Concerned at the possible scandal, Old Geraldine tests his son by proposing that he should marry; Geraldine’s refusal is taken as confirmation of the affair. Geraldine protests his innocence, but to prove it, and silence the gossip, his father insists that he should never again visit the Wincotts. His absence grieves Wincott, and Geraldine agrees to explain himself at a secret midnight meeting. He is pressed by Wincott to stay the night but, unable to sleep, decides to pass the time looking innocently at Mistress Wincott in her bed. Outside her room he overhears her talking to Dalavill: they are lovers. Disillusioned, Geraldine plans to leave England. Wincott lays on a feast to mark his departure, and everyone is invited. At the party, Geraldine confronts Mistress Wincott with what he knows. She is mortified, rejects Dalavill, faints, and dies, having written to her husband a confession. Dalavill flees the…
Lodovic Sforza, Duke of Milan
Gomersall, Robert · 1628 · Tragedy
Sforza is ambitious to rule Milan even though primogeniture has passed him by, leaving him as merely the Protector to his nephew, the Duke Galeazzo. He invites the King of France, who covets the throne of Naples, to invade Italy to press his claim by force, relying on French support for his own usurpation of Milan. He then poisons Galeazzo, and attempts to dispose of the two poisoners; but one of them, Vitellio, survives and plans revenge using forged documents which implicate Sforza in the crime. After the coronation, rumours of foul play begin to circulate. Vittellio is caught lurking around Sforza’s bedchamber, intending to murder him, so Sforza has him strangled. Caiazzo plans to murder Isabella, Galeazzo’s widow, as she visits his tomb, but realizes that he could do better for himself by marrying her. She refuses him, but he promises her revenge on Sforza as a mark of his good faith, When she remains resolute, he threatens to ===== PAGE 305 ===== 1628 rape her, but is prevented by Sforza’s arrival. He claims she tried to persuade him to assassinate Sforza, but the Duke takes no reprisals. Sforza is visited by Galeazzo’s ghost, who foretells that he will fall from power and die in prison, Meanwhile, the French take Naples with ease, frustrating Sforza’s exit strategy: he was expecting them to be tied down in a long war, giving him time to co-ordinate Italian forces to expel them. The French King is taken ill at a tennis match and dies. The deposed Neapolitan ruler…
Aminta
Reynolds, Henry, trans.; Tasso, Torquato · 1628 · Pastoral
Resenting his mother’s efforts to control his activities and limit them to persons of high estate, Cupid absconds to live as a shepherd and make Silvia fall in love. Silvia was Aminta’s companion in boyhood. Three years ago he declared his love for her, and she has refused to see him ever since. Despite Daphne’s attempts to persuade her that she should take her amorous pleasures while she can, Silvia has no maternal desires: she loves only hunting, and hates Aminta because he loves her. Recognizing that Aminta needs to be more masterful, Daphne and Thyrsis arrange for him to encounter Silvia while she is bathing. But Silvia has another rejected admirer with similar ideas, a Satyr, and when Aminta arrives he finds Silvia stark naked, tied to a tree with her own hair, and about to be raped. He drives the Satyr off, but Silvia is haughtily ungracious and runs away. Daphne restrains Aminta’s suicidal impulses. Silvia borrows some clothes from Nerina and goes hunting. She encounters a wolf and chases it; Nerina follows, loses her, and then sees a wolf-pack licking blood off the ground, with Silvia’s bloodstained veil nearby. When Aminta hears of this, his suicidal impulses are renewed: with the help of Ergastus, he climbs a cliff and throws himself off. Silvia is not really dead — the wolves’ prey was only an animal — but the news of Aminta’s death prompts her to recognize her love for him, and seek to join him in the afterlife. It turns out that he is not dead: he fell into a…
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 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…
Love's Cruelty
Shirley, James · 1631 · Tragedy · Queen Henrietta Maria's Men · Phoenix/Cockpit;Indoor Professional
