EM Drama

The Tempest

(Prospero; Caliban; Miranda falls in love Ferdinand) with A storm strikes a ship carrying Alonso, Ferdinand, Sebastian, Antonio, Gonzalo, Stephano, and Trinculo, who are on their way to Italy after coming from the wedding of Alonso's daughter, Claribel, to the prince of Tunis in Africa. The royal party and the other mariners, with the exception of the unflappable Boatswain, begin to fear for their lives. Lightning cracks, and the mariners cry that the ship has been hit. Everyone prepares to sink. The next scene begins much more quietly. Miranda and Prospero stand on the shore of their island, looking out to sea at the recent shipwreck. Miranda asks her father to do anything he can to help the poor souls in the ship. Prospero assures her that everything is all right and then informs her that it is time she learned more about herself and her past. He reveals to her that he orchestrated the shipwreck and tells her the lengthy story of her past, a story he has often started to tell her before but never finished. The story goes that Prospero was the Duke of Milan until his brother Antonio, conspiring with Alonso, the King of Naples, usurped his position. Kidnapped and left to die on a raft at sea, Prospero and his daughter survive because Gonzalo leaves them supplies and Prospero's books, which are the source of his magic and power. Prospero and his daughter arrived on the island where they remain now and have been for twelve years. Only now, Prospero says, has Fortune at last sent his enemies his way, and he has raised the tempest in order to make things right with them once and for all. After telling this story, Prospero charms Miranda to sleep and then calls forth his familiar spirit Ariel, his chief magical agent. Prospero and Ariel's discussion reveals that Ariel brought the tempest upon the ship and set fire to the mast. He then made sure that everyone got safely to the island, though they are now separated from each other into small groups. Ariel, who is a captive servant to Prospero, reminds his master that he has promised Ariel freedom a year early if he performs tasks such as these without complaint. Prospero chastises Ariel for protesting and reminds him of the horrible fate from which he was rescued. Before Prospero came to the island, a witch named Sycorax imprisoned Ariel in a tree. Sycorax died, leaving Ariel trapped until Prospero arrived and freed him. After Ariel assures Prospero that he knows his place, Prospero orders Ariel to take the shape of a sea nymph and make himself invisible to all but Prospero. Miranda awakens from her sleep, and she and Prospero go to visit Caliban, Prospero's servant and the son of the dead Sycorax. Caliban curses Prospero, and Prospero and Miranda berate him for being ungrateful for what they have given and taught him. Prospero sends Caliban to fetch firewood. Ariel, invisible, enters playing music and leading in the awed Ferdinand. Miranda and Ferdinand are immediately smitten with each other. He is the only man Miranda has ever seen, besides Caliban and her father. Prospero is happy to see that his plan for his daughter's future marriage is working, but decides that he must upset things temporarily in order to prevent their relationship from developing too quickly. He accuses Ferdinand of merely pretending to be the Prince of Naples and threatens him with imprisonment. When Ferdinand draws his sword, Prospero charms him and leads him off to prison, ignoring Miranda's cries for mercy. He then sends Ariel on another mysterious mission. On another part of the island, Alonso, Sebastian, Antonio, Gonzalo, and other miscellaneous lords give thanks for their safety but worry about the fate of Ferdinand. Alonso says that he wishes he never had married his daughter to the prince of Tunis because if he had not made this journey, his son would still be alive. Gonzalo tries to maintain high spirits by discussing the beauty of the island, but his remarks are undercut by the sarcastic sourness of Antonio and Sebastian. Ariel appears, invisible, and plays music that puts all but Sebastian and Antonio to sleep. These two then begin to discuss the possible advantages of killing their sleeping companions. Antonio persuades Sebastian that the latter will become ruler of Naples if they kill Alonso. Claribel, who would be the next heir if Ferdinand were indeed dead, is too far away to be able to claim her right. Sebastian is convinced, and the two are about to stab the sleeping men when Ariel causes Gonzalo to wake with a shout. Everyone wakes up, and Antonio and Sebastian concoct a ridiculous story about having drawn their swords to protect the king from lions. Ariel goes back to Prospero while Alonso and his party continue to search for Ferdinand. Caliban, meanwhile, is hauling wood for Prospero when he sees Trinculo and thinks he is a spirit sent by Prospero to torment him. He lies down and hides under his cloak. A storm is brewing, and Trinculo, curious about but undeterred by Caliban's strange appearance and smell, crawls under the cloak with him. Stephano, drunk and singing, comes along and stumbles upon the bizarre spectacle of Caliban and Trinculo huddled under the cloak. Caliban, hearing the singing, cries out that he will work faster so long as the "spirits" leave him alone. Stephano decides that this monster requires liquor and attempts to get Caliban to drink. Trinculo recognizes his friend Stephano and calls out to him. Soon the three are sitting up together and drinking. Caliban quickly becomes an enthusiastic drinker, and begins to sing. Prospero puts Ferdinand to work hauling wood. Ferdinand finds his labor pleasant because it is for Miranda's sake. Miranda, thinking that her father is asleep, tells Ferdinand to take a break. The two flirt with one another. Miranda proposes marriage, and Ferdinand accepts. Prospero has been on stage most of the time, unseen, and he is pleased with this development. Stephano, Trinculo, and Caliban are now drunk and raucous and are made all the more so by Ariel, who comes to them invisibly and provokes them to fight with one another by impersonating their voices and taunting them. Caliban grows more and more fervent in his boasts that he knows how to kill Prospero. He even tells Stephano that he can bring him to where Prospero is sleeping. He proposes that they kill Prospero, take his daughter, and set Stephano up as king of the island. Stephano thinks this a good plan, and the three prepare to set off to find Prospero. They are distracted, however, by the sound of music that Ariel plays on his flute and tabor-drum, and they decide to follow this music before executing their plot. Alonso, Gonzalo, Sebastian, and Antonio grow weary from traveling and pause to rest. Antonio and Sebastian secretly plot to take advantage of Alonso and Gonzalo's exhaustion, deciding to kill them in the evening. Prospero, probably on the balcony of the stage and invisible to the men, causes a banquet to be set out by strangely shaped spirits. As the men prepare to eat, Ariel appears like a harpy and causes the banquet to vanish. He then accuses the men of supplanting Prospero and says that it was for this sin that Alonso's son, Ferdinand, has been taken. He vanishes, leaving Alonso feeling vexed and guilty. Prospero now softens toward Ferdinand and welcomes him into his family as the soon-to-be-husband of Miranda. He sternly reminds Ferdinand, however, that Miranda's "virgin-knot" (IV.i.15) is not to be broken until the wedding has been officially solemnized. Prospero then asks Ariel to call forth some spirits to perform a masque for Ferdinand and Miranda. The spirits assume the shapes of Ceres, Juno, and Iris and perform a short masque celebrating the rites of marriage and the bounty of the earth. A dance of reapers and nymphs follows but is interrupted when Prospero suddenly remembers that he still must stop the plot against his life. He sends the spirits away and asks Ariel about Trinculo, Stephano, and Caliban. Ariel tells his master of the three men's drunken plans. He also tells how he led the men with his music through prickly grass and briars and finally into a filthy pond near Prospero's cell. Ariel and Prospero then set a trap by hanging beautiful clothing in Prospero's cell. Stephano, Trinculo, and Caliban enter looking for Prospero and, finding the beautiful clothing, decide to steal it. They are immediately set upon by a pack of spirits in the shape of dogs and hounds, driven on by Prospero and Ariel. Prospero uses Ariel to bring Alonso and the others before him. He then sends Ariel to bring the Boatswain and the mariners from where they sleep on the wrecked ship. Prospero confronts Alonso, Antonio, and Sebastian with their treachery, but tells them that he forgives them. Alonso tells him of having lost Ferdinand in the tempest and Prospero says that he recently lost his own daughter. Clarifying his meaning, he draws aside a curtain to reveal Ferdinand and Miranda playing chess. Alonso and his companions are amazed by the miracle of Ferdinand's survival, and Miranda is stunned by the sight of people unlike any she has seen before. Ferdinand tells his father about his marriage. Ariel returns with the Boatswain and mariners. The Boatswain tells a story of having been awakened from a sleep that had apparently lasted since the tempest. At Prospero's bidding, Ariel releases Caliban, Trinculo and Stephano, who then enter wearing their stolen clothing. Prospero and Alonso command them to return it and to clean up Prospero's cell. Prospero invites Alonso and the others to stay for the night so that he can tell them the tale of his life in the past twelve years. After this, the group plans to return to Italy. Prospero, restored to his dukedom, will retire to Milan. Prospero gives Ariel one final task—to make sure the seas are calm for the return voyage—before setting him free. Finally, Prospero delivers an epilogue to the audience, asking them to forgive him for his wrongdoing and set him free by applauding

Doctor Faustus, Christopher Marlowe (1604)

Doctor Faustus, a well-respected German scholar, grows dissatisfied with the limits of traditional forms of knowledge—logic, medicine, law, and religion—and decides that he wants to learn to practice magic. His friends Valdes and Cornelius instruct him in the black arts, and he begins his new career as a magician by summoning up Mephastophilis, a devil. Despite Mephastophilis's warnings about the horrors of hell, Faustus tells the devil to return to his master, Lucifer, with an offer of Faustus's soul in exchange for twenty-four years of service from Mephastophilis. Meanwhile, Wagner, Faustus's servant, has picked up some magical ability and uses it to press a clown named Robin into his service. Mephastophilis returns to Faustus with word that Lucifer has accepted Faustus's offer. Faustus experiences some misgivings and wonders if he should repent and save his soul; in the end, though, he agrees to the deal, signing it with his blood. As soon as he does so, the words "Homo fuge," Latin for "O man, fly," appear branded on his arm. Faustus again has second thoughts, but Mephastophilis bestows rich gifts on him and gives him a book of spells to learn. Later, Mephastophilis answers all of his questions about the nature of the world, refusing to answer only when Faustus asks him who made the universe. This refusal prompts yet another bout of misgivings in Faustus, but Mephastophilis and Lucifer bring in personifications of the Seven Deadly Sins to prance about in front of Faustus, and he is impressed enough to quiet his doubts. Armed with his new powers and attended by Mephastophilis, Faustus begins to travel. He goes to the pope's court in Rome, makes himself invisible, and plays a series of tricks. He disrupts the pope's banquet by stealing food and boxing the pope's ears. Following this incident, he travels through the courts of Europe, with his fame spreading as he goes. Eventually, he is invited to the court of the German emperor, Charles V (the enemy of the pope), who asks Faustus to allow him to see Alexander the Great, the famed fourth-century b.c. Macedonian king and conqueror. Faustus conjures up an image of Alexander, and Charles is suitably impressed. A knight scoffs at Faustus's powers, and Faustus chastises him by making antlers sprout from his head. Furious, the knight vows revenge. Meanwhile, Robin, Wagner's clown, has picked up some magic on his own, and with his fellow stablehand, Rafe, he undergoes a number of comic misadventures. At one point, he manages to summon Mephastophilis, who threatens to turn Robin and Rafe into animals (or perhaps even does transform them; the text isn't clear) to punish them for their foolishness. Faustus then goes on with his travels, playing a trick on a horse-courser along the way. Faustus sells him a horse that turns into a heap of straw when ridden into a river. Eventually, Faustus is invited to the court of the Duke of Vanholt, where he performs various feats. The horse-courser shows up there, along with Robin, a man named Dick (Rafe in the A text), and various others who have fallen victim to Faustus's trickery. But Faustus casts spells on them and sends them on their way, to the amusement of the duke and duchess. As the twenty-four years of his deal with Lucifer come to a close, Faustus begins to dread his impending death. He has Mephastophilis call up Helen of Troy, the famous beauty from the ancient world, and uses her presence to impress a group of scholars. An old man urges Faustus to repent, but Faustus drives him away. Faustus summons Helen again and exclaims rapturously about her beauty. But time is growing short. Faustus tells the scholars about his pact, and they are horror-stricken and resolve to pray for him. On the final night before the expiration of the twenty-four years, Faustus is overcome by fear and remorse. He begs for mercy, but it is too late. At midnight, a host of devils appears and carries his soul off to hell. In the morning, the scholars find Faustus's limbs and decide to hold a funeral for him.

Knight of the Burning Pestle

Francis Beaumont (1607); a satire on chivalric romance and on certain city comedies; breaks the fourth wall As "The London Merchant" is about to be performed, a Citizen (a grocer) and his Wife in the audience interrupt to complain that the play will misrepresent the middle-class citizens of the city. They demand a new play with their apprentice Rafe. A part is created for him as a knight errant with a burning pestle on his shield. This meta-plot is intercut with the main plot of the interrupted play. Jasper Merrythought, the merchant's apprentice, is in love with Luce, his master's daughter and must elope with her to save her from marriage to Humphrey, a City man of fashion. Luce pretends to Humphrey that she has made an unusual vow: she will only marry a man who has the spirit to run away with her. She knows that Humphrey will immediately inform her father. She intends to fake an elopement with Humphrey, knowing that her father will allow this to happen, but will then drop him and meet up with Jasper. Meanwhile, Jasper's mother has decided to leave her husband, Old Merrythought, who has spent all his savings in drinking and partying. When Jasper seeks his mother's help, she rejects him in favour of his younger brother Michael. She tells Michael that she has kept jewellery they can use to live on while he learns a trade. They leave Merrythought, and lose themselves in a wood where she misplaces her jewellery. Jasper arrives to meet Luce and finds the jewels. Luce and Humphrey appear. Jasper, as planned, knocks over Humphrey and escapes with Luce. The Grocer Errant arrives, believing when he sees the distraught Mrs Merrythough that he has met a damsel in distress. He takes the Merrythoughts to an inn, expecting the host to accommodate them chivalrously without charge. When the host demands payment, the Grocer Errant is perplexed. The host tells him there are people in distress he must save from an evil barber named Barbaroso (a barber surgeon who is attempting cures on people with venereal diseases). He effects a daring rescue of Barbaroso's patients. The Citizen and his Wife demand more chivalric and exotic adventures for Rafe, and a scene is created in which the Grocer Errant must go to Moldavia where he meets a princess who falls in love with him. But he says that he has already plighted his troth to Susan, a cobbler's maid in Milk Street. The princess reluctantly lets him go, lamenting that she cannot come to England, as she has always dreamed of tasting English beer. Jasper tests Luce's love by pretending he intends to kill her because of the way her father has treated him. She is shocked, but declares her devotion to him. Humphrey and her father arrive with other men. They attack Jasper and drag Luce away. The merchant locks Luce in her room. Jasper feigns death and writes a letter to the merchant with a pretend dying apology for his behaviour. The coffin, with Jasper hiding within, is carried to the merchant's house, where Luce laments his demise. Jasper rises and explains his plan to save her from marriage to Humphrey: Luce is to take Jasper's place in the coffin while Jasper remains hidden in the house. When the merchant enters, Jasper pretends to be his own ghost and scares the merchant into expelling Humphrey. A chastened Mrs Merrythought returns to her husband. Jasper reveals he is still alive. The merchant asks for Old Merrythought's forgiveness and consents to Jasper's match with Luce. The Citizen and his Wife demand that Rafe's part in the drama should also have an appropriate ending, and he is given a heroic death scene. Everyone is satisfied.

