Thomas Rawlins’ ‘The Rebellion’

 

Edited by Amy Lockwood

February 2006

 

Contents

 

Introduction

 

2 - 14

Biography of Thomas Rawlins

 

2

Date of the Play and Brief Performance History

 

3

Contemporary Topical Issues

  1. The Political Climate in England and the Inevitability of Civil War
  2. Puritanical England

 


4
5

Characterisation and Themes

  1. Machvile, King Philip and Leadership
  2. What it Means to Be Female in The Rebellion
  3. What It Meant To Be A Tailor In Elizabethan and Jacobean England

 


6
7
11

Parallels with Other Literary Works and Renaissance Ideology  

 

13

Editorial Techniques / Decisions and Problems experienced

 

16

The Rebellion

 

17

Glossary / Notes to the Text  

 

81

Bibliography

Lists all Texts read and Websites visited whilst preparing this edition of The Rebellion

90

 




 



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Introduction

 

Biography of Thomas Rawlins

 

Little is known of Thomas Rawlins. The online Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (DNB) estimates that Rawlins was born around 1620 in the south of England and we know he was a relation of Robert Ducie of Aston, to whom he dedicated The Rebellion when the play was published in 1640.  We know that Rawlins married Dorothea Narbona, probably after the Civil War in England finished. Rawlins moved to France after the English Civil War finished, before returning to England when the monarchy was restored, and he produced a medal for the Coronation of Charles II in 1660. Rawlins died, most likely in London, in 1670.

 

Rawlins’ main career throughout his life seems to be as an engraver.  The Oxford DNB states that Rawlins was an apprentice goldsmith and gem-engraver in London before working at the Royal Mint under Nicholas Briot, a renowned French engraver and medallist. The Mint was moved to Oxford when the English Civil War commenced in 1643 and Rawlins was appointed graver of seals, stamps and medals. Rawlins was responsible for the 1644 ‘Celebrated Oxford Crown’, a coin which showed King Charles I riding across the hills that overlooked the city of Oxford, and consequently was appointed Chief Engraver. During the Civil War Rawlins was responsible for the production of many medals, most notably the Gold Shrewsbury Medal commissioned on January 23rd 1643 and the ‘Peace or War’ medal in July 1643, and as noted above, later the Coronation Medal for Charles II.

 

The Rebellion was the only play written by Rawlins to be performed during his lifetime and it is not known when his two other plays – Tom Essence and The Modish Wife – were published, though both were performed in the late 1670’s. Despite his relatively short-lived and un-noteworthy literary career Rawlins was a member of the Brome Circle along with Thomas Nabbes, John Tatham, Robert Chamberlain, Richard Brome and Humphrey Mill. In an article for Notes and Queries, Matthew Steggle details how Tatham contributed verses to Rawlins who in turn wrote verses for Chamberlain, as well as for Nathaniel Richard’s play Tragedy of Messalina. Steggle also details how Martin Butler identifies the Brome Circle as being “politically aware, and bound together by an interest in the moralizing possibilities of the popular tradition and a sense of opposition to frivolous courtly values”[1].

 

Therefore whilst The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography suggests that the title The Rebellion was coincidently prophetic of the English Civil War, Rawlins’ involvement with the Brome Circle suggests that the play could instead have been a calculated prediction of what the of what the tumultuous political and social atmosphere of the early seventeenth century in England would lead to.  For further details please see ‘Contemporary Topical Issues’.

 

The Brome Circle’s “opposition to frivolous courtly values” suggests that the frequent criticism of the Colonels’ foppish and courtly behaviour in The Rebellion can be seen as true satirical commentary rather than Rawlins merely adhering to contemporary popular themes and motifs

 

 

 

 

 

 

Date of the Play and Brief Performance History

 

The Rebellion was performed between 1637 and 1639 by the King’s Revels (who also performed plays by Rawlins’ close friends Richards and Brome) at Salisbury Court Theatre. Salisbury Court Theatre replaced the popular Whitefriars playhouse and was a private, purpose-built playhouse built by Richard Gunnell and William Blagrove in 1629. The Theatre was destroyed by soldiers during the Civil War but was one of the first playhouses to open following the 1660 restoration of the English Monarchy. Indeed Samuel Pepys records visiting Salisbury Court Theatre in his diary in 1661.

 

Playhouses offered a greater degree of comfort than the open-air inn-yards and amphitheatres (based on the Roman Coliseum), and as playhouses were roofed performances could be put on throughout the year and in the evenings. Consequently admittance to private indoor theatres was much more expensive, costing between 2 and 26d a performance, compared to public theatres where a performance could be watched for between 1 – 3d. The greater cost meant that the majority of the working class were prohibited from attending playhouse performances. At Salisbury Court Theatre, as at other playhouses, prices were highest for the more comfortable seats and those that allowed for a better view of the performance.

It is impossible to underestimate the impact that playhouses wrought on early modern theatre. The acoustics of indoor theatres lent themselves to music and songs and more playwrights began to include them in their plays, as does Rawlins in Act IV Scene 5 of The Rebellion. For the first time scenery and sumptuous costumes were used, many of which were sold to acting troupes by the English aristocracy. The focus of plays was now the actors’ speeches rather than loud, crass sound effects. Plays could be more powerful, passionate, and satirical – more thought provoking perhaps? It was only with the introduction of playhouses that Renaissance theatre began to resemble what we understand by the term ‘theatre’ in the twenty-first century.

 

Indeed it was not until playhouses were used for performances that intervals were introduced - playhouses were lit by candles and when these burnt down there had to be a way for them to be replaced without the performance being interrupted. During the interval food and drink were served to keep the audience entertained, as it still is today. Even now if you go to an open-air production it is unlikely there will be a break in the performance but every modern audience member would be surprised if there was not an interval during a theatre performance.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Contemporary Topical Issues

i) The Political Climate in England and the Civil War

 

Firstly I am aware that the English Civil War did not begin until October 1642 and that this is five years after the first performance of Rawlins’ The Rebellion., but wars do not happen overnight. In this section I hope to show that events from James I’s reign contributed to the civil war that tore England apart for seven years. Thomas Rawlins was a member of the politically conscious Brome Circle – it can be no coincidence that he wrote a play about a powerful man trying to overthrow a King who in many ways, as I will show, resembles both James I and Charles I, such a short time before his own homeland was caught up in a rebellion.

 

The status of the monarchy in England began to decline during the reign of James I, Elizabeth’s heir. James I strongly believed in the idea of ‘Divine Right’. This is where the King is God’s representative on Earth: he is born into the position and his position and power cannot be questioned, even by parliament. James I was constantly in need of money and in 1611 when Parliament told him that he could not collect further custom duties he suspended Parliament, and it was not reconvened until 1621. During this decade James I’s friends helped rule the country and were rewarded with land and titles. This angered Members of Parliament as they believed it was their right to run England. 

When James I recalled Parliament in 1621 it was to discuss the marriage between his son, Charles, and the Spanish princess. Parliament ferociously stressed their displeasure about the proposed alliance between Protestant England and Catholic Spain, who only thirty years previously had tried to attack England. The relationship between King and parliament was irreversibly damaged, even though the marriage never took place.

When Charles became King in 1625 he proved to be even more conceited and arrogant than his father. As a firm believer in the ‘Divine Right’ of Kings he blamed Parliament members entirely for their t
umultuous relationship with James I. in 1629 Charles I had the doors of Westminster locked with chains and padlocks and what is now known as the ‘Eleven Years Tyranny’ ensued. During this time Charles’ relationship with Parliament, the old aristocracy, some members of the newly rich and, to an extent, even with the lower classes declined.

Charles reconvened Parliament in 1640 when he needed money after angering the Scots to such an extent they invaded England. Parliament agreed to give Charles the money if the Earl of Stafford, one of his advisors, was executed and if Charles disbanded the Court of Star Chamber, which he had replaced Parliament with in 1629. Charles agreed but just two years later, on 4 January 1642, no longer able to tolerate having to answer to Parliament, Charles raised 300 soldiers to arrest his more vociferous critics in Parliament. The men were forewarned and managed to escape but it was now evident that Charles and the English Parliament could no longer rule side by side. Civil War was inevitable.     

 

In light of the above it is possible to see The Rebellion as Rawlins’ predicting the outcome of the prevailing social and political unrest. The above shows that from 1611 England was ultimately a divided country. Increasing industrialisation, urbanisation, over-crowding and unemployment inevitably led to desire for change and Charles I represented everything that was conservative and was blind to the need for change. Please see Characterisation and Themes for further details.



ii) Puritanical England

 

As any reader of Renaissance Literature will be aware England had been caught up in religious turmoil since Henry VIII’s reign. By the 1600’s an extreme form of Protestantism had emerged – Puritanism – which advocated a simple, un-extravagant lifestyle. Giovanno makes reference to this in I.2.158-9 when he refers to kneeling as a ‘superstitious rite’. As explained in the glossary, in the latter half of the sixteenth century Puritans preached against kneeling at the altar because it was a Conformist practices.

In Act 3 Scene 1 the Old Tailor refers to ‘sinful actors’ (line 68) which evidently is highly ironic seeing as it is an actor saying it to a playhouse full of regular theatregoers. Rawlins was evidently mocking the Puritans who campaigned to have all theatres shut. However, as explained above, Salisbury Court was closed in 1648 and, along with all theatres, stayed closed during Cromwell’s reign. It was until the Restoration and Charles II’s ascension to the throne that theatres and other public entertainments reopened. As I will show later tailors were derided from the Elizabethan era but even more so during Cromwell’s reign when all extravagances including fine clothes were viewed with suspicion and contempt.

As a playwright Rawlins obviously had little sympathy with Puritanical ideologies but in light of the above it is with little wonder that Rawlins fled to France after Cromwell – a Puritan – won the Civil War. Rawlins was not an established playwright but he had put himself in a difficult – and indeed dangerous – position by criticising what came to be the dominant political and religious force in England for eleven years and he had also worked for the Royal Mint before and during the War. Rawlins could have been seen as a very dangerous man.        

 



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Characterisation and Themes

 

This section of the introduction considers the themes and ideas that Rawlins explores in The Rebellion; what it does not do is provide you with the answers. I will explore the major aspects of the play and hopefully explain any difficult ideas but my main aim is to make the reader aware of the political and theoretical ideas that exist in The Rebellion and hopefully encourage further thought and perhaps study. In this section I also examine the main characters of the play and the ways in which Rawlins employs them to develop the main ideas.

 

i) Machvile, King Philip and Leadership

 

The main action of the play revolves around Machvile’s plotting and Rawlins uses this to explore the idea of power and leadership. To me Machvile is the most powerful, complex and interesting of the characters by far. He is the only character who speaks almost constantly in perfect iambic pentameter, which makes him stand out immediately from the other characters. Not since Shakespeare’s Don John in Much Ado About Nothing have we seen a character full of such undiluted hatred make speeches full of such venom. Due to the spelling of the name it is obvious that Rawlins wanted his readers / the audience to make an immediate connection between The Rebellion’s main villain and Machiavelli, and therefore corrupt politics and ideology.  Despite some modern critics, such as David Fry, who propagate the idea that Machiavelli was actually a philosophical man with advanced political ideas (for example in Discourses on the First Ten Books of Titus Livius Machiavelli seems to advocate republicanism) Machiavelli is still associated with corrupt, totalitarian politics as he was in Renaissance England. Much of the drama produced in this period featured a Machiavellian villain, for example Mortimer Junior in Marlowe’s Edward II and Edmund in King Lear by William Shakespeare.

 

As noted above in the biographical section of the introduction, Rawlins worked for the Royal Mint before and during the English Civil War, and fled to France when England became a republic in 1649. Can one therefore presume then that Rawlins’ “opposition to … courtly values” did not extend to an opposition of hereditary rule? In The Rebellion the King is enraged when he is referred to by his Christian name rather than his title: “Philip? Traitor, why not King? I am so.” (V.3.27). Yes, Philip is the King and, even by today’s social standards, would expect to be referred to as such. Yet later in the scene when he asks the (rhetorical) question “I’st not my right? Was not I heir to Spain?” (V.3.170) it shows that the true reason for the King’s anger was that Machvile, or indeed anyone, should dare to challenge him or his rule.

 

Philip sees his kingship as a ‘divine right’, which as I showed earlier was an idea propagated by both James I and Charles I. The idea of ‘Divine Right’ suggested that Kings were God’s representatives on Earth and when King Philip refers to his crown as a “balsam” (V.3.169), a flowering plant, the reader is reminded of the crown of thorns that Jesus wore whilst on the crucifix. This in turn emphasises the (supposed) link between God and Royalty.  This idea was prevalent in England at this time and explains why Machvile and his co-conspirators all had to perish in The Rebellion – they were going against the natural order: in plotting against the King they were plotting against God.


In my opinion it is impossible to see Philip as anything but as a bad King. Spain is under attack from France, an army massively superior in terms of skill, position and number, but he is absent throughout the majority of the play. The King does not appear until Act Four Scene 5 when he is talking to the Old Tailor, Evadne and Aurelia and neither of the ladies are aware of the identity of the person they are speaking to. Yes, one would not expect to see the King with a tailor but their complete oblivion suggests that Philip is not a public figure, which during war, if not at any other time, he should be.

 

One could argue that Philip is away fighting during the early scenes of the play but this is never clarified. Even if this is the case, Philip leaves his country under the rule of an ineffective Governor who is easily persuaded by Machvile that the honourable Antonio is plotting against him, which suggests a gullibility and weakness of character, not characteristics one associates with a leader! When the Governor is killed, Machvile is named as his successor, as ordered by the King. One therefore has to question how a King can be so oblivious to the true characters of the people he has not only surrounded himself with, but put in positions of immense power. If Machvile represents Machiavellian politics and the corruption and treachery associated with it, then I have to argue that Philip represents all that is wrong with hereditary rule – he is an incompetent ruler, unaware of plots against him and his county and even when he witnesses Machvile’s plotting in the final scene of the play it is as if he still does not understand what he is saying. Is this because Philip is shocked that someone should challenge his rule, which suggests a level off arrogance, or rather, does it suggest a slowness of wit in Philip? Both are negative characteristics, especially in a King, but despite his failings Philip’s position is affirmed at the end of the play, unquestioned by the characters and therefore arguably by Rawlins.

 

ii) What it Means to Be Female in The Rebellion

Another theme explored in The Rebellion, is the idea of female power and sexuality, developed through the characters Evadne, Aurelia, Auristella and Philippa. I wish to explore each character individually and how Rawlins develops this theme though them before commenting on female roles in the play overall.

 

Auristella is the wife of Machvile, the play’s main villain, and there are clear parallels between their characters; Machvile says “our souls are twins” (III.2.24) and it is this idea that I wish to comment on. Auristella’s violent death can be seen as the obvious consequence of her involvement with the plot against the King; a justified punishment for violating the natural order. However, in light of the above quote, I think it is possible to see Auristella’s murder as the death sentence for being too similar to Machvile, that is, too masculine. Auristella’s ambition to be Queen is so extensive that she would kill her own family (III.2.16-23) and her speeches eloquent and intelligent. These are all characteristics that would have been associated with masculinity in the Renaissance. The best way I can explain this idea is to comment on Shakespeare’s treatment of Lady Macbeth. Lady Macbeth prompts her husband to commit murder by questioning his masculinity by saying he lacks determination and the ability to commit violent acts. She says if she were ‘unsexed’, i.e. a man, she would have no difficulty in killing Duncan. Lady Macbeth can be seen to straddle traditional gender roles – she has the ambition but not the ability to carry out actual violence like a man; going insane can be seen as being her punishment. Lady Macbeth is seen by many critics as the most vile and frightening of Shakespeare’s female characters and I believe this is because of her masculine characteristics.  Auristella goes against the natural order not only by plotting against Philip, but also by trying to transgress from her ordained gender role, and it for this that she has to be punished.

 

This is also true for Philippa. Whilst Auristella’s soul i.e. her nature, is like Machvile’s, Phillipa is Raymond’s “twin of war” (I.3.6) – Philippa and her husband are alike in war i.e. the actual committing of violence.  Philippa is constantly compared to warriors but initially always with a reference to her femininity; she is an Amazon, a Governess of Arms, a female Bradamante. Philippa is actively involved in the fighting and does kill a soldier in the course of the play (II.4.103-4).  I think it noteworthy that it is at this point that the Spanish Colonels refer to her “masculine spirit” (II.4.75) – by committing actual violence she has crossed firmly over to the male world and this is why she is punished. Philippa is poisoned and also loses her sanity; is this a dual punishment because she not only thinks like a man but acts like a man – she is ambitious and she acts on her ambition? One would expect the poison Philippa is given to have purely physical effects rather than affect her mental wellbeing as well.  Philippa’s insanity can also be seen as the result of the guilt she feels, as is the case with Lady Macbeth.  Philippa may have entered the masculine world but her female psyche cannot deal with her male actions. Philippa punishes herself (i.e. through losing her sanity through guilt) and is punished by society because she is too masculine for the Renaissance world (i.e. by being murdered).

 

Whilst Lady Macbeth and Auristella straddle the gender spheres – they may think like men but they ultimately remain ‘female’. With Philippa however Rawlins explores the idea of gender roles further. Philippa becomes ‘male’, and embodies all the ambition, violence and cruelty one can associate with it. Of course Philippa is punished for this so Rawlins can be seen as supporting the status quo, but I think he should be applauded for his demonstration of Philippa. Women were always seen to act on an emotional rather than logical level. Whilst Philippa is by no means a traditionally sympathetically character, Rawlins presents us with a female character who has male characteristics, who is a successful – indeed brilliant – soldier, who is logical, brave, skilful and, when engaged in combat, acts honourably.   

 

Aurelia may be the most minor of the female characters but I find her rather interesting. Aurelia saves Antonio, the play’s hero, twice; initially in Act Three Scene 3 when she saves him, literally, from Death, and then again in Act 4 Scene 3 when she helps him escape from Filford Mill, where he was to be executed. Aurelia loves Antonio because of his honourable reputation which she has learned of from her brother. Antonio loves her because he believes her to be an angel who has saved him. Their love is the most pure of all the relationships in the play but yet both characters are ultimately punished. Antonio dies and Rawlins uses Christian reasoning to justify Antonio’s death: “Blood/ Must have blood; so speaks the law of Heaven” (V.3.144-5) and Aurelia is ordered join a convent and spend her life in “religious prayer” (V.3.205). Aurelia is seen to be honourable and dutiful when she readily agrees saying it was “a fault/ To break the bonds of duty and law” (V.3.206-7) by helping Antonio escape from the Mill. I think it interesting to note that the word duty comes before law. Antonio’s death was ordered by Machvile, the acting Governor of Spain, yet Aurelia acknowledges her duty to her father first. In Renaissance literature the private (domestic) sphere was the female one, whilst men belonged in the public sphere of politics, war and, for the lower classes, employment. Aurelia betrays her father by not killing Antonio but, like Machvile and the other conspirators, she has also betrayed the natural order; she entered the public world of politics and violence and, like Philippa and Auristella, ultimately has to be punished for it. 