Hippolito has decided to avoid seeing his friend Bellamente’s fiancée Clariana before they are married, for fear that he will fall in love with her. On learning this, Clariana pays him a visit, without revealing her identity, and he woos her. The session is interrupted by a summons from the Duke, so Hippotite leaves Clariana in his room, locking the door behind him. The Duke’s business turns out to take longer than anticipated: he has brought the virgin Eubella to court to be his mistress, but, despite bestowing promotien: on her father Sebastian, he cannot persuade Rubella into bed, and wants Hippolito to do the jab ter him. Hippolito asks Bellamente to go and release the unnamed gentlewoman from his unsuccessfully attempts his blandishments on Bubs Meanwhile, Bellamente is dismayed to find dit bh: friend’s visitor was Clariana; she argues coyenth thet her visit was innocent curiasity. but decides to make sure of her by advanciny the dete their wedding. , Having seen Clariana, Hippolite: talix fur her ia he expected. Bellamente’s servant discevers thet i + locked room together and, iooking threuuh os oralt the wall, sees them having sex. Puid «4 the on Bellamente swears revenge and catuhe: thera ten in bed. He forces Hippolito inte the Gosct ani oa orders Clariana to tidy the bed. and thes --2 the servant and rebukes him te: Released from his hiding-place. Hipruiies.: Bellamente to be a true Italien amd biit si Bellamente cannot bring himiselt tc: declares that he will…
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 Ball
Shirley, James · 1632 · Comedy · Queen Henrietta Maria's Men · Phoenix/Cockpit;Indoor Professional
Lord Rainbow is to hold a ball. Ladies practise their dancing, coached by Monsieur La Frisk, and engage in amours. Lucina has four suitors whom she teases with the prospect of marriage. She plans to see each of them in turn, but unknown to her, her servant Scutilla conceals one of them, Colonel Winfield, in her room, and he witnesses her scornful treatment of his rivals: Sir Marmaduke is mocked for his money-making schemes, Sir Ambrose for his baldness, and Bostock, who habitually boasts of his imagined kinship with noblemen, is told she will only marry a commoner—which induces him to suggest that he may be illegitimate, and therefore eligible after all. The Colonel takes a more masterful line with her at his meeting. He then suggests to the other insulted suitors that they go back and treat her with contempt. Bostock nominates himself the spokesman, and is duly rude to her, whereupon the Colonel steps in to defend her honour. She agrees to marry him, on condition that he proves himself to be a virgin; he infers another jeer on her part, and takes offence. She is in earnest, however. She tests the Colonel’s fidelity by telling him that he will be taking on her debts and children (both imaginary) and that he will have to live in the country; when he is undaunted, she accepts him. In another plot, before leaving on a journey to Venice, Freshwater sold his land and laid out money to be paid back fivefold on his safe return. When he gets back, the men who took his money seem…
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,…
Changes, or Love in a Maze
Shirley, James · 1632 · Comedy · King's Revels Company (?); Prince Charles's Men (second) (?) · Salisbury Court;Indoor Professional
Goldsworth’s twin daughters, Chrysolina and Aurelia, are daily courted by numerous suitors, including the foolish knight Simple, whom Mistress Goldsworth favours for his title, and the would-be poet Caperwit. Both girls favour the same suitor, Gerard, but with selfless sisterly affection, each wants the other to have him. Gerard comes under pressure to choose between them, not only from Goldsworth but also from his friend Thornay, who wants to woo whichever one he leaves; but, loving them equally, he cannot decide. Thornay decides to seize the initiative and woos Chrysolina (who consequently thinks him disloyal to Gerard), then misleads Gerard into thinking that she has reciprocated and that he should concentrate on Aurelia. But Chrysolina is offended by Gerard’s sudden neglect, and Aurelia takes it as a sign of his fickleness, and refuses him. She also rejects Simple’s suit, but her attempts to be polite about it to her mother are misconstrued, and Mistress Goldsworth sets about making wedding plans. Sir John Woodhamore keeps his niece Eugenia inside, away from the world and its temptations, while he seeks a husband worthy of her; he has decided on Youngrave. When Youngrave is left alone to woo her, however, she asks him to carry a letter to Thornay, the man she loves. Thornay protests that he isn’t interested: he loves Chrysolina. To get her own back on Gerard, Chrysolina pretends to return Thornay’s love; but she is upset to hear that he has rejected Eugenia, and sends…
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…
The Bird in a Cage (The Beauties)
Shirley, James · 1633 · Comedy · Queen Henrietta Maria's Men · Phoenix/Cockpit;Indoor Professional