Edward II, Marlowe (EM Masculinity)

In Marlowe's text, Edward II is thoroughly demasculinized (by EM standards of masculinity) and the play itself traces his fall in the terms of his failure not only as a ruler, but as a man. Edward forfeits his masculinity in allowing other men to exert power over him. In the first act, while the nobles in his court have the "power and courage to be revenged," Edward himself has "no power to speak" and says that he "dare not be reveng'd, for their power is great." More damning than this is his fawning relationship with Gaveston who is only using him in order to gain rank and power for himself. Edward's love for Gaveston is so powerful that he tells Gaveston to consider him as "[his] friend, [his self], another Gaveston." (A Woman Killed: "a present Frankford in his absence") Already, Edward lowers himself to the cunning upstart's level. Gaveston further consolidates his power by planting the idea that the queen is cuckolding him with Mortimer. Edward comes to despise his wife and to place Gaveston in her place as his second self. As a result, despite her love for him, Isabella takes action against Edward ultimately bringing his ruin. -- Edward's suspicion of cuckoldry and his inability to do anything about it further marks him as an ineffectual man. Cuckolds were an object of scorn and, in their inability to hold dominance over their wives, were assumed to have lost control in all areas of their lives. Whether or not Edward was cuckolded in actuality is almost besides the point as to be overly suspicious of one's wife was viewed as "itself ridiculous" and to "respond ineffectually" was disastrous (Martin Ingram, "Domestic Life" in A New Companion to Renaissance Drama, 136). If one were to suppose that Isabella was unfaithful to him (and I think that there is some evidence to this), his response is ineffectual in that his only response is to give her the cold shoulder. -- Mortimer chastises Edward II on this point saying, "When wert thou in the field with banner spread / But once? And then thy soldiers marched like players, / With garish robes, not armor; and thyself, / Bedaubed with gold, rode laughing at the rest" (2.2.181-184)

The Alchemist

In The Alchemist (1610), Jonson unashamedly satirises the follies, vanities and vices of mankind, most notably greed-induced credulity. People of all social classes are subject to Jonson's ruthless, satirical wit. He mocks human weakness and gullibility to advertising and to "miracle cures" with the character of Sir Epicure Mammon, who dreams of drinking the elixir of youth and enjoying fantastic sexual conquests. The trio of con-artists - Subtle, Face and Doll - are self-deluding small-timers, ultimately undone by the same human weaknesses they exploit in their victims. Humoral Characters: Lovewit, Dol Common (prostitute), Jeremy/Captain Face (the alchemist) Ben Jonson (1610); An outbreak of plague in London forces a gentleman, Lovewit, to flee temporarily to the country, leaving his house under the sole charge of his butler, Jeremy. Jeremy uses the opportunity given to him to use the house as the headquarters for fraudulent acts. He transforms himself into "Captain Face," and enlists the aid of Subtle, a fellow conman, and Dol Common, a prostitute. The play opens with a violent argument between Subtle and Face concerning the division of the riches which they have, and will continue to gather. Face threatens to have an engraving made of Subtle with a face worse than that of the notorious highwayman Gamaliel Ratsey. Dol breaks the pair apart and reasons with them that they must work as a team if they are to succeed. Their first customer is Dapper, a lawyer's clerk who wishes Subtle to use his supposed necromantic skills to summon a "familiar" or spirit to help in his gambling ambitions. The tripartite suggest that Dapper may win favour with the "Queen of Fairy," but he must subject himself to humiliating rituals in order for her to help him. Their second gull is Drugger, a tobacconist, who is keen to establish a profitable business. After this, a wealthy nobleman, Sir Epicure Mammon, arrives, expressing the desire to gain himself the philosopher's stone, which he believes will bring him huge material and spiritual wealth. He is accompanied by Surly, a sceptic and debunker of the whole idea of alchemy. He is promised the philosopher's stone and promised that it will turn all base metal into gold. Surly however, suspects Subtle of being a thief. Mammon accidentally sees Dol and is told that she is a Lord's sister who is suffering from madness. Subtle contrives to become angry with Ananias, an Anabaptist, and demands that he should return with a more senior member of his sect (Tribulation). Drugger returns and is given false and ludicrous advice about setting up his shop; he also brings news that a rich young widow (Dame Pliant) and her brother (Kastril) have arrived in London. Both Subtle and Face in their greed and ambition seek out to win the widow. The Anabaptists return and agree to pay for goods to be transmuted into gold. These are in fact Mammon's goods. Dapper returns and is promised that he shall meet with the Queen of Fairy soon. Drugger brings Kastril who, on being told that Subtle is a skilled match-maker, rushes to fetch his sister. Drugger is given to understand that the appropriate payment might secure his marriage to the widow. Dapper is blindfolded and subjected to 'fairy' humiliations; but on the reappearance of Mammon, he is gagged and hastily thrust into the privy. Mammon is introduced to Dol. He has been told that Dol is a nobleman's sister who has gone mad, but he is not put off, and pays her extravagant compliments. Kastril and his sister come again. Kastril is given a lesson in quarrelling, and the widow captivates both Face and Subtle. They quarrel over who is to have her. Surly returns, disguised as a Spanish nobleman. Face and Subtle believe that the Spaniard speaks no English and they insult him. They also believe that he has come for a woman, but Dol is elsewhere in the building 'engaged' with Mammon, so Face has the inspiration of using Dame Pliant. She is reluctant to become a Spanish countess but is vigorously persuaded by her brother to go off with Surly. The tricksters need to get rid of Mammon. Dol contrives a fit and there is an 'explosion' from the 'laboratory'. In addition, the lady's furious brother is hunting for Mammon, who leaves. Surly reveals his true identity to Dame Pliant and hopes that she will look on him favourably as a consequence. Surly reveals his true identity to Face and Subtle, and denounces them. In quick succession Kastril, Drugger and Ananias return, and are set on Surly, who retreats. Drugger is told to go and find a Spanish costume if he is to have a chance of claiming the widow. Dol brings news that the master of the house has returned. Lovewit's neighbours tell him that his house had many visitors during his absence. Face is now the plausible Jeremy again, and denies the accusation—-he has kept the house locked up because of the plague. Surly, Mammon, Kastril and the Anabaptists return. There is a cry from the privy; Dapper has chewed through his gag. Jeremy can no longer maintain his fiction. He promises Lovewit that if he pardons him, he will help him obtain himself a rich widow (i.e., Dame Pliant). Dapper meets the "Queen of Fairy" and departs happily. Drugger delivers the Spanish costume and is sent to find a parson. Face tells Subtle and Dol that he has confessed to Lovewit, and that officers are on the way; Subtle and Dol have to flee, empty handed. The victims come back again. Lovewit has married the widow and claimed Mammon's goods; Surly and Mammon depart disconsolately. The Anabaptists and Drugger are summarily dismissed. Kastril accepts his sister's marriage to Lovewit. Lovewit pays tribute to the ingenuity of his servant, and Face asks for the audience's forgiveness.

Shakespeare's Hecuba

THE RAPE OF LUCRECE: Lucrece's ekphrastic meditation on ''despairing Hecuba'' enables her to see herself as a classical tragic heroine, one who ''shapes her sorrow to the beldame's woes'' and transforms it into a plan for taking action against her wrongdoer. [[Civil punishment/Unjust rulers]] CYMBELINE (1610 - 11) upon mistaking Cloten's corpse for that of Posthumus, Imogen invokes her as a kindred spirit of bereaved vindictive fury: ''Pisanio, / All curses madded Hecuba gave the Greeks, / And mine to boot, be darted on thee!'' [[Imogen invokes Hecuba and then goes and fights in the war as a page (on the Roman side) ]] HAMLET: In the context of Hecuba's contemporary association with female, and especially maternal, lament, it is not surprising that Shakespeare most frequently evokes Hecuba in the context of suffering women. As noted, Tamora, Lavinia, Lucrece, and Imogen are all linked with Hecuba in ways that suggest active responses to tragic grief. Oddly, however, it is Hamlet — male, unmarried, childless — through whom Shakespeare most fully explores Hecuba's dramatic possibilities. TITUS ANDRONICUS: Tamora's son Demetrius calls upon her as a symbol for his mother's hopes of vengeance — ''The self-same gods that armed the Queen of Troy / With opportunity of sharp revenge / Upon the Thracian tyrant in his tent, / May favor Tamora, the Queen of Goths''— and young Lucius (her brother) invokes her as a parallel for the maddened Lavinia. [[A negative Hecuba]] Even if his Greek was not strong enough to read the original without support, Shakespeare could easily have read the bilingual Greek-Latin editions of Euripides's play, especially Erasmus's widely circulatingtranslation, and/or any of the vernacular translations, and his extensiveverbal echoes from the play suggest that he almost certainly did. The most visible English revenge tragedies before Hamlet — The Spanish Tragedy and Titus Andronicus — had both continued a tradition of dramatizing maternal grief as a catalyst to revenge.

A Chaste Maid in Cheapside

THOMAS MIDDLETON (c. 1613); Allwit (so named because he is a "wittol" or a complacent cuckold) argues that the role he is in, which is so generally the topic of comedy and scorn, is actually the better role to play. Rather than being jealous, Allwit is happy about the fact that Sir Walter has "took that labor all out of my hands./ [He] may sit still and play; he's jealous for me,/ Watches her steps, sets spies. I live at ease;/ He hath both cost and torment" (1.2.49-55). It is not surprising that a wittol should have a nonchalant attitude about his wife's adultery. What is interesting here is the role reversal. Sir Walter takes care of all of the finances, keeps his wife happy, and provides children while Allwit is free of all responsibilities. The text suggests that the Olivers are barren and that Touchwood Sr. sleeps with Mrs. Oliver as a way to cure her barrenness. The play presents multiple plots centered on the marriage of ((Moll Yellowhammer,)) the titular maid, who is daughter to a wealthy Cheapside goldsmith, and, in particular, her intended husband, ((Sir Walter *****hound.)) Moll loves ((Touchwood Junior)), a poor gallant; her father, however, has betrothed her to *****hound, a philandering knight eager for Moll's dowry. As a kind of side-bargain, Sir Walter has promised Moll's brother Tim a "landed niece" from Wales. Tim, a fatuous scholar, returns to London from Cambridge University with his Latin tutor. This "landed niece" is in reality one of Sir Walter's mistresses, who has no land in actuality. ((Sir Walter is also having an affair with the wife of Allwit, a knowing cuckold, his name an inversion of "wittol," who lives happily on the money Sir Walter gives his wife.)) Meanwhile, Touchwood Senior (the elder brother of Moll's true love) prepares to depart from his wife; prodigiously fertile, he impregnates any woman he sleeps with. He and his wife must separate to avoid another pregnancy, which they cannot afford. His salvation comes from the Kixes, an aging couple who have not been able to conceive. This is important because if they have a child, Sir Walter (a relation of theirs) will not inherit their fortune, on which he has confidently depended, going so far as to live beyond his means. A maid tells the Kixes that Touchwood makes a special fertility potion; Touchwood deceives his way into the bed of Lady Kix. After an abortive attempt to elope with Touchwood Junior, Moll is guarded at home. The day before the wedding, Moll flees her parents' home again. Caught while attempting to cross the Thames, she is drenched and seems to fall sick upon being brought home. Touchwood Junior and Sir Walter fight in the street, and both are wounded. ((Sir Walter believes that he is near death. At Allwit's house, he repents all of his sins, condemning the Allwits for indulging him.)) When news is brought that Lady Kix is pregnant (thus ruining Sir Walter's prospects), ((the Allwits kick him out and plan to sell all Sir Walter's gifts and move to a home in The Strand.)) Moll continues to be very sick; when Touchwood Senior brings word that his brother has died, she faints and appears to die while Susan, her servant, is let in on a secret plan. Saddened, the Yellowhammers agree to Touchwood Senior's request that the young lovers receive a joint burial. At the funeral, Moll and Touchwood Junior rise from their coffins and the mourning turns to celebration. The two are wed, as Tim and the Welsh "niece" had been earlier that day; Kix promises to support the family of Touchwood Senior, who announces that Sir Walter has been imprisoned for debt. All exit, headed for a celebratory dinner. in the persons of Tim Yellowhammer and his Cambridge tutor. The university here exists in a space totally alien to that of the city; it has its own languages and codes which completely fail to translate to other cultural contexts. Education is sharply differentiated from wit, the latter being by far the more useful quality. Yellowhammer and Maudlin are primarily concerned about the status granted by such an education--indeed, in the world of the play it appears to grant little else of value. The play is particularly concerned about the limitations of logic: though Tim insists in the middle of the play that he can prove anything by logic (altering reality at will), in the final scene he runs up against what appear to be the cold, hard facts of his new wife's sexual promiscuity and finds himself unable to prove a ***** an honest woman, as he earlier claimed he could. But the Welsh gentlewoman provides a solution: "Sir, if your logic cannot prove me honest, there's a thing called marriage, and that makes me honest" (5.4.116-18). In the end, the values, mores, and solutions of the city triumph over those of the university. MARRIAGE: Touchwood Sr. suggests, "The feast of marriage is not lust, but love and care of the estate" (2.1.50).When the parson marries Touchwood Jr. and Moll together, he significantly changes the marriage rites. Instead of vows of love, comfort, honor, and faithfulness--these vows are intently focused on forsaking lovers. In fact, that is all Touchwood and Moll are told to do in order to be successful husband and wife. "You shall forsake all widows, wives, and maids; you, lords, knights, gentlemen, and men of trades." (5.4.35-39).

Donne on Kingship

"Certainly those men prepare a way of speaking negligently or irreverently of thee, that give themselves that liberty in speaking of thy vicegerents, kings; for thou who gavest Augustus the empire, gavest it to Nero too; and as Vespasian had it from thee, so had Julian. Though kings deface in themselves thy first image in their own soul, thou givest no man leave to deface thy second image, imprinted indelibly in their power...As therefore thy Son did upon the coin, I look upon the king, and I ask whose image and whose inscription he hath, and he hath thine; and I give unto thee that which is thine" Donne further speaks of the healing power of kings, the king's touch, which was believed to heal scrofula ("the king's evil"). (Devotions Upon Emergent Occasions) [The king he is speaking of James who wrote texts on the divine right of monarchs (1597-98; Devotions written 1623) and authorized the production of the King James translation of the Bible, 1611.] "In many diseases, that which is but an accident, but a symptom of the main disease, is so violent, that the physician must attend the cure of that, though he pretermit (so far as to intermit) the cure of the disease itself. Is it not so in states too? Sometimes the insolency of those that are great puts the people into commotions; the great disease, and the greatest danger to the head, is the insolency of the great ones; and yet they execute martial law, they come to present executions upon the people, whose commotion was[Pg 58] indeed but a symptom, but an accident of the main disease; but this symptom, grown so violent, would allow no time for a consultation."

Sir Phillip Sidney (On Tragedy)

''But how much it [tragedy] can move,'' he wrote, ''Plutarch yieldeth a notable testimony of the abominable tyrant Alexander Pheraeus, from whose eyes a tragedy well made and represented drew abundance of tears, who without all pity had murdered infinite numbers, and some of his own blood: so as he that was not ashamed to make matters for tragedies, yet could not resist the sweet violence of a tragedy. And if it wrought no further good in him, it was that he in despite of himself withdrew himself from hearkening to that which might mollify his hardened heart.'' This story — which critics have routinely linked with Hamlet's play-within-the-play — in fact appears twice in Plutarch's writings. Given the play's depiction of successful revenge against an unjust male ruler, we might ask whether Pheraeus's mollification — a term that in English could also mean weakening — perhaps indicated not only pity, but also fear: a possibility that resonates with Claudius's reaction to a performance featuring regicide and a grieving widow. // Sidney's account of tragedy's affective power points to the threat for rulers in the violence unleashed by female suffering, suggesting why the player's performance of Hecuba inspires Hamlet with a plan for attacking Claudius.

The Spanish Tragedy

(Thomas Kyd, c. 1585) A sensational hit when it was first performed, The Spanish Tragedy pioneered and popularized the gory genre known as the revenge tragedy. The play is set in the wake of a war between Portugal and Spain, during which the Spanish soldier Don Andrea was killed by the Portuguese prince Balthazar. After Andrea's death, Balthazar was captured by two Spanish soldiers: Lorenzo, the nephew of the King of Spain; and Horatio, the capable son of the marshal Hieronimo. As the play begins, Andrea's ghost has returned to Earth along with the spirit of Revenge, to watch the events that will lead to Balthazar's death. Those events are put in motion by Andrea's former lover Bel-imperia, who falls in love with Horatio, and rejects the smitten Balthazar. Lorenzo and Balthazar then conspire to kill Horatio, whose death devastates Hieronimo. Belimperia is imprisoned by Lorenzo to cover up the crime, but sends a letter written in her own blood to Hieronimo exposing Lorenzo's schemes. During a climactic play-within-a-play, Hieronimo and Bel-imperia take vengeance by stabbing Lorenzo and Balthazar, and subsequently kill themselves. The Spanish Tragedy is noted for its influence on the works of Shakespeare, especially the incriminating play-within-a-play in Hamlet.

Henry IV

1 Henry IV has two main plots that intersect in a dramatic battle at the end of the play. The first plot concerns King Henry IV, his son, Prince Harry, and their strained relationship. The second concerns a rebellion that is being plotted against King Henry by a discontented family of noblemen in the North, the Percys, who are angry because of King Henry's refusal to acknowledge his debt to them. The play's scenes alternate between these two plot strands until they come together at the play's end. When the play opens, military news interrupts the aging King Henry's plans to lead a crusade. The Welsh rebel Glyndwr has defeated King Henry's army in the South, and the young Harry Percy (nicknamed Hotspur), who is supposedly loyal to King Henry, is refusing to send to the king the soldiers whom he has captured in the North. King Henry summons Hotspur back to the royal court so that he can explain his actions. Meanwhile, King Henry's son, Prince Harry, sits drinking in a bar with criminals and highwaymen. King Henry is very disappointed in his son; it is common knowledge that Harry, the heir to the throne, conducts himself in a manner unbefitting royalty. He spends most of his time in taverns on the seedy side of London, hanging around with vagrants and other shady characters. Harry's closest friend among the crew of rascals is Falstaff, a sort of substitute father figure. Falstaff is a worldly and fat old man who steals and lies for a living. Falstaff is also an extraordinarily witty person who lives with great gusto. Harry claims that his spending time with these men is actually part of a scheme on his part to impress the public when he eventually changes his ways and adopts a more noble personality. Falstaff's friend Poins arrives at the inn and announces that he has plotted the robbery of a group of wealthy travelers. Although Harry initially refuses to participate, Poins explains to him in private that he is actually playing a practical joke on Falstaff. Poins's plan is to hide before the robbery occurs, pretending to ditch Falstaff. After the robbery, Poins and Harry will rob Falstaff and then make fun of him when he tells the story of being robbed, which he will almost certainly fabricate. Hotspur arrives at King Henry's court and details the reasons that his family is frustrated with the king: the Percys were instrumental in helping Henry overthrow his predecessor, but Henry has failed to repay the favor. After King Henry leaves, Hotspur's family members explain to Hotspur their plan to build an alliance to overthrow the king. Harry and Poins, meanwhile, successfully carry out their plan to dupe Falstaff and have a great deal of fun at his expense. As they are all drinking back at the tavern, however, a messenger arrives for Harry. Harry's father has received news of the civil war that is brewing and has sent for his son; Harry is to return to the royal court the next day. Although the Percys have gathered a formidable group of allies around them—leaders of large rebel armies from Scotland and Wales as well as powerful English nobles and clergymen who have grievances against King Henry—the alliance has begun to falter. Several key figures announce that they will not join in the effort to overthrow the king, and the danger that these defectors might alert King Henry of the rebellion necessitates going to war at once. Heeding his father's request, Harry returns to the palace. King Henry expresses his deep sorrow and anger at his son's behavior and implies that Hotspur's valor might actually give him more right to the throne than Prince Harry's royal birth. Harry decides that it is time to reform, and he vows that he will abandon his wild ways and vanquish Hotspur in battle in order to reclaim his good name. Drafting his tavern friends to fight in King Henry's army, Harry accompanies his father to the battlefront. The civil war is decided in a great battle at Shrewsbury. Harry boldly saves his father's life in battle and finally wins back his father's approval and affection. Harry also challenges and defeats Hotspur in single combat. King Henry's forces win, and most of the leaders of the Percy family are put to death. Falstaff manages to survive the battle by avoiding any actual fighting. /// Powerful rebel forces remain in Britain, however, so King Henry must send his sons and his forces to the far reaches of his kingdom to deal with them. When the play ends, the ultimate outcome of the war has not yet been determined; one battle has been won, but another remains to be fought (Shakespeare's sequel to this play, 2 Henry IV, begins where 1 Henry IV leaves off).