 

At this point I wish briefly to look at how religion is portrayed in The Rebellion, where there are two characters whose ‘punishment’ is either justified by religion or, in the case of Aurelia, whose punishment is religion. The play opens with three characters discussing Antonio’s positive attributes – his honour, his bravery, his ability as a soldier; arguably Antonio is the Renaissance ideal of positive manhood, yet his death is portrayed as inevitable and justified because the Bible dictates it; an eye for an eye. Aurelia who is chaste, virtuous and loyal to her love for Antonio, is punished because she went against her father’s will and is forced to become a nun. Petruchio believes she has done wrong so how can it be possible to see his ordering her to join a convent as anything but the consequence of her wrong doing? Earlier in the play Sebastiano refers to kneeling at the altar as a “superstitious / Rite” (I.2.158-9), a reference to the Puritan campaign against conformist practices, but Evadne challenges him for kneeling before her saying it is a “ceremony due to none but Heaven” (I.2.162). I think this exchange between Sebastiano and Evadne can be seen as a concentrated reference to the internal religious struggle present in Renaissance England. 

 

Is Rawlins using The Rebellion to argue that the religious turmoil that had existed in England since Henry VIII’s reign is actually eroding religion in England? That Christianity was ultimately being torn into two (if not more) separate belief systems and consequently destroying social unity and people’s belief systems? In The Rebellion we have a couple divided by their religious beliefs (one has to question how this will affect the upbringing of their children) and another couple punished because religious beliefs dictate that they must be. I think one could convincingly argue that religion is portrayed as a negative thing in The Rebellion, but if this is your interpretation you would also have to argue that Philip is portrayed as a weak King to challenge the idea of Divine Right. As I stated above I do think that would be a valid reading of the play but remember that Rawlins was an employee of the Crown and therefore would have been putting himself in a very difficult and potentially dangerous position. It could just be that only a modern, less overtly religious, audience could argue that Antonio’s death cannot be justified using just religious ideology, or that joining a convent can be seen as a negative experience but I think it is possible to read The Rebellion as a subversive critique of religion during the Renaissance and that one should not disregard this whilst reading the play.

 

Evadne is the only female character in The Rebellion who is not seen to be punished. As a well-born and beautiful lady she is wooed ineffectually by several Spanish aristocrats. Instead she fall in love with her tailor, ‘Giovanno’, despite the fact that as his true self i.e. Sebastiano, he was one of the many she said no to. I think that one therefore has to question what this says about Evadne and also the validity of Evadne and Sebastiano’s later marriage. Firstly, does Evade love ‘Giovanno’ because she knows that she should not, or because in this relationship, as his social superior, she would be the one with power? Neither are positive reasons, and the latter suggests that Evadne craves power in a similar way as Philippa and Auristella, who are punished by death for this ‘crime’. It is impossible to have a definite and ultimate answer as to why Evadne is so infatuated with ‘Giovanno’, but ultimately the question is fruitless because ‘Giovanno’ is revealed to be Sebastiano and this is why Evadne goes unpunished. Her ‘crimes’ of falling in love with a social inferior, betraying her duty to her family and her brother’s wishes become non-existent when ‘Giovanno’ reveals his true identity.

 

As in a comedy, Sebastiano and Evadne’s marriage represents the restoration of social harmony and social continuity. But how stable is their union? As his true self Sebastiano was unable to win Evadne’s heart so their union is threatened from the beginning. As shown in the section entitled ‘Contemporary Topical Issues’ the partnership between Charles I and Parliament was unstable from the start of Charles’ reign. I think it is possible to see Evadne and Sebastiano’s relationship as a reflective commentary on the relationship between King and Parliament at the time when Rawlins was writing. Evadne, as an aristocrat, represents royalty and the old feudal system whilst Sebastiano, in his ready friendship with the tailors and as ‘Giovanno’, represents Parliament and republicanism. Evadne and Sebastiano’s unsteady union represents a threat to social harmony just as the relationship between Charles and Parliament threatened social harmony in England. Remember that just five years after the play was written England was engaged in Civil War – there was no continuity in England anymore: the union between King (Evadne) and Parliament (Sebastiano) has irrevocably split.    

 

The character of Evadne is also used to comment on sexuality. There are references to sexual acts from the onset of the play, as seen in the references to Syphilis in the first scene of the play and the sexual connotations of Sebastiano’s speech when he says he will be punished by Clap because of his lustful thoughts (I.2.95) There is no doubt in the audience’s mind that Evadne is chaste yet her brother asks her “are your favours grown prostitute to all” (II.2 65-6) when he sees her kissing Antonio. When Evadne is kidnapped by the Bandits in Act 4 Scene 1, Sebastiano is quick to believe she is “fly-blown” (IV.2.82), i.e. Evadne is no longer a virgin. A modern audience would most likely be outraged by Sebastiano attitude but remember the prevailing fear of being humiliated by being cuckolded by one’s wife and the epidemic proportions of Syphilis during the sixteenth century.

 

Whilst carrying out research for this project however I found some information about rape trials carried out in England in the seventeenth century. In Shakespeare Without Women: Representing Race and Gender on the Renaissance Stage Callaghan quotes from Making Sex: Body and Gender from the Greeks to Freud, where Laqueur explains how during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries it was believed that female orgasm was thought to be necessary for conception[2]. Consequently if a woman conceived during rape she must have reached orgasm and therefore must have consented. In his book Laqueur quotes from Quaife’s Wanted Wenches and Wayward Wives, which explains how the above idea was used by magistrates during rape trials, leading to many acquittals[3]. This inevitably had an effect on people’s perception of rape i.e. it could be a pleasurable experience for women. Sebastiano believes Evadne was raped but it is his inability to know whether or not she was a ‘willing victim’ that causes his emotional turmoil. In her book Women and the English Renaissance: Literature and the Nature of Womankind 1540 – 1620 Woodbridge explains “chastity was the absolute demand made on virtuous womanhood[4]”.  Even if Sebastiano believes Evadne was a victim she is no longer chaste and therefore no longer virtuous and it is that that Sebastiano struggles to forgive her for. The play suggested and my research confirmed that there was a fine line during the Renaissance between being chaste and being unchaste; by kissing Antonio and being a ‘willing’ rape victim Evadne could easily have been classified as the latter.

 

Therefore in The Rebellion I believe it is impossible to see the female characters as anything but victims. They are punished for being ambitious, for being brave, for being in love, for being victims. A woman cannot live in the male world without being destroyed by guilt or punished by society and she cannot exist in the private sphere without the potential of being a victim and being punished for that. In her book Woodbridge quotes from An Apologie for Women-Kinde published in 1605, where I.G. says that “Those mannish queans are most degenerate” when he is discussing female soldiers[5].  Woodbridge explains how “scenes set in wartime in the drama of the 1590’s are permeated with a sense of sexual chaos. Women have become associated with war[6]”, - for example in Shakespeare’s King John.  The negative connotations contained in the dramas and the confused feelings that this new idea invoked in the audience and society inevitably led to feelings such as those expressed by I.G.

 

In this context it perhaps understandable why Rawlins felt that Philippa had to perish. Woodbridge goes onto explain how during the Renaissance it was feared that “armed with the governing skills acquired in their own households, they (i.e. women) might advance into the political arena[7]”. John Knox, writing in the mid sixteenth century made a direct link between the number of female European rulers and “widespread failure to heed biblical injunctions towards wifely subjection”[8] , explaining why Philippa, Auristella and, to an extent, Aurelia have to be seem to be published – by entering the public sphere they threaten the natural order and encourage all women to step out of the domestic sphere. James I was a pacifist meaning that many soldiers had no relevant social role anymore. Men were being emasculated at a time when women were being seen to be entering the public world. In seventeenth century England this alarmed many people from all social groups and Rawlins can be seen to be responding to that i.e. if a woman strays from the domestic sphere she will be punished and therefore is it not better for her to do as God intended and stay in the domestic, female world. Many conduct books published in this era advocate the same idea as do other literary works, and The Rebellion can be seen to be adhering to this trend.

 

iii) Background Information On What It Meant To Be A Tailor In Elizabethan and Jacobean England

Just before concluding this section I wish to give some information which may help you understand the opinions of tailors conveyed by the other characters.  Throughout The Rebellion there is the prevailing idea of things not being as they seem – Sebastiano is in disguise throughout the play as Giovanno and later as a French tailor, Aurelia and Antonio dress as hermits, Antonio dresses as a physician, Machvile tricks the Governor into challenging Antonio and pretends to be in alliance with Raymond whilst secretly plotting to kill him as well as the King, the Brave hides under a table cloth and this all links to fashion / clothing. In their book Renaissance Clothing and the Materials of Memory, Jones and Stallybrass explain how the cliché ‘clothes make the man’ was truly a frightening idea in the Renaissance. They quote from Stephen Orgal who said “what allows boys to be substituted for women in the theatre…[is] precisely the costume, and more particularly, cultural assumptions about costumes” (Jones and Stallybrass: 2). One must remember at this time different social classes wore different colours and different materials, and there was a genuine fear that a member of the lower classes could pretend to be of a higher social class, a fear that one could never be truly certain that people really were who they said they were. The obvious people to blame for this were tailors; they made it possible for people to disguise themselves. Puritans also propagated the idea that an interest in fashion meant that one was proud and vain and therefore evil. During the Renaissance tailors were seen as being sexually ambiguous and this idea can be seen in Sebastaino’s speech in Act 1 Scene 2, lines 45-67, and as go-betweens as seen when Raymond asks Philippa if Sebastiano, when he is disguised as her tailor, is an “eavesdropper” (IV.7.24) There was also the popular idea that tailors were much weaker than the average man, that they were small and thin. Apparently when eighteen tailors attended Queen Elizabeth, she welcomed them by saying ‘good morning, gentleman both’, a reference to the proverb ‘nine tailors make a man’.

 

I hope that this information helps explain why the colonels are so disgusted when Sebastiano captures Raymond and why they refer to him as a “mechanic slave” (II.4.125) and so on. Also as to why the tailors are so eager to make their name as brave soldiers and later as skilled actors, and why the Old tailor is so honoured that the King is going to make it know that he has been a guest of the tailors: they want their trade to be seen as a skill, for them to be seen as equal to other traders and not derided by society. The play closes with a speech by the King saying he would be poor if it was not for his loyal subjects. As a playwright tailors would have provided an invaluable service for Rawlins – upper class people sold their clothes to acting troupes, costumes had to be altered or made so perhaps Rawlins was just perhaps paying them a lip-service, but alternatively perhaps he wanted the audience, and society as a whole, to see how irrational this stereotype was and that is why he made a tailor the hero of the play.

 

This section is by no means an exhaustive exploration of the play’s major themes – I do not have room for that here – but I hope it ignites your imagination and helps you see possible ways in which it is possible to read the play – as a commentary on the social turmoil facing England, the internal religious battle resulting from the determination to split one religion into different factions for political, social and arguably petty reasons, as a conduct book for women – a warning what to happen to them if they try to move out of their ordained sphere. I am also inclined to argue that as the only characters who speak predominantly in verse, who are eloquent and passionate, who make the audience sit up and take notice are the conspirators, that the play is a celebration of the villain. They are all punished, there is no escaping from that, but ask yourself when you finish the play who your favourite character is and I guarantee it will be one of the conspirators. Again, does this mean that Rawlins is criticising the King and the status quo? Only you can decide what you personally believe. I have my opinion, but it is now time for you to read and the play and form your opinion – after all that is what the study of literature is all about.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Parallels with Other Renaissance Literary Works and Traditions

 

The Renaissance saw a departure from religious ideology dominating, and repressing, intellectual and creative thought and production, and a return to classical learning and a revival of the arts, including drama which followed Aristotle’s principles, and contained frequent references to classical Gods and mythology, which often provided the plots for Early Modern plays. The Rebellion is littered with reference to a mixture of Greek and Roman Gods – an error made by several Renaissance writers – as well as classic mythology such as the stories of Hercules. This was a simple and easy way for Renaissance writers to associate their works with classic, great, literature. Rawlins sometimes appears to overly rely on classical mythology and in some instances it is ill-applied, for example when Philippa refers to Raymond waving to the city’s axletree (III.4.5); does Rawlins think it is an actual tree that Atlas used to hold up the Heavens and that there was more than one or is the verse simply poorly written, creating confusion as to what Rawlins means?

 

The return to classical teachings led to the production of the first English tragedies (they were preceded by morality and miracle plays in the Medieval Age), which explored the themes of murder, cruelty, lust for the first time on the English stage. Tragedies consisted of five acts, were written in blank verse and traditionally the violence was not acted onstage, merely referred to. The Rebellion is in five acts and is written mainly in, albeit not perfect, iambic pentameter. Prose first appeared on the English stage in 1566 in George Gascoigne’s play Supposes and Rawlins employs both styles with a mixture of success. Antonio is honourable, brave and eloquent like the average Renaissance hero whilst, as noted above, Machvile is the typical Renaissance Machiavellian villain.

 

Towards the end of James I’s reign Spanish literature became better known in England and other popular writers drew on Spanish sources or based their plays in Spain, such as Thomas Kyd’s The Spanish Tragedy. Setting their plays in France or Spain allowed writers to safely comment on the religious tensions gripping England or discuss contemporary political and social topics without the risk of having their work censored or worse, being classed as a traitorous. Some critics say that Rawlins sets his play in Spain merely because it was what was popular at the time[9] and Rawlins does make a reference to The Spanish Tragedy in Act V Scene 2 so he was obviously aware of other popular works set abroad. However as I have shown it is possible to read The Rebellion as a commentary on both the political and religious atmosphere of early modern England and Rawlins would have been foolish to not set it abroad. How could one, in Renaissance England, even contemplate writing a play about the overthrowing of a King and set it in England? The play would never have made it to the stage and Rawlins could have taken before Council to explain and perhaps plead for his life.

 

It is possible to see comparisons with other popular Renaissance plays but I am going to focus on making parallels with plays by William Shakespeare, which most people will be familiar with.

 

Othello, which was written around 1604 and published in 1622, sees Shakespeare employing a black protagonist to explore the themes of otherness and alienation but why is Raymond black in The Rebellion, other than for the reason that the protagonist of a popular play, written by the most significant playwright the English stage had ever seen, was? There are only three references to Raymond being a Moor in the play and none of them are made to comment on his physical attributes or his strength as a soldier, as in Othello. Both Othello and Raymond are brave and prestigious warriors and like Shakespeare’s Othello who, despite saying he “have not those soft parts of conversations” (III.3.268), makes many eloquent speeches, Raymond too makes passionate speeches to his soldiers and emotive ones to his wife. Rawlins evidently respected many of the qualities that Othello has but there is no apparent reason why he made Raymond black; Raymond’s race has no effect on the plot or the play’s themes.

 

Macbeth, written around 1606 and first published in 1623, like The Rebellion, considers the idea of things not being as they seem, with the witches declaring in the first act that you cannot trust anything or anyone; everything has a hidden element. In The Rebellion Machvile is the King’s right-hand man, but is plotting against him, Antonio, Aurelia and Sebastiano are all in disguise during the course of the play and there are several instances of characters hiding in order to eavesdrop.

 

Like Shakespeare’s Coriolanus, Macbeth deals with the issues of gender and violence. Lady Macbeth questions her husband’s masculinity because he hesitates when she tells him to kill Duncan and she says if she were ‘unsexed’ i.e. not a woman, she would kill Duncan herself. A powerful, violent and ambitious female character obviously has links with The Rebellion, but in Rawlins’ play femininity is not a barrier to achieving one’s ambition; Rawlins’ female characters transcend gender. As in Macbeth and Coriolanus the ‘masculine’ females in The Rebellion are seen as degenerate and abnormal and like Lady Macbeth they are punished for it.         

 

There are also minor comparisons with other Shakespeare plays. Antonio makes a casual reference to the enmity between his and Sebastiano’s family (IV.4.51-6), but it was never given as a reason as to why Sebastiano did not successfully woo Evadne. Antonio also says it was his father’s last wish that his and Sebastiano’s family never be joined through marriage yet he promptly dismisses the idea, which is a great contrast to his reaction to Evadne and Sebastiano’s embrace when he accuses her of slighting their dead parent’s memory. It almost seems like an afterthought, as if Rawlins suddenly remembered Romeo and Juliet and the hostility between the Capulets and the Montagues. The hostility between the families was the foundation of Shakespeare’s play but there was no need for Rawlins to divide Sebastiano and Evadne by yet another factor.

 

In Act II Scene 1 of The Rebellion, when Antonio refuses to say anything at counsel, one should be reminded of Cordelia and King Lear’s exchange in Act I Scene 1 in Shakespeare’s King Lear. Cordelia, unlike her sisters Regan and Goneril, refuses to make an extravagant speech detailing her love for her father, because she believes this demeans not only herself but also her love for Lear. Regan and Goneril’s speeches are so opulent that, to a reader, they are overtly false. Cordelia’s love is pure, the genuine result of the sense of honour and duty she feels towards her father, and she refuses to use her love as a bargaining tool to secure her share of the kingdom. In The Rebellion Antonio’s sense of duty and love is towards his country and his King and that is why he refuses to respond to Machvile’s appalling war plan. Machvile’s plan would lead the Spanish soldiers to almost certain death but if the Spanish Colonels have realised the false nature of Machvile’s speeches, Antonio certainly will have. Machvile’s speech are so evidently “studied” (II.1.58), and therefore his sense of loyalty to Spain so obviously false, that Antonio’s honour will not allow him to respond to them. This is parallel to why Cordelia refuses to match the tone of Regan and Goneril’s speeches.     

 

Act V Scene 1 of The Rebellion also has a startling resemblance to the carnage we see in the last scene of Shakespeare’s Hamlet. As stated above it was not the classical tradition for violence to be acted on the stage yet Rawlins clearly favoured Shakespeare’s popularity over literary tradition!

 

There is a startling resemblance between Virmine and A Midsummer Night’s Dream’s Bottom, especially in the language Virmine uses, his self-aggrandizing speeches and nature, his desire to fill all the parts in the tailor’s play in Act V Scene 2, and the overt, slapstick humour he introduces to the play. However Virmine’s ready willingness to let the tailors have the minor part as long as he can play the King suggests a sly intelligence that Bottom did not have. Obviously there is the link between the tailors in The Rebellion forming an amateur acting troupe and the craftsmen in A Midsummer’s Night Dream doing the same. Unfortunately we never see the tailors’ play in The Rebellion but as the tailors say very little perhaps, with the exception of Virmine and the Old Tailor (who has not involved in the play anyway) they were not accomplished enough to be the play’s focus for a significant period of time. 

 

The thematic comparisons with Shakespeare are evident but it does not mean that Rawlins was simply trying to mimic the most prolific writer of the time. In Renaissance England politics, gender and religion were important contemporary issues and explored by many dramatists and writers – we cannot accuse them all of copying Shakespeare. It is aspects such as unnecessarily having a black character or a grudge between the two main characters that I find disheartening. Rawlins, whether rightly or wrongly, did not have enough confidence in his own writing to feel that his play could stand on its own merit, without having unnecessary similarities to the plays by the period’s major playwright. Rawlins obviously wanted to comment on important social issues but I am not convinced that he had the artistic ability to do so well.   