After rumours of Philenzo’s interest in Eugenia, her father the Duke banishes him and shuts her up in a newly-built palace, attended only by ladies, until he can find her a husband of suitable rank. Orpiano is sent to Florence with her picture to negotiate a marriage treaty; her fiancé will be the Great Duke’s son. Rolliardo, an unemployed wit, comes to court looking for work. The Duke gives him the task of gaining access to Eugenia in her new quarters within a month, with the proviso that he will be executed if he fails; he agrees, subject to the condition that the Duke gives him enough money to do the job—meaning, in effect, unlimited access to the exchequer. Pursued by creditors, the artist Bonamico sets up business disguised as a mountebank, Altomaro, offering to teach people the secret of invisibility. Rolliardo sceptically rejects this as a method of penetrating Eugenia’s palace, preferring to trust in the corruptibility of the captain of the guard—who refuses to help, but keeps the bribe anyway. ‘Altomaro’ tries to encourage prospective clients by dressing up as a series of customers entering his shop; they are not seen leaving because, he says, they have become invisible. Dondolo and Grutti decide this would be a good way to get to see their girlfriends, two of Eugenia’s attendants, and pay ‘Altomaro’ for a demonstration: he will be invisible, save only for his hand. And so he is—the ‘hand’ being a handwritten letter from him. The courtiers realize they have been…
A Maidenhead Well Lost
Heywood, Thomas · 1633 · Comedy · Queen Henrietta Maria's Men · Phoenix/Cockpit;Indoor Professional
Julia has given herself sexually to her flance, the Prince of Parma, but is now concerned that he mav have fost interest in her: she has been told of a dalliance between him and Lauretta. When lulia publicly strikes Eauretta, Parma breaks off the engagement. In fact, Julia’. informant, Stroza, was lying: he has a grudge agamoat ===== PAGE 406 ===== Lauretta’s father, General Sforza, and has also been working to secure his downfall by delaying the shipment of money and supplies to the front. News arrives that the war is won, but that Sforza, unable to pay his men, gave them everything he had and died of grief. His widow pays the soldiers’ arrears out of her estate and leaves Milan with Lauretta. Fearful of dishonour, Julia tries to persuade Parma to stay by telling him she is pregnant. He denies paternity — she consented so readily to pre-marital sex that, misled by Stroza, he believes she must also have had other men - and leaves anyway. Her father the Duke learns of the situation, and sends Stroza to fetch Parma back, dead or alive. Julia’s unborn child saves her from execution for her misdeed, and she goes into hiding until the baby is born. When it is, the Duke orders Stroza to dispose of it, and plans to conceal her shame with a hasty marriage to another foreign prince. Stroza leaves the baby in a grove to be found by passers-by; sure enough, when he returns a few hours later, it has gone, found by Parma and recognized as his own true issue. Lauretta and her mother are…
The King's Royal Entertainment at Welbeck Castle (Love's Welcome)
Jonson, Ben · 1633 · Entertainment · before the Court;
All nature greets the King as he arrives for dinner at Welbeck. As he is about to leave, the party is accosted by Accidence and Fitz-Ale. They present a post-wedding event at which Stub the bridegroom and the six Hoods tilt at a quintain. A bride-ale follows, with eating, drinking, singing, and dancing, until an officer rebukes them for detaining the King with unsolicited merriment, and offers a panegyric of the King and royal family.
The Opportunity
Shirley, James · 1634 · Comedy · Queen Henrietta Maria's Men · Phoenix/Cockpit;Indoor Professional
Arriving in Urbino for the first time, Aurelio is surprised to find the inhabitants greeting him as a long-lost friend. It turns out that he looks identical to Borgia, who had been banished for killing the brother of Ursini, a court favourite. Accepted by Borgia’s father Mercutio, he seizes his opportunity and steps into his alter-ego’s shoes. They are summoned to court, where Ursini, in love with Borgia’s sister Cornelia, has procured a pardon for Borgia in order to gain the family’s favour. Complications arise when Aurelio falls in love with Cornelia himself, while the Duchess falls in love with him and appoints him her secretary. Aurelio decides to keep his options open, maintains his assumed identity, and pursues both ladies, circumventing any suspicion of incest by telling Cornelia that he is acting on Aurelio’s behalf: Aurelio fell for her on seeing her picture, he says, and engaged him to woo her. Other suitors have come to woo the Duchess, including the Duke of Ferrara, posing as his own ambassador; he takes offence at the favours shown to ‘Borgia’. There is a mix-up in the dark: posing as the Duchess, Cornelia tells ‘Borgia’ that she will marry Ferrara; then the Duchess arrives; ‘Borgia’ takes her for Cornelia, and, on hearing she is to marry Ursini, admits his true identity. Having overheard Cornelia’s comments, Ferrara arrives in Urbino in his own person to claim the Duchess as his bride, but she denies ever promising herself to him. Aurelio’s servant Pimponio…
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.