Widow Ranter (Generic Invention)

>>Humoral characters-- she brings the "city comedy" to the New World. (Refer to the council: "Wellman, Dunce, Whimsey, and Whiff") >>History play The admirable comic scenes and characters of The Widow Ranter are original invention, but Mrs. Behn has founded the serious and historical portion of her play upon a contemporary pamphlet, Strange News from Virginia being a full and true account of the Life and Death of Nathaniel Bacon esq. London: printed for Wm. Harris, 1677. With regard to the catastrophe and Bacon's love for the Indian Queen, Mrs. Behn has quite legitimately departed from the narrative, but otherwise she keeps fairly closely to her sources.

Confusion in the Household (Domestic Tragedy)

AWKWK: John can find no one of his "kind"; Frankford asks Wendoll to "be a present Frankford in my absence"

Meta-theatricality

After The Spanish Tragedy , the play-within-the-play became not only a central convention of early modern English revenge tragedy, but the most common vehicle for revenge itself. Yet curiously, despite considerable critical interest in Renaissance metatheater, no one has asked how the play-within-the-play originated. There are clues in its links with the dumb-show, a device also featured in The Spanish Tragedy. The English dumb-show had its roots in neoclassical plays and translations HAMLET: In Hamlet, the performance that introduces Hecuba prompts not only a revival of Kyd's play-within-the-play, but a preceding dumb-show, often seen by critics as unnecessarily repetitive. As the performance begins, moreover, Hamlet accompanies it with such a steady explanatory commentary that Ophelia identifies him as the missing element of this classicizingtrio: ''You are as good as a chorus, my lord.''

Companionate Marriage

Bartholomew Fair: Subtle debate here between companionate marriage and kinship transactional marriage? Grace wants to marry someone she loves, but is bought and sold like a commodity. Win and Littlewit use the language of companionate marriage in jest ("No, but half of one, Win. You are t'other half: man and wife make one fool, Win" (1.2.26)

Bartholomew Fair

Ben Jonson (1614); In the world of the fair, people act on impulse and increasingly without order-- drinking, eating, and presumably engaging in sexual acts. (Ursula's pig-house is the center for all crime and debauchery-- a stewing pot of appetite/desire; Ursula herself is a grotesque figure of consumption-- once a prostitute now a merchant, she profits off of selling bodies). The fair shows, as stated in the introduction, "pleasure in the present, distrust of permanence, disregard for law, disrespect for authority" (967). Furthermore, the play satirizes the idea that one may be exempt from sin and human frailty. I was intrigued by the introduction's question about whether the play is a celebration of this frailty or a disgusted resignation. Commodification of women: Winwife is after a widow to increase his fortunes and Quarlous tells him that now it is the time to "lay aboard" (come alongside for attack) the widow because he'll "never be a master of a better season or place; she that will venture herself into the Fair, and a pig-box, will admit any assault, be assured of that" (3.2.136-140). Women at the fair, like the men, lose control of themselves-- though in a more perilous and animalizing manner. Littlewit leaves his wife Win alone and she is drawn into prostitution on the promise of freedom. Before drawing her in, Knockem describes Win at great lengths as one would a horse. She is said to be a "delicate dark chestnut... with a fine lean head, large forehead, round eyes, even mouth, sharp ears, long neck... round belly, a plump buttocks, large thighs, knit knees" etc. (4.5.19-24). Both the widow and Win are commodified and drawn in by the economics of the fair; one commodified through prostitution, the other through the prospect of marriage. Arguably, the line between the two becomes hazy as the play goes on. Grace Wellborn, perhaps because she has been "bought" before (3.5.255) as a ward, understands the fair's economics and arranges her own marriage. However, though this was an agential decision, as in Win's case, it is ultimately an act of submission to the economic structure. At the end, Quarlous waves around a warrant which guarantees him Grace's wealth should she marry Winwife: Winwife is "possessed o' the gentlewoman, but she must pay [Quarlous] value" (5.6.91-92). The commoditization of women in the play works to interrogate capitalistic drives/impulses overall. PLOT: a proctor and amateur dramatist Littlewit and his friends, Quarlous and Winwife; they are plotting how to win Dame Purecraft (a widow, and Littlewit's mother-in-law) from Zeal-of-the-Land Busy, a canting, hypocritical Puritan. This colloquy is interrupted by the entrance of Wasp, the irascible servant of Cokes, a country simpleton who is in town to marry Grace Wellborn. Grace is the ward of Adam Overdo, a Justice of the Peace; Overdo's wife is Cokes's sister. All of these characters are at Littlewit's to get a marriage license; having obtained it, they indulge Cokes's wish to visit the fair. Littlewit and his friends also plan to go to the fair to see a puppet-show Littlewit wrote. To overcome Busy's likely objections, they pretend that Win (Littlewit's wife) has a pregnant craving for roast pork. The Renaissance audience, familiar with stage satire of Puritans, would not have been surprised that Busy, far from abhorring the fair and its debauchery, is ready to rationalise his presence there as allowable and even godly. The first act ends with both groups, the genteel Overdos and the raffish Littlewits, headed for the fair. The fair propels these characters through experiences that put their social identities under extreme strain. Justice Overdo, well-read in the "disguised prince" tradition, assumes a disguise to ferret out wrongdoing at the fair; he is beaten by Wasp, falsely accused by Edgeworth, a cut-purse, and put in the stocks. Quarlous and Winwife engage Edgeworth to steal the marriage license from Wasp; he does so when Wasp is arrested after starting a fight. Wasp, too, is put in the stocks. Winwife has abandoned his plan to marry Dame Purecraft; instead, he and Quarlous fight for Grace's hand. Win Littlewit and Mistress Overdo are enlisted as prostitutes by the pimp Whit; Zeal-of-the-land Busy is arrested for preaching without license and put into the stocks. Cokes is robbed several times by Edgeworth and other denizens of the fair. All the imprisoned characters escape when Trouble-All, a seeming madman for whom Dame Purecraft has conceived a sudden passion, fights with the guards. The climax of the play occurs at the puppet show. Madame Overdo and Win are brought in, masked, as prostitutes; Madame Overdo is drunk. Overdo is still in disguise, and Quarlous has disguised himself as Trouble-All; in this guise, he stole the marriage license from Winwife and made it into a license for himself and Purecraft. The puppet show, a burlesque of Hero and Leander and Damon and Pythias, proceeds until Busy interrupts, claiming that the play is an abomination because the actors are cross-dressed. The puppets refute him decisively by raising their clothes, revealing that they have no sex. Busy announces himself converted into a "beholder" of plays. At this point, Justice Overdo reveals himself, intent on uncovering the "enormities" he has witnessed at the fair. He is in the process of punishing all of the various schemers and malefactors when his wife (still veiled) throws up and begins to call for him. Abashed, Overdo takes the advice of Quarlous and forgives all parties; Winwife marries Grace, Quarlous marries Purecraft, and all the characters are invited to Overdo's house for supper.

Tamburlaine (1590)

Christopher Marlowe's early play about the rise of a Turkish shepherd to become an emperor // Characters: Mycetes, Cosroe, Tamburlaine, Bazajet, Zenocrate Tamburlaine's first conquest by dethroning Mycetes is an act of treachery, his invading Zenocrate's land is terribly brutal, and the way he treats his unfortunate prisoners of war Bajazeth and Zabina is hideously cruel and sadistic. When Zenocrate sees the fate of "the Turk and his great empress," she expresses deep concern for herself and for Tamburlaine who "fights for scepters and slippery crowns" (5.1.356). At the end of the play, Tamburlaine and his followers lay down their arms. However, along with this show of peace and Zenocrate's crowning we are reminded of the fate of the "great Turk and his fair empress" who were recently dethroned from a similar state (5.1.531-534). Also of interest to this query is the allusion to mankind's fall in Tamburlaine's speech about reaching for "an earthly crown" — "the ripest fruit of all" (2.7.27;29).

Domestic Tragedy

Constructing the private as an object of interest (Very little privacy at the time); Emerging sense of the importance of the private place.; a type of play characterized by stories about common people, rather than ones of noble birth, who feel grand emotions and suffer devastating consequences

Meta-theatricality

Doctor Faustus (Marlowe): Mephistopheles works to "delight [Faustus' mind" (II. 1, l. 83), and Lucifer summons the Seven Deadly Sins as a "pastime" (II. 3, l. 100). Hell creates illusions, using costumes and theatrical effects ("enter [Mephistopheles] with a devil dressed as a woman, with fireworks" II. 1, l. 149) for Faustus' entertainment, but also for ours. Just like Faustus, we are here to "mark the show" (II. 3, l. 106) Edward II (Marlowe): Gaveston plans to use "wanton poets, pleasant wits," "musicians," "masques," "sweet speeches, comedies, and pleasing shows" in order to "draw the pliant king which way I please." The emphasis is on the erotic, and these "pleasing shows" have a kind of irresistible allure. They are cast as a temptation to draw the king away from the dry and serious concerns of state, and they seem to have a disabling effect: rather than spurring their audience to moral improvement, as poesy was supposed to do, these shows induce a kind of moral lethargy. This is a particularly Marolvian view of art and spectacle, one we've seen before in Faustus, when Mephistopheles used the tools of the theater to tempt Faustus away from repentance.

Self-Starvation (WKWK)

Early Modern Elizabethan and Jacobean views of fasting or self-starvation were often hearkened to old Medieval views which considered a woman's fasting a visual cue to a woman's obedience, chastity, and honour. Eating, binging, or gluttony were considered to be fundamentally connected with sexuality. According to several Early Modern conduct book writers, the sin of gluttony will inevitably lead to lust, and several of these tract writers suggested female fasting should be a part of a woman's education as it would prove her to be a better wife and mother.

The Tragedy of Mariam

Elizabeth Carey (1613); Tells the srory of Mariam, second wife of Herod the Great, King of Judea from 39-4 BC. The play opens when Herod is thought dead at the hand of Octavian (later Emperor Augustus) At the open, Mariam soliolquizes on her husband's probable death and has mixed feelings as he murdered her grandfather and brother. Mariam's mother scolds her for crying for him. Salome, Herod's sister, attacks her faithfullness and fitness to be Herod's wife. Salome plans to divorce her husband in favor of her lover. Salome declares to her husband that she will divorce him. Her husband and lover fight, but her husband will not kill him as he hates his body, but "love [his] mind." Act 3: Ananell informs them that Herod is actually alive. Salome is pleased to hear the news because it means that she will be able to get rid of Mariam, but Pheroras is unhappy because he has gone against Herod's wishes and married Graphina, which will probably result in punishment. Salome engages Pheroras to speak to Herod about her divorce, and, in exchange, she will entreat Herod to be merciful towards Pheroras and his new bride. Salome explains her plan to turn Herod against Mariam by convincing him that Mariam is trying to poison him. /// Mariam enters and her gloomy countenance angers Herod. She refuses to dissemble, and she brings up Herod's violence against her grandfather and brother. The Butler enters with a drink for Herod, admitting that it is poison and claiming that Miriam gave it to him via Sohemus. Herod calls the royal guard to take Mariam away but then changes his mind. He wavers about having her executed. Herod is shown to be torn about executing Mariam. Salome insinuates that Mariam and Sohemus were having an affair. Herod curses his sister for making him unsure of Mariam's innocence, and he orders Mariam's execution. Nuntio informs Herod that Mariam is dead. Herod expresses extreme regret and begins a lengthy soliloquy wherein he expresses how devastated he is by Mariam's death and his decision to have her beheaded. Chorus. The Chorus criticizes Herod for acting without thinking before ordering Mariam's death because he can never return life to her, then concludes, "This day alone our sagest Hebrews shall / In aftertimes the school of wisdom call.

Euripides' Hecuba (c. 424 BC)

Euripedes Hecuba was by far the most popular of Greek plays printed, translated, and performed in 16th century Europe. Erasmus translates it into Latin in 1506; Later, there are 7 vernacular editions in Europe. Hecuba, Troy's queen, has lost her husband (Priam) and her sons, and is made a slave to the Greeks. Her daughter, Polynexa, is taken by Odysseus to serve as a blood sacrifice to Odysseus who ignores her pleas. Polynexa says she would rather die than live a slave. Agamemnon, chief of the Greek army, allows her to be buried by her mother. Polydorus, her son, washes on shore, dead. She reaches new heights of despair. Hecuba asks Agamemnon to allow her to revenge her son's death. The Greek army considers Polymester (her slaver) an ally. Enlisting help from other slaves, Hecuba kills Polymestor's sons and stabs Polymestor's eyes. Polymestor argues that Hecuba's revenge was a vile act, whereas his murder of Polydorus was intended to preserve the Greek victory and dispatch a young Trojan, a potential enemy of the Greeks. The arguments take the form of a trial, and Hecuba delivers a rebuttal exposing Polymestor's speech as sophistry. Agamemnon decides justice has been served by Hecuba's revenge. Polymestor, again in a rage, foretells the deaths of Hecuba by drowning and Agamemnon by his wife Clytemnestra, who also kills Cassandra. In the play's opening, the ghost of Polydorus tells how when the war threatened Troy, he was sent to King Polymestor of Thrace for safekeeping, with gifts of gold and jewelry. But when Troy lost the war, Polymestor treacherously murdered Polydorus, and seized the treasure. Polydorus has foreknowledge of many of the play's events and haunted his mother's dreams the night before. The events take place on the coast of Thrace, as the Greek navy returns home from Troy. The Trojan queen Hecuba, now enslaved by the Greeks, mourns her great losses and worries about the portents of her nightmare. The Chorus of young slave women enters, bearing fateful news. One of Hecuba's last remaining daughters, POLYNEXA, is to be killed on the tomb of Achilles as a blood sacrifice to his honor (reflecting the sacrifice of Iphigenia at the start of the war). Greek commander Odysseus enters, to escort Polyxena to an altar where Neoptolemus will shed her blood. Odysseus ignores Hecuba's impassioned pleas to spare Polyxena, and Polyxena herself says she would rather die than live as a slave. In the first Choral interlude, the Chorus lament their own doomed fate, cursing the sea breeze that will carry them on ships to the foreign lands where they will live in slavery. The Greek messenger Talthybius arrives, tells a stirring account of Polyxena's strikingly heroic death, and delivers a message from Agamemnon, chief of the Greek army, to bury Polyxena. Hecuba sends a slave girl to fetch water from the sea to bathe her daughter's corpse. After a second Choral interlude, the body of Polydorus is brought on stage, having washed up on shore. Upon recognizing her son whom she thought safe, Hecuba reaches new heights of despair. Hecuba rages inconsolably against the brutality of such an action, and resolves to take revenge. Agamemnon enters, and Hecuba, tentatively at first and then boldly requests that Agamemnon help her avenge her son's murder. Hecuba's daughter Cassandra is a concubine of Agamemnon so the two have some relationship to protect and Agamemnon listens. Agamemnon reluctantly agrees, as the Greeks await a favorable wind to sail home. The Greek army considers Polymestor an ally and Agamemnon does not wish to be observed helping Hecuba against him. Polymestor arrives with his sons. He inquires about Hecuba's welfare, with a pretense of friendliness. Hecuba reciprocates, concealing her knowledge of the murder of Polydorus. Hecuba tells Polymestor she knows where the remaining treasures of Troy are hidden, and offers to tell him the secrets, to be passed on to Polydorus. Polymestor listens intently. Hecuba convinces him and his sons to enter an offstage tent where she claims to have more personal treasures. Enlisting help from other slaves, Hecuba kills Polymestor's sons and stabs Polymestor's eyes. He re-enters blinded and savage, hunting as if a beast for the women who ruined him. Agamemnon re-enters angry with the uproar and witnesses Hecuba's revenge. Polymestor argues that Hecuba's revenge was a vile act, whereas his murder of Polydorus was intended to preserve the Greek victory and dispatch a young Trojan, a potential enemy of the Greeks. The arguments take the form of a trial, and Hecuba delivers a rebuttal exposing Polymestor's speech as sophistry. Agamemnon decides justice has been served by Hecuba's revenge. Polymestor, again in a rage, foretells the deaths of Hecuba by drowning and Agamemnon by his wife Clytemnestra, who also kills Cassandra. Soon after, the wind finally rises again, the Greeks will sail, and the Chorus goes to an unknown, dark fate. The plot falls into two clearly distinguished parts: the Greeks' sacrifice of Hecuba's daughter, Polyxena, to the shade of Achilles, and the vengeance of Hecuba on Polymestor, the Thracian king.[1] EPITOME OF FEMALE GRIEF: Medieval and EM texts emphasize her overwhelming grief (Ovid, Dante, Boccaccio, Chaucer, Ariosto) Note: In the ancient Greek world, mothers were accorded special rights and obligations as mourners: the physiological consequences of their labor pains were understood to give them both a distinctive access to intense grief, and the right to enact this grief publicly. 39 Early modern English translations of Greek drama not only recognized this link, but actively intensified it. CIVIC AGENT: Although most of the play depicts Hecuba's grief, her final turn to vengeful action — unlike that of Hamlet — is carefully planned, successfully orchestrated, and publicly upheld as both triumphant and just. It is even a civic duty: in agreeing that she has the right to carry out her revenge, Agamemnon tells her that ''this is for the common good, for both the individual and the state [ polis ], that the bad person should be punished and the good one succeed.''; [[Not super close associations but some thought: At the end of Cymbeline, Imogen becomes a civil agent (not a Hecuba)// Lady Victoria saves the male army and women from the "female slavery"; Lady Jantil is like a Hecuba but "wed to death" // Britomart in Book V comes to restore order and save her beloved (from a foreign nation- Amazons)]]

Language of Appetite/Desire

HAMLET: Must I remember? why, she would hang on him, ((As if increase of appetite had grown By what it fed on:)) and yet, within a month— Let me not think on't—Frailty, thy name is woman!— A little month, or ere those shoes were old With which she follow'd my poor father's body, Like Niobe, all tears: why she, even she— O God, a beast that wants discourse of reason Would have mourned longer!—married with mine uncle.