 

Another parallel with a popular, contemporary play, is that Evadne shares her name with the heroine of The Maid’s Tragedy by Beaumont and Fletcher. The Maid’s Tragedy was written around 1610, after the assassination of Henry IV of France in 1610, but not published until 1619. The play, a revenge tragedy with many parallels to Shakespeare’s Hamlet (as emphasised by Sandra Clark), was hugely successful and popular, until it was banned by Charles II, presumably because of the scene where Evadne kills the King as he lies in bed[10]. The Maid’s Tragedy’s Evadne bears little similarity to Rawlins’ chaste, mostly passive, heroine. Why, therefore, did Rawlins decide to call his heroine Evadne? Is it a further example of Rawlins willingness to try and take advantage of another playwright’s success and of his inability to produce a remotely original piece of drama? However I think one should remember that there are numerous references to Greek and Roman Gods and myths throughout the play and in Greek mythology there is a woman named Evadne, whose husband, Capaneus, is killed in the Trojan War. Evadne throws herself onto her husband’s funeral pyre and burns with him[11].  I think it is more likely that Rawlins wanted his Renaissance audience to make comparisons with this example of virtuous, obedient womanhood, rather than the murderous, adulterous and corrupt female that Fletcher and Beaumont portray in The Maid’s Tragedy.    

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Editorial Techniques / Decisions and Problems Experienced.

 

v      I have silently standardised and modernised all spellings and punctuation i.e. the accidentals, to help the modern readers. However words such as thee, thou and hath etc have been retained as The Rebellion is a Renaissance play and should be read as such. Any words that are now obscure or rare are explained in the Glossary and Notes.

 

v      All words have been left in the original order. However the play is described as being “partly in verse” and through the play I have tried to create iambic pentameter where appropriate through re-lineation. Iambic pentameter is verse that is ten beats per line, with a pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables. Iambic Pentameter should be used when a romantic or intelligent though is being conveyed and always by the upper classes, except if they are talking to or pretending to be working class or their departure from verse signals an unstable state of mind.

Rawlins does not seem to understand or is not interested in this literary rule so as an editor it has been a difficult and sometime impossible task to create perfect verse. I have tried to create the illusion of verse where it should have been employed but the lines do not always consist of ten beats as they should. Therefore I ask the reader to remember the principles of when iambic pentameter should be used and not let the imperfect verse hinder their enjoyment of the play.

The only time I have not employed re-lineation is where Rawlins has used rhyming couplets as this would obviously remove the impact that Rawlins had tried to create, for example Cupid’s speech (III.3.23-44).

v      Throughout the play I have used the spellings of the characters’ names as it appears in the Dramatis Personae. For example in the original text Machvile is also spelt Machville and Machvil. It is likely that Rawlins meant Machiavelli, or at least wanted the reader to make the connection between his villain and the arch-villain of the period.  

v      In the original text Sebastiano is referred to as Giovanno in all the stage directions etc. I have changed them all to Sebastiano as that is his real name. When he enters I have stated whether he is dressed as Giovanno or the French tailor.  

v     I have added or modified stage directions where necessary to enable the reader or any potential performers to be able to visualise how the play would have been performed in 1637.

v      In the later scenes of the play Virmine is referred to as either Tailor 2 or Tailor 3 in the stage directions. I have amended this to Virmine when the language used / topic of conversation suggested that it was Virmine speaking rather than one of the other, minor Tailors.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Rebellion

By Thomas Rawlins

 

To the Worshipful, and his honoured kinsman, Robert Ducie of Aston, in the County of Stafford Esquire: Son to Sir Robert Ducie, Knight and Baronet Deceased

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dramatis Personae

 

King of Spain
Governor of Spain

Antonio, a Count

Machvile, a Count

Alerzo, a Spanish Colonel

Fulgentio, a Spanish Colonel

Pandolpho, a Spanish Colonel

Evadne, Antonio’s sister
Auristella, Machvile’s wife

Nurse, Evadne’s attendant

Raymond, Moore General of the French Army

Firenzo, a French Colonel

Gilberty, a French Colonel

Leonis, a French Colonel

Philippa, Raymond’s wife

Petruchio, Governor of Filford

Sebastiano, Petruchio’s son, disguised as a tailor called Giovanno

Old Tailor

Virmine, Old Tailor’s man

Three Tailors

Aurelia, Petruchio’s daughter

Attendants

Captain of the Bandetty

Cupid
A Brave

A Judge

Two Ruffians

Officers
Soldiers

 

Setting

Seville, Spain

 

 




Alerzo

 

Fulgentio

 

Alerzo

Pandolpho





Alerzo







Pandolpho

Fulgentio



Pandolpho


Alerzo



Fulgentio




Pandolpho

Alerzo

Fulgentio



Machvile


















Antonio




Fulgentio


Alerzo

Pandolpho




Antonio








Fulgentio

Antonio












Alerzo



Pandolpho

Fulgentio

Alerzo




Machvile



























Evadne

Nurse

Evadne


Nurse


Evadne








Nurse






Evadne

Nurse




Evadne

Nurse


Evadne

Nurse







Evadne

Nurse



Evadne











Sebastiano

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Evadne

 

Nurse

Sebastiano




Evadne

 

Sebastiano

Evadne


Sebastiano

Evadne

Nurse




Sebastiano

Nurse

Sebastiano


Evadne

 

Nurse



Sebastiano

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Evadne







Sebastiano




Evadne


Sebastiano



Evadne


Sebastiano



Evadne

Sebastiano









Evadne






Sebastiano




Evadne

Sebastiano

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Evadne







Sebastiano




Evadne

Sebastiano




Evadne






Sebastiano








Evadne

Nurse

Evadne



Sebastiano









Antonio

Evadne

 

Antonio

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Evadne

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Raymond

 

Leonis

 

Gilberty

 

Firenzo

 

 

 

Raymond







 

Philippa







Raymond

 

 

 





 

Colonels

Philippa

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Raymond

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sebastiano





Old Tailor

Virmine

 

Old Tailor

 

Virmine

 

 

 

Tailor 1

 

Virmine

 

 

 

 

Old Tailor


Virmine

 

 

Sebastiano

 

Old Tailor

 

 

 

Sebastiano

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tailor 2

 

Virmine

 

 

 

 

 

Sebastiano

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Governor





Machvile












Governor

Machvile






Governor











Machvile
















Governor

Machvile






Fulgentio

Alerzo

Pandolpho

Governor

Machvile










Governor


Antonio

Governor

Antonio

Machvile


Governor

Antonio

 

Governor

Antonio





Machvile



Antonio








Governor




Antonio















Alerzo

Fulgentio


Governor


Antonio








Alerzo

Fulgentio

Governor

Machvile

 

Antonio




 

 

Fulgentio

 

Alerzo

 

Governor



Antonio

 

Governor

 

 

 

 

Antonio

 

 

 

Machvile

 

Fulgentio

 

Alerzo

 

Fulgentio

 

Governor

 

 

Antonio

 

Governor

Machvile

 

Antonio

 

 

 

 

Alerzo

 

Fulgentio

 

Alerzo

 

 

 

 

Antonio

 

 

 

 

 

Machvile

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sebastiano

 

Nurse

 

 

Sebastiano

 

Nurse

 

 

 

 

Sebastiano

 

Evadne

 

Sebastiano

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nurse

 

 

Sebastiano

 

Evadne

 

 

 

Nurse

 

 

Sebastiano

 

 

Nurse

 

 

 

Sebastiano

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Evadne

 

Sebastiano

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Evadne

 

 

 

 

 

Sebastiano

 

Evadne

 

 

 

Sebastiano

 

 

 

 

Antonio

 

 

Evadne

 

Antonio

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sebastiano

 

 

 

 

 

Antonio

 

Sebastiano

 

 

Antonio

 

 

 

Machvile

 

 

 

 

 

 

Evadne

 

Sebastiano

 

 

 

 

 

Machvile

 

Antonio

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Machvile

 

 

 

 

 

Evadne

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Officer 1

 

 

 

 

Machvile

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sebastiano

 

Antonio

 

 

 

 

Sebastiano

 

Antonio

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sebastiano

 

Antonio

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sebastiano

 

Antonio

 

Sebastiano

 

 

 

Old Tailor

 

Antonio

 

Old Tailor

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sebastiano

 

 

 

 

 

Old Tailor

 

 

 

Antonio

 

Old Tailor

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Raymond

 

 

 

Gilberty

 

Raymond

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gilberty

Leonis

 

 

 

Raymond

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gilberty

 

 

 

 

Leonis

 

 

Raymond

 

Leonis

 

Raymond

 

Soldier 1

 

 

 

 

 

 

Raymond

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Soldier 2

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Raymond

 

 

Soldier 2

 

 

 

Raymond

 

 

 

 

 

Machvile

 

 

 

 

 

Philippa

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Alonzo

 

Fulgentio

 

Pandolpho

 

Raymond

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sebastiano

 

Raymond

 

 

Philippa

 

 

 

Raymond

 

Philippa

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Raymond

 

 

 

Philippa

 

Raymond

 

 

Machvile

 

Raymond

 

 

 

Machvile

 

Sebastiano

 

 

Alerzo

Fulgentio

 

Sebastiano

 

Alerzo

 

Sebastiano

 

 

 

 

Fulgentio

 

Sebastiano

 

Fulgentio

 

Sebastiano

 

 

Alerzo

 

Sebastiano

 

The colonels

 

Sebastiano

 

The colonels

 

Machvile

 

 

 

Raymond

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tailors

 

Sebastiano

 

 

 

 

 

 

Alerzo

 

Fulgentio

 

 

 

Machvile

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sebastiano

 

Machville

 

Sebastiano

 

Machvile

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sebastiano

 

Alerzo

 

Sebastiano

 

Fulgentio

 

Sebastiano

 

Fulgentio

 

 

Alerzo

 

Sebastiano

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Machvile

 

 

Fulgentio

 

 

 

Old Tailor

 

Virmine

 

 

 

 

Tailor 1

 

Virmine

 

 

 

 

 

 

Old Tailor

 

Virmine

 

 

 

Old Tailor

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Machvile

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Auristella

 

Machvile

 

 

 

 

 

Auristella

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Machvile

 

 

 

Auristella

 

 

 

 

Machvile

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Auristella

 

 

 

 

 

Machvile

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Auristella

 

Machvile

 

 

 

 

 

Auristella

 

Machvile

 

 

 

Auristella

 

 

 

Machvile

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Antonio

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cupid

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sebastiano

 

Old Tailor

 

 

 

Sebastiano

 

 

Antonio

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sebastiano

 

Antonio

 

 

 

Old Tailor

 

 

 

 

Antonio

 

 

Old Tailor

 

 

 

 

 

Sebastiano

 

Old Tailor

 

 

 

Antonio

 

Old Tailor

 

 

Sebastiano

 

Old Tailor

 

Antonio

 

 

Sebastiano

 

 

 

 

 

Antonio

 

 

 

Old Tailor

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Philippa

 

 

 

 

 

Raymond

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Philippa

 

Raymond

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Philippa

 

 

Raymond

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Philippa

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Judge

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Antonio

 

 

 

Aurelia

 

 

 

Petruchio

 

Aurelia

 

 

Antonio

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Petruchio

 

 

 

Aurelia

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sebastiano

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Evadne

 

Captain

 

Sebastiano

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Evadne

 

Sebastiano

 

 

 

 

 

Sebastiano

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Captain

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Trotter

 

 

 

Captain

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Evadne

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Captain

 

Bandit 1

 

 

 

Trotter

 

 

Captain

 

Trotter

 

 

 

 

 

Sebastiano

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Evadne

 

 

Sebastiano

 

Evadne

 

 

Sebastiano

 

 

 

Evadne

 

Sebastiano

 

Evadne

 

 

 

Sebastiano

 

 

 

Evadne

 

 

 

 

Sebastiano

 

 

 

 

 

Evadne

 

 

 

Sebastiano

 

 

 

 

 

Evadne

 

Sebastiano

 

Evadne

 

Sebastiano

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Evadne

 

Sebastiano

 

 

 

 

 

Evadne

 

 

 

 

Sebastiano

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Petruchio

 

 

 

 

Aurelia

 

 

 

 

 

Petruchio

 

 

 

Aurelia

 

 

 

 

Petruchio

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Aurelia

 

 

 

 

 

Petruchio

 

 

Aurelia

 

 

 

 

 

 

Antonio

 

 

 

 

Aurelia

 

 

 

 

 

 

Antonio

 

 

Aurelia

 

Antonio

 

 

 

 

Aurelia

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Antonio

 

Aurelia

 

 

 

Antonio

 

 

 

Aurelia

 

 

 

 

 

Antonio

 

Aurelia

 

Antonio

 

Aurelia

 

 

 

 

Antonio

 

 

 

 

 

 

Petruchio

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Evadne

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Antonio

 

 

 

 

Sebastiano

 

 

 

 

 

Evadne

 

Sebastiano

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Antonio

 

Evadne

 

Aurelia

 

Antonio

 

 

Evadne

 

 

 

Aurelia

 

 

 

 

Antonio

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sebastiano

 

 

 

 

 

 

Antonio

 

 

 

 

 

Aurelia

 

Evadne

 

Sebastiano

 

 

Antonio

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tailor 1

 

 

Virmine

 

Tailor 2

 

 

 

Tailor 1

 

Virmine

 

 

 

Tailor 1

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

All tailors

 

 

 

Old Tailor

 

Antonio

 

Sebastiano

 

Old Tailor

 

 

 

 

Antonio

 

 

 

Old Tailor

 

 

 

 

 

 

The King

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Aurelia

 

 

 

The King

 

Evadne

 

The King

 

Old Tailor

 

The King

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Antonio

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Machvile

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Antonio

 

Machvile

 

 

Antonio

 

Machvile

 

 

 

 

 

Antonio

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Machvile

 

Antonio

 

 

 

Auristella

 

Antonio

 

Machvile

 

 

Antonio

 

 

 

 

Machvile

 

 

Auristella

 

Machvile

 

Auristella

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Machvile  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Antonio

 

 

 

Machvile

 

 

 

 

Antonio

 

 

Machvile

 

 

 

Auristella

 

 

Antonio

 

Auristella

 

 

Antonio

 

Auristella

 

Antonio

 

Auristella

 

 

 

 

Antonio

 

Auristella

 

 

 

Antonio

 

 

 

Auristella

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Antonio

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sebastiano

 

 

 

 

Philippa

 

 

Sebastiano

 

 

 

Philippa

 

Sebastiano

 

 

 

 

 

 

Philippa

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Raymond

 

 

Sebastiano

 

 

Philippa

 

Sebastiano

 

Raymond

 

 

 

 

 

Sebastiano

 

Raymond

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sebastiano

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fulgentio

 

Raymond

 

 

 

 

 

Sebastiano 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The King

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Old Tailor

 

The King

 

Old Tailor

 

 

 

 

The King

 

Antonio

 

 

The King

 

Antonio

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Evadne

 

Sebastiano

 

Evadne

 

Sebastiano

 

The King

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sebastiano

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The King

 

Antonio

 

The King

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Old Tailor

 

Virmine

 

 

 

Old Tailor

 

 

 

 

Tailor 1

 

Virmine

 

 

 

 

Tailor 2

 

Tailor 3

 

Virmine

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tailor 2

 

Tailor 1

 

Tailor 2

 

Virmine

 

 

 

Tailor 2

 

Virmine

 

 

Tailor 2

 

Tailor 1

 

Virmine

 

Tailor 1

 

Virmine

 

Tailor 1

 

Tailor 2

 

Virmine

 

Tailor 2

 

Virmine

 

Tailor 1

 

Virmine

 

Tailor 1

 

Virmine

 

 

 

 

 

Tailor 1

 

Virmine

 

 

 

Tailor 2

 

Virmine

 

 

 

 

Tailor 1

 

Tailor 2

 

Virmine

 

Tailor 2

 

Virmine

 

Tailor 1

 

Virmine

 

 

 

Tailor 2

 

Virmine

 

 

Tailor 2

 

Virmine

 

Tailor 1

 

Virmine

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Brave

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Machvile

 

Raymond

 

Philippa

 

Aurelia

 

Antonio

 

Philippa

 

The King

 

Antonio

 

 

Fulgentio

 

Alerzo

 

Pandolpho

 

Auristella

 

Philippa

 

 

 

Aurelia

 

Machvile

 

 

 

 

The King

 

Antonio

 

 

 

Machvile

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The King

 

Fulgentio

 

Alerzo

 

 

 

Auristella

 

 

 

Fulgentio

 

Antonio

 

 

 

 

Auristella

 

Raymond

 

 

Sebastiano

 

French Colonels

 

The King

 

Machvile  

 

 

 

Raymond

 

 

Sebastiano

 

Machvile

 

 

 

 

Raymond

 

 

Auristella

 

Raymond

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Alerzo

 

Fulgentio

 

Pandolpho

 

 

 

Philippa

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Auristella

 

Philippa

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Brave

 

Philippa

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Auristella

 

 

 

 

Machvile

 

 

 

 

Antonio

 

 

Machvile

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The King

 

 

 

Evadne

 

Sebastiano

 

Aurelia

 

 

Antonio

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Machvile

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The King

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Petruchio

 

The King

 

 

 

 

 

 

Petruchio

 

 

 

The King

 

Petruchio

 

The King

 

 

 

 

Aurelia

 

 

 

 

The King

 

Petruchio

 

Sebastiano

 

Petruchio

 

The King

 

 

 

 

 

Petruchio

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Aurelia

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The King

 

Aurelia

 

 

 

 

 

 

Petruchio

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The King

 

 

 

Virmine

 

The King

 

Virmine

 

Old Tailor

 

Virmine

 

 

Old Tailor

 

Virmine

 

 

 

Old Tailor

 

 

 

 

 

Sebastiano

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Everyone

 

 

The King

 

 

 

 

 

Old Tailor

 

The King



 

 

 

 

 

 

Act One, Scene 1

 


Enter Severally
* - Alerzo, Fulgentio and Pandolpho

 

Colonel!

 

Signor Alerzo!

 

Here.

Signors well met:
The lazy morn has scarcely trim’d* herself
To entertain the sun; she still retains
The slimy tincture* of the banished night.
I hardly could discern you.

But you appear fresh as a city bridegroom that has signed his wife a warrant for the grafting horns. How fares Belinda after the weight of so much sin? You lay with her tonight? Come speak? Did you take up on trust? Or have you pawned a colony of oaths*?  Or an embroidered belt*? Or have you taken the Courtier’s trick, to lay your sword at mortgage*? Or perhaps a feather? ‘Twill serve in traffic* to return her ladyship: a fan or so.

 

You are merry.

Come be free. Leave modesty for women to gild their pretty thriving art of plenitude to enrich their husbands’ brow with cornucopias*.  A soldier and thus bashful? Pox, be open!

Had I the Pox good Colonel, I should stride far opener than I do. But pox o’ the fashion*.

(pointing off stage) Count Antonio

Count Antonio enters

Though he appear fresh as a bloom that newly
Kiss’d the sun adorned with pearly drops
Flung from the hand of the rose fingered morn,
Yet in his heart lives a whole host of valour.

He appears. A second Mars*.

More powerful since he holds wisdom and valour captive.


Let us salute him.

(as they salute Antonio Machvile enters unnoticed)


(aside) Ha! How close they strike! As if they heard a
Wing’d thunder-bolt threatened his death and

Each ambitious were to lose his life so
It might purchase him a longer being.
Their breath engenders* like two peaceful winds
That join a friendly league and fill the air
With silken music.
I may pass by and scarce be spared a look;

Or any else but young Antonio.
Rise from thy scorching den, soul of mischief.
My blood boils hotter than the poisoned flesh
Of Hercules clothed in the Centaur’s shirt*.