Coelum Britannicum (The British Heaven)
Carew, Thomas · 1634 · Masque · before the Court;Whitehall;
Mercury comes to Britain from a heavenly court whose morals have been reformed through following the example of King Charles and Queen Henrietta Maria. He announces that Jove is so ashamed of his former life of sexual incontinence that he has removed from the night sky the stellified memorials of his former girlfriends, and intends to replace them with images of the King and Queen. Mercury is interrupted by Momus, who complains that he never gets to appear in any court masques, and describes critically the newly chaste court of heaven. Mercury conjures down the monsters from the constellations, then Cancer, the highest sign of the zodiac, then the constellations representing vices, and each group dances in turn. At last the sky is emptied. Momus invites applicants to fill the stellar vacancies. Plutus, Poverty, Fortune, and Pleasure all express interest, introduce antimasque dances, and are rejected. Momus leaves to prevent further suitors from entering. Mercury explains that only the King and Queen are worthy to be the new constellations. Britain’s heroic past is celebrated in dance, and the British worthies appear as new stars in the heavens, with the King pre-eminent among them. Allegorical virtues sing their praises, and further dancing ensues.
The King's Royal Entertainment at Bolsover Castle (Love's Welcome)
Jonson, Ben · 1634 · Entertainment · before the Court;
During a banquet, singers welcome the King and Queen and declare the metaphysical importance of love. After dinner, they are entertained by a dance of eight artisans, supervised by Colonel Vitruvius. As the King and Queen are leaving, Eros and Anteros serve a second banquet. They quarrel over a palm bough but end up dividing it between them; their love is a perfect symbol of that between the King and Queen. Philalethes intervenes, advising them to stop speaking in rhyme, which has no more credit at court. He concludes by once again celebrating the mystical, mutual love of the King and Queen.
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…
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…
A Challenge for Beauty
Heywood, Thomas · 1635 · Tragicomedy · King's Men · Blackfriars;Globe;Indoor Professional;Outdoor Professional
The marriage of Sebastian and Isabella unites the crowns of Portugal and Spain. Covetous of excessive praise, the proud Isabella solicits flattery from her courtiers. Two comply, but Bonavida criticizes her arrogant self-regard and is banished: he may return only when he can produce a woman who is Isabella’s equal in beauty, so he travels the world in search of one. Petrocella thinks she might be in with a chance, and is disappointed when her next caller is not Bonavida but her suitor Valladaura, who has returned injured from a sea-battle. She disparages his exploits and rejects him, but speaks well of the Englishman who wounded him. The soldier in question, Ferrers, has been captured by the Turks; Valladaura finds him in a slave market and buys him and his friend, Manhurst. Though Ferrers is suspicious of his motives, Valladaura frees them both: Manhurst goes back to England, and Ferrers is introduced to Petrocella, in the hope that he will testify to Valladaura’s bravery and court her on his behalf. In England, Bonavida finds the beautiful woman he is searching for: Helena. He proposes marriage, but plans to go home to have his banishment rescinded before bringing Helena there as his wife. They exchange tokens, and Bonavida takes his leave; but when he arrives in Spain, he is imprisoned for breaking his exile, having returned without the woman he was charged to find. Isabella sends her two flatterers to England to get the ring Bonavida left with Helena, and they trick her…
The Coronation
Shirley, James · 1635 · Tragicomedy · Queen Henrietta Maria's Men · Phoenix/Cockpit;Indoor Professional