Hamlet (Gertrude/Hecuba)

HAMLET: Must I remember? why, she would hang on him, ((As if increase of appetite had grown By what it fed on:)) and yet, within a month— Let me not think on't—Frailty, thy name is woman!— A little month, or ere those shoes were old With which she follow'd my poor father's body, Like Niobe, all tears: why she, even she— O God, a beast that wants discourse of reason Would have mourned longer!—married with mine uncle. ((Her mourning does not match Hecuba's)) His preoccupation with Gertrude has been widely read as a sign of his misogyny, and his Oedipal fixation on her sexuality./// Although Hamlet depicts Gertrude as passionately attached to his father, and as having mourned him ''like Niobe, all tears,'' he insists that her grief is not substantial enough to merit its traditional place at the genre's emotional center. Hamlet very enamoured with drama HAMLET: What would he do Had he the motive and the cue for passion That I have? He would drown the stage with tears, And cleave the general ear with horrid speech, Make mad the guilty and appal the free, Confound the ignorant, and amaze indeed The very faculty of eyes and ears. Yet I, The dull and muddy-mettled rascal, peak Like John-a-dreams, unpregnant of my cause, And can say nothing. (Speaking of the passion inspired in the player by Hecuba; he competes with her feelings/performance) Although Hamlet at first sees himself as insufficiently female to match Hecuba's pregnant capacity for emotion-laden speech, here he worries that his predilection for words over action makes him excessively feminine. HAMLET: Ay, sure, this is most brave, That I, the son of the dear murdered, Prompted to my revenge by heaven and hell, Must, like a *****, unpack my heart with words And fall a-cursing like a very drab, A scullion!

Widow Ranter - Bacon's Heroism

He is "presented as a tragic masculine hero sited not in the unreal exoticism of Renaissance Spain or pre-Columbian America, the proper home for the heroic male in early Restoration drama, but instead in the disgruntled 1670s in a mismanaged colony", and he is therefore, as Todd also notes, forced from being a glowingly simple hero destroyed by social forces in the manner of Dryden's early heroes into becoming a commentary on a murkily complex reality that does not so much destroy as sully and diminish him. In this context, masculine heroism and its aesthetic come under closer scrutiny than ever before in Behn's works. Bacon is classified as heroic by Friendly who speaks of his bravery and his service to the country HOWEVER the play makes it clear that Bacon's actions do not benefit anyone - not even within his 'own' heroic plot: He kills his love, the Indian Queen, by mistake while she is in disguise (fleeing from Bacon because she honourably intends to stay loyal to her husband even after his death). Shortly after, he poisons himself when he believes, again mistakenly, that his great battle has been lost. Furthermore, while he believes that he has served the Jamestown community with his original attack on the Indians, he has led it into a war that threatens its existence. Bacon's self-authorised initiatives are disruptive and destructive. Friendly raises doubts regarding his motives pointing to his "thirst for glory cherisht by Sullen Melancholly" - The play's ending portrays Bacon's heroism as having failed because it was incompatible with social reality. New Heroism: Daring (in both plots: heroic and comedic); Dareing's heroism is sensitive to the demands of social life; However, the heroic behavior of Dareing, Friendly and Hazard is always pragmatic,15 and it is future-orientated rather than looking back to a heroic past, whether that of antiquity or that of the early Restoration heroic play.

On the Moral Power of Theater

Heywood's Apology for Actors, a defense of theater: in book 3, Heywood extols the theater for providing chaste exemplars to encourage virtuous women and also for presenting unchaste characters to show sinful women the error of their ways. After all, he argues, "What can sooner print modesty in the soules of the wanton, then by discouering vnto them the monstrousnesse of their sin?" Heywood goes on to discuss the theater's unique ability to elicit the confession of crimes from conscience-stricken members of the audience. His first example, is, significantly, that of a woman who had murdered her husband in order to carry on an affair with another man and who, seeing a similar scenario play out on stage, was so remorseful that she publicly confessed the crime right then and there. Sir Phillip Sidney: Poesy therefore, is an art of imitation: for so Aristotle termeth it in the word mimesis, that is to say, a representing, counterfeiting, or figuring forth to speak metaphorically. A speaking picture, with this end to teach and delight.5 (79.35-80.2)

EM Male Friendship

In a largely homosocial world in which real equitable companionship is largely thought only to be found with other men, a great degree of importance is placed in male friendships. Edward II: the older Mortimer notes that many great and famous men have had close relationships with other men: "Let him without controlment have his will...The mightiest kings had had their minions"; Letter to Gaveston from Edward: "My father is deceased, come Gaveston, And share the kingdom with thy dearest friend"; Edward calls himself: "Thy friend, thyself, another Gaveston" -- Mortimer Sr. admits that it is not Gaveston's "wanton humor" that grieves him but Gaveston's lowly origins and his rejection of social/class hierarchy: "Uncle, his wanton humor grieves not me, / but this I scorn, that one so basely born / Should by his sovereign's favor grow so pert" (1.4.401-3). For the barons, Gaveston is an "upstart" (1.4.422) and as such, he makes them "impatient" (1.4.418). The lords consider Gaveston merely as a "peasant" (1.4.14, 218) who is "hardly ... a gentleman by birth" (1.4.29). They identify him primarily as one who is "base and obscure" (1.1.100) A Woman Killed with Kindness: Frankford makes Wendoll "a present Frankford in [his] absence." Before sleeping with his wife Wendoll considers that Frankford, a man by whom in "no kind he could gain' has made him "as necessary as his digestion" so that he may equally "make him whole or sick." This quality of the play is interesting side by side with the companionate nature of Anne and John's marriage. They are said to be "matches" in a "fair combination" which "carries consort and expectation of much joy" (6.68-70). // Arden of Faversham: Arden and Franklin spend all of their time together the whole play.

Meta-Drama

Knight of the Burning Pestle; BART FAIR: The play begins with an extended bit of metadrama; the company's stage-keeper enters, criticising the play about to be performed because it lacks romantic and fabulous elements. He is then pushed from the stage by the book-keeper, who (serving as prologue) announces a contract between author and audience. The contract appears to itemise Jonson's discontentment with his audiences: Members are not to find political satire where none is intended; they are not to take as oaths such innocuous phrases as "God quit you"; they are not to "censure by contagion", but must exercise their own judgment; moreover, they are allowed to judge only in proportion to the price of their ticket. Perhaps most important, they agree not to expect a throwback to the sword-and-buckler age of Smithfield, for Jonson has given them a picture of the present and unromantic state of the fair. ----- The climax of the play occurs at the puppet show. Madame Overdo and Win are brought in, masked, as prostitutes; Madame Overdo is drunk. Overdo is still in disguise, and Quarlous has disguised himself as Trouble-All; in this guise, he stole the marriage license from Winwife and made it into a license for himself and Purecraft. The puppet show, a burlesque of Hero and Leander and Damon and Pythias, proceeds until Busy (PURITAN) interrupts, claiming that the play is an abomination because the actors are cross-dressed. The puppets refute him decisively by raising their clothes, revealing that they have no sex. Busy announces himself converted into a "beholder" of plays. THE ROARING GIRL: There are two meta-theatrical moments that highlight this relationship. In the first act whenever Sir Alexander is showing off his gallery and bragging about how much the furnishings within the house cost, he points to his tapestries and describes them as containing: "Stories of men and women, mixed together/ Fair ones with foul [...]/ Within one square a thousand heads are laid [...]/ As many faces there, filled with blithe looks,/ Show like the promising titles of new books/ Writ merrily, the readers being their own eyes,/ Which seem to move and to give plaudities [...]/ Thronged heaps do listen" (1.2.17-24). As the note to these lines in our addition points out, this description of the tapestries implies an analogy to the audience watching. This portion could very well be played with Sir Alexander scanning the audience and implicates the audience in the consumerist spirit displayed by Sir Alexander. They are "thronged heaps," a part of the masses consuming popular entertainment. // EPILOGUE: Moll addresses the audience and tells a story about a painter who,"having drawn with curious art/ The picture of a woman-- every part/ limned to the life-- hung out the piece to sell,/ People who passed along, viewing it well,/ Gave several verdicts on it." The people had a wide range of criticisms to give some about her hair, lips, nose, brow, cheeks, etc. The painter "fixes" everything commented on to the effect that the painting produced was "so vile,/ So monstrous, and so ugly, all men did smile/ At the poor painter's folly." This time the analogy is made transparent. Moll says, "Such we doubt/ Is this out comedy." Moll then laments the impossibility of pleasing everyone and invites them to return to the stage a few days later to see The Roaring Girl herself (a fine piece of advertisement).

The Winter's Tale Plot

LEONTES, HERMOINE, POLIXENESS, PERDITA (daughter of Hermoine and Leontes) , FLORIZEL (son of Polixeness) King Leontes of Sicilia begs his childhood friend, King Polixenes of Bohemia, to extend his visit to Sicilia. Polixenes protests that he has been away from his kingdom for nine months, but after Leontes's pregnant wife, Hermione, pleads with him he relents and agrees to stay a little longer. Leontes, meanwhile, has become possessed with jealousy—convinced that Polixenes and Hermione are lovers, he orders his loyal retainer, Camillo, to poison the Bohemian king. Instead, Camillo warns Polixenes of what is afoot, and the two men flee Sicilia immediately. Furious at their escape, Leontes now publicly accuses his wife of infidelity, and declares that the child she is bearing must be illegitimate. He throws her in prison, over the protests of his nobles, and sends to the Oracle of Delphi for what he is sure will be confirmation of his suspicions. Meanwhile, the queen gives birth to a girl, and her loyal friend Paulina brings the baby to the king, in the hopes that the sight of the child will soften his heart. He only grows angrier, however, and orders Paulina's husband, Lord Antigonus, to take the child and abandon it in some desolate place. While Antigonus is gone, the answer comes from Delphi—Hermione and Polixenes are innocent, and Leontes will have no heir until his lost daughter is found. As this news is revealed, word comes that Leontes's son, Mamillius, has died of a wasting sickness brought on by the accusations against his mother. Hermione, meanwhile, falls in a swoon, and is carried away by Paulina, who subsequently reports the queen's death to her heartbroken and repentant husband. Antigonus, meanwhile abandons the baby on the Bohemian coast, reporting that Hermione appeared to him in a dream and bade him name the girl Perdita and leave gold and other tokens on her person. Shortly thereafter, Antigonus is killed by a bear, and Perdita is raised by a kindly Shepherd. Sixteen years pass, and the son of Polixenes, Prince Florizel, falls in love with Perdita. His father and Camillo attend a sheepshearing in disguise and watch as Florizel and Perdita are betrothed—then, tearing off the disguise, Polixenes intervenes and orders his son never to see the Shepherd's daughter again. With the aid of Camillo, however, who longs to see his native land again, Florizel and Perdita take ship for Sicilia, after using the clothes of a local rogue, Autolycus, as a disguise. They are joined in their voyage by the Shepherd and his son, a Clown, who are directed there by Autolycus. In Sicilia, Leontes—still in mourning after all this time—greets the son of his old friend effusively. Florizel pretends to be on a diplomatic mission from his father, but his cover is blown when Polixenes and Camillo, too, arrive in Sicilia. What happens next is told to us by gentlemen of the Sicilian court: the Shepherd tells everyone his story of how Perdita was found, and Leontes realizes that she is his daughter, leading to general rejoicing. The entire company then goes to Paulina's house in the country, where a statue of Hermione has been recently finished. The sight of his wife's form makes Leontes distraught, but then, to everyone's amazement, the statue comes to life—it is Hermione, restored to life. As the play ends, Paulina and Camillo are engaged, and the whole company celebrates the miracle.

Arden of Faversham Themes

Marriage: In scene 1, Alice states that "Love is god, and marriage is but words, and therefore Mosby's title is the best. Tush, whether it be or no, he shall be mine, in spite of him, of Hymen, and of rites" (101-4). Alice continues this train of thought persuading Mosby to stay with her. She calls her marital vows and oaths merely "words...words is wind, and wind is mutable. Then I conclude 'tis childishness to stand upon an oath" (437-8). // Furthermore, when later frustrated at Alice, Mosby exclaims: "but she's myself, and holy church rites makes us two but one. But what for that?... I will cleanly rid my hands of her" (8.37-43). Tragedy: Arden having a premonitory dream, the lovers being unable to enjoy their time alone, Alice's murder being revealed by the ever-bleeding corpse Humor: Black Will gets wounded by a boy closing his store, Michael and Clarke's rivalry is a more comical pendant of Mosby and Alice's affair) Arden's murder is delayed by a series of stupid incidents that might have been divine intervention or plain bad luck (a store dropping on Will's head seems so trivial that it is especially dissonant with a miraculous rescue). Black Will and Shakebag: (Comedy is associated with lower-class people) For instance, as soon as they appear on stage, a comical scene immediately ensues--one in which Prentice lets his shop window fall on Black Will's head. Other comical scenes soon follow one after another. What's more interesting is that Black Will and Shakebag's presence becomes so prominent on stage that the main tragic narrative is subsumed under this comical subplot. Comical elements are present even in what could have been the most tragic scene of the play. Black Will, afraid that he will be caught in the act of creeping behind Arden, crawls between Michael's legs (14.230). Desire/Magic: Alice and Mosby accuse each-other of using witchcraft to ensnare the other. Early on Alice says that she was "gotten by witchcraft and mere sorcery" (1.200-201) and she compares desire to a sailor listening to a mermaid's dong or a traveler looking on a basilisk (1.214-215). Later Mosby says that Alice used "spells and exorcisms" on him (8.93-95). When the pair are first hatching a plan to kill Arden, Mosby considers using a portrait of Alice that will poison Arden as the beams from his eyes "suck venom to his breast" (1.232-233). Hypothetically, Arden would be killed by his desire to look (just like the traveler with the basilisk). There is a clear connection in the play between desire and magic/superstition— a connection wrought with anxiety.

Moll Cutpurse

Mary Frith; Moll was born around 1584, the daughter of a Shoemaker. From an early age, she preferred playing with the boys than the girls. She did not want to marry, but she did (though it seems they did not live together). There is rumor that her friends attempted to send her to Virginia, but she pled to stay behind. She took up some petty crime and was the fence and pimp for much of London--providing men with whores and middle class wives with admirers. However, much like her presentation in the play, it seems she stayed generally out of legal trouble and did her best to bring real "baddies" to justice.

Dramatic "Upstarts"

Mosby (Arden, hanged); Gaveston (Edward II, killed); // Simon and Margery (Shoemakers); Wendoll? (A Woman Killed); Shoemaker's (Self-fashioning): The Shoemaker's Holiday also stages Simon Eyre who, once a master of the gentle craft, eventually becomes the mayor of London. -- In the beginning of the play, Simon speaks to Margarey and the shoemakers in bawdy, lewd, terms. He calls her midriff, Cecily Bumtrinket, powder-beef quean, Madge Mublecrust, pudding broth, and many other insulting names. This stands out distinctly from Lacy who refers to Rose as his love, and even Ralph who talks of Jane as his dear. It seems to give Eyre a rough, perhaps lower-bred quality to him. -- But what fascinates me is the way the flood of insults cease as soon as Simon puts on the velvet coat in scene 7. Immediately, in line 109, Eyre refers to his wife as Maggy (a nickname, never used before). Even more fascinating is that Margery responds to his new change in garment, speech, and status by calling him "Sweetheart" twice. There's a significant elevated shift in their language here, as Margery notes in 148-150 that she feels honor creep upon her. She refers to herself as "my worship," and then in scene 10 to Eyre as "my husband's worship." Eyre, once entered wearing his gold chain and bring Margery her french hood in scene 11, calls his wife "my Maggy." He even ventures to call her "honey" in line 17. // This continues once Eyre becomes Lord Mayor. Suddenly, Margarey calls him "my lord" and he calls her "my sweet Lady Madgy." There's a decorum to their speech. BUT everything shifts once the King comes to town. In Scene 20, Margery advises Simon to be careful how he speaks to the King, and suddenly Simon reverts back to his low-brow insults. See lines 51-55 for a Spattering of "hopperarse" and "barley budding full of maggots," though he does finish by returning to "my Lady Madgy." -- Simon's continuous refrain, "Prince am I none, yet am I princely born" (11.155) interesting. I counted Simon saying this, or a slight variation, four times starting in the 11th scene, although I might have missed him saying it a couple of times. Eyre differs from other social climbers such as Tamburlaine and Mosby in that he climbs up the social ladder by means of trade. He acquires his wealth from imported goods: sugar, civet, almonds, cambric, tobacco, etc. (7.1-6, 134-36).