Swell me revenge, till I become a hill
High as Olympus’ cloud dividing top,

That I might fall and crush them into air.
I’ll observe.

(Machvile exits behind hangings)


Command thee all this little world I’m Master
Of contains and be assured it’s granted.
I have a life I owe to death and in
My Country’s causes I should …

Good sir no more! This ungrateful land owes you too much already.

And you still bind it in stronger bonds.

Your noble deeds, that like to thoughts outstrip

The fleeting clouds, dash all our hopes of payment:
We are poor but in unprofitable thanks
That cannot rehearse enough your merit.

I dare not hear this. Pardon bashful ears
For suffering such a scarlet to o’erspread
Your burning portals.
Gentleman your discourses taste of Court:
They have a relish of known flattery.
I must deny to understand their folly.
Your pardon, I must leave you.

Modesty commands.

(bows) Your honour’s vassals*.

Oh good Colonel be more a soldier.
Leave compliments for those that live at ease
To stuff their table books* and o’er a board*
Made gaudy with some pageant, beside custards
Whose quaking strikes a fear into the eaters,
Dispute them in a fashionable method.
A soldier’s language should be as his calling:
Rough, to declare he is a man of fire.
Farewell without the straining of a sinew;

No superstitious cringe. Adieu.

Exit Antonio

Is it not a hopeful* Lord? Nature to him has chained the people’s hearts. Each to his Saint offers a form of prayer for young Antonio.

And in that loved name pray for the Kingdom’s good.

(whispers) Count Machvile.

Let’s away.

Exit all except Machvile who walks to centre stage

Heart wilt not burst with rage to see these slaves
Fawn like to whelps on young Antonio
And fly from me as from infection? Death,

Confusion and the list of all diseases

Wait upon your lives till you be ripe for

Hell, which when it gapes may it devour you all.
Stay Machvile.
Leave this same idle chat: it becomes woman
That has no strength but what her tongue makes a

Monopoly. Be more a man. Think. Think.

In thy brain’s mint coin all thy thoughts to mischief

That may act revenge at full. Plot. Plot.

Tumultuous thoughts incorporate. Beget

A lump how e’er deformed that may at length

Like to a cub licked by the careful dam

Become like to my wishes perfect vengeance.

Antonio, aye Antonio; nay all
Rather than lose my will, shall head-long fall
Into eternal ruin: my thoughts are high

Death sit[s] upon my brow; let every frown

Banish a soul that stops me of a crown.

Exit Machvile

 

Act One, Scene 2

Enter Evadne and Nurse

The tailor yet returned, Nurse?

Madam, not yet.

I wonder why he makes gowns so imperfect they need so many stays.

Truly, in sooth*, and in good deed, law Madam, the stripling* is in love.  Deep, deep in love.

(aside)
Ha! Does his soul, shot with an equal Dart
From the commanding bow of Love’s great god,

Keep passionate time with mine? Or has she
Spied my error to reflect with eager

Beams of thirsty love upon a tailor,

Being myself born high? I must know more.

In love, good Nurse! With whom?

Hey-ho, truly, Madam ‘tis a fortune Cupid, good lad, praised be his god-head for’t, has thrown upon me, and I am proud on’t.

Oh ‘tis a youth jocund* as sprightly May; one that will do discreetly* with a wife, bord* her without direction from the stars or counsel her from the moon to do for physic*.  No he’s a back … Oh ‘tis a back indeed.

Fie this becomes you not!

Besides he is of all that conquering calling: a tailor Madam. Oh, ‘tis a taking trade. What chambermaid, with reverence may I speak of those lost maiden-heads*, could long hold out against a tailor? 

You’re uncivil*.

What aged female, for I must confess I am worn thread-bare, would not be turned and live a married life to purchase Heaven?

Heaven?

Yes my dear Madam, Heaven.  Whither, my most sweet Lady, but to Heaven?  Hell’s a tailor’s warehouse; he has the keys and sits in triumph cross legged over the mouth.  It is no place of horror.  There’s no flames made blue with brimstone*; but the bravest silks, so fashionable. Oh I do long to wear such properties!

A knock

 

Leave your talk.  One knocks – go see.

Oh ‘tis my love. I come.

Exit Nurse

A Tailor! Fie, blush my too tardy* soul!
And on my brow place a becoming scorn
Whose fatal sight may kill his mounting hopes.
Were he but one that when ‘twas said he’s born
Had been born noble, high equal in blood

To that our House boasts great.  I’d fly into

His arms with as much speed as an air cutting

Arrow to the stake. But oh he comes! My

Fortitude is fled!

Enter Nurse and Sebastiano, as Giovanno, holding a gown

 

(aside) Yonder she is and walks* – yet in sense strong enough to maintain argument she’s under my cloak, for the best part of a lady, as this age goes, is her clothes.  In what reckoning ought we tailors to be esteemed then that are the master workmen to correct Nature? You shall have a Lady in a dialogue with some Gallant*, touching his suit, the better part of a man, so suck the breath that names the skilful tailor as if it nourished her. Another Dona* fly from the close embracement of her Lord to be all over measured by her tailor.  One will be sick forsooth* and bid her maid deny her to this Don, that Earl, the other Marquise, nay to a Duke, yet let her tailor lace and unlace her gown, so round her skirts to fit the fashion. Here’s one has in my sight made many a noble Don to hang the head.  Dukes and Marquises, three a morning break their fasts on her denials.  Yet I, her tailor, blessed be the kindness of my loving stare, am ushered. She smiles and says I have stayed too long and then finds fault with some slight stitch, that eye-let hole’s too close, then must I use my Bodkin*, ‘twill never please else; all will not do, I must take it home for no cause but to bring it her again next morning.  We tailors are the men, spite of the Proverb, Ladies cannot live without.  It is we that please them best, in their commodity: there’s no magic in our habits.  Tailors can prevail ‘bove him: honour styles best of man.    

Bid him draw near.

Come hither sweet chuck: my Lady calls.

What means this woman?  Sure she loves me too.
Tailors shall speed* had they no tongue to woo:
Women would sue
* to them.

What, have you done it now?

Madam your gown, by my industry, is purged of errors.

Lord what a neat methodical way you have to vent your phrases. Pray when did you commence?

 

What mean you Madam?

Doctor I mean. You speak so physical.

Nay madam ‘tis a youth, I pray my stars for their kind influence, a woman may be proud of, and I am. Oh 'tis a youth in print, a new Adonis, and I could wish, although my glass* tells me I’m wondrous fair, I were a Venus* for him.

Oh Lady, you are more fairer by far.

La, you there Madam.

(aside) What art thou man? Are thou transformed? Or are thou grown so base that this ridiculous witch should think I love her?

 

Leave us.

 

I go.  Duck* I’ll be here anon. I will Dove*.

Exit Nurse

At your best leisure.

(aside) Protect me man-hood, lest my glutted sense
Feeding with such an eager appetite
On your rare beauty, breaking the sluices,
Burst into a flood of passionate tears.
I must, I will, enjoy her, though a
Destroying clap* from Jove’s artillery

Was the reward. And yet, dull-daring sir,

By your favour no. He must be more than

Savage can attempt to injure so much
Spotless innocence.  Pardon, Great Powers, the

Thought of such offence.

 

(aside) When Sebastiano, clad in conquering

Steel and in a phrase able to kill, or

From a coward’s heart banish the thought of

Fear, wooed me, won not so much upon my

Captive soul as this youth’s silence does. Help

Me some power out of this tangling maze:

I shall be lost else.

(aside) Fear: to the breast of women, build thy thrones

‘Pon their soft hearts; Mine must not be thy slave.

Your pleasure Madam.

I have a question must be directly answered. No excuse, but from thy heart a truth.

Command me Madam, were it a secret on whose hinges hung the casements of my life, yet your command should be obeyed to the least scruple.

I take your word. My aged Nurse tells me you love her.
Answer, is it a truth?

(aside) She’s jealous, I’ll try.

As Oracle.

Ha!

(aside) ‘Tis so! I’ll further.

                                     I love her, Madam,
With as rich a flame as Anchorites*
Do Saints they offer prayers to. I hug her
Memory as I would embrace the breath of
Jove* when it pronounced me happy, or (a)
Prophet that should speak my afterlife great,

Even with adoration deified*.

My life, like to a bubble in the air,
Dissolved by some uncharitable wind,

Denies my body warmth. You breath
Has made me nothing.

Evadne faints.

Rather let me lose all external being.
Madam, good Madam.

Sebastiano gently shakes Evadne

You say you love her.

Madam, I do.
Can any love the beauty of a stone,

Set by some curious artist in a ring,
But he must attribute some to
The file that adds to the lustre?
You appear like to a gem, cut by the

Steady hand of careful Nature into such
Beauteous tablets that dull Art,
Famous in skilful flattery, is become
A novice in what Fame proclaimed him doctor.
He can’t express one spark of your great lustre.
Madam, those beauties that, but studied on
By their admirers, are defiled, serve
Buts as spots, to make your red and white
Envied of cloistered Saints.

Have I, ungrateful man, like to the sun
That from the Heavens sends down his cherishing
Beams on some religious plant, that with a

Bow the worship of the thankful pays the

Preserver of his life and grows? But thou,

Unthankful man, in scorn of me, to love

A Calendar of many years.

Madam, upon my knees – a superstitious

Rite the heathens used to pay their Gods*, I

Offer up a life, that until now ne’er

Knew a price, made dear because you love it.

Arise; it is a ceremony due to none but Heaven.

Here I’ll take root and grow into my grave
Unless, dear goddess, you forget to be
Cruel to him [who] adores you with a zeal equal
To that of hermits*. 

(kneels) I believe you and thus exchange a

Devout vow humbly upon my knees, that

Though the thunder of my brother’s rage should

Force divorce, yet in my soul to love you;

Witness all the winged inhabitants of

The highest Heaven.

If sudden lightening, such as vengeful Jove*
Clears the infectious air with, threatened to
Scorch my daring soul to cinders if I
Did love you Lady, I would love you, ‘spite
Of the dogged Fates, or any power
Those cursed Hags* set to oppose me.

Enter Nurse

 

Be thyself again.

 

Madam, your brother.

Fie, you have done it ill!
(To Nurse) Our brother, say you?
(Passes gown to Sebastiano)  Pray you take it home and mend it.

Madam, it shall be done; I take my leave.
(aside) Love, I am made thy envy: I am he
This Votress* prays unto as unto you.
Tailors are more than men, and here’s the odds:
They make fine ladies and ladies made them Gods
And so they are not men, but far above them.
This makes the Tailors proud; then Ladies love them.

Exit Sebastiano.  He and Antonio cross paths.

 

What’s he that passed?

My tailor.

 

There’s something in his face I sure should know.
But sister to your beads; pray for distressed
Seville whilst I mount some watch tower to
O’er-look our enemies.  Religious laws

Commands me fight for my loved Country’s cause.

Exit Antonio

 

Love bids me pray and on his altar make
A sacrifice for my loved Tailor’s sake.

 

Exit Evadne

 

Act One Scene 3

 

Alarm. Enter Raymond, Philippa, Leonis, Gilberty and Fyrenzo

Stand.

 

Stand.

Stand.

Give word through the Army, stand there.

Cries of stand offstage

 

Bid the drum cease whilst we embrace our love.
Come, my Philippa.  Like the twins of war,
Laced in our steely cornets*, we’ve become
The envy of those brain-begotten Gods
Mouldy antiquity lifted to Heaven.
Thus we exchange our breath.

 

Raymond embraces and kisses Philippa

 

My honoured Lord!

Duty commands I pay it back again,

It will waste me into smoke else. Can my
Body retain that breath that would consume
An Army dressed in a rougher habit?
Pray deliver (come I’m a gentle thief)
The breath you stole.

 

Restore back mine. (They kiss).  So go pitch our tent. We’ll
Have a combat i’th field of love with thee,
Philippa, ere we meet the foe.  Thou art

A friendly enemy! How say you Lords?
Does not my love appear like to the

Issue of the brain of Jove, Governess of

Arms and Arts, Minerva, or a selected

Beauty from a troop of Amazons?
 

She is a mine of valour.

 

Lords spare your praises ‘til like Bradamante *,
The mirror of our sex, I make the foe
Of France and us, crouch like a whelp awed by

The heaving of his Master’s hand. My heart

Runs through my arm and when I deal a blow it

Sinks a soul. My sword flies nimbler than the

Bolts of Jove and wounds as deep.  Spain, thy proud host,

Shall feel death has bequeathed his office to my steel.


Come on brave Lords. Upon your General’s word
Philippa loves no parley like the sword.

 

All exit

 

Act One Scene 4

 

Enter Sebastiano as Giovanno, Old Tailor, Virmine and two tailors

 

Come bullies*, come.  We must forsake the use of nimble shears and now betake us to our Spanish needles, stiletto* blades, and prove the proverb lies, lies in his throat: one tailor can erect sixteen, nay more, of upstart Gentleman known by their clothes and leave enough materials in hell to damn a broker.

We must to the wars, my boys.

How, Master! To the wars?

 

Aye, to the wars, Virmine. What says thou to that?

Nothing but that I would rather stay at home. Oh the good penny breakfast that I shall lose! Master, good Master, let me alone to live with honest John, noble John Black*.

 

Will thou disgrace thy worthy calling, Virmine?

 

No, but I am afraid my calling will disgrace me! I shall be gaping* for my morning loaf and dram of Ale. Aye, I shall! And now and then look for a cabbage leaf or an odd remnant to clothe my bashful buttocks.

You shall.

 

Yes marry*; why I hope poor Virmine must be fed and will be fed or I’ll torment you.

 

Master, I take privilege from your love to hearten on my fellows.

 

Aye, Aye do, do good boy.

 

Exit Old Tailor

 

Come my bold fellows, let us eternalise*
For our Country’s good some noble act
That may by time be registered at full;

And as the years renew, so shall our fame
Be fresh to after times: The tailors’ name
So much trod under, and the scorn of all,
Shall by this act be high whilst others fall.

 

Come Virmine, come.

 

Nay if Virmine slip from the back of a tailor, spit him with a Spanish needle or torment him in the louses*.  Engin*: your two thumb nails*.

 

Exit all but Sebastiano

 

The city seiged and thou thus chained in airy

Fetters of a Lady’s love. It must not

Be. Stay.  ‘Tis Evadne’s love: Her life is

With the city ruined if the French become

Victorious. Evadne must not

Die. Her chaste name that once made cold, now

Doth my blood inflame.

 

Sebastiano exits.

 

Act Two Scene 1

 

A table and chairs in the centre of the stage. Enter (after a shout crying Antonio) Governor and Machvile

 

Hell take their spacious throats, we shall ere long
Be pointed as a prodigy.
Antonio is the man they load with praise
And we stand as a cipher* to advance

Him by a number higher.

(aside) Now Machvile plot his ruin.

It is not to be borne. Are not you our

Master's substitute?  Then why should he
Usurp a privilege without your leave? To
Preach unto the people a doctrine
They ought not hear:
He incites them not to obey your charge
Unless it be to knit a friendly league
With the opposing French, laying before them
A troop* of feigned dangers [that] will ensue if
We do bid them battle. 

Dares he do this?

It’s done already.
Smother your anger and you shall see here

At the Counsel board* he'll break into a
Passion (aside) which I'll provoke him to.

Enter Antonio, Alerzo, Fulgentio and Pandolpho.

 

Never more need, my worthy partners, in
The dangerous brunt of Iron war had we
Of counsel.  The hot reined* French led by

That haughty Moor, upon whose sword sits
Victory enthroned, daily increase, and

Like the Army of another Xerxes*

Make the o'er burdened earth grown at their weight.
We cannot long hold out.  Nor have we hope
Our Royal Master can raise up their siege
Ere we be forced to yield.
My Lord, your counsel; 'tis a desperate grief.

And must my Lord find un-delayed release?
Noble commanders, since that war's grim God,
After our sacrifice of many lives,
Neglects our offerings, and repays our

Service with loss, 'tis good to deal with

Policy. He's no true soldier that deals

Headless blows with the endangering of

His life; [and] may walk in a shade of safety,

Yet o'erthrow his towering enemy.

Great Alexander* made the then known world

Slave to his powerful will, more by the

Help of political wit than by the

Rough compulsion of the sword. Troy*, that

Endured the Grecians' ten years siege, by policy

Was fired, and became like to a lofty

Beacon on a flame.

Hum, hum.*

Suppose the French be marked for conquerors:
Stars have been crossed, when at natural birth they
Dart prodigious* beams, their influences,
Like to a flame of a newly lighted Taper*,

Has with the breath of policy been blown
Out: even to nothing. 

Hum, hum.

(to Pandolpho) This has been studied.

(to Alerzo) He's almost out.

Good.  But to the matter - your counsel.

'Tis this my Lord:
That straight before the French have pitched their tents
Or raised a work* before our City walls -

As yet their ships have not o’erspread the sea -

We send a regiment that may with speed
Land on the marshes, and begirt* their back,

Whilst we open our Gates, and with a strong assault
Force them [to] retreat into the arms of death:
So the revengeful earth shall be their tomb
That did ere while trample her teeming womb.

Machvile speaks Oracle*.

What says Antonio?

 

Nothing.

How?

Nothing.

(aside) It takes: Revenge I hug thee.
Young Lord, thou are lost.

 

Speak, Antonio! Your counsel.

Nothing*.

How?

So:
And could my wish obtain a sudden grant

From yon tribunal, I would crave, my senses
Might be all steeped in Lethe*, to forget
What Machvile has spoken.

(aside) Ha, it takes unto my wish.

  
Why, Antonio?

Because you speak not like a man that were
Possessed with a mere soldier’s heart, much

Less a soul guarded with subtle sinews.
Oh madness, can there be in nature such
A prodigy so senseless, so much to be

Wondered at, as can applaud or lend a

Willing ear to that my blushes do betray

I've been tardy to hear?  Your childish policy.

Antonio, you're too bold: this usurped

Liberty!  To abuse a man of so much

Merit is not seemly in you. Nay, I'll

Term it sauciness.

Nay then my Lord, I claim the privilege of
A Counsellor and will object. This is

My prophetic fear whispered in my heart:
When from a watch tower I beheld the French
Erect their spears, which like a mighty grove
Denied my eyes any other object -
The tops showed by a stolen reflection

From the sun like diamonds, or as the

Glorious gilder of the day*, should deign

A lower visit. Then my warm blood, that

Used to play like summer, felt a change.

Gray-bearded winter froze my very soul,

Till I became like the Pyrenean

Hills*, wrapped in a robe of ice. My attic

Fear froze me into a statue. 

Cowardly Antonio!

I have lost my faith
And can behold him now without a wonder.

Antonio you’re too long and rack* our

Patience; your counsel?

I feared, but what? Not our proud enemies.
No, did they burden all our Spanish world

And I, poor I only, survived to threat

Defiance in the monsieur's teeth*, and stand
Defendant for my country's cause, naked

And unarmed, I'd through their bragging host and

Pay my life a sacrifice to death, for

My loved Country's safety.

 

Fulgentio, thou hast not lost thy faith?

 

No, I’m reformed. He’s valiant.

 

Antonio your counsel.

 

Aye, your counsel.