When King Theodosius seized power in Epirus, he agreed to make his opponent Cassander the next heir should he himself die without issue. Now his daughter Sophia is Queen and Cassander the Lord Protector during her minority. She appears to favour Cassander’s son Lysimachus as a potential husband, but this is only a stratagem to secure Cassander’s support for her forthcoming installation as Queen regnant. Wishing to find a legitimate way of killing Arcadius, Seleucus proposes settling a family feud by single combat with themselves acting as champions. Sophia agrees, and schedules the fight immediately after her coronation; but the two heads of the families disapprove and prevent it by announcing that they have settled their differences. Sophia now declares her choice of husband: not Lysimachus as expected, but Arcadius. Arcadius accepts, even though he has sworn a vow of constancy to Polydora. Seleucus is imprisoned when he protests, and the disappointed Cassander plots treachery. Macarius, Arcadius’ uncle, produces documentary evidence that the proposed marriage would be incestuous: Arcadius is really Sophia’s brother, Demetrius, Theodosius’ younger son, who was bestowed on Macarius in infancy for fear of Cassander’s ambition; his claim to the throne is therefore better than Sophia’s. He and Sophia both try to reactivate their former relationships, but Polydora and Lysimachus are both less than compliant. Cassander plans to pull off the same trick twice: he arranges Seleucus’…
The Lady of Pleasure
Shirley, James · 1635 · Comedy · Queen Henrietta Maria's Men · Phoenix/Cockpit;Indoor Professional
Bored with country life, Aretina forces her husband, Sir Thomas Bornwell, to sell up their estate and come to live in London. There she lives extravagantly, buying expensive luxuries and gay clothes, and keeping up with her equally prodigal neighbour, the young widow Celestina. She summons her nephew Frederick home from university, unhappy that he has been turned into a serious scholar, and she asks her fashionable friends Kickshaw and Littleworth to teach him the conventions of social behaviour. Bornwell decides that all he can do is match his wife’s profligacy, and visits Celestina as one of her many suitors. He invites her back to his house as a guest. A formerly promiscuous lord has lost all interest in sex since the death of his mistress. Decoy the bawd offers to procure Aretina for him, but Aretina is his kinswoman: he refuses, and sends Decoy to Aretina with a letter purporting to be a testimonial, but which is actually a warning against the bearer. But Aretina, seeking an extra-marital liaison, treats the letter as a positive recommendation, and engages Decoy to procure Kickshaw for her. She also asks Kickshaw and Littleworth to provoke her unwanted guest Celestina, but their disparaging remarks have no effect, other than to annoy Bornwell when he overhears them; he encourages Celestina to insult them back at length. Kickshaw is invited to an assignation, which turns out to be with Decoy, disguised as a crone. She proposes a nocturnal meeting for sex, promising that…
Amphrisa, or The Forsaken Shepherdess (Polopaea and Alope)
Heywood, Thomas · 1635 · Pastoral
Jilted by her lover, Amphrisa has become melancholy, but accepts her fellow shepherdesses’ attempts to cure her. Out hunting, the Queen and her nymphs overhear their conversation, and show themselves. The shepherdesses entertain the Queen with song and dance and are rewarded with jewels.
The Royal Slave
Cartwright, William · 1636 · Tragicomedy · King's Men · before the Court;at University;
Five Greeks are taken prisoner by the Persians after a war with Ephesus. According to a local custom, one of these slaves must be given royal power for three days, but then killed as an offering to the sun god. Cratander, who denies the efficacy of human sacrifice, is selected, and has his fellow captives released to serve him at court. Cratander takes his royal responsibilities seriously. The lords fear that he will use his power to harm the state, and offer him the sensual pleasures of kingship, but he refuses to be distracted. Atossa, the Queen, is impressed by his self-control, and gives him a chain, exciting the jealousy of her husband, King Arsamnes. The other Greeks, however, enjoy a bibulous, lascivious good time, and are only prevented from raping Atossa’s women by the chance arrival of Cratander. Fearing further attempts, the women of Sardis take refuge in the castle. Two members of the Ephesian army who are still at liberty take the risk of coming to see Cratander at the palace. They ask him to use his power to send the Persian army back to war, with the intention that they will be massacred by the forewarned Ephesians. Cratander conscientiously refuses, but asks the Ephesian army to rendezvous with him at the castle. His plan is to allow them to be defeated in battle, but have Atossa intervene with her husband to spare them and free Ephesus. The other Greeks plan to ambush Cratander in the woods, disguised as beggars; but he recognizes them and sends them back to…
The City Match
Mayne, Jasper · 1637 · Comedy · King's Men · before the Court;Blackfriars;Whitehall;Indoor Professional