Arden (Scenes 8-to the end)

Mosby soliloquizes about his distressed state of mind. Mosby looks forward to Arden's death so that he may enjoy Alice, and he also vows to kill Greene and engineer a quarrel between Michael and Clarke so they will kill each other. However, he does not trust Alice, thinking she will be unfaithful to him, so he plans to get rid of her, too. Alice enters. She is troubled by the planned murder of her husband and tells Mosby she regrets becoming involved with him. She wants to return to being an honest wife and blames Mosby for bewitching her. Mosby curses Alice. He claims that he is the one who was bewitched, but the spell is over now. Alice replies that what her friends told her turns out to be true, that he loved her only for her wealth. However, she offers to do penance for offending him and tries to win back his favor. Eventually, Mosby relents and says he will forget their quarrel. Bradshaw enters with a letter for Alice from Greene, informing her that they have not yet killed Arden but plan to do so soon. [Scene 9] Greene, Will, and Shakebag enter. They are at Rainham Down. The two ruffians quarrel and begin to fight; Greene has to separate them, saying that if they turn on each other, Arden may get away. Greene then leaves, hoping they will accomplish the deed while he is gone. Arden, Franklin, and Michael enter. Michael pretends his horse is lame and that he must go to Rochester to get a shoe removed. After Michael exits, Franklin continues telling Arden a story about an adulterous woman, but before he can finish, Lord Cheyne enters with his men. He invites Arden and Franklin to his home for supper. Arden politely declines but accepts the invitation Cheyne extends for the following day. Lord Cheyne then spots Black Will, whom he knows as a robber, and rebukes him. Lord Cheyne gets one of his men to give Will a crown and tells him to reform his life. After Lord Cheyne, Arden, Franklin, and Michael exit, Will and Shakebag grumble about Cheyne's untimely appearance, which came just as they were about to kill Arden. Greene enters, and Will and Shakebag explain what happened. Will promises he will follow Arden back to Faversham and shoot him the next day. [Scene 10] In the early morning at his home in Faversham, Arden tells Alice that he is leaving for the Isle of Sheppey to dine with Lord Cheyne. Alice protests at his departure, and at Franklin's suggestion, Arden invites her to come with them. Alice refuses. Arden and Franklin depart, while Michael is delayed because, he says, he must look for his lost purse. The real reason is that he knows Arden is going to his death. Clarke enters, and he and Michael quarrel over Susan. Clarke strikes Michael in the head. Alice, Mosby, and Greene enter, and Alice rebukes Michael. She asks Clarke if he has the poisoned crucifix. Clark replies that he has. Alice and Mosby affirm their love for each other, but Greene is eager to find out whether Shakebag and Will have done their business yet. [Scene 11] Arden and Franklin greet the ferryman, and they go down to the boat. Arden remarks on how misty it is, and the ferryman makes cryptic allusions to the fickleness of women. [Scene 12] Shakebag and Will enter. They have lost their way in the mist but still hope for a chance encounter with Arden. Shakebag falls into a ditch, and the ferryman comes to his assistance. He tells the villains that Arden and Franklin have already departed. The mist clears as the sun rises, and Greene, Mosby, and Alice enter. Shakebag admits that yet again, Arden has escaped. He says that he and Will will wait there until Arden and Franklin come back. Alice gives them some money so they can go to the Flower-de-Luce and rest. Mosby is discouraged and thinks they should abandon the plot, but Alice proposes that she and Mosby should walk arm-in-arm to meet Arden and thus provoke a quarrel. She can then call out for Shakebag and Will, and Arden will be murdered. [Scene 13} Dick Reede approaches Arden, claiming that Arden has wrongfully taken a plot of land from him, and his wife and children are suffering as a result. Arden threatens to have Reede locked up. Reede curses him and says he will pray for Arden's destruction. After Reede exits, Arden insists that he did him no wrong. As they near home, Arden thinks his wife may perhaps come to meet him. Alice and Mosby enter, arm-in-arm. To inflame Arden more, they kiss. Enraged, Arden and Franklin draw their swords, as does Mosby. Alice screams for help, and Will and Shakebag appear. Franklin wounds Shakebag, and Arden wounds Mosby. Mosby, Will, and Shakebag exit, and Alice reproaches Arden for his jealousy, claiming that she and Mosby were coming to meet him in friendship, joining arms only as a way to try his patience. In other words, it was just a joke. Arden accepts her explanation and asks to do penance. [Scene 14] Alice and Michael enter. Michael tells Alice that Arden and Mosby are reconciled and that Arden has invited Mosby, Franklin, Bradshaw, Adam Fowle, and others to dinner at his house that night. Alice tells Michael to ask Mosby to come to her and promises him that Susan will be his. Alice also invites Will and Greene to the dinner, and Will tries to explain why their attempt on Arden's life failed; They then discuss the plan hatched by Mosby. Greene is to keep Franklin away from the scene while Mosby and Arden play backgammon. At a given signal, Will and Shakebag will emerge from the countinghouse and commit the murder. Alice gives Will twenty pounds and promises forty more when Arden is dead. After Will and Shakebag exit, Michael enters. Alice informs him of what is to happen and gives him permission to tell Susan. Michael brings the backgammon tables in as Arden and Mosby enter. Alice pretends that she is not happy to see Mosby and refuses to welcome him. Mosby sits down, and Michael brings wine while Alice continues her pretense of disliking Mosby. Arden and Mosby play backgammon. At the given signal, Will emerges, covers Arden with a towel and pulls him down. Mosby, Shakebag, and Alice all stab him to death. They lay the body in the countinghouse, and Will and Shakebag depart. Susan is summoned to wash the floor of blood, but she cannot get it clean. Nor can Alice, who expresses remorse for her actions. The guests enter. Alice pretends to be worried because her husband is still out. Susan is concerned that they will all be found out, and Michael seeks poison to kill Alice so she will not betray them. Franklin is suspicious, but all the guests leave. Susan and Alice carry Arden's body in from the countinghouse. Michael announces that the mayor and the watch are on their way to the house. Mosby, Greene, Susan, and Michael carry the body to the fields, and Mosby and Greene go to the Flower-de-luce for the night. The mayor enters with a warrant for the arrest of Black Will; they go to search the house for him. Franklin brings the news that Arden has been murdered and produces the bloody towel and the knife that Michael failed to dispose of. Alice claims that the blood stains are pig's blood, but Franklin points to other evidence that Arden was murdered in the house. The mayor notices the blood-stained floor. Alice protests, but Franklin orders that Michael and Susan be detained and that someone go to the Flower-de-luce to arrest Mosby. [Scene 16] The mayor urges Alice to confess to the murder, and she does so. Mosby admits he hired Will and Shakebag to murder Arden. Franklin vows they will not escape. [Scene 17] Will can find nowhere to hide in England, so he plans to hide in a boat that is going to Flushing, in Holland. [Scene 18] The mayor enters with the prisoners. Bradshaw has been condemned to death even though he claims, and Alice confirms, that he was unaware of the plot. Mosby and Alice indulge in mutual recriminations. Susan protests that she knew nothing until after the murder. Michael wishes he had never consented to the crime. The mayor condemns Mosby and Susan to be executed at Smithfield in London. Alice will be burnt at the stake in Canterbury. Michael and Bradshaw will be executed in Faversham. [Epilogue] Franklin announces that Shakebag was murdered in Southwark; Black Will was burnt on a scaffold in Flushing; Greene was hanged at Osbridge in Kent. Clarke fled, and the details of his death are unknown. At the spot in the field where Arden's body was laid, the grass did not grow for over two years after the murder.

Oroonoko (Monarchy)

Oroonoko insists, over and over again, that a king's word is sacred, that a king must never betray his oaths, and that a measure of a person's worth is the keeping of vows. Given that men who had sworn fealty to James were now casting about for a way of getting a new king, this insistence on fidelity must have struck a chord. (Jame's Catholicism and his marriage to a Catholic bride roused old Parliamentarians to speak of rebellion again) -- Aphra Behn herself held incredibly strong pro-monarchy views[26] that carried over into her writing of Oroonoko. The idea that Behn attempts to present within the work is that the idea of royalty and natural kingship can exist even within a society of slaves. Although Oroonoko himself is a native who later becomes a slave, he possesses the traits of those typically required of a king within a typically civilized society. He is admired and respected by those who follow him, and even in death he keeps his royal dignity intact—as he would rather be subjected to the brutal treatment of the white Europeans who enslaved him than surrender his self-respect. Oroonoko's death can be viewed as being unjustified and outrageous as the death of any king would be when caused by those who fall below him, as even though the whites are the ones who enslaved him, they are portrayed as being the ones who are the true animals.

Dr Faustus themes

Redemption/Repentance (In 2.3 when the good angel tells Faustus to "Repent, and they shall never raze thy skin," Faustus calls on Christ and asks him to save his soul; The Old man suggests that it requires a broken heart, blood, and tears. But also, that there is a vial full of precious grace that Faustus must only call for and avoid despair.); Redemption is open for Faustus t/o the play. Metaphysical: "Why, this is hell, nor am I out of it."(Mephistopheles) Moral instruction/Morality play: a good and bad angel appear on his shoulders Humanism: "the story of a Ren. man who had to pay the medieval price for being one." Humor/Meta-theatricality: (Faustus's first words to Mephistopheles commenting on how ugly he looks, his stealing the Pope's food and then punching him in the face, Sloth exits the scene carried by two other sins because he's too lazy...). Mephistopheles comments that he "delight [Faustus' mind" (II. 1, l. 83), and Lucifer summons the Seven Deadly Sins as a "pastime" (II. 3, l. 100), which leads me to think that humor in this play may have a metatheatrical dimension. Hell creates illusions, using costumes and theatrical effects ("enter [Mephistopheles] with a devil dressed as a woman, with fireworks" II. 1, l. 149) for Faustus' entertainment, but also for ours. Just like Faustus, we are here to "mark the show" (II. 3, l. 106). Mock-tragic element: The play is setup as a lofty tragedy in the beginning with the invocation of a muse and the Chorus who tells us that Faustus is an Icarus-figure who will sign away his soul in the hope of obtaining vast knowledge and power. However, Faustus doesn't seem to gain much in the knowledge department and he uses his power throughout the tragedy to play petty games with people. (Even Faustus' repeated inability/refusal to repent is funny on one level in that it seems that he is impervious to logic.) In other words, we very quickly sink to the level of farce. However, it is safe to say that the pettiness of Faustus' use of his power makes the ending in which he is dragged to Hell all the more tragic. We ask: what was it all for really? Not much it seems.

Shakespeare - Ruler and State

Richard III: It is significant that the common people come to fear and distrust Richard long before most of the nobles in the palace, and that the opposition of the common people to Richard is one of the main forces that enables Richmond to overthrow him. In these ways, Richard III explores a theme Shakespeare later revisited in Hamlet and Macbeth—the idea that the moral righteousness of a political ruler has a direct bearing on the health of the state. A state with a good ruler will tend to flourish (as Denmark does under King Hamlet), while a state with a bad ruler will tend to suffer (as Scotland does under Macbeth).

A Midsummer Night's Dream

Shakespeare; (THESEUS, Duke of Athens, is preparing to marry HIPPOLYTA, queen of Amazons. // Egeus, an Athenian nobleman, comes before the king because he wishes HERMIA to marry DEMETRIUS (who is in love with her), but HERMIA is in love with LYSANDER. Egeus asks for the full penalty of law to fall on Hermia's head if she flouts her father's will. Theseus gives Hermia until his wedding to consider her options, warning her that disobeying her father's wishes could result in her being sent to a convent or even executed. Nonetheless, Hermia and Lysander plan to escape Athens the following night and marry in the house of Lysander's aunt, some seven leagues distant from the city. They make their intentions known to Hermia's friend Helena, who was once engaged to Demetrius and still loves him even though he jilted her after meeting Hermia. Hoping to regain his love, Helena tells Demetrius of the elopement that Hermia and Lysander have planned. At the appointed time, Demetrius stalks into the woods after his intended bride and her lover; Helena follows behind him. In these same woods are two very different groups of characters. The first is a band of fairies, including OBERON, the fairy king, and TITANIA, his queen, who has recently returned from India to bless the marriage of Theseus and Hippolyta. ----- The second is a band of Athenian craftsmen rehearsing a play that they hope to perform for the duke and his bride. Oberon and Titania are at odds over a young Indian prince given to Titania by the prince's mother; the boy is so beautiful that Oberon wishes to make him a knight, but Titania refuses. Seeking revenge, Oberon sends his merry servant, PUCK, to acquire a magical flower, the juice of which can be spread over a sleeping person's eyelids to make that person fall in love with the first thing he or she sees upon waking. Puck obtains the flower, and Oberon tells him of his plan to spread its juice on the sleeping Titania's eyelids. Having seen Demetrius act cruelly toward Helena, he orders Puck to spread some of the juice on the eyelids of the young Athenian man. Puck encounters Lysander and Hermia; thinking that Lysander is the Athenian of whom Oberon spoke, Puck afflicts him with the love potion. Lysander happens to see Helena upon awaking and falls deeply in love with her, abandoning Hermia. As the night progresses and Puck attempts to undo his mistake, both Lysander and Demetrius end up in love with Helena, who believes that they are mocking her. Hermia becomes so jealous that she tries to challenge Helena to a fight. Demetrius and Lysander nearly do fight over Helena's love, but Puck confuses them by mimicking their voices, leading them apart until they are lost separately in the forest. "Ay me, for aught that I could ever read,Could ever hear by tale or history,The course of true love never did run smooth." Lysander speaks these lines to soothe Hermia when she despairs about the difficulties facing their love, specifically, that Egeus, her father, has forbidden them to marry and that Theseus has threatened her with death if she disobeys her father (I.i.132-134). PUCK: "Lord, what fools these mortal be!" "If we shadows have offended,Think but this, and all is mended:That you have but slumbered here,While these visions did appear;And this weak and idle theme,No more yielding but a dream,Gentles, do not reprehend.If you pardon, we will mend" (Connect to Buttom's "dream" of being an ass) HELENA Oh, when she's angry, she is keen and shrewd! She was a vixen when she went to school. And though she be but little, she is fierce.

The Widow Ranter (Nathaniel Bacon, On Law/Governance)

Shou'd I stand by and see my Country ruin'd, my King dishonour'd, and his Subjects Murder'd, hear the sad Crys of widdows and of Orphans. You heard it Lowd, but gave no pitying care to't. And till the war and Massacre was brought to my own door, my Flocks, and Herds surpriz'd, I bore it all with Patience. Is it unlawfull to defend my self against a Thief that breaks into my doors? (WR: II.4.85-90) Friendly points out earlier (in the exposition) to a new arrival: "This Country wants nothing but to be Peopl'd with a well-born Race to make it one of the best Collonies in the World, but for want of a Governour we are Ruled by a Councill, some of which have been perhaps transported Criminals, who having Acquired great Estates are now become your Honour, and Right Worshipfull, and Possess all Places of Authority; there are amongst 'em some honest Gentlemen who now begin to take upon 'em, and Manage Affairs as they ought to be." (I.1.105-111) // The council has even mismanaged trade, a tenet of colonialism. In particular, it has sold weapons to the natives with which the colony is now being attacked, as Friendly emphasises: "For at this time the Indians by our ill Management of Trade, whom we have Armed against Our selves, Very frequently make War upon us with our own Weapons" (I.1.95-97). Bacon recognized by the Indian King and Queen as their equal.

Royalty/Kingship

TAMBURLAINE (MARLOWE): . In the first scene, when Mycetes asks whether his resolution is "kingly" or not, Cosroe replies (sarcastically?), "It cannot choose, because it comes from you" (1.1.56). But is something kingly just because a king says it? Is someone kingly just because he is a king? The play seems to answer, emphatically, no. Kings are made not by birth or title but by Machiavellian virtu and persuasive power. Tamburlaine's powerful speech is a teachable skill, and not one restricted to the ruling class. Astoundingly, the play suggests that the right and the ability to rule is created primarily by one's rhetorical presentation. Kingship is just a performance, a series of rhetorical "actions that a man might play."

The Power of Language

TAMBURLAINE (Marlowe): In the first scene, when Mycetes asks whether his resolution is "kingly" or not, Cosroe replies (sarcastically?), "It cannot choose, because it comes from you" (1.1.56). // While Tamburlaine is an extremely effective speaker, King Mycetes (the first ruler we encounter) finds himself insufficiently equipped to express what requires "a great and thundering speech" (1.1-1-3). This king is cast as a pathetic character who is easily struck down by a self-fashioning, charismatic man with humble beginnings. Cosroe will ask, "What means this devilish shepherd to aspire/ with such a giantly presumption" (2.6.1-2). Seem to indicate that Tamburlaine owes his success primarily to his rhetorical prowess, his eloquence and persuasiveness. Richard III (Shakespeare): Richard's skill with language and argument is what enables him to woo Lady Anne, have Clarence thrown in prison, keep the Woodvilles off his track, blame the king for Clarence's death, and achieve Hastings's execution, all at very little risk to himself.