 

Our foes increase to an unreckoned number:
We less them nothing, since we have no hope
To arrive a number that may cope with

Half their Army.  ‘Tis my counsel we strike

A league*. ‘Tis wisdom to sue peace where powerful

Fate threatens ruin, lest [we] repent too late.
 

‘Tis God-like counsel.

 

And becomes the tongue of young Antonio.

 

Antonio, let me tell you, you have lost
Your valiant heart. I can with safety now

Term you a coward.

 

Ha!

 

Nay more, since by your oratory you

Strive to rob your country of a glorious

Conquest, that may to after times beget

A fear, even with the thought, should awe

The trembling world.  You are a traitor.

 

Ha, my Lord?  Coward and traitor? ‘Tis a

Damned lie and in the heart of him dares say

It again I’ll write his error.

 

(aside) ‘Tis as I’d have it.

 

Noble Antonio.

 

Brave spirited Lord.

 

The mirror of a Soldier.

 

Oh are you moved first? Has the deserved name
Of traitor pricked you?

 

Deserved?

 

Yes.

 

Yes.

 

Machvile, thou liest.  Had thou a heart of
Hardened steel my powerful arm should pierce it.

 

They all fight in a confused manner.  Antonio kills the Governor and injures Machvile.

 

The Governor! Killed by Antonio’s hand?

 

No, by the hand of justice. Fly, fly my Lord.

 

Send for a surgeon to dress Count Machvile.
He must be now our Governor; the King
Signed it in the dead Governor’s commission.

 

Exit Attendant

 

Now I repent too late my rash contempt.
The horror of a murderer will still
Follow my guilty thoughts, fly where I will.

 

Exit Antonio

 

I’m wounded, else, coward Antonio,
Thou should not fly from my revengeful arm,
But my curses fall upon thy head

Heavy as thunder. May thou die burdened
With ulcerous sins whose very weight may sink

Thee down to Hell, beneath the reach of
Smooth-faced mercy’s arm.

Someone shouts for Antonio

 

Confusion choke your rash officious throats.
And may that breath that speaks his loathed name
Beget a plague, whose hot infectious air
May scald you up to blisters, which foretell
A purge of life: Up Machvile,
Thou’st thy will, howe’re cross fate
Divert the people’s hearts; they must perforce

Sue to that shrine our liking shall erect.
The Governor is dead; Antonio’s lost
To anything but death; ‘tis our glad fate
To gripe* the staff of what we look’t for state.
My blood’s ambitious and runs through my veins
Like nimble water through a leaden pipe
Up to some barren mountain: I must have more.
All wealth in my thoughts to a Crown is poor.

Exit Machvile

 

Act Two Scene 2

 

Enter Sebastiano as Giovanno, Evadne and Nurse

 

‘Tis a neat gown and fashionable, Madam; is it not, love?

 

Upon my virginity, wonderful handsome. Dear, when we are married I’ll have such a one. Shall I not chicken? Ha.

 

What else, kind nurse?

 

Truly you tailors are the most sanctified members of a Kingdom.  How many crooked bodies and untoward bodies have you set upright, that they go now so straight in their lives and conversation as the proudest of them all.

 

That’s certain; none prouder.

 

How mean you sir?

 

Faith, Madam, your crooked movables* in artificial bodies that rectify the deformities of nature’s over-plus as bunching banks, or scarcity as scanty shoulders, are the proudest creatures.  You shall have them jet it* with an undaunted boldness; for the truth is what they want in substance they have in air.  They will scold the tailor out of his art and impute the defect of nature to his want of skill though his labour make her appearance pride worthy. 

 

Well said my bird’s-eye*. Stand for the credit of tailors whilst thou livest; wilt thou not chuck? Ha, sayst thou my dear?

 

I were ungrateful else.

 

Nurse pray leave us; your presence makes your sweet
Heart negligent of what he comes about.

Pray be won to leave us here.

 

Madam, your will’s obeyed.  Yet I can hardly pass from thee, my love, at such a sudden warning.

Your eager love may be termed dotage; for shame confess your self to less expressions! Leave my Lady.

 

A kiss and then I go; so. Farewell my duck*.

Nurse kisses Sebastiano and then exits

 

Death, she has left a scent to poison me.
Love her, said she! Is any man so mad
To hug a disease? Or embrace a colder

Image than Pygmalion’s*? Or play with the
Bird of frosty antiquity*? Not I!
Her gums stink worse than a pest-house* and more
Danger of infecting.  As I’m a
Mortal tailor and your servant Madam,
Her breath has tainted me I dare not
Salute your Ladyship.

 

Come, you are loath to part with’t, ‘tis so sweet.

 

Sweet, say you, Madam?  A muster of
Diseases can’t smell worse than her rotten

Teeth. Excuse my boldness to defer your

Longing; thus I am new created with

Your breath.

 

Sebastiano and Evadne kiss

 

                  My gaping pores will never be

Satisfied. Again – they are still hungry.

 

My dear friend, let not thy lovely person
March with the scolding, peace-affrighting drum.
War is too cruel; come I’ll chain you here, here
In my arms and stifle you with kisses.
You shan’t go – by this you shan’t go.


By this I must.

 

I’ll smother that harsh breath.

They kiss

 

Again I counter-check it.

 

They kiss again.  Enter Antonio pursued; seeing them and stands amazed

 

Oh sister, ha! What killing sight is this!

Cannot be she. Sister!

 

Oh my dear friend; my brother. We’re undone!

 

Degenerate girl! Lighter than wind or air!
Can thou forget thy birth? Or ‘cause thou’rt fair
Are privileged, dost think with such a zeal to
Grasp an under-shrub*? Dare you exchange breath
With your tailors, without fear of vengeance
From the disturbed ghosts of our dead parents
For their blood’s injury? Or are your favours
Grown prostitute to all? My unkind Fate

Grieves me not half so much as thee forgetful.

Sir, if on me this language, I must tell you, you are too rash to censure. My unworthiness, that makes her seem so ugly in your eyes, perhaps hangs in these clothes; and is shifted off with them.  I am as noble, but that I hate to make comparisons, as any you can think worthy to be called her husband.

 

Shred of a slave, thou liest!

 

Sir I am hasty too; yet in the presence of my mistress can use a temper.

 

Brave; your mistress!

 

Enter Machvile with officers.

 

Lay hold on him! Here we presume to meet
The enemy. We’ll purge the city lest

The wrath of Heaven fall heavy on us.
Antonio I arrest thee of

Capital treason ‘gainst the King and Realm.

To prison with him.

My lost brother!

 

(aside) ‘Tis but an error: treason do you call it, to kill the Governor in heat of blood and not intended?  For my Evadne’s sake, something I’ll do shall save his life.

 

Sebastiano exit

 

To prison with him.

 

Farewell, Evadne.  As thou lovest the peace

Of our dead ancestors, cease to love so

Loathed a thing: a tailor. Why, ‘tis the scorn

Of all!  Therefore be ruled by thy departing

Brother: do not mix with so much baseness.
Come officers, bear me ev’n where you please,
My oppressed conscience nowhere can have ease.

 

Exit Antonio with officers

 

Lady we here enjoin you to

Your chamber as a prisoner to wait

A further censure: you brother’s fault has

Pulled a punishment upon your head, which

You must suffer.

E’en what you please, your tyranny can’t bear
A shape so bad to make Evadne fear:
Strong innocence shall guard my afflicted soul

Whose constancy shall tyranny control.

Exit Machvile and Evadne left as Antonio and officers enter right.  Cries of rescue offstage as Sebastiano, as Giovanno, and Tailors storm the officers and, after a scuffle, rescue Antonio.

 

Enter Machvile and he is approached by Officer 1

 

 

A troop of Tailors have by force taken
Antonio from us, and have borne him,
’Spite of the best resistance we could make,

Unto some secret place: we can’t find him.

 

Screech-owl*, dost thou know what thou has said?
Death: find him or you die.

 

Exit officers

 

                                        Oh my crossed stars!
He must not live to torture our next sense,

But die, though he had no fault but innocence.

 

Exit Machvile

 

Act Two Scene 3

 

Enter Sebastiano as Giovanno, Antonio and the Old Tailor

 

Can this kindness merit your love? Do I deserve your sister?

 

My sister! Worthy tailor; ‘tis a gift
Lies not in me to give: ask something else
’Tis thine, although it be gained with the quiet
Extinguishing of this, this breath you gave me.

 

Have not I…

 

(interrupting) Speak no further! I confess you have been
All unto me – life and being. I breathe
But with your licence. Will no price buy out
Your interest in me but her love? I tell
Thee tailor, I have blood runs in me Spain
Cannot match for greatness next her King’s. Yet
To requite thy love I’ll call thee friend. Be
Thou Antonio’s friend, a favour nobles
Have thirsted for; will this requite thee?

 

Sir, this may, but…

 

(interrupting) My sister, thou would say, most worthy

Tailor. She is not mine to give. Honour

Spoke in my dying Father: ‘tis a

Sentence that’s registered here, in

Antonio’s heart. I must not wed her but

To one in blood calls honour Father. Prithee*

Be my friend, forget I have a sister;

In love I’ll be more than a Brother; though

Not to mingle blood.

 

May I not call her mistress?

 

As a servant: far from the thoughts of wedlock.

 

I’m your friend, and proud of it.  You shall find that though a tailor, I’ve an honest mind. (to Old Tailor) Pray, Master, help my Lord into a Suit; his life lies at you mercy.  

 

I’ll warrant you.

 

But for thy men –

 

Oh they are proud in that they rescued you.
And my blood of honour, since you are pleased
To grace the now declining trade of tailors
By being shrouded in their homely clothes
And deck a shop-board* with your noble person,
The taunting scorns, the foul mouthed world can throw

Upon our needful calling shall be answered:
They injure honour since your honour is

A noble practitioner in our mystery*.

 

Cheer up Antonio. Take him in – the rest will make him merry. I’ll go try the temper of a sword upon some shield that guards a foe. Pray for my good success.

 

Exit Sebastiano

 

Come, come my Lord. Leave melancholy to

Hired slaves that murder at a price.

Yours was…

(interrupting) No more, flatter not my sin.

 

You are too strict a convertite*, let’s in.

 

Exit Antonio and Old Tailor

 

 

 

Act Two Scene 4

 

After a confused noise enter Raymond, Leonis, Gilberty hastily

 

What means this capering* echo? Or from

Whence did this so lively counterfeit of
Thunder break out to liberty?

 

‘Tis from the city.

 

It cannot be! Their voice should out-roar Jove*.
Our Army, like a Basilisk*, has struck
Death through their eyes; our number, like a wind
Broke from the icy prison of the North,
Has froze the portals to their shivering hearts.
They scarce have breath enough to speak’t: they live.

 

A shout offstage

 

‘Tis certainly from thence.

 

You’re deceived, poor Spaniards’ fear has changed their
Elevated gait to a dejection.

They’re planet struck.

 

‘Tis from a jocund* fleet, my genius

Prompts me. They have already ploughed the

Unruly seas and with their breasts*, proof ‘gainst

The battering waves, dashed the big billows

Into angry froth and ‘spite of the

Contentious full mouthed gods of sea and wind,

Have reached the city frontiers and

Begirt* her navigable skirts.

 

(shout offstage)

 

Again ‘tis so.

 

My creed’s another way:  I have no faith
But to the City.

 

Alarm offstage.  Enter a bloodied soldier.

 

Here’s one, now we shall know. Ha! He appears like one composed of horror.

 

What speaks thy troubled front?

 

Speak, crimson Meteor.

 

Speak, Prodigy, or on my sword thou fallest.

 

The bold Spaniards, setting aside all cold
Acknowledgment  of any odds or

Notice of the number our Army is
Made proud with, sends from their walls more lightning

Than great Jove* affrights the crimson world

With when the air is turned to mutiny.

 

Villain, thou liest; ‘twere madness to believe

Thee.  Foolish Spain may like those Giants that

Heaped hill on hill, mountain on mountain to

Pluck Jove* from Heaven who with a hand of
Vengeance flung them down beneath the centure*
And those cloud contemning* Mounts, heaved by the

Strength of their ambitious arms became their
Monuments: so Spain’s rash folly, from this
Arm of mine, shall find their graves amongst the

Rubbish of their ruined cities.

 

Enter another soldier

 

What! Another? Thy hasty news.

 

The daring enemies have through their gates

Made a victorious sally*; all our troops
Have jointly like the dust before the wind

Made a dishonoured flight: Hark!

 

Alarm offstage

 

                                                   The conquering

Foe makes hitherward.

 

Run to my tent, fetch my Philippa.

Slave why mov’st thou not?

 

The enemy’s upon us.

 

Raymond strikes Soldier 2

 

Shall I send thy coward soul down the vaults

Of Horror? Fly, villain, or thou diest.

 

Alarm offstage.  Enter Machvile, Spanish Colonels with Philippa as prisoner. Enter Sebastiano as Giovanno, and Tailors

 

Let one post to my castle and conduct
My Lady, tell her I have a prisoner
Would become proud in her forced captivity

To wait upon her beauty. Fly, let not
The tardy clouds out-sail thee.

 

Can thou think proud man that Philippa’s heart
Is humbled with her fortune? No, didst thou

Bring all the rough tortures from the world’s childhood

To this hour invented, and on my

Resolute body, proof against pain,

Practised Sicilian tyranny, my

Giant thoughts should like a cloud of wind,

Contemning* smoke, mingle with heaven and
Not a look so base as to be pitied

Shall give you cause of triumph.

 

Before Heaven, a fiery girl.

 

A masculine spirit.

 

An Amazon.

 

See my Philippa: her rich colour’s fled
And like that soul the furrow-fronted Fates

Have made an anvil to forge diseases

On, she’s lost herself with her fled beauty.
Yet pale as she stands she adds more glory

To our churlish foe than bashful Titan

To the Eastern world. Spaniards, she is a

Conquest Rome, when her two-necked Eagles awed

The world, would have swum through their own blood to

Purchase! Nor must you enjoy that gem, the

Superstitious Gods would quarrel for, but

Through my heart.

Courage brave friends, they’re valiant that can fly
I’th mouth of danger; ‘tis they win, though die.

This Moor speaks truth wrapped in a voice of thunder.

 

Speak my Philippa, what untutored slave
Dares lay a rugged hand upon thy softness?

 

‘Twas the epitome of Hercules*: No
Big Colossus*, yet for strength far bigger;
A little person great with matchless valour.

 

What pains thou takest to praise thine enemy.

 

‘Twere sin to rob him that has wasted so
His blood for praise: this noble soldier, he

Made me captive.  Nor can he boast ‘twas

In an easy combat; for my good sword,

Now ravished from mine arm, forced crimson drops,

That like a gory sweat, buried his
Manly body in oblivion: those

That were skilled in his effigies, as drunk
With Lethe*, had forgot ‘twas he till by the

Drawing of the rueful curtain they saw

In him their error. 

A common soldier owner of a strength
Worthy such praise? Dares he cope with the French
General single?

 

My Lord, you must strike quick and sure…

 

Why pause you? My Philippa must not stay;

Captivity’s infection.

 

We have the day.

 

Not till you conquer me, which if my arm
Be not by witchcraft robbed of his late strength,

Shall spin your labour to an ample length.

 

Upon him then!

 

Odds is dishonourable combat: My
Lads let’s one to one: I am for the Moor.

 

Thee!

 

Tailor, you are too saucy.

 

Saucy?

 

Untutored groom! Mechanic slave*!

 

You have protection by the Governor’s presence, else my plumed ostriches, ‘tis not your feathers, more weighty than your heads, should stop my vengeance, but I’d text* my wrong in bloody characters upon your pampered flesh.

 

You would?

 

By heaven I would.

 

You’d be advised and render up your life a sacrifice to patience.

 

Musk-cat,* I’d make your civet* worship stink first in your perfumed buffe*.

 

Phlegmatic* slave!

 

Bloodless commanders.

 

How!

 

So.

 

Let’s reward his boldness.

 

Whence this rashness?

 

The colonels attack Sebastiano

 

Blessed occasion: let’s on ‘em.

 

The French whisper and make to attack the Spanish, who turn on their guard and beat them off.

 

Act Three Scene 1

 

Enter Machvile, Spanish Colonels, Sebastiano as Giovanno with Raymond and Philippa as prisoners. Enter all Tailors

 

A tailor, a tailor, a tailor!

 

Raymond, you're now my prisoner: Blind chance has favoured where your thoughts and hope she meant to ruin from our discord, which Heaven has made victorious, you meant to strike a harmony should glad you.

 

Machvile, Fulgentio and Alerzo whisper amongst themselves

 

'Tis not to be borne: a tailor!

 

'Twas an affront galls to me think of. Besides his saucy valour might have ruined all our forward fortunes had the French been stronger. Let him be banished!

 

It shall be so. My fears are built on grounds
Stronger than Atlas's* shoulders: this same
Tailor retains a spirit like the lost

Antonio, whose sister we will banish

In pretence of love to justice. 'Tis a
Good snare to trap the vulgar hearts: his and

Her goods I'll give the poor, whose tongues are in

Their bellies, which being full is tipped* with

Heartless prayers; but empty a falling
Planet is less dangerous; they'll down to Hell

For curses.
                   You! Tailor!

 

My Lord?

 

Deliver up your prisoner.

 

You're obeyed.                                     

 

So. Now we command on forfeit of thy

Life you be not seen in any ground our

Master title circles within three days.

Such a factious spirit we must not nourish:
Lest like the Fable's serpent, grown warm in

Your conceited worth, you sting your country's

Breasts that nursed your valour.

 

This my reward?

 

More than thy worth deserves

 

Pomander box,* thou liest.

 

Go purge yourself: your Country vomits you.

 

Slaves, you're not worth my anger.

 

Go vent your spleen 'mongst satirists - pen a pamphlet and call it 'The Scourge of Greatness'.

 

Or 'Spain's Ingratitude'.

 

Ye are not worth my breath, else I should curse

You.  But I must weep, not that I part from

Thee, unthankful Spain, but my Evadne.
Well it must be so. Heart, keep thy still tough

Temper 'spite of woe.

 

Exit Sebastiano

 

(to Raymond) My house shall be your prison.  Attend him, Colonels.

 

Please you walk?

 

Exit all except the Tailors

 

My servant banished!

 

Famished, master? Nay, faith! And a tailor come to be famished! 'Tis a hard world: no bread in this world here hoe, to save the renowned corpse of a tailor from famishing. 'Tis no matter for drink, give me bread!

 

Thou hast a gut would swallow a peck* loaf.

 

Aye marry would; with vantage; I tell truth, and as the proverb says, shame the Devil - if our Hell afford a Devil, but I see none unless he appear in a delicious remnant of nimmed* satin, and by my faith that's a courteous devil that suffers the brokers* to hang him in their ragged wardrobe; and used to sell his devilship for money. I tell truth. A tailor and lie? Faith, I scorn that!

 

Leave your discovery.

 

Master, a traveller you know is famous for lying and having as travelled as far as Hell, may I not make a description of the unknown land?

 

My brain is busy. Sebastiano must not tread an unknown land to find out a grave. Unfortunate Sebastiano: first to lose thyself in a disguise unfitting for thy birth, and then thy country for thy too much valour. There's danger in being virtuous in this Age led by those sinful actors. The plunged stage of this vice-bearing world would headlong fall but charitable virtue bears up all. I must invent. I have it! So: as he's a tailor he is banished [from] Spain, as Sebastiano is revoked again.