After his father’s bankruptcy, Plotwell has been forced to give up his riotous, hedonistic life as a law student and now lives soberly in the household of his uncle, Warehouse. He and his sister Penelope have also given up their plans to marry Susan and Timothy, the son and daughter of the merchant Seathrift. Now Penelope has absconded from her duties as a seamstress. Suspecting that his nephew’s reformation may be only an act, Warehouse pretends to go on a long voyage abroad in the company of Seathrift, who has similar doubts about Timothy: in their absence, the two heirs will reveal their true character, observed by the old men’s spies. No sooner has Warehouse gone than Plotwell meets up with two friends from the Inns of Court and arranges to visit a newly arrived lady, Aurelia, who is actually Penelope in disguise. Plotwell plans to revive her proposed marriage to Timothy; she in turn plans to get him married to Susan, who has disguised herself as Aurelia’s Puritan waiting-woman. London flocks to see a display of a strange fish caught in the New World. It turns out that some tricksters have dressed up the drunken Timothy as a sea creature, and when he wakes there is speculation about how the ‘fish’ can speak. (He learned human language from years of being on display, the tricksters explain.) Plotwell and Timothy learn that Warehouse and Seathrift have drowned. Noting that their heirs are insufficiently upset by the news, the merchants reveal themselves and disinherit the…
Covent Garden
1638 · Comedy · Queen Henrietta Maria's Men
Dungworth comes to London from the country with his servants, Ralph and Dobson, intending to sell some of his lands and buy himself a knighthood. Artlove aims to woo Dorothy Worthy, and Mistress Tongueall offers her services as matchmaker —but also helps the foolish Littleword to the same ends. Hugh Jerker's objective is to cuckold Dorothy's father, Sir Generous Worthy: Lady Worthy was Jerker's mistress before she was forced to marry Sir Generous to get her away from him. Warrant and Spruce are both interested in the waiting-woman, Susan, and meet to fight a duel over her. Warrant has taken the precaution of procuring an advance pardon for killing Spruce, and Spruce anticipates that, if he kills Warrant, Susan will save his life with a gallows wedding. In the event, both are too cowardly to fight, and Susan and Dorothy, who are watching, engage Dobson and Ralph to attack them. Both talk their way out of a beating, leaving behind clothes and money. The servants consider taking up robbery as a profession. They have an altercation with Dorothy's brother, but Artlove intervenes and sees them off. Young Worthy vets his rescuer as a potential brother-in-law, and recommends him to Dorothy. She resents this interference, but eventually accepts Artlove. At the tavern, Ralph and Dobson are arrested for the robbery and brought before Sir Generous; but Warrant refuses to admit that he was robbed, and the case collapses. Ralph and Dobson conduct a mock-trial, with themselves as judge and…
The Rebellion
Rawlins, Thomas · 1638 · Tragedy · King's Revels Company
Machvile envies Antonio his popularity and also covets the crown. When the French, under Raymond the Moor, lay siege to Seville, Machvile engineers Antonio’s downfall at a council of war: he speaks for a military strategy, Antonio responds with a proposal to make peace, and the city’s Governor accuses Antonio of treason and cowardice; this provokes Antonio into killing the Governor. Antonio flees to his home, where he is appalled to find his sister Evadne kissing the tailor Giovanno. Before he can do more than protest, he is arrested by Machvile, who has succeeded to the governorship; but Giovanno and other tailors rescue him and he goes into hiding among them. Despite Giovanno’s help, Antonio is unable to sanction his love for Evadne, being bound by a deathbed promise to his father only to allow her to marry a nobleman. Machvile’s aggressive strategy is put into effect: the Spanish break out of their besieged city and defeat the French; Giovanno captures Raymond, but Machvile takes charge of the prisoner and banishes the heroic tailor. Planning to seize the Spanish throne, he proposes an alliance with Raymond to divide the country between them, planning all the while to kill the Moor once his object is achieved. Meanwhile the captive Raymond looks for a way to communicate with France and ask for additional troops. Antonio is told in a dream to flee, but is found, arrested, and sentenced to be ground to death in a mill. Aurelia, daughter of the captain of the mill, falls in…
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…