EM Sexual Violence

THE CHANGELING: Beatrice is forced to sleep with De Flores while begging him not to pursue his advances ("Oh, sir, hear me!" l. 153, p. 1631; "Stay, hear me once for all!" l. 156, p. 1631). In Isabella's case, although she is courted by no less than three suitors (Antonio, Franciscus and Lollio), their advances are clearly unwelcome ("I'll not discover you;/ That's all the favor you must expect," p. 1624, l. 145; "You a quick-sighted lover? Come not near me." p. 1642, l. 135), but, like Beatrice, she is also talked over ("Come, I can give you comfort: my mistress loves you,", 149-50, p. 1642). . Lollio's insistence to sleep with Isabella can appear frightening as it borders on a commanding tone ("My share, that's all! I'll have my fool's part with you", p. 1626, l. 149) and Isabella clearly feels like a trapped animal in the absence of her husband ("Is it your master's pleasure, or your own,/ To keep me in this pinfold?", p. 1621, l. 7-8). In what has to be the most shockingly violent scene of the play, Alsemero locks up Beatrice with De Flores in what seems like an offstage rape (Beatrice screams, and appears physically wounded with a "penknife", a phallic symbol).

The Changeling

THOMAS MIDDLETON, WILLIAM ROWLEY (1622) There are two parallel plots. The main plot in Alicante ("Alligant") focuses on Beatrice-Joanna; ((Alonzo,)) to whom she is betrothed; and ((Alsemero,)) whom she loves. To rid herself of Alonzo, Beatrice makes ((De Flores)) (who secretly loves her) murder him. This, predictably, has a tragic outcome. The sub-plot in the madhouse involves ((Alibius and his young wife Isabella.)) Franciscus and Antonio are in love with her and pretend to be a madman and a fool, respectively, to see her. Lollio also wants her. This ends comically. PLOT: Alsemero enters from church and tells us of his love for a woman he met there. Jasperino enters from the harbour, reminding Alsemero that the "wind's fair" and that they should leave for Malta. Alsemero tells him that he is not ready to go yet. Alsemero does not give any reason to Jasperino but tells him that he wants to stay back. In truth, he wants to try to stay close to Beatrice. Beatrice enters with Diaphanta and Alsemero greets her. Alsemero had a reputation as asexual, thus Jasperino is surprised to learn that Alsemero has fallen in love with Beatrice. Jasperino watches and makes comments as Beatrice and Alsemero flirt. Alsemero proposes to Beatrice, but, in an aside, she regrets that five days ago she was promised in marriage to Alonzo de Piracquo. Her father (Vermandero) had arranged this marriage for her, although Beatrice is not at all interested in Alonzo. Instead, Beatrice is much taken by Alsemero. Alsemero waits for an answer. Jasperino resolves to get a girl for himself and sees Diaphanta. Then, De Flores enters to inform Beatrice of her father's imminent arrival. Beatrice is always repulsed by De Flores (one of the reasons being that De Flores is physically ugly) and treats him badly. However, as De Flores is besotted with Beatrice, he suffers the abuses she heaps on him just to hear her voice and see her. Beatrice tells him to go away (not only because she dislikes De Flores but also because De Flores disrupts her meeting with Alsemero); he backs off, but still watches her. Jasperino and Diaphanta begin having a conversation full of sexual innuendos. Vermandero joins Beatrice, causing her to change her behaviour. She introduces him to Alsemero; knowing the young man's father, Vermandero invites him in to see their castle. Vermandero also talks of Beatrice's fiancé, causing her to say goodbye to Alsemero in preparation for her return home. Alsemero is heartbroken hearing talk of Beatrice's fiancé; he plans to leave, but Vermandero insists that he stay. As they leave, Beatrice drops her glove. De Flores picks it up and offers it to her but she will not take it as she is disgusted. Beatrice exits and De Flores closes the scene with a soliloquy. // Beatrice gives Jasperino a note for Alsemero in secret. In her soliloquy, Beatrice talks of how great Alsemero is (because she thinks that among other things Alsemero has shown sound judgement in choosing someone like Jasperino as his companion) and then how horrible Alonzo de Piracquo is. She says the only reason that she is marrying Alonzo is because her father has forced the choice on her and she cannot disobey her father. De Flores enters (having been eavesdropping on Beatrice's proclamations of love for Alsemero) but Beatrice does not see him initially while he talks of Alonzo's love for her and her hatred of him. She sees him and gets angry because he stalls from delivering his message. Eventually he says that Alonzo and Tomazo have arrived. After delivering another soliloquy, he exits. Beatrice, repelled by De Flores, says she will get her father to dismiss him. Then Vermandero, Alonzo and Tomazo enter. Vermandero attempts to be a welcoming host. While Beatrice and Vermandero talk, Tomazo tells his brother that Beatrice did not seem pleased to see him. Alonzo dismisses the remark. After Vermandero informs Alonzo that Beatrice has requested a three-day postponement of their wedding, Tomazo repeats his misgivings. He tells Alonzo not to marry Beatrice because she is in love with someone else. Alonzo refuses to listen, being madly in love and finding no faults in Beatrice. He says he does not think that she was behaving coldly with him. // Diaphanta leads Alsemero into a chamber secretly. She is acting on her lady's (Beatrice's) instructions. However, Diaphanta too is smitten with Alsemero. When Beatrice enters, she leaves the room unwillingly as she was enjoying being alone with Alsemero. Alsemero and Beatrice talk and embrace. They talk about how they could "remove the cause" by killing Alonzo. Alsemero declares he will challenge Piraquo to a duel (meaning Alsemero would end up dead or in jail.) Beatrice protests saying that that wouldn't actually help in uniting them but would rather further separate them physically. Beatrice, on an aside, realises that she can use De Flores to kill Alonzo. Beatrice shoves Alsemero back to Diaphanta (who is overjoyed). De Flores enters, having been hidden. De Flores realises that Beatrice will have to transgress one bond (with Alonzo) if she is to have sex with Alsemero. This acts as a kind of impetus to De Flores who thinks if she breaks a bond once, she may break it several times and even he himself might have a chance to have sex with her. Beatrice decides to flirt with him. She behaves not only civilly but also amorously with him. She promises him some medicine that will cure his bad skin. He is delighted at her apparent change of heart. She tells him she is being forced to marry a man she hates, and De Flores realises she wants him to murder Alonzo. In return, she gives him some money, and says a greater reward (by which she means more money but which De Flores assumes as an offer for sex) awaits him if he successfully completes the task. De Flores kneels before her (he is also a gentleman) and agrees readily to commit the murder, thinking he'll be able to sleep with her afterwards. Beatrice says she expects him to leave the country after the murder; she is pleased that she can get rid of De Flores and Alonzo at the same time. Beatrice exits. Alonzo enters. Alonzo asks De Flores for a tour of the castle. De Flores says he will show him around after dinner. He hides a sword in his cloak. // As they descend, De Flores advises that the space is very narrow so Alonzo should find it easier to walk if he leaves his sword behind. De Flores instructs Alonzo to look out a window. While he is doing this, De Flores stabs him three times. De Flores sees a diamond ring on the finger of the dead Alonzo. He tries to remove the diamond ring and take it for himself but he is somehow unable to remove the ring from the dead Alonzo's finger. He instead cuts off the entire finger and takes it with him. Then he clears away the body. // Vermandero, Beatrice, Jasperino, and Alsemero enter; only Vermandero does not know about Beatrice and Alsemero. They all leave to look around the castle, except Beatrice. Beatrice says that she's starting to convince her father to like Alsemero. De Flores enters with the intention of having sex with Beatrice, thinking this is what she wants too. He tells Beatrice that "Piracquo is no more" and then shows her the finger with the diamond ring. Beatrice says it was the first token that Vermandero made her send to Alonzo. Beatrice asks De Flores to take the ring as it is worth three hundred ducats, then on seeing the fact that De Flores is disappointed, offers another three thousand florins. De Flores is disgusted at the idea of murdering for money; he murdered for the reward of having sex with Beatrice. Beatrice offers to double the amount, but is confused about why De Flores will not leave contented with money, assuming that the amount he wants is much too high to actually announce out loud. She thus suggests he goes out of the country (as she had told him earlier) and send her the amount he wants on paper. He replies that if he leaves, she must too, since they are bound together in guilt. De Flores kisses her in a last-ditch attempt to seal their love, but Beatrice rejects him with disgust. De Flores explains in meticulous detail exactly why she has to submit to him, mainly that he can now effectively blackmail her or else he will inform everyone how she hired him to murder Alonzo. He says that his life is worth nothing if he cannot have her, and therefore is willing to incriminate himself if she does not sleep with him. She tries to impress on him the difference in their social class, but he claims that her evil act has made them equals. She makes one last effort to offer him all her gold, but again he refuses. She eventually realises the vicious cycle of sin that she has entered. // Beatrice has yielded to De Flores's sexual demands, and has also married Alsemero. Alone in the afternoon in Alsemero's room, she feels too ashamed to have sex with her new husband on their wedding night. In Alsemero's closet, she finds many medicines. One is a pregnancy test kit and another a virginity test kit. Diaphanta enters, looking for Alsemero. Beatrice tells Diaphanta that she will offer 1000 ducats to any virgin if she secretly has sex with her husband Alsemero, instead of her, on their wedding night. But to test whether Diaphanta is a virgin or not, both of them take the virginity test. The virginity test shows that Beatrice is not a virgin whereas Diaphanta is, as she has exhibited the usual symptoms of first yawning, then sneezing, and finally laughing. They arrange for Diaphanta to go to Alsemero's bed that night, in the pitch darkness, and pretend to be Beatrice. // It is 2 a.m. and Diaphanta has not yet come out of Alsemero's chamber, even though Beatrice had instructed her to finish by midnight. Therefore, Beatrice suspects that Diaphanta is actually enjoying having sex with Alsemero. This leads her to suspect that it must have been Diaphanta who had informed Alsemero of Beatrice's loss of virginity (as Diaphanta may have had a chance to figure out that what she and Beatrice indulged in were virginity tests). This leads to Beatrice getting very angry with Diaphanta. De Flores enters. Beatrice is worried that if Diaphanta does not come out before daybreak, Alsemero will be able to see with whom he has had sex with and will recognise his mistake and Beatrice's plot will be ruined. De Flores comes up with an idea to get Diaphanta out of the room. He says that he will set Diaphanta's chambers on fire and that will wake up the entire house and when Diaphanta returns to her room then De Flores will pretend that he will clean the chimney with a gun but he will kill her with it. Beatrice agrees, even suggesting that she now loves De Flores. Alonzo's ghost appears again and haunts De Flores and Beatrice. De Flores lights the fire, offstage, then leads the group of residents who attempt to douse it. Diaphanta appears, and Beatrice tells her to return to her chamber. Vermandero enters, followed by Alsemero and Jasperino. The gunshot is heard, signifying Diaphanta's murder. De Flores returns to the stage, heroically carrying Diaphanta's burnt body from the fire. De Flores is promised financial reward by Vermandero and others for his bravery in alerting everyone to the fire and thereby preventing further damage. // Jasperino and Alsemero have seen Beatrice and De Flores together in a garden and are discussing it. Beatrice enters, Jasperino hides. Alsemero accuses Beatrice of being a liar and a *****, and suggests that she's been cheating with De Flores. She confesses that she employed De Flores to murder Alonzo, but explains that she did it out of love for Alsemero, because her first motive was to remove Alonzo so that she and Alsemero could be together. Alsemero says he must think about what to do, and locks Beatrice in a closet to wait. De Flores enters, and Alsemero gets him to admit to murder. De Flores, under the impression that Beatrice is attempting to betray and outmanoeuvre him, exposes her infidelity. Alsemero confines him in the closet with Beatrice. // As Alsemero begins to reveal the truth, screams of pleasure and of pain are heard within the room, and the pair comes out, Beatrice stabbed by De Flores. Beatrice confesses her fallen state and also that she sent Diaphanta in her place to the bedroom to have sex with Alsemero. De Flores admits to killing Alonzo, stabs himself, and dies before Tomazo can seek revenge. With his last words, De Flores instructs Beatrice to follow him in death, and as she dies, Beatrice asks Alsemero for forgiveness. They speak about changes and changelings. Alsemero says Beatrice was beauty changed to *****dom, he himself a supposed husband changed with wantonness. Alibius starts to tell Lollio a secret. The old man says he cannot satisfy his wife sexually and fears she will be disloyal to him. Therefore, he asks Lollio to guard her and lock her up. Lollio agrees, knowing that he could be left alone with Isabella and may have a chance to have sex with her. Lollio goes on to analyse the two kinds of patients in the mental asylum—fools (people who were born with mental deficiencies) and madmen (people who suffer a degradation of mental health during the course of their lives). He says that Alibius need not fear that Isabella will have sex with fools or madmen. Alibius says he is more concerned with sane tourists who come to view the patients. Antonio and Pedro enter. Pedro gives Alibius a large sum of money to take care of Antonio. Lollio hints that he wants some too and Pedro grants him his wish. Lollio says that Antonio has almost the appearance of a gentleman and he wouldn't have been able to tell Antonio was a fool. Then Pedro asks for Lollio to educate and improve the mind of Antonio (who also goes by "Tony," a nickname associated in the Renaissance with madness). Lollio replies that he will "make him as wise as myself." Pedro leaves, and Alibius counts the money. Lollio threatens to whip Antonio, also questioning him with short riddles. Surprisingly, Antonio provides very shrewd answers, which leads Lollio to remark that Antonio is very smart for a fool. The madmen (who are imprisoned in a different enclosure from the fools) begin shouting for food, and Alibius leaves to attend to them. Meanwhile, Lollio takes Antonio to the cells for fools. // Isabella asks Lollio why she has been locked up. Lollio claims it's his master's wish so that Isabella isn't able to venture out and be sexually active with other men. Isabella complains that there are only madmen and fools in the mental asylum. Then she says that she recently saw that a very good-looking patient was admitted and requests Lollio to bring the patient to her. Lollio shows in Franciscus. Isabella asks Lollio how Franciscus went mad. Lollio replies that it was because of spurned love. Isabella remarks that Franciscus seems like a gentleman by the way he speaks. Lollio whips Franciscus for insulting him and for making advances towards Isabella. They soon realise that Franciscus is not really a madman but only pretending to be one, and Lollio puts Franciscus back in his cell. Lollio brings Antonio to meet Isabella. The madmen make noises, and Lollio goes to beat them. As he leaves, Antonio reveals to Isabella that he is only pretending to be a fool so as to be admitted into the asylum and gain access to her. Antonio tries to undress himself and have sex with Isabella but she is able to avoid it for the time being. Lollio returns to ask Antonio some questions, but leaves again as the madmen start creating a ruckus and Lollio has to manage both cells. After he leaves, Antonio begins kissing Isabella, not knowing Lollio is spying on them. Suddenly madmen dressed as birds interrupt their encounter. Lollio again goes offstage to attend to them. He comes back to return Antonio to his cell. Isabella remarks that one need not go out of the house to seek sexual escapades. Lollio then challenges Isabella about Antonio and tries to sexually molest Isabella in return for keeping it a secret. Alibius enters, oblivious to the conversation, and tells them that Vermandero has invited him to make his patients perform (simply as madmen) at Beatrice's wedding. // Lollio and Isabella read a letter in which Franciscus declares that he is only pretending to be a madman to gain access to Isabella and that he is in love with her. Lollio says that if Isabella has sex with Franciscus, then he wants to have sex with her too. Isabella says that if she indeed does commit adultery, she will sleep with him, implying that she has no intention of committing adultery. She asks Lollio how to deal with Antonio and Franciscus's attraction to her, and he advises her to abuse them. To that end, she leaves to dress as a madwoman. Alibius arrives and asks about the wedding. Alibius then asks how Isabella is getting on. Lollio assures him she is fine and he exits. Antonio enters, and Lollio forces him to dance. Lollio exits, and Isabella enters in her new clothes as a madwoman. Isabella attempts to kiss him but Antonio resists, unable to recognise Isabella and disgusted at the idea of being kissed by a madwoman. Antonio confesses that he is no fool but just a gentleman pretending to be a fool. Isabella denounces him for loving her external appearance only. She exits, and Lollio enters, telling Antonio that if he kills Franciscus, he can have sex with Isabella. Franciscus enters, and Lollio reads the letter he wrote to Isabella. Lollio tells him that if he kills Antonio, Isabella will have sex with him. Alibius enters, and Lollio goes to fetch the madmen. All the madmen dance for the wedding.

Katherine Gillen's Chaste Value: Economic Crisis, Female Chastity and the Production of Social Difference on Shakespeare's Stage (2017)

The core argument of this book is that "the early modern English stage frequently renders female chastity, virginity as well as married fidelity, in economic terms" and that this rendering situates "chastity within broader anxieties about the social, ethical and epistemological effects of early capitalism" (1, 2). the commoditization of female chastity in this plays along with the deaths, rapes, and sexual exchange of women is very generative in considering a play's emphasis on society's extreme moral degradation.

Widow Ranter (class/economy)

The council is made up of upstarts; Timerous, Whimsey, Whiff, and Boomer (act calculatingly and through selfish political deceit) In Act IV, Timerous disguises himself as an Indian to protect himself and proclaims valiance to be a matter of words rather than deeds: "if every Man that pass for Valiant in a Battel, were to give an account how he gain'd his Reputation, the World wou'd be but thinly stock'd with Heroes" (IV.2.116-118). To such men who run a society that has placed gain over virtue, the language of heroism has lost its meaning. (Connect to The Shoemaker's Holiday)

Oroonoko (Narrator)

The narrator's disgust surrounding the treatment of Oroonoko, as well as her inability to watch his murder, is a way in which Behn inserts her own voice and viewpoints into the story, as her feelings towards kingship and colonialism have been established. - Throughout the novella, Behn identifies with Oroonoko's strength, courage, and intelligence but also includes herself in the same categorization of the higher European power structure.