 

Exit all.

 

Act Three Scene 2

 

Enter Machvile

 

How subtle are my springes*: they take all. With
What swift speed unto my chaff* bait do all
Fowls fly unto their hasty ruin? Clap, clap
Your wings and flutter greedy fools whilst I

Laugh at you folly. I have a wire set

For the Moor and his ambitious consort
Which if my wife would second they are sure.

 

Enter Auristella

 

What must she second?

 

Art thou there, my love? We're in a path that

Leads us to a height; we may confront the

Sun and with a breath extinguish common

Stars; be but thou ruled, the light that does create

Day to this city must be derived from us.

 

You fire my soul and to my airy

Wings add quicker feathers. What tasks would not

I run to be called Queen?  Did the life blood
Of all our family, father and mother,

Stand as a quick* wall to stop my passage

To a throne, I'd with a poniard open

Their azure* veins and squeeze their active blood

Up into clods till they become as

Cold as winter's snow, and as a bridge

Upon their trunks I'd go.

 

Our souls are twins and thirst with equal heat

For deity: Kings are in all things Gods
Saving mortality.

 

To be a Queen what danger would I run?
I'd spend my life like to a barefoot nun

So I might sit above the lesser stars

Of small nobility but for a day.

 

'Tis to be done, love, a nearer way*. I

Have already with the sugared baits of

Justice, liberality and all the
Fox-like gins* that subtle Statesmen set to 

Catch the hearts o'th giddy multitude - which

If it fails, as cautious policy

Forbids, I bid too strongly on their drunk

Uncertain votes - I'd have thee break with my
Great prisoner's wife, as I will do with him:
Promise the states equal divided, half

Himself shall rule; so that if need compel

Us to take arms we may have forces

From the realm of France to seat us in the

Chair of Government.

 

I n'er shall endure to walk as equal

With proud Philippa. No. My ambitious

Soul boils in a thirsty flame of

Total glory: I must be all, without

A second flame to dim our lustre.

 

Still my very soul. Thinkest thou I can endure

[A] competitor, or let an Ethiope

Sit by Machvile’s side as partner in his

Honour? No, as I have seen in the

Commonwealth of players, one that did act the
Theban Creon’s* part; with such a life I

Became ravished, and on Raymond mean to

Plot what he did one the cavilling* boys of

Oedipus, whilst we grasp the whole dignity.

 

As how, sweet Machvile?

 

It is not ripe, my love. The King, I hear,
Applauds my justice, wherefore I have sent

Order that Count Antonio, once

Being taken, be sent to Filford Mill;

There ground to death.

 

What for his wife?*

 

Thy envy? She I have banished and her goods,

To guard a shower of curses from my head,
I’ve given the poor.

 

Good policy. Let’s home to our designs:
I hate to be officious, yet my frown

Shall be dissolved to flattery for a crown.

 

Attend your Lady.

 

Exit Auristella

 

                           So her forward spleen,

Tickled with the thought of greatness, makes the

Scene’s attempts run smooth. The haughty Moor shall

Be the lader* on whose servile back I’ll

Mount to greatness. If calm peace deny me

Easy way, rough war shall force it. Which done,

Raymond and his Philippa must go seek

An Empire in Elysium*: For

To rule predominance belongs alone

To me: slaves are unworthy of rule. What

State would set a crown upon a mule?

 

Exit Machvile

 

Act Three Scene 3

 

Antonio centre stage, disguised sitting in a closet

My soul is heavy and my eyelids feel

The weighty power of Morpheus*: Each
Element that breathes a life within me
Runs a contrary course and conspire to
Counterfeit a Chaos*, whilst the frame and

Weak supporters of my inward man crack

As beneath the weight of Atlas’* burden.

A sudden change! How my bleared* eyelids

Strive to force a sleep ‘gainst nature. Oh yon

Powers that rule the better thoughts, if you have

Ought to act on my frail body, let it

Be with eagle’s speed, or if your Wills so

Please let my fore past and undigested

Wrongs o’erwhlem my thoughts, and sink me to the

Ground with their no less than death’s remembrance.

Cease, bastard slave, to clog my senses with

The leaden weights of an unwilling sleep,

Unless your raw-boned brother joins his force

And makes a separation twixt my airy

Soul and my earthly body. I am

O’ercome. Heaven work your wills; my breath

Submits to this as it would submit to death.

 

Antonio sleeps.

Soft music plays as Cupid descends until he is in mid-air.

 

Sleep entranced man, but be

Wakeful in thy fancy: see

Love hath left his palace fair

And beats his wings against the air

To ease thy panting breasts of ill.

Love is a physician, our will

Must be obeyed. Therefore with haste

To Flanders fly; the echoing blast

Of fame shall usher thee along

And leave thee pestered in a throng

Of searching troubles, which shall be

But bug-bears* to thy constancy.

 

Enter Death from left and Aurelia from right. Death strikes three times at Antonio but Aurelia diverts them. Exit Death and Aurelia.

 

What this same shadow seems to be
In Flanders thou shall real see.

The maid that seemed to conquer Death
And give the longer lease of breath

Dotes on thy air; reports hath been

Lavish in praising thee unseen.

Make haste to Flanders: time will be

Accused of slothfulness if she

Be longer tortured. Do not stay,

My power shall guide thee on thy way.

 

Cupid ascends.

Enter Sebastiano as Giovanno, and the Old Tailor

 

He is asleep.

 

See how he struggles, as if some visions

Had assumed a shape fuller of horror

Than his troubled thoughts.

 

His conscience gripes him to purpose: see he

Wakes: Let us observe.

 

Stay gentle power, leave hostage that thy

Promise thou’lt perform, and I will offer

To thy deity more than my lazy

Heart has offered yet. But stay, Antonio:
Can thy easy faith give credit to a

Dream? An airy vision framed by strangling

Fancy, to delude weak sense with a gay
Nothing? Recollect thyself, advise thee

By thy fears, it may force hence this

Midnight’s shade of grief and gild it with a

Morn as full as joy as does bright Phoebus* to

Our eastern world, when blushing he arises

From the lap of sea-green Thetis* to give

A new day birth.

Why, how now friend? What, talking to yourself?

 

Oh Giovanno, ‘tis my impartial thoughts

That rise in war ‘gainst my guilty conscience.
Oh it stings me!

 

Be more a man! Shrink not beneath a weight so light a child may bear it. For believe me, if my prophetic fear deceive me not, you had done an act Spain should forever praise had you killed Machvile too.

 

As how good Master? I must call you so;

This is your livery.

 

Oh you’re a noble tailor. But to Machvile: it was my chance, being sent for by his wife to take the measure of their noble prisoner, who when I came was busy being placed into a room where I might easily hear them talk of crowns and kingdoms and of two that should be partners in this end of Spain.

 

Who were they?

 

Machvile and Raymond. At last Machvile laughed saying, ‘for this I made the Governor to cross Antonio at the Counsel Board, knowing that one, if not both, should die’.

 

Did he say this?

 

He did, and added more under a feigned show of love to justice: Banished your sister!

 

Is Evadne banished? 

 

She is, and as I guess, to Flanders.  Her woman too has left her.

 

Nay, droop not, friend. Host, pray tell proud Machvile I have a sword left to chastise a traitor. Come, let’s go seek Evadne.

 

Oh Antonio, the sudden grief almost distracts thy friend, but come, let’s go each several* and meet at Filford. If thou findest Evadne bear her unto the castle.

 

Exit Sebastiano

 

Farewell good Master.

 

Exit Antonio

 

Oh you honour me.
Bootless were all persuasions; they’ll not stay.

I’ll to the King. This treason may become

Like to a disease out of the reach of physic*

And may infect past cure if let alone.

 

Exit Old Tailor

 

Act Three Scene 4

 

Enter Raymond and Philippa

 

Erect thy head my Raymond, be more tall

Than daring Atlas, but more safely wise. 

Sustain no burden but the politic

Care of being great till thou obey the

City’s Axeltree* and wave at it as thou list*. 

 

Has thou no skill in magic, that thou hits
So just upon my thoughts? Thy tongue is tipped

Like nature’s miracle that draws the steel

With unresisted violence.  I cannot

Keep a secret to myself, but thy

Prevailing rhetoric ravishes and

Leaves my breast like to an empty casket,

That once was blessed with keeping of a jewel

I dare not trust the air with, it was so

Precious: pray be careful.

 

You do not doubt me?

 

No. Were you a woman made of such coarse

Ingredients as the common, which in

Our trivial phrase we call mere, woman, I

Would not trust thee with a cause so weighty
That the discovery did endanger this,

This hair, that when ‘tis gone a lynx cannot

Miss it*. But you are …

I want expressions! ‘Tis not common words

Can speak you truly. You are more than woman.

 

My Lord you know my temper, and how to
Win upon my heart.

I must be gone and post a messenger.

France must supply what wants to make thee great:

An army, my Philippa, which these people,

Snoring in pride of their last victory,

Do not so much as dream on. Nor shall, till

They be forced to yield their voices at our
Election; which will be ere long.

 

Exit Raymond

Oh ‘tis an age! I’d rather have it said

Philippa than a prisoner were dead.

 

Exit Philippa

 

Act Three Scene 5

 

Enter Judge and Officers with Antonio, Petruchio and Aurelia meet him with servants

 

Captain Petruchio, take this condemned

Man into your charge: it is Antonio,

Once a Spanish Count, till his rash folly;

With his life made forfeit with his honour,

He was found travelling to your castle. ‘Twas

Heaven’s will that his own feet should with a

Willing pace conduct him to his ruin.

For the murder he must be ground to death

In Filford Mill, of which you are the

Governor. Here’s my Commission, in its end

Gives strength to yours; he’s your charge. Farewell. His

Death must be with speed.

 

Exit Judge and Officers

 

Deceive me not, good glasses. Your lights in

My esteem never till now was precious; ‘tis

The same, aye ‘tis the very same I sleeping saw.

 

Is this the man Fame speaks so nobly of?
Oh Love, Aurelia never until now

Could say he knew thee. I must dissemble it.

 

Come, Sir, to my castle.

 

Fie on you, Sir! To kill a Governor! It is a fact death cannot appear too horrible to punish.

 

Can this be truth? Oh shallow, shallow man!
To credit air, believe there can be

Substance in a cloud of thickened smoke, as

Truth hid in a dream. Yes, there is truth, that

Like a scroll fetched from an Oracle
Betrays the double dealing of the Gods.

Dreams that speak all of joy do turn to grief

And such bad Fate deludes my light belief. 

 

Away with him!

 

Exit all except Aurelia

 

Oft have I heard my brother, with a tongue

Proud of the Office, praise this lovely Lord.

And my trapped soul did with as eager haste

Draw in the breath, and now: Oh Aurelia,

Buried with him must all thy joy thou hast

Forever sleep, and with a pale consumption

Pitying him, will thou thy self be ruined?

He must not die. If there be any way

Revealed to the distressed I will find it.
Assist a poor lost virgin, some good Power,

And lead her to a path whose secret track

May guide both him and me unto our safety.

Be kind, good Wits. I never until now
Put you to any trouble; ‘tis your Office

To help at need this little world you live
By: not yet? Oh dullness! Don’t make me mad.

I hav’t, blessed brain; now shall a woman’s wit

Wrestle with Fate, and if my plot but hit.
Come off wreaths, my duty, nay, nay all,

I must forsake lest my Antonio fall.

 

Exit

 

Act Four Scene 1

 

Enter Sebastiano as Giovanno, mad

 

Not find Evadne! Sure some wanton wind

Has snatched her from the earth into the air;

Smooth zephyrs* faines* the tresses of her hair,

Whilst slick Favonions* plays the fawning slaves

And hourly dies*, making her breasts his grave.

Oh false Evadne! Is Giovanno’s love,

That has out-done all merit for thy sake,

So light that wind out-weighs it? No, no, no.

Evadne is all virtue, sweet as the

Breath of roses and as chaste as virgin

Lilies in their infancy. Down you

Deluding Ministers of Air: Evadne

Is not light though she be fair; Dissolve that

Counterfeit. Ha, ha, ha, ha. See how they

Shrink? Why so. Now I will love you. Go search

Into the hollows of the earth and find

My love, or I will chain you up to

Eternity. See, see; who’s this? Oh I
Know him now. So, ho ho, so ho ho: not
Here? ‘Tis Phaeton*: no ‘tis an heir got

Since his father’s death, into a cloak of

Gold out-shines the sun. The headstrong horses

Of licentious youth have broke their reigns and

Drawn him through the signs of all libidinousness,

See from the whorish front of Capra*;

He’s tumbling down as low as beggary.

Oh, are you come grim tartor*? Radamonte*,

Go ask of Pluto* if he have not ta’en

Evadne to his smoky commonwealth

And ravished her? Be gone. Why stir you not?
Ha, ha, ha, the Devil is afraid.

 

(from offstage) Help! A rape!

 

(from offstage) Stop her mouth!

 

Who calls for help? ‘Tis my Evadne! Aye,

It was her voice that gave the echo life,

That cried a rape: Devil, dost love a wench?

Who was thy Pander*, ha? What saucy fiend

Dared lay his unpared fangs on my Evadne?

Come, I’ll swim unarmed over Acheron*

And sink grim Charon* in his fiery boat.

 

(from offstage) Murder! A rape!

 

I come, I come!

 

Sebastiano exits left as the Bandits enter right dragging Evadne by her hair, she drops a scarf centre stage. Bandits and Evadne exit left as Sebastiano enters right.

 

I cannot find her yet: the King of Flames

Protests she is not there, but hang him, rogue!

They say he’ll lie. Oh, how my glutted spleen

Tickles to think how I have the paid the slave;

I made him lead me into every hole.

Ha, ha, ha, what crying was there there? Here

On a wheel, turned by a Fury’s hand,

Hangs a distracted statesman, that had spent

The little wit Heaven to strange purpose

Lent him, to suppress rights, make beggars and

Get means to be a traitor, ha, ha, ha.
And here hangs an usurer* fat with the

Curses of so many heirs his extortion

Had undone, sate to the chin in a warm
Bath made of melted gold. And now and then

A draught passed through his throat; he fed upon

His God, but being angry scalded his

Chops. Right against him stood a fooled Gallant,

Chained unto a post and lashed by Folly

For his want of wit.  The reeling drunkard

And plump glutton stood making of faces

Close by Tantalus*, but drank and fed on

Air. The whore-master, tied to a painted

Punk*, was by a Fury termed insatiate

Lust, whipped with a blade of fire, and here –

What’s here? ‘Tis my Evadne’s veil , ‘tis hers

I know’t. Some slave has ravished my Evadne!

Well, there breathes not such an impious slave in

Hell. Nay, it’s hers; I know it too, too plain.

Your breath is lost; ‘tis hers. You speak in vain.

 

Exit Sebastiano

 

Act Four Scene 2

 

Thunder and Lightning.

Enter Bandits dragging Evadne by her hair

 

Come, bring her forward. Tie her to that tree; each man shall have his turn. Come minion*, you must quench the raging flames of my concupiscence*. What, do you weep? You puritanical punk*! I shall tickle mirth into you by and by. Trotter, good Trotter, post unto my cell, make compound of muscadine* and eggs. For the truth is I am a giant in my promises but in the act a Pigmy: I am old and cannot do as I have done. Good Trotter, make all convenient speed.

 

Faith Master, if you can’t, here’s them that can ferret in a cunny* burrow without a provocative, I’ll warrant you. Good Master, let me begin the health.

 

No more I say: it is a parcel of excellent mutton, I’ll cut it up myself. Come minion.

 

Exit Trotter

The Captain takes out his dagger, winds Evadne’s hair round it and sticks it into the ground.

Thunder and Lightning

 

Kill me, oh kill me. Rather let me die

Than live to see the jewel that adorns the

Souls of virtuous virgins ravished from

Me. Do not add sin to sin, and at a

Price that ruins me and not enriches you,

Purchase damnation. Do not, do not do’t.

Sheath here your sword, and my departing soul,

Like your good angel, shall solicit Heaven

To dash out your offences. Let my flight

Be pure and spotless. Do not injure that

Manhood would blush to think on; it is all

A maid’s divinity. Wanting her life

She’s a fair corpse, wanting her chastity

A spotted soul of living infamy.

 

Hang chastity!

 

A very voice.

 

Enter Trotter

 

Oh Captain, Captain, yonder’s the mad Orlando* the furious, and I think he takes me for – what do you call him?

 

What, Meder*?

 

Aye, Aye, Meder – the Devil Meder. He was so noodled!* Me – oh here he comes! I’ll be gone.

 

Exit Trotter

Enter Sebastiano as Giovanno

 

Stay Satyr*, stay. You are too light of foot.

I cannot reach your paces, prithee stay.

What goddess have you there? Sure ‘tis Evadne!

Are you the dragons that ne’er sleep but watch

The golden fruit of the Hesperides*?
Ha, then I am Hercules. Fly ye?
Sure that face dwelt on Evadne’s shoulders.

 

He beats them off and unbinds Evadne

 

Oh thou preserver of near lost Evadne!
What must my weakness pay?

 

(aside) ‘Tis, ‘tis she. She must not know I’m mad.

 

(aside) Assist me some good Power, it is my friend.

Make me but wise enough to resolve myself.

 

(aside) It may be ‘tis not she; I’ll ask her name.

 

What are you called, sweet goddess?

 

They that know me mortal, term me Evadne.

 

‘Tis she! Aye, aye, ‘tis she.

 

Pray you Sir, unto the bond of what I

Owe you, which is the poor distressed virgin’s

Life, add this one debt: what are you?

 

Not worth your knowledge: I am a poor, a

Very, very, poor despised thing. But

Say, I pray, are you sure your name’s Evadne?

 

(aside) ‘Tis questionless my tailor.

 

I am she. Receive me to your arms,

Not altered in my heart though in my clothes.

 

I do believe you, indeed I do. But

Stay - I don’t! Are you a maid, a virgin?
Pray tell me!  For my Evadne could not

Tell a lie. Speak. I shall love you though that

Jewel’s gone.

 

I am as spotless, thank your happy self

That saved me from the robbers, as the child

Which yet is but a jelly ‘tis so young.

 

No more, no more! Trust me I do believe

You. So many slaves, whose flaming appetites

Would in one night ravish a throng of virgins

And never feel degression in their heat -

Heh, after and murder all!

 

                                         How do you?

 

Well, very well. Believe you think I’m mad.

You look distractedly.

 

‘Tis but your thoughts! Indeed I’m wondrous well.

 

(aside) How fair she looks after so foul a deed.

It cannot be that she should be false to me?
No, thou art mad to think so. Fool, oh fool!
Thinkest thou those slaves, having so fair a mark,

Would not be shooting? Yes, they would. They have!
Evadne is fly-blown*! I cannot love her!

 

What say you, sweet?

 

(aside) The innocence that sits upon that face

Says she is chaste; the guilty can’t speak so

Evenly as she does. Guilty, said I?

Alas it were not her fault were she ravished.

Oh madness, madness, whither will thou bear me?

 

His senses are unsettled. I’ll go seek

Some holy man to rectify his wits.

Sweet, will you go unto some hermit’s cell?

You look as you lack rest.

 

(aside) She speaks like to an angel; she’s the same

As when I saw her first, as pure, as chaste.