Vindice's skull

The objectification of women is brought into focus with the use of the skull. The skull is treated as a prop, a piece of property that Vindice uses throughout the play. Vindice sexualizes the skull by having the skull enact revenge for a sexual violation through a poisoned kiss. (One could argue this act as punishing an attack on her chastity with another such objectifying, albeit morbid, attack on her chastity/bodily integrity.) Before even doing this, Vindice offers a somewhat bewildering philosophical argument in which he first says that he "could e'en chide [himself]/ for doting on her beauty" and then launches into an attack in which he criticizes women for working to make themselves beautiful and calling men mad for falling for the "poor benefit of a bewitching minute." Notably, the language here may be read as economic with the words "poor" and "benefit." Ultimately, he blames women for men's folly (just as financial need/gain is to blame for people's sin). This criticism supports Gillen's claim that "female chastity functions as an analogue to masculine temperance and is invoked to explore men's subjugation to commercial forces" (128). In this play, women become yet another commercial force which-- through their beauty which is both fleeting and bought (bought in the sense that women buy makeup and bought in the sense that men "buy" women with their economic resources)-- subjects men to moral degradation.

Cuckoldry

The origin of the word cuckold comes from the cuckoo bird. Very often, a bird will put eggs in another bird's nest, so that that bird is duped into taking care of the offspring. The man who relies on labor (husband) and the man who relies on his wit (usually the adulterer)

The Troublesome Reign and Lamentable Death of Edward the Second, Christopher Marlowe (1594)

The play telescopes most of Edward II's reign into a single narrative, beginning with the recall of his favourite, Piers Gaveston, from exile, and ending with his son, Edward III, executing Mortimer Junior for the king's murder.-- Marlowe's play opens at the outset of the reign, with Edward's exiled favourite, Piers Gaveston, rejoicing at the recent death of Edward I and his own resulting ability to return to England. In the following passage he plans the entertainments with which he will delight the king (music, poetry, speeches, comedies, pleasing shows). Upon Gaveston's re-entry into the country, Edward gives him titles, access to the royal treasury, and the option of having guards protect him. Outraged by Edward's elevation of his male favourite Gaveston, Mortimer, one of the King's lords, asks, '[w]hy should you love him whom the world hates so?' 'Because,' says Edward, 'he loves me more than all the world' (1.4.76-77). Isabella: "For now my lord the king regards me not, / But dotes upon the love of Gaveston. / He claps his cheeks and hangs about his neck, / Smiles in his face and whispers in his ears" (2.2.49-52). Edward is forced to agree to this and banishes Gaveston to Ireland. Isabella of France, the Queen, who still hopes for his favour, persuades Mortimer, who later becomes her lover, to argue for his recall, though only so that he may be more conveniently murdered. The nobles accordingly soon find an excuse to turn on Gaveston again, and eventually capture and execute him. Before executing Gaveston, Edward requests to see Gaveston one more time. Arundel and Pembroke agree to Edward's request. However, Warwick attacks and kills Gaveston while he is being taken to Edward. Edward in turn executes two of the nobles who persecuted Gaveston, Warwick and Lancaster. Edward then seeks comfort in new favourites, Spencer and his father. This alienates Isabella, who takes Mortimer as her lover and travels to France with her son in search of allies. France, however, will not help the queen and refuses to give her arms, although she does get help from Sir John of Hainault. Edward, both in the play and in history, is nothing like the soldier his father was - it was during his reign that the English army was disastrously defeated at Bannockburn - and is soon outgeneralled. Edward takes refuge in Neath Abbey, but is betrayed by a mower, who emblematically carries a scythe. Both Spencers are executed, and the king himself is taken to Kenilworth. His brother Edmund, Earl of Kent, after having initially renounced his cause, now tries to help him but realizes too late the power the young Mortimer now has. Arrested for approaching the imprisoned Edward, Edmund is taken to court, where Mortimer, Isabella, and Edward III preside. He is executed by Mortimer, who claims he is a threat to the throne, despite the pleading of Edward III. The prisoner king is then taken to Berkeley Castle, where he meets the luxuriously cruel Lightborn, whose name is an anglicised version of "Lucifer". Despite knowing that Lightborn is there to kill him, Edward asks him to stay by his side. Lightborn, realizing that the king will not fall for delay, has him restrained by four men, and murders him by burning out his bowels from the inside with a red hot poker (so as not to leave external marks of violence). Maltravers and Gurney witness this, before Gurney kills Lightborn to keep his silence. Later, however, Gurney flees, and Mortimer sends Maltravers after him, as they fear betrayal. Isabella arrives to warn Mortimer that Edward III, her son with Edward II, has discovered their plot. Before they can plan accordingly, her son arrives with attendants and other lords, accusing Mortimer of murder. Mortimer denies this, but eventually is arrested and taken away. He tells Isabella not to weep for him, and the queen begs her son to show Mortimer mercy, but he refuses. Edward III then orders Mortimer's death and his mother's imprisonment, and the play ends with him taking the throne. Gaveston (Faustian: exuberant ambition, language)

A Midsummer Night's Dream

Theseus, duke of Athens, is preparing for his marriage to Hippolyta, queen of the Amazons, with a four-day festival of pomp and entertainment. He commissions his Master of the Revels, Philostrate, to find suitable amusements for the occasion. Egeus, an Athenian nobleman, marches into Theseus's court with his daughter, Hermia, and two young men, Demetrius and Lysander. Egeus wishes Hermia to marry Demetrius (who loves Hermia), but Hermia is in love with Lysander and refuses to comply. Egeus asks for the full penalty of law to fall on Hermia's head if she flouts her father's will. Theseus gives Hermia until his wedding to consider her options, warning her that disobeying her father's wishes could result in her being sent to a convent or even executed. Nonetheless, Hermia and Lysander plan to escape Athens the following night and marry in the house of Lysander's aunt, some seven leagues distant from the city. They make their intentions known to Hermia's friend Helena, who was once engaged to Demetrius and still loves him even though he jilted her after meeting Hermia. Hoping to regain his love, Helena tells Demetrius of the elopement that Hermia and Lysander have planned. At the appointed time, Demetrius stalks into the woods after his intended bride and her lover; Helena follows behind him. In these same woods are two very different groups of characters. The first is a band of fairies, including Oberon, the fairy king, and Titania, his queen, who has recently returned from India to bless the marriage of Theseus and Hippolyta. The second is a band of Athenian craftsmen rehearsing a play that they hope to perform for the duke and his bride. Oberon and Titania are at odds over a young Indian prince given to Titania by the prince's mother; the boy is so beautiful that Oberon wishes to make him a knight, but Titania refuses. Seeking revenge, Oberon sends his merry servant, Puck, to acquire a magical flower, the juice of which can be spread over a sleeping person's eyelids to make that person fall in love with the first thing he or she sees upon waking. Puck obtains the flower, and Oberon tells him of his plan to spread its juice on the sleeping Titania's eyelids. Having seen Demetrius act cruelly toward Helena, he orders Puck to spread some of the juice on the eyelids of the young Athenian man. Puck encounters Lysander and Hermia; thinking that Lysander is the Athenian of whom Oberon spoke, Puck afflicts him with the love potion. Lysander happens to see Helena upon awaking and falls deeply in love with her, abandoning Hermia. As the night progresses and Puck attempts to undo his mistake, both Lysander and Demetrius end up in love with Helena, who believes that they are mocking her. Hermia becomes so jealous that she tries to challenge Helena to a fight. Demetrius and Lysander nearly do fight over Helena's love, but Puck confuses them by mimicking their voices, leading them apart until they are lost separately in the forest. When Titania wakes, the first creature she sees is Bottom, the most ridiculous of the Athenian craftsmen, whose head Puck has mockingly transformed into that of an ass. Titania passes a ludicrous interlude doting on the ass-headed weaver. Eventually, Oberon obtains the Indian boy, Puck spreads the love potion on Lysander's eyelids, and by morning all is well. Theseus and Hippolyta discover the sleeping lovers in the forest and take them back to Athens to be married—Demetrius now loves Helena, and Lysander now loves Hermia. After the group wedding, the lovers watch Bottom and his fellow craftsmen perform their play, a fumbling, hilarious version of the story of Pyramus and Thisbe. When the play is completed, the lovers go to bed; the fairies briefly emerge to bless the sleeping couples with a protective charm and then disappear. Only Puck remains, to ask the audience for its forgiveness and approval and to urge it to remember the play as though it had all been a dream.

The Shoemaker's Holiday (themes)

Thomas Dekker, 1599 SOCIAL CLASS: City comedy; The Shoemaker's Holiday is "fascinated with social and political conflict...between artisans and immigrant laborers, between Englishmen and foreigners, between owners and workers"; it is centered around a "social class too long underappreciated"; "Firk...is representative of a restive self-consciousness among workers about whether they enjoy any rights as employees"; he is also the "verbal embodiment of a conflicted attitude toward immigrant workers"; "bourgeois citizens, allied in sympathy and political ties with an idealized monarchy, outlast and outwit the self-interested machinations of the privileged few"; "The war simply exists in the background...Patriotism is a subject on which most people are comically confused." -- The conservative reading of this play is that while it romanticizes the working class, it also laughs at them (Eyre included) and so keeps them safely in their place. It's even a little funny when Simon Eyre adopts a new linguistic style with his new position. LANGUAGE: Simon Eyre, Eyre addresses his compatriots needles rapidly between harsh "put downs" and soaring praise. He usually calls his men "fine" and of the true and Gentle Craft. Early on when he is getting ready, he calls his men "drabs" (sluts), scoundrels, "powder-beef queans," and "fat midriff-swag-belly whores" (4.1-6). Bewilderingly, while Jane is crying about her husband's departure, Eyre tells her: "work, work, work, you bombast-cotton-candle quean, work for your living with a pox to you!" (1.216-217). As the note glosses it, "Eyre's abusive epithet for Jane characterizes her as a slut or wench." GLOBALISM/TRADE: Here, we see how the narrative of the play itself relies heavily on the riches obtained through the contact with the outside world. In fact, the play constantly reaches out to other places overseas. German language and heavily accented English ring throughout London and the war with France frames the entire play: The Shoemaker's Holiday begins and ends by referring to it. I want to talk more about the various ways in which the play gravitates towards other worlds by emphasizing the main stage of the play, London. By representing the foreign within domestic boundaries, the play seems to promote the city of London as a major metropolis of the globe as well as Europe.

The Shoemaker's Holiday

Thomas Dekker, 1599; Rose Oatley (daughter of Sir Roger Oatley, the lord mayor of London) and Roland Lacy (nephew of Sir Hugh Lacy, the earl of Lincoln) are deeply in love. However, acutely aware of class differences between the two young people, Sir Hugh vows to stop the wedding. To avoid any possible courtship, the elder Lacy has his nephew given a command in the army of King Henry V, who is preparing to invade France. But Roland has other ideas. Claiming pressing business in London, he turns his command over to his cousin, takes the disguise of a Dutch shoemaker, Hans Meulter, and signs on as an apprentice with Simon Eyre, a London shoemaker who makes shoes for the king and other notable families. Meanwhile, Rose, confined to her father's house in a London suburb is pining for her love. At the same time Simon is trying, to no avail, to convince officials to allow Ralph Damport, his journeyman who has also been drafted into the war, to stay home with his new bride, Jane. Ralph, resigned to going, gives Jane a farewell gift of a pair of shoes he had made for her. Some time later, and complicating the love affairs even further, Hammon and Warner while hunting deer in the lord mayor's estate meet Rose and her maid, Sybil. Hammon, mistakenly believing Ralph has died in the wars, falls immediately in love with Rose (who also fears her husband is dead), and Warner loses his heart to Sybil. When Hammon confesses his love, Jane dismisses him, declaring that she intends to remain single, but if she ever remarries she will accept his proposal. Back in town, Roland (disguised as Hans) has speculated in an unclaimed ship's valuable cargo, making an enormous profit for his employer, Simon the shoemaker. As a result, Simon is made an alderman; then, affluent and popular, soon advances even further in political rank. However, Sir Hugh has learned from a servant that his nephew Roland is not in France with the army, and he sends the servant to discover his whereabouts, forcing Roland to keep his disguise and try to avoid discovery. Meanwhile, Ralph, wounded but not dead, returns to London. Seeking his wife, he learns that she left the Eyre household soon after he was forced off to war. Crushed, he at first attempts to find her but eventually assumes she is either dead or has left him. Rose, learning of Roland's presence in the city, arranges to see him on the pretext of having him fit her for a pair of shoes. They finally meet each other again, although Roland is dressed as a Dutch shoemaker, and they plan their wedding the next day at St. Faith's Church. Upon hearing this, Sir Hugh gloats, thinking that his nephew will never be able to marry this middle-class girl. However, Sir Roger is furious this time, thinking his daughter is now marrying beneath her class, and now it is he who vows to stop the wedding. Stepping up the confusion and the comedy, Sir Hugh later realizes the Dutch cobbler is his nephew and also vows to stop the wedding, hurrying out to St. Faith's Church. At the shoe shop back in town a servant brings in a pair of shoes and requests that a similar pair be made for another upcoming wedding—this one also in St. Faith's Church and also the next day. The assignment for the wedding shoes falls on Ralph who recognizes the shoes as those he gave Jane when he left for the wars. He also quickly heads for the church, making his own vow to stop this wedding. At the church, Ralph and his fellow shoemakers, armed with cudgels, confront Hammon and Jane, who had recently accepted her husband's death and decided to remarry. Hammon resents the intrusion of the base craftsmen, but Jane is confused and excited by the sudden realization that her husband is not dead. Hammon patronizingly offers Ralph twenty pounds to relinquish his wife, but Ralph, insulted, refuses and takes Jane home. Next, Sir Hugh and Sir Roger arrive, hoping to stop the wedding of Rose and Roland. However, the young couple has outfoxed everybody and been married at another church. In a grand and hilarious finale, Simon Eyre, now the lord mayor of London, gives a breakfast for all London apprentices, and the king pardons Roland and blesses him and Rose, saying that "love respects no blood, / Cares not for difference of birth or state" (21.104-05).

A Woman Killed with Kindness

Thomas Heywood (1603/1607); Anne and Frankford are celebrating their wedding. // The next day, Wendoll arrives with news of the fight. Frankford welcomes him and takes him in. Wendoll is in love with Anne and tries to ignore his feelings. He confesses anyway and kisses her. Nick, the servant, sees and tells Frankford who plans to catch them in the act. F pretends to be leaving. F and Nick sneak home at night and find them in bed. He calls for their two children and scorns her in front of them. He makes her leave to live a part from him in a manor house and never communicate with her family again. On the way there, she swears to never eat or drink again and calls Wendoll a devil. On her deathbed, Frankford arrives and forgives her. She dies and Frankford laments. Subplot: Francis and Charles arrange to go hawking and hunting the day after the wedding. They fight over whose falcoln did better and Charles kills two of F's men. Charles immediately repents his anger. Charles is cleared of all charges but he has lost everything. Shaft on gives Charles 500 pds but only so he can take his house. Shaft makes an offer and when Charles refuses, has him arrested for his debt. Francis sends Susan (Charles's wife) money because he is in love with her. Charles brings Susan to Sir Francis to be his bride and repay the debts. TITLE: "Kind" could mean "of the same type" or "closely related to" (See Hamlet describing his uncle-father: "A little less more than kin, and less than kind"). Alliance: John can find no one of his "kind"; Frankford asks Wendoll to "be a present Frankford in my absence" - Confusion in household Could it refer to Susan being sold by her own brother, and Mistress Frankford's death more or less indirectly caused by her husband? Could it refer to the instability of women's honour and social rank when they depend entirely on their sexual 'purity', which is threatened and preyed upon by their own family or their peers?

The Revenger's Tragedy

Thomas Middleton (1606); ACT ONE: Vindice broods over his fiancee's recent death and his desire for revenge on the lustful Duke for poisoning his beloved nine years before. Vindice's brother Hippolito brings news: Lussurioso, the Duke's heir by his first marriage, has asked him if he can find a procurer to obtain a young virgin he lusts after. The brothers decide that Vindice will undertake this role in disguise, to give an opportunity for their revenge. Meanwhile, Lord Antonio's wife has been raped by the new Duchess's youngest son Junior. He brazenly admits his guilt, even joking about it, but to widespread surprise the Duke suspends the proceedings and defers the court's judgement. The Duchess's other sons, Ambitioso and Supervacuo, whisper a promise to have him freed; the Duchess vows to be unfaithful to the Duke. Spurio, the Duke's bastard son, agrees to be her lover but when alone, declares he hates her and her sons as intensely as he hates the Duke and Lussurioso. Vindice, disguised as "Piato," is accepted by Lussurioso, who tells him that the virgin he desires is Hippolito's sister, Castiza; and he predicts her mother will accept a bribe and be a 'bawd to her own daughter'. Vindice, alone, vows to kill Lussurioso, but decides meanwhile to stay in disguise and put his mother and sister to the test by tempting them. Antonio's wife commits suicide; Antonio displays her dead body to fellow mourners and Hippolito swears all those present to revenge her death. ACT TWO: Vindice, disguised as "Piato," tests the virtue of his sister and mother. Castiza proves resolute but his mother yields to an offer of gold. Vindice gives Lussurioso the false news that Castiza's resistance to his advance is crumbling. Vindice deceptively warns him that Spurio is bedding the Duchess. Angered, Lussurioso rushes off to find Spurio and bursts into the ducal bedchamber, only to find his father lawfully in bed with the Duchess. Lussurioso is arrested for attempting treason; in the excitement, Hippolito and Vindice discreetly withdraw. ACT III: Ambitioso and Supervacuo set off directly to the prison to order the instant execution of Lussurioso. Before they arrive however (and unknown to them) the Duke's countermanding order is obeyed and Lussurioso is freed. Ambitioso and Supervacuo arrive at the prison and present the Duke's first warrant to execute, in their words, "our brother the duke's son." The guards misinterpret these words, taking instead the youngest son out to instant execution. Meanwhile, Vindice is hired again as a pander - this time by the Duke himself. His plan is to procure the Duke an unusual lady - a richly clothed effigy, her head, the skull of Vindice's beloved, is covered with poison. The meeting is in a dark and secret place near where the Duchess has arranged a meeting with Spurio. The Duke is poisoned by kissing the supposed lady and is subsequently stabbed by Vindice after being forced to watch the Duchess betray him with Spurio. Ambitioso and Supervacuo, still confident that Lussurioso has been executed, both look forward to succeeding the throne in his place. A freshly severed head is brought in from prison. Assuming it is Lussurioso's, they are gloating over it when Lussurioso himself arrives, alive. They realize to their dismay that the head is the youngest son's. Vindice gets his new mission - to kill "Piato". Hippolito and Vindice take the corpse of the Duke and dress it in "Piato's" clothes, so when the corpse is found it will be assumed that "Piato" murdered the Duke then switched clothes with him to escape. Vindice and Hippolito confront Gratiana for her earlier willingness to prostitute Castiza bringing her to repentance. ACT V: The scheme with the Duke's corpse is successful and the Duke's death becomes public knowledge. Vindice and Hippolito lead a group of conspirators which, shortly after the installation of Lussurioso as Duke, kills the new Duke and his supporters. A second group of murderers including Supervacuo, Ambitioso, and Spurio then arrives; they discover their intended victims already dead, and then turn on and kill each other. The dying Lussurioso is unable to expose Vindice's treacheries to Lord Antonio. Exhilarated by his success and revenge, Vindice confides in Antonio that he and his brother murdered the old Duke. Antonio, appalled, condemns them to execution. Vindice, in a final speech, accepts his death.