Did she retain the substance of a sinner,

For she is none, her breath would be sour

And betray the rankness of the act, but

Her chaste sighs beget as sweet a dew as

That of May.

 

Why weeps Evadne? Truly I’m not mad!

See? I am tame. Pray lead me where you please.

 

Act Four Scene 3

 

A Banquet. Enter Petruchio, Aurelia and two servants bringing Antonio asleep in a chair and set him to the table.

 

The drink has done its part effectively.

‘Twas a strong powder that could hold his senses

So fast that this removing, so full of

Noise, had not the power to wake him.

 

Good father, let Aurelia, your

Daughter, do this same act of justice; let
Me tread the pin: the fact of his being
So foul, so hateful, has lent me, though

A maid, such fortitude.

 

Thou hast thy wish, do’t boldly. ‘Tis a deed

That in the ignorance of elder ages

Would be thought full of merit: Be not daunted.

 

I have a thought tells me it’s religious

To sacrifice a murderer to death,

Especially one that did act a deed

So generally accounted odious.

 

By holy Jacques* I’m a governor and

Should my life (though by the hand of him my

Duty does call King) be stroke i’th air, my

Injured corpse should not forsake the earth till

I did see’t revenged. Be resolute; thy

Foot is guided by a power, that though unseen,

Is still a furtherer of good attempts. 

 

Pray Sir, lend me the key of the back ward*

For though my conscience tells me ‘tis an act

I may hereafter boast of, yet I’ll pass

Unto our Lady’s* chapel when ‘tis done

To be confessed ‘ere I am seen of any.

 

I am proud to see thee so well given.

Take them, girl, and with them take my prayers.

 

He wakes; pray leave me, Sir.

 

Exit Petruchio

 

So, I’ll make fast the door. Goodness bear witness,

‘Tis a potent power out-weighs my duty.

 

Amazement! On what tenters* do you stretch?

Oh how this alteration wracks my reason,

I’m to find the Axeltree* on which it

Hangs. Am I asleep?

 

Shake thy wonder off and leave that seat, ‘twas

Set to sink thy body forever from

The eyes of human sight. To tell thee how

Would be a fatal means to both our ruins –

Briefly, my love has broke the bands of nature

With my father to give you being.

 

Happy, happy vision, the blessed preparative

To this same hour; my joy would burst me else.

 

Receive me to thy arms.

 

I would not wish to live but for thee, life

Were a trouble. Welcome to my soul.

 

Antonio and Aurelia embrace

 

Stand. I have a ceremony to

Offer to our safety ‘ere we go.

 

She takes a dog and ties it to the chair, she stamps. The chair and dog fall, a pistol shot within.

 

Had not my love, like a kind branch of some

O’erlooking tree, caught thee, thou’dst fallen 

Never to look upon the world again.

 

What shall I offer to my life’s preserver?

 

Only thy heart, crowned with a wreath of love

Which I will ever keep, and in exchange

Deliver mine.

 

Thus I deliver; in this kiss receive it

 

Antonio kisses Aurelia

 

In the same form Aurelia yields up hers.

 

Aurelia kisses Antonio

 

A noise offstage

 

What noise is that?

 

I fear, my father.

 

What’s to be done?

 

Through the back ward, of which I have the key,

We’ll suddenly make escape; then in two

Gowns of which I am provided, we’ll clothe

Ourselves till we be past all fear.

 

Be’t as you please, ‘tis my good genius’

Will thee I obey. Command, I’ll follow still.

 

Exit Antonio and Aurelia

 

Enter Petruchio with servants

 

She’s gone unto her prayers; may every bead

Draw down a blessing on her, that like seed

May grow into a harvest. ‘Tis a girl

My age is proud of; she’s indeed the model

Of her dead mother’s virtue, as of shape.

Bear hence this banquet.

 

Exit with the Banquet.

 

Act Four Scene 4

 

Sebastiano as Giovanno is discovered sleeping in Evadne’s lap

 

Thou silent God, that with the leaden Mace*

Arrest all, save those prodigious birds, that

Are Fate’s heralds to proclaim all ill. Deaf

Giovanno, let no fancied noise of

Ominous screech-owls*  or night raven’s voice

Affright his quiet senses. Let his sleep

Be free from horror, or unruly dreams,

That may beget a tempest in the streams

Of his calm reason.  Let them run as smooth

And with as great a silence as those do

That never took an injury, where no

Wind had yet acquaintance, but like a smooth

Crystal dissolved into a water that

Never frowned or knew a voice but music.

 

Enter Aurelia and Antonio dressed as hermits.

 

Holy hermits, for such your habits speak

You, join your prayers with a distressed virgin’s,

That the wits of this distracted young man

May be settled.

 

Sure, it is my sister, and that sleeping

Man Giovanno. She loves him still!

 

Sebastiano wakes.

 

Oh what a blessedness am I bereft

Of! What pleasure has the least part of a

Minute stolen from my eyes? Methought I

Did embrace a brother and a friend; and

Both Antonio.

 

Blessed be those gentle powers that –

 

(interrupts) What, Evadne?  Have deceiv’d my eyes?

Take heed, Evadne, worship not a dream:

‘Tis of a smoky substance and will shrink

Into the compass of report, that ‘twas,

And not reward the labour of a word

Were it substantial. Could I now but see

That man of men I’d, by my practice of

Religious prayers, add to the calendar

One holy day and keep it once a year.

 

Antonio pulls down his hood to reveal his face

 

Behold Antonio.

 

Brother!

 

(to Sebastiano) Brother!

 

What earthquake shakes my heart; with what a speed

She flew in’t his arms.

 

Some Power that hearkens to the prayer of

Virgins has been distilled to pity at

My fortunes and made Evadne happy.

 

Now my longing that was grown big, is with

Your sight delivered of a joy, that will

Become a giant and overcome me.

Welcome, thrice welcome brother!

 

Ha! Her brother! Fortune has bound me so

Much in their debts I must despair to pay

Them. Twice has my life been by these twins of

Goodness plucked from the hand of death. That

Fatal enmity between our houses

Here shall end though my father, at his death,

Commanded me to eternity of

Hatred. What tie binds stronger than reprieve

From death? Come hither friend, now brother, take

Her. Thou hast been a noble tailor.

 

Be moderate, my joys: do not o’erwhelm

Me. Here, take Aurelia. May you live

Happy. Oh, Antonio, this was the cause

Of my disguise: Sebastiano could

Not win Evadne’s love but Giovanno

Did. Come now to our father’s castle.

 

Pardon me; there is a bar that does

Concern my life, forbids you as a friend

To think on going to any place

But to the tailors’ house, which is not far.

Come, as we go I will relate the cause.

 

Do, good brother.

 

Go, good Sebastiano.

 

Sebastiano is your Page and bound

To follow. Lead on.

 

Oh noble temper; I admire thee. May

The world bring forth such tailors every day.

 

Exit all

 

Act Four Scene 5

 

Enter three tailors on a shop-board

 

Come, come let’s work.  For if my guesses point the right we shan’t work long.

 

I care not how soon for I have a notable stomach to bread.

 

Dost hear? I suspect that courtier my Master brought in last night to be the King. Which if it be, bullies*, all the bread in the town shan’t satisfy us, for we will eat cum privilegio*.

 

Come, let’s have a device, a thing, a song! Boy.

 

Come, an air.

 

The Song

 

‘Tis a merry life we live

All our work is brought into us

Still are getting, never give,

For their clothes all men do woo us,

Yet unkind they blast our name

With aspirations of dishonour:
For which we make bold with their dames,

When we take our measure on her.

 

For which we etc.

 

Enter Antonio, Sebastiano as Giovanno and the Old Tailor

 

You see the life we lead! Cease.

 

Oh ‘tis a merry one.

 

It is no news to me; I have been used to it.

 

Now for discovery – the King as yet

Is ignorant of your names and shall be

Till your merits beg your pardon.

My Lord you are for Machvile; take this gown.

 

Pray for success.

 

Exit Antonio

 

You in this French gown for Philippa;

This is her garment. I hear the King, begone.

The French man’s folly sits upon your tongue.

 

Exit Sebastiano

Enter the King of Spain, Evadne and Aurelia

 

Believe me tailor, you have out-stripped the

Court, for such perfections lives not everywhere.

Nature was vexed as she’s a very shrew*,

She made all others in an angry mood;

These only she can boast for masterpieces

The rest want something or in mind or form,

These are precisely made; a critic jury

Of cavilling* Arts can’t condemn a scruple.

 

But that your entrance in this formal speech

Betrays you’re a Courtier I had been angry

At your rank flattery.

 

Can you say so?

 

Sir, she has spoke my meaning.

 

(aside to the Old Tailor) Friend, what are these beauties called?

 

(to The King)) Your Grace’s pardon.

 

(to Old Tailor) Are they Oracle, or is the knowledge

Fatal? But that I know thy faith, this denial

Would conjure a suspicion in my breast.

Use thy prerogative, ‘tis thy own house

In which you are a king and I your guest.

 

Come ladies.

 

Exit All

 

Act Four Scene 6

 

Enter Antonio disguised as a physician

 

This habit will do well and less suspected.
Wrapped in this cover lives a kingdom’s plague;

They kill with licence.  Machvile’s proud dame

‘Tis famed is ficke. Upon my soul, howe’re

Her health may be the agues commons cry;

She’s a disease they groan for. This disguise

Shall sift her ebon* soul and if she be

Infectious like a megrim* or rot limb

The sword of justice must divide the joint

That holds her to the state’s endangered body.

She comes.

 

Enter Machvile with Auristella leaning on his arm and two servants.

 

Look up my Auristella. Better the

Sun forsake his course to bless with his

Continuing beams the Antipodes, and

We grovel forever in eternal

Night, than death eclipse thy rich and stronger

Light. Seek some physician, horror to my
Soul, she faints! I’d rather lose the issue 
Of my hopes, than Auristella.

 

(aside) Issue of his hopes? Strange?  

 

The crown’s enjoyment can yield no content

Without the presence of my Auristella.

 

(aside) Crown’s enjoyment! Oh villain!

 

Why stir you not? Fetch me some skilful man.

My kingdom shall reward him if his art

Chain her departing soul unto her flesh,

But for a day, till she be crowned a Queen.

Fly bring him unto this walk.

 

Stay, most honoured Count!

 

(aside)                        Now for a forged link

Of flattery to chain me to his love.

 

Having with studious care gone o’er the

Art folly terms magic, which more sublime

Souls skilled in’t stars know is above that

Mischief, I find your born to be above

Vulgar greatness, even to a throne. But

Stay, let’s fetch this Lady.

 

All greatness without her is slavery.

 

Use modest violence.

 

Machvile shakes Auristella awake

 

Oh!

 

Stand wider, give her air.

 

God-like physician, I and all that’s mine

Will at thy feet offer a sacrifice.

 

Forefend it goodness; I, nay all, before

Many hours makes the now young day a

Type of sparkling youth, shall on their knees

Pray for your highness.

 

Look up, my Aristella, and be great.

Rise with the sun, but never to decline.

 

What have you done?

 

Waked thee to be a Queen.

 

A Queen! Oh don’t dissemble; you have robbed

Me of greater pleasure than the fancied

Bliss Elysium* owns. Oh for a pleasure

Real that would appear in all unto my

Dream; that I may frown, and then kill, smile and

Create again. Were there a Hell, as

Doting age would have, to fright from lawless

Courses headless youth, for such a short lived

Happiness as that, I would be lost unto

Eternity.

 

             The day grows old in hours.

Come, Auristella, to the capital:
The grey-beard senate shall on humble knees

Pay a religious sacrifice of praise

Unto thy demi-deity; the stars

Have in a general senate made thee Queen

Of this our world: great master of thy art

Confirm my love.

 

Madam -

 

Auristella makes to speak

    

Nay, hear him, love. Believe me he’s a man

That may be secretary to the Gods.

He is alone in art, ‘twere sin to name

A second; all are dunces to him.

 

(aside)                                           How

Easy is the faith of the ambitious.

 

Follow me to the counsel.

 

Exit Machvile

 

Are you the man my husband speaks so high of?

Are you skilled in the stars?

 

Yes, Madam.

 

Your habit says, or you abuse the custom,

You’re a physician.

 

Madam, I’m both.

 

And d’ee* find no let that stops me rising?

 

Not any.

 

Away! Your skill is dull, dull to derision.

There is a star fixed i’th heaven of greatness

That sparkles with a rich and fresher light

Than our sick and defective taper.

 

It may be so; the horoscope is troubled.

 

Confusion take your horoscope and you. Can

You, with all your art, advise my fears
How to confound this constellation.

 

(aside) Death, how she conjures!

 

Madam, I must search into the planets.

 

Planet me no planets! Be a physician

And from your study of industrious poisons

Fetch me the best experienced speedy one

And bring it to me straight. What ‘tis to do

Like unresolved riddles, hid from you.

 

 

Exit Auristella

 

Planet said I; upon my life no planet

Is so swift as her ne’er resting evil

That’s her tongue. Well, I’ll not question what the

Poison’s for: if for herself – the common

Hangman’s eased the labour of a blow for

If she lived her head must certain off. The

Poison I’ll go get and give it her, then

To the King if Sebastiano’s

Frenchified disguise purchase the like

Discovery. Our eyes will be too scanty;

We had need to be all eye, to watch such

Haughty villainy.

 

Exit Antonio

 

Act Four Scene 7

 

Enter Sebastiano, as a French tailor, and Philippa

 

(aside) Begar* Madam: me make the gown so brave*.

Oh, de nole vorle vorke  be me patron, me ha vorke for le grand Duchess le Shevere, le Royne de Francia, Spanea de Angleter an all d’ fine Madamsels*.

 

Nay monsieur. To deprive desert of praise is unknown. Language, truth, I use it not; nay it is very well.

 

Be me trot a Madam mener do ill. De English man do ill, de Spanare do, de Duch de all do ill. But your French man, and begar he doe incomparable brave.*

 

You’re too proud on’t.

 

Begar me no proud I’d vorle, me speak be me trot de trut, and me noe lye; metra madam begar you have de find bode a de vorle. O de fine brave big ting in me have ever measure, me waire it fit so pat.*

 

Enter Raymond

 

Welcome my Lord.

Shall I still long, yet lose my longing still?

Is there no art to mount the lofty seat?
No engine* that may make us ever great?

Must we be still styled* subjects, and for fear

Our closet whispers reach the a wing care,

Not trust the wind?

 

Be calm, my love.
Ha, who have we here? An eavesdropper?

 

Me Signior, be povera jentle homa a Franch a votre commandement.

 

My tailor.

 

Yes monsieur, the Madam’s tailor.

 

Some happy genius does attend my

Wishes, or [a] spirit, like a Page, conducts

Unto me the Ministers, whose suite must

Seat me easy. Come hither French man, can’st

Thou rule thy tongue? Art not too much a woman?

 

No, begar, me show something for the man.

 

Or canst thou be like a perverse one: professe

Doggedness? Be as a dead man? Dumb? Briefly

Be this: a friend to France and with a silent

Speed post to our now approaching armed friends.

Tell them Raymond, ere  the hasty sand

Of a short hour be spent, shall be impaled

And on his brow a deputy for France

Support a golden wreath of Kingly cares.

Bid them make haste to pluck my partner down 

Into his grave. Be gone, as thou nursest

In thy breast thoughts that do thirst for

Nobleness. Be secret and thou’rt made; if

Not thou’rt nothing. Mark ‘tis Raymond says it,

And as I live, I breathe not if my deeds

Appear not in a horror ‘bove my words.

 

Begar me, no need threaten; me be as close to your secret, or my Lady’s secret as the skin to the flesh, the flesh to the bone; if me tell call me the…what do you call the Modero?*  The dog, the bitch; call me son of the bitch.

 

Enter Fulgentio.

 

Count Machvile waits your honour in the hall.

 

Do it and be more than common in our

Favour. Here, take this ring for thy more

Credit. Farewell; be quick and secret.

 

Exit Raymond, Fulgentio and Philippa

 

Folly go from my tongue: the French so nigh

And thou half ruined Spain, so wretchedly

Provided. Strange, yet not, all countries have

Bred monsters. ‘Tis a proverb  as plain as

True, and aged as ‘tis both: one tainted sheep

Mars a whole flock. Machvile, that tainted beast,

Whose spreading ills infecteth all and by

Infecting kills. I’ll to the French what he

Intends to be our ruin; shall confound their villainy.

 

Exit Sebastiano

 

Act Five Scene 1

 

Enter the King, Antonio, Old Tailor, Evadne and Aurelia. The King and Antonio are whispering as they walk on stage.

 

For this discovery be still* Antonio.

The frowning law may with a furrowed face

Hereafter look upon but ne’er shall touch

Thy condemned body. Here, from a King’s hand,

Take thy Aurelia. Our command shall smooth

The rising billows of her father’s rage

And charm it to a calm. Let one be sent

To certify our pleasure; we would see him.

 

Your Grace’s will shall be in all obeyed.

 

Thy loyal love makes thy King poor.

 

Let not your judgment, Royal sir, be questioned,

To term that love – was but a subject’s duty.

 

Exit Old Tailor

 

You sent the poison, did you?

 

Yes, and here like your Grace; the Apothecary

Called it a strong provocative to madness.

 

Did he not question what you used it for?

 

Oh, my disguise saved him from that labour sir.

My habit, that was more physician than

Myself, told him to dispatch some

Property that had been tortured with some

Five thousand drugs to try experiment.

Another man shan’t buy the quantity

Of so much rats-bane shall kill a flea, but

Shall be had forsooth* before a Justice,

Be questioned, nay perhaps be confined to

Peep through an iron gate, when your

Physician may poison, who not, cum

Privelgio*; it’s his trade.

 

Enter Sebastiano as Giovanno

 

Oh my Sebastiano!


Peace, my Evadne! The King must not yet know me.

 

My brother has already made you known.

 

Will it please your Highness?

 

What, Sebastiano? To still be a King

Of universal Spain without a rival?

Yes it does please me, and you ministers

Of my still growing greatness shall ere long

Find I am pleased with you that boldly durst

Pluck from the fixed arm of sleeping justice

Her long sheathed sword and wet the rusty blade

Upon Machvile and his confederate rebels.

 

That, my Lord, is yet to do. Let him mount

Higher that his fall may be too deep for

A resurrection. They’re gone to the Great

Hall, whither wil’t please your Grace disguised to

Go, your person by our care shall be secure.

Their French troops I have sent useless into

France by virtue of Raymond’s ring, which he

Gave me to bid the General, by that token,

To march to this city. 

 

What say the colonels? Will they assist me?

 

Doubt not, my Lord.

 

Come then, let’s go guarded; with such as you

‘Twere sin to fear were all the world untrue.

 

Exit all

 

Act Five Scene 2

 

Enter tailors

 

Now for the credit of tailors.

 

Nay master, and* we do, not act, as they say, with any players in the globe of the world, let us be baited like a bull for a company of strutting coxcombs*: nay we can act I can tell you.

 

Well, I must to the King. See you be perfect; I’ll move it to his highness.

 

Exit Old Tailor

 

Now my masters we are to do – do mark me – do…

 

Do! What do? Act, act! You fool, you. Do, said you? What do? You a player, you are a plasterer, a mere dirt dauber and not worthy to be mentioned with Virmine, that exact actor. Do! I am ashamed on’t, fie!

 

Well said, Virmine. Thou tickles* him y‘faith*.