The Roaring Girl

Thomas Middleton and Thomas Dekker (c. 1607-1610); The Roaring Girl is a fictionalized dramatization of the life of Mary Frith, known as "Moll Cutpurse", a woman who had gained a reputation as a virago in the early 17th century. (The term "roaring girl" was adapted from the slang term "roaring boy", which was applied to a young man who caroused publicly, brawled, and committed petty crimes.) We are invited not to judge her with any preconceived idea and let her speak for herself instead ("Thus her character lies./Yet what needs characters, when to give a guess/ Is better than the person to express" Prologue, l. 26-8) yet Moll is not introduced in person until Act II. Her delayed entrance allows us to witness the gap between the way she is perceived ("a scurvy woman", I. 2, l. 126; "a monster", I. 2, l. 136, a "bona-roba" (*****), II. 1, l. 200) and who she really is (an honourable, entertaining, highly sympathetic person). Though the lines "'Tis woman more than man,/ Man more than woman, and -which to none can hap-/ The sun gives her two shadows to one shape" (I. 2, l. 131-3) are spoken with contempt and condescension by Sir Alexander, it is undeniable that gender fluidity is part of Moll's character. Moll navigates freely between presenting as woman or presenting as a man, defending women's honour (and hers) against Laxton one moment and singing a bawdy song about ale and *****s with Tearcat the next. She breaks all gender conventions, instead being identified and seemingly identfying as "both and neither". -- Though she obviously knows how to navigate the underworld and purposefully stays in the margins of society, she is simultaneously detached from the world of thugs and cutthroats. She is morally repulsed by acts of delinquency such as thieving or prostitution, and in fact actively fights against them. Her very identity as "Moll the Cutpurse" is fabricated, as she never actually stole anything, but merely observed how pickpockets and thieves operated, like an infiltrated detective. // Moll is generally liked by the characters and allowed a sort of freedom in her male costume. In fact, she seems to be more sexually alluring to the various men that way. This is further pointed out by Sebastian's comment about Mary and how he prefers kissing her as a boy to kissing her as a girl. Although Sebastian's father dislikes it, Moll's crossdressing doesn't seem to be something that would prevent her from being eligible for marriage. PLOT: Mary Fitz-Allard and Sebastian are in love, but their fathers will never permit the union, as Sir Alexander (Sebastian's father) demands too large a dowry. Sebastian then pretends to be in love with Moll Cutpurse so that his father will see marriage to Mary as a preferable alternative. Sir Alexander calls the spy TRAPDOOR to find a way to destroy Moll. ((A scene in the street. Various gallants are talking to the shopkeepers and flirting with their wives. The gallant Laxton flirts with Mistress Gallipot in the tobacco-shop. He does not actually like her much, but is keeping her on a string in order to get money from her to take other girls out. Jack Dapper, a young profligate, enters to buy a feather to show off with.)) Moll enters and Laxton takes a fancy to her, assuming that because she dresses as a man, she is morally loose. Laxton courts Moll; she agrees to meet him at Gray's Inn Fields at 3 PM. Trapdoor then presents himself to Moll and offers to be her servant. She is dubious but agrees to meet him in Gray's Inn Fields a bit after 3 PM. // With Sebastian's father spying on them, Sebastian tries to woo Moll but she is chaste and will never marry. Sir A is more determined to shame Moll. Sebastian decides that he must confess his plan to her in hopes that he will get her to help him and Mary. // Laxton enters for his rendezvous with Moll. She appears dressed as a man; he goes towards her but she challenges him to a fight: he has impugned her honor, assuming that all women are *****s. He is wrong to assume so—and also wrong to treat whoring lightly, as it is a sin that many good women are forced to, for lack of an alternative. They fight and she wounds him; he retreats and exits, shocked. // Trapdoor tells Sir Alexander what he has learned: Sebastian and Moll plan to meet at 3 o'clock in his (Sir Alexander's) chamber to have sex. They decide to trap her. Meanwhile, Sir Davy Dapper talks to Sir Alexander about his son, Jack, who is still wild and profligate, whoring, drinking, and gambling. Sir Davy has decided to teach his son a lesson: he will arrange to have Jack arrested, trusting a few days in the counter (the debtor's prison) to bring him to his senses. The sergeants enter and Sir Davy (pretending not to be Jack's father) gives them their instructions. Jack and his servant Gull enter, and are about to be set on by the sergeants; but Moll, who has been watching, warns him away. Jack escapes, and Moll mocks the police, who can do nothing.// Sir Alexander and Trapdoor await Moll and Sebastian. Sir Alexander lays out diamonds and gold in the hope that Moll will try to steal them. Sebastian and Moll enter with Mary Fitz-Allard (who is disguised as a page). Moll, in on the plan, aims to help them. // Sir Alexander hears that his son and Moll have fled to get married. Sir Guy, Mary's father, gently mocks Sir Alexander, saying it is his fault for opposing the match with Mary. Sir Guy then offers to wager all his lands, against half of Sir Alexander's, that Sebastian and Moll will not wed. Sir Alexander takes the bet, declaring that anyone in the world but Moll would make a welcome daughter-in-law. A servant announces Sebastian and his bride; he enters, hand in hand with Moll. Sir Alexander is horrified, but demands Sir Guy's lands. The trick is then revealed: Mary is brought in as Sebastian's bride. Sir Alexander, vastly relieved, apologizes to both Mary and her father, and happily grants half his lands to the happy couple. Moll, asked when she will marry, says she never will.

The Widow Ranter (Council/Governance)

Upstarts: Timerous, Whimsey, Whiff, and Boomer (act calculatingly and through selfish political deceit) Friendly in exposition: "we are Ruled by a Councill, some of which have been perhaps transported Criminals, who having Acquired great Estates are now become your Honour, and Right Worshipfull, and Possess all Places of Authority; there are amongst 'em some honest Gentlemen who now begin to take upon 'em, and Manage Affairs as they ought to be." (I.1.105-111) Burlesque Court Scene: the first action of the council is to vote itself a larger bowl of punch to consume during sessions. Quite obviously, the council's value system is impregnated with economic motives rather than heroic values, and it has little to set against the threats with which the Jamestown community is faced: aggressors from without, a rebel from within, and its own precarious social mix in which established hierarchies have become unstable. -- Impoverished gentlemen have come to Virginia to "begin the World withal" (WR: I.1.46), thus translating the figure of the rake, as Todd notes, from Behn's 1670s "wandering cavaliers" into "economic migrants, seeking solvency rather than empire"

Chastity (DRAMA)

WOMAN KILLED: "Oh, women, women, you that yet have kept your holy matrimonial vow unstain'd, Make me your instance; when you tread awry, your sins, like mine, will on your conscience lie." (Anne Frankford) MARIAM: The chorus recommends that a woman should renounce her "power as well as will/ 'Tis not so glorious for her to be free/ As by her proper self restrained to be'" (l. 3) // Women are discouraged from "giv[ing]/ A private word to any second ear" (l. 15), as merely be seen talking with a man might "blot/ And wound her honour" (l. 17-8). The chorus takes it one step further (yes, it's possible) by instructing women to reserve their thoughts to their husbands ("Or give they but their body, not their mind,/ Reserving that, though best, for others' prey?/ No, sure, their thoughts no more can be their own,/ And therefore should to none but one be known", l. 21-4

Richard III

William Shakespeare (1593ish); history/tragedy After a long civil war between the royal family of York and the royal family of Lancaster, England enjoys a period of peace under King Edward IV and the victorious Yorks. But Edward's younger brother, RICHARD, resents Edward's power and the happiness of those around him. Malicious, power-hungry, and bitter about his physical deformity, Richard begins to aspire secretly to the throne—and decides to kill anyone he has to in order to become king. Using his intelligence and his skills of deception and political manipulation, Richard begins his campaign for the throne. He manipulates a noblewoman, LADY ANNE, into marrying him—even though she knows that he murdered her first husband. He has his own older brother, Clarence, executed, and shifts the burden of guilt onto his sick older brother King Edward in order to accelerate Edward's illness and death. ((After King Edward dies, Richard becomes lord protector of England—the figure in charge until the elder of Edward's two sons grows up.)) Next Richard kills the court noblemen who are loyal to the princes, most notably Lord Hastings, the lord chamberlain of England. He then has the boys' relatives on their mother's side—the powerful kinsmen of Edward's wife, Queen Elizabeth—arrested and executed. ((With Elizabeth and the princes now unprotected, Richard has his political allies, particularly his right-hand man, Lord Buckingham, campaign to have Richard crowned king. Richard then imprisons the young princes in the Tower and, in his bloodiest move yet, sends hired murderers to kill both children.)) By this time, Richard's reign of terror has caused the common people of England to fear and loathe him, and he has alienated nearly all the noblemen of the court—even the power-hungry Buckingham. When rumors begin to circulate about a challenger to the throne who is gathering forces in France, noblemen defect in droves to join his forces. The challenger is the earl of Richmond (who will be King Henry VII), a descendant of a secondary arm of the Lancaster family, and England is ready to welcome him. Richard, in the meantime, tries to consolidate his power. He has his wife, Queen Anne, murdered, so that he can marry young Elizabeth, the daughter of the former Queen Elizabeth and the dead King Edward. Though young Elizabeth is his niece, the alliance would secure his claim to the throne. Nevertheless, Richard has begun to lose control of events, and Queen Elizabeth manages to forestall him. Meanwhile, she secretly promises to marry young Elizabeth to Richmond. Richmond finally invades England. The night before the battle that will decide everything, Richard has a terrible dream in which the ghosts of all the people he has murdered appear and curse him, telling him that he will die the next day. In the battle on the following morning, Richard is killed, and Richmond is crowned King Henry VII. Promising a new era of peace for England, the new king is betrothed to young Elizabeth in order to unite the warring houses of Lancaster and York.

Arden of Faversham (anonymous, 1592) Scenes 1 and 2

[Scene 1] As Arden of Faversham begins, Thomas Arden is talking with his friend, Franklin. Franklin tells him that the Lord of Somerset has given Arden all the lands that were formerly owned by the Abbey of Faversham. But this does not lift Arden's melancholy mood. He is grief-stricken because his wife is having an affair with Mosby, whom he contemptuously refers to as a "botcher," a tailor who does repairs. Arden is jealous and vows that Mosby must die. Franklin advises him to treat his wife gently and suggests that Arden and he spend some time in London. When Arden's wife enters, Arden tells her he heard her speak Mosby's name in her sleep. Alice makes light of it, saying that was probably because they had been talking about Mosby the previous evening. When Arden says he is going to London for a month, Alice pretends to be distressed, saying she cannot live unless he returns within a day or two. After Arden and Franklin exit, Alice soliloquizes that she is glad her husband is going to London, because she is in love with Mosby. --- Arden's servant, Michael, enters. At Alice's request, he has sworn to kill Arden within a week. In exchange, Alice has promised him the hand of Susan, Mosby's sister. Michael says he has heard that Susan has been promised to a painter, Clarke, but Alice tells him this is not so. --- Mosby enters and Michael exits. He speaks roughly to Alice, and she tells him to go away. He complains about the fickleness of women, but they are soon reconciled. Mosby tells her he knows a painter who can paint a picture with poisoned oils that will kill anyone who looks at it. The painter, Clarke, enters, and says he will paint such a picture in exchange for Susan's hand in marriage. Mosby agrees. After Mosby tells Clarke that he and Alice do not like the idea of the poisoned picture, Clarke gives them a poison to put in Arden's drink. --- Arden and Franklin enter, and Arden asks Mosby why he is in his wife's company. He insults him and plucks Mosby's sword away from him, saying that only gentlemen are allowed to wear one. Mosby asks to be judged by what he is now rather than what he formerly was. Mosby admits he once loved Alice but no longer does. He comes to the house only because his sister is Alice's maid. Arden accepts this explanation and offers his friendship. Franklin suggests that Mosby should stay away from Arden's house, but Arden says that he should come more often so that everyone may see that he trusts his wife. Alice demands that he write to her every day from London or she will die of sorrow. --- After Arden exits, Alice and Mosby complain about the ineffective poison. Mosby says he cannot continue to love her, since he made an oath to Arden that he would not. Alice protests, but Mosby insists that as long as Arden lives, he will not break his oath. Alice says they will have her husband murdered in the streets of London. Greene enters and Mosby leaves. Greene is angry that his land has been transferred to Arden. He claims Arden has wronged him and vows revenge. Alice pretends to him that Arden is a bad husband, and she lives in fear of him. Greene takes the bait and is even angrier at Arden. Alice gives him ten pounds to hire someone to kill her husband, promising twenty more when Arden is dead. Greene says he will go immediately to London to arrange for Arden's murder. --- After Greene exits, Mosby and Clarke enter. Alice encourages Clarke to woo Susan, telling him that she no longer thinks about Michael. Alice then tells Mosby about what happened in her encounter with Greene. Mosby is concerned that Alice is telling too many people about their plans. Clarke returns, and Mosby asks one favor before he will consent to allowing his sister to marry Clarke. He asks the painter to produce a poisoned crucifix. Clarke agrees to do so within ten days. [Scene 2] Greene gives Bradshaw, a gold-smith, a letter from Alice and hires Will and his companion Shakebag to murder Arden.

Arden of Faversham (anonymous, 1592) - Scenes 3-8

[Scene 3] Michael reads a letter he has written to Susan, urging her to return his affection. Arden and Franklin overhear him. Arden is angry that Michael wants to marry Mosby's sister and says he will dismiss her from his service when he returns home. Greene points out Arden to the hired murderers but tells them to spare Michael. An apprentice at a bookstall shuts the stall and accidentally hits Black Will on the head with the window. In the confusion that follows, Arden escapes, unaware of the plot on his life. Greene returns and wants to know why Arden has not been killed. Will and Shakebag explain what happened and vow to find another opportunity to carry out the murder. Michael enters and admits to Black Will he has vowed to kill his master to please Mosby and win Susan's hand in marriage. But Will says that he, Will, is the man who will do the deed. Michael promises to leave the doors of Arden's house in Aldersgate unlocked, but after the others leave, he reveals how troubled he is about betraying his master. But he knows that if he should default on his promise, Will and Shakebag will kill him. [Scene 4] Arden pours out his grief about his unfaithful wife to Franklin, and Franklin tries to comfort him. After Arden and Franklin go to bed, Michael gives expression to his conflicting emotions. He cries out, and Franklin and Arden, roused by the noise, come to see what is wrong. Michael explains he was having a nightmare. Arden discovers the unlocked doors and rebukes Michael for his negligence. [Scene 5 and 6] Black Will and Shakebag arrive at Arden's house, only to find the doors locked. They presume Michael has betrayed them and vow to punish him for it. They will watch for him in the morning and carry out their revenge. // Arden tells Franklin that he had a dream in which he was hunted like a deer. He woke up trembling. Franklin tries to reassure him that he was picking up on Michael's fear, but Arden replies that often his dreams come true. They agree to dine together then return to Faversham that evening. [Scene 7] Shakebag and Black Will confront Michael, who swears he left the doors unlocked and it was Franklin who locked them. He tells the assassins they may find Arden at Rainham Down, a village in Kent. They agree to meet later at the Salutation inn, where they will concoct a murder plan.

Widow Ranter Love Triangle

he manages to perform the theatrical rôle of the hero admirably, especially as part of a love triangle with the Indian royal couple that exposes the three characters to the conflict between honour and love. The two men in this triangle embody military virtues and sovereignty (even if the Indian King has already been largely deprived of his power by colonial incursion), and they demonstrate their bravery in war during the onstage fights of Act IV. The personal conflict between the Indian King and Bacon over the Indian Queen culminates in a man-to-man fight at whose end Bacon mourns for his noble opponent: "He's gone - and now like Caesar I cou'd weep over the Hero I my self destroy'd" (IV.2.62-63).