 

Do, pha*.

 

Play a play a play, ha ha ha. Oh egregious* nonsensical widgeon*, thou shame to our cross-legged corporation, thou fellow of a sound. Play a play. Why forty pounds golding* of the beggars’ theatre speaks better, yet has a mark for the sage audience to exercise their dexterity in throwing rotten apples, whilst my stout actor pockets and then eats up the injury. Play a play: it makes my Worship laugh y‘faith*. 

 

To him, Virmine, thou bites* him y‘faith*. 

 

We’ll act a play before the King.

 

What play shall we act?

 

To fret the French the more we will act strange but true, of the straddling monsieur with the Neapolitan gentleman between his legs.

 

That won’t act well.

 

Oh giant of incomparable ignorance: that won’t act well, ha ha, that won’t do well. You ass, you!

 

You bit him for saying ‘do’: Virmine leave biting, you’d best.

 

What say you to our Spanish Bilbo*?

 

Who, Jeronimo*?

 

Aye.

 

That he was a mad rascal to stab himself.

 

But shall we act him?

 

Aye, let us do him.

 

Do again! Ha.

 

No, no; let us act him.

 

I am content.

 

Who shall act the ghost?

 

Why marry, that will I, I Virmine.

 

Thou dost not look like a ghost.

 

A little player’s deceit: flour will do’t. Mark me, I can rehearse, mark me rehearse some:
                     “When this eternal substance of the soul
                       Did live imprisoned in my wanton flesh

                       I was a tailor in the Court of Spain.”

 

Courtier, Virmine, in the Court of Spain.

 

Aye, there’s a great many Courtiers Virmine indeed:

Those are they beg poor man’s living; but I say tailor Virmine is a Court tailor.

 

Who shall act Jeronimo*?

 

That will I. Mark if I do not gape wider than the widest mouthed fowler* of them all, hang me*: “Who call Jeronimo from his naked bed?” Ha. Now for the passionate part: “Alas it is my son Horatio”.

 

Very fine, but who shall act Horatio?

           

Aye, who shall do your son?

 

What, do, do again?  Well, I will act Horatio.

 

Why, you are his father!

 

Pray who is fitter to act the son than the father that begot him?

 

Who shall act Prince Balthazar and the King?

 

I will do Prince Balthazar too, and for the King who but I? Who of you all has such a face for a king, or such a leg to trip up the heels of a traitor?

 

You will do all I think?

 

Yes marry will I. Who but Virmine? Yet I will leave all to play the King, pass by Jeronimo.  

 

Then you are for the King?

 

Aye, bully*, aye.

 

Let’s go seek our fellows and to this gear*.

 

Come on then

 

Exit all.

                                                                       

Act Five Scene 3

 

Table and stool are centre stage. Enter a Brave

 

Men of our needful profession, that deal in such commodities as men’s lives, had need to look about ‘em ere they traffic*.  I am to kill Raymond, the Devil’s cozen german*, for he wears the same complexion. But there is a right devil that hath hired me; that’s Count Machvile.  Good table conceal me – here will I wait my watch word, but have I not forgot it, then, aye then, is my arm to enter. I hear them coming.

 

Brave hides under the table.

Enter the King, Antonio, Old Tailor, Evadne and Aurelia above.
Enter Machvile, Auristella, Raymond, Philippa,
Sebastiano, the French and Spanish Colonels with a guard below

 

Pray take your seats.

 

(to Philippa) [You are] Not well. Prithee retire.

 

Sick, sick at heart.

 

Well wrought poison. Oh how joy swells me.

 

You see my Lord the poison is boxed* up.

 

Health wait upon this royal company.

 

Knows she we are here?

 

Oh no my Lord, ‘tis to the twins of treason:
Machvile and Raymond.

 

(to other colonels) Royal! There’s something in’t.

 

(to other colonels) It smells rank o’th traitor,

 

(to other colonels) Are you i’th wind on’t?

 

Will you leave us?

 

I cannot stay. Oh, I am sick to death.

 

Exit Philippa

 

Or I’ll ne’er trust poison more.

 

Pray seat yourselves gentlemen. Though your deserts

Have merit and your worth’s have deserved nobly,

But ingratitude, that should be banished

From a Prince’s breast, is Philip’s favourite.

 

Philip? Traitor, why not King? I am so.

 

Patience, my good Lord. I’ll down.

 

Exit Antonio

 

It lives too near him.

You that have ventured with expense of blood

And danger of your lives to rivet him

Unto his seat with peace; you, that in war

He termed his Atlases* and pressed with praise

Your brawny shoulders, called you his Colossuses*

And said your looks frightened tall war out of

His territories; now in peace, the issue

Of your labour, this bad man, Philip I

Mean, made of ingratitude won’t afford

A name that may distinguish your worthy

Selves from cowards: civet cats spotted with

Rat’s dung, or a face like white broth strewed o’er

With curranco*  for a stirring caper

Or itching dance to please my Lady Vanity

Shall be made a smock* knight.  

 

Villain! Must our disgrace mount thee?

 

To what tends this?

What means Count Machvile?

 

Enter Antonio below

 

To be your King; fie on this circumstance

My longing will not brook it: say will you

Obey us as your Kings and Queens?

 

(aside) My Lord Antonio!

 

(to Spanish Colonels) Confine yourselves. The King is within hearing.

Therefore make show of liking Machvile’s plot,

Let him mount high; his fall will be the deeper.

My life, you shall be safe.

 

Are you agreed?

 

If not we’ll force you to’t. Speak Frenchman, are

Our forces i’th city?

 

Oui monsieur.

 

We acknowledge you our King.

 

More traitors.

 

Why then…

 

The Brave stabs Raymond.

 

Ha, from whence this sudden mischief? Did you not see a hand armed with the fatal ruin of my life?

 

None paw* signor.

 

Ha ha ha. Lay hold on those French soldiers, away with them.

 

Exit Guard with the French Colonels

 

Was’t thy plot Machvile? Go laughing to thy grave.

 

Raymond stabs Machvile

 

Alas my lord is wounded.

 

Come hither Frenchman, make a dying man

Bound to thy love. Go to Philippa,

Sickly as she is, bring her unto me

Or my flying soul will not depart in

Peace else. Prithee make haste. Yet stay; I have

Not breath to pay thy labour. Shrink you, you

Twin-born Atlases*, that bear this, my near

Ruined world. Have you not strength to bear a

Curse, whose breath may taint the air, that this globe

May feel a universal plague. No, yet

Bear up, till with a vengeful eye I
Outstare the day, and from the dogged sky

Pluck my impartial star. Oh my blood is

Frozen in my veins. Farwell revenge – me

Dies.  

 

Raymond collapses and dies

 

They need no law.

 

Nor hangman.

 

They condemn and execute without a jury.

 

Enter Philippa mad

 

I come, I come. Nay fly not, for by Hell

I’ll pluck thee by the beard and drag thee thus

Out of thy fiery cave. Ha, on yonder hill

Stand troops of devils waiting for my soul,

But I’ll deceive them and instead of mine

Send this same spotted tiger’s.

 

Philippa stabs Auristella

 

Oh!

 

So whilst they to Hell are posting with their

Prize I’ll steal to Heaven. Wolf dost thou grin?

Ha, is my Raymond dead? So ho, so ho.

Come back you sooty fiends that have my

Raymond’s soul and lay it down, or I will

Force you for’t. No, won’t you stir? By Styx* I’ll

Bait you for’t. Where is my Crown? Philippa

Was a Queen, was she not? Ha! Where is my

Crown? Oh you have hid it …

Philippa overturns table.

 

Ha, wast thou that robbed Philippa of her

Raymond’s life? Nay I will nip your wings, you

Shall not fly. I’ll pluck you by the guarded

Front and thus sink you to Hell before me.

 

Philippa stabs the Brave

 

Oh, oh!

 

What, down? Ho, ho, ho.

Laugh, laugh, you sould that fry in endless flames.

Ha, whence this chillness? Must I die? Nay then

I come, I come. Nay, weep not, for I come.

Sleep injured shadow, oh death strikes [me] dumb.

 

Philippa dies

 
Machvile thy hand. I can’t repent. Farewell.

My burdened conscience sinks me down to Hell.

 

Auristella dies

 

I cannot tarry long, farewell. We’ll meet

Where we shall ne’er part. If here be any

My life has injured, let your charity

Forgive declining Machvile: I am sorry.

 

His penitence works strongly on my temper. Off disguise, see falling Count, Antonio forgives you.

 

Antonio! Oh my shame! Can you whom
I have injured most, pardon my guilt?
Give me thy hand yet nearer. This embrace

Betrays thee to thy death! Ha, ha, ha.

 

Machvile stabs Antonio

 

So weeps the Egyptian monster* when it kills,

Washed in a flood of tears. Couldst ever think

Machvile’s repentance could come from his heart?

No, down Colossus, author of my sin,

And bear the burden mingled with thine own

To finish thy damnation.

 

Enter the King, Aurelia, Evadne and the Old Tailor.

 

Accursed villain, thou hast murdered him

That holds not one small drop of loyal blood

But what is worth your life.

 

Oh my brother!

 

Give him some air, the wound cannot be mortal.

 

Alas, he faints. Oh my Antonio!

Cursed Machvile, may thy soul…

 

Peace, peace Aurelia; be more merciful.
Men are apt to censure and will condemn

Thy passion, call it madness and say thou

Want’st religion. Nay, weep not, sweet, for

Everyone must die. It was thy love, for

To deceive the law and give me life; but

Death you see has reached me. Oh I die. Blood

Must have blood; so speaks the Law of Heaven.

I slew the Governor, for which rash deed

Heaven, fate and man thus make Antonio bleed.

 

Antonio dies

 

Sleep, sleep, great heart, thy virtue made me ill.

Authors of vice; ‘tis fit the vicious kill.

But yet forgive me. Oh my great heart

Dissolves like snow and lessens to a rheum*,

Cold as the envious blasts of northern wind

World, how I loved you, ‘twere a sin to boast.

Farewell, I now must leave you:

My life grows empty within my veins, I

Cannot stand, my breath is as my strength – weak,

And both seized by death. Farewell ambition:
Catching at a crown, death tripped me and

Headlong threw me down.

 

Machvile dies

 

So falls an exhalation* from the sky

And never mist because unnatural, a

Birth begotten by incorporate ill, whose

Usher to the gazing world is wonder.

 

Enter Petruchio

 

Alas, good man, thou’rt come unto a sight

Will try thy temper, whether joy or grief

Shall conquer most within thee. Joy lies here

Scattered in many heaps: these, when they lived,

Threatened to tear this balsam* from our brow

And rob our Majesty of this Elixir*.

 

The King points to his crown

 

Is‘t not my right? Was I not heir to Spain?

 

You are our Prince and may you live long to enjoy your right.

 

But now look here: ‘tis plain grief has a hand

Harder than joy; it presses out such tears.

 

Petuchio makes to kneel before the King

Nay rise.

 

I do beseech your Grace not to think me

Contriver of Antonio’s ‘scape from death;

‘Twas my disloyal daughter’s breach of duty.

 

That’s long since pardoned. 

 

You’re still merciful.

 

Antonio was thy son: I sent for thee

For to confirm it, but he is dead.

Be merciful and do not curse the hand

That gave it him, though it deserves it.

 

Oh my grief, are you not strong enough to

Break my heart? Pray tell me, tell me true, can

It be thought a sin? Or is it so by

My own hand to ease my breast of woe?

 

Alas, poor Lady. Rise, thy father’s here.

 

Look up, Aurelia. Ha, why do you kneel?

 

For a blessing.

 

Why, she is not Aurelia! Do not mock me.

 

But he is Sebastiano and your son,

Late,  by our hand, made happy by enjoying

The fair Evadne, dead Antonio’s sister,

For whose sake he became a tailor

And so long lived in that mean disguise.

 

My joy had been too great had he lived. The

Thrifty heavens mingle our sweets with gall,

Lest being glutted with excess of good

We should forgive the giver. Rise,

Sebastiano, with thy happy choice. May

Thou live crowned with the enjoyment of those

Benefits my prayers shall beg for. Rise,

Aurelia, and in some place blessed with

Religious prayers, spend thy life remnant. 

 

You advise well. Indeed it was a fault

To break the bonds of duty and of law,

But love, oh Love, thou whose all conquering power

Builds castles on the hearts of easy maids

And makes ‘em strong unto attempt those dangers

That but rehearsed before would fright their souls

Into a jelly. Brother, I must leave

You, and father, when I send unto you

A note, that shall desire a yearly

Stipend to that holy place my tired

Feet has found to rest in, pray confirm it.

And now great King, Aurelia begs of you

To grace Antonio in the mournful march

Unto his grave, which be where you think fit:

We need not both be entered in one vault.

 

Blessed Virgin, thy desires I will perform.

 

I leave you; my prayers shall still attend you,

As I hope yours shall accompany me.

Father, your blessing; and ere long expect

To hear where I am entertained a nun.

Brother and sister, to you both, adieu.

Antonio dead, Aurelia marries new.

 

Farewell, girl. When I remember thee,

The beads I drop shall be my tears.

 

Exit Aurelia

 

Enter Virmine in a cloak,

ready to perform the prologue to the tailor’s play

 

She’s to all virgins a true mirror; they

That would behold true love reflect on her.

There ‘tis engrossed.

 

Great King, our Grace…

 

The king is sad; you must not act.

 

How? Not act? Shall not Virmine act?

 

Yes you shall act, but not now; the King is indisposed.

 

Well then, some other time. I, Virmine the King, shall act before the King.

 

Very good. Pray make your exit.

 

I’ll muster up all the tailors in the town and so tickle their sides.

 

The King and Sebastiano whisper to one another

 

Nay, thou’rt a right Virmine. Go be not troublesome.

 

Exit Virmine

 

Sebastiano kneels before the King

 

Upon my truth and loyalty great King

What they did was feigned, merely words

Without a heart; ‘twas by Antonio’s counsel.

 

Thou art all truth: rise.

 

The Colonels kneel

 

Long live King Philip in the calm of peace

To exercise his regal clemency.

 

Take up Antonio’s body, and let the

Rest find Christian burial ; mercy befits

A King. Come trusty tailor, and to all

Countries let swift Fame report King Philip

Made a tailor’s house his Court.

 

Your Grace honours me.

 

We can’t enough pay thy alone deserts;

Kings may be poor when all subjects are like thee,
So fruitful in all virtuous deeds.

March with the body, we’ll perform all rites

Of sable ceremony. That done we’ll

To Court, since all our own is won.

 

Exit All

 

Finis

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

5

 

 

 

 

 

10

 

 

 

 

15

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

20

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

25

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

30

 

 

 

 

35

 

 

 

 

40

 




45

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

50

 

 

 

 

 

 

55

 

 

 

 

 

60

 

 

 

 

 

65

 

 

 

 

 

70

 

 

 

 

75

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

80

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

85

 

 

 

 

90

 

 

 

 

95

 

 

 

 

100

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

5

 

 

 

 

 

10

 

 

 

 

 

 

15

 

 

 

 

 

20

 

 

 

 

 

 

25

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

30

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

35

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

40

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

45

 

 

 

 

50

 

 

 

 

55

 

 

 

 

60

 

 

 

 

65

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

70

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

75

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

80

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

85

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

90

 

 

 

 

95

 

 

 

 

100

 

 

 

 

 

105

 

 

 

 

 

 

110

 

 

 

 

 

 

115

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

120

 

 

 

 

 

 

125

 

 

 

 

 

130

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

135

 

 

 

 

 

140

 

 

 

 

145

 

 

 

 

150

 

 

 

 

 

155

 

 

 

 

 

160

 

 

 

 

 

 

165

 

 

 

 

 

170

 

 

 

 

 

175

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

180

 

 

 

 

 

 

185

 

 

 

 

190

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

195

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

5

 

 

 

 

10

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

15

 

 

 

 

 

20

 

 

 

 

25

 

 

 

 

 

 

30

 

 

 

 

 

35

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

5

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

10

 

 

 

 

 

 

15

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

20

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

25

 

 

 

 

 

 

30

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

35

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

5

 

 

 

 

 

 

10

 

 

 

 

15

 

 

 

 

 

 

20

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

25

 

 

 

 

30

 

 

 

 

 

35

 

 

 

 

40

 

 

 

 

45

 

 

 

 

 

 

50

 

 

 

 

55

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

60

 

 

 

 

65

 

 

 

 

 

70

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

75

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

80

 

 

 

 

 

85

 

 

 

 

 

 

90

 

 

 

 

 

95

 

 

 

 

 

100

 

 

 

 

105

 

 

 

 

110

 

 

 

 

 

 

115

 

 

 

 

 

 

120

 

 

 

 

125

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

130

 

 

 

 

 

135

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

140

 

 

 

 

 

 

145

 

 

 

 

 

150

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

155

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

160

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

165

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

170

 

 

 

 

175

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

180

 

 

 

 

185

 

 

 

 

190

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

5

 

 

 

 

 

 

10

 

 

 

 

 

15

 

 

 

 

 

20

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

25

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

30

 

 

 

 

35

 

 

 

 

 

40

 

 

 

 

 

45

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

50

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

55

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

60

 

 

 

 

65

 

 

 

 

 

70

 

 

 

 

 

 

75

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

80

 

 

 

 

 

 

85

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

90

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

95

 

 

 

 

 

100

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

105

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

110

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

5

 

 

 

 

 

 

10

 

 

 

 

15

 

 

 

 

 

 

20

 

 

 

 

25

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

30

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

35

 

 

 

 

40

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

45

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

5

 

 

 

 

10

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

15

 

 

 

 

20

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

25

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

30

 

 

 

 

 

35

 

 

 

 

 

40

 

 

 

 

45

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

50

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

55

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

60

 

 

 

 

 

65

 

 

 

 

70

 

 

 

 

 

 

75

 

 

 

 

 

 

80

 

 

 

 

85

 

 

 

 

 

90

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

95

 

 

 

 

 

 

100

 

 

 

 

105

 

 

 

 

 

110

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

115

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

120

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

125

 

 

 

 

 

 

130

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

135

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

140

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

5

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

10

 

 

 

 

15

 

 

 

 

20

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

25

 

 

 

 

30

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

35

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

40

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

45

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

50

 

 

 

 

 

 

55

 

 

 

 

 

60

 

 

 

 

 

 

65

 

 

 

 

70

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

5

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

10

 

 

 

 

 

15

 

 

 

 

20

 

 

 

 

 

25

 

 

 

 

 

30

 

 

 

 

 

35

 

 

 

 

40

 

 

 

 

 

45

 

 

 

 

 

50

 

 

 

 

55

 

 

 

 

 

 

60

 

 

 

 

 

65

 

 

 

 

 

 

70

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

75

 

 

 

 

80

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

5

 

 

 

 

10

 

 

 

 

15

 

 

 

 

20

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

25

 

 

 

 

30

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

35

 

 

 

 

40

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

45

 

 

 

 

 

 

50

 

 

 

 

 

55

 

 

 

 

60

 

 

 

 

 

95

 

 

 

 

 

 

100

 

 

 

 

 

 

105

 

 

 

 

 

110

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

115

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

120

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

125

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

5

 

 

 

 

 

10

 

 

 

 

15

 

 

 

 

 

 

20

 

 

 

 

25

 

 

 

 

 

 

30