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n9755   ACT THREE Act 3 opens by introducing the already much discussed widow Tryman. She appears ill, almost dying, in bed and attended by two women, Isabel and Joan, with Doctor Pulse-Feel (Crasy in disguise) also present. Tryman keeps calling out for Linsy-Wolsey and her reactions when he arrives confirm the idea that she is in love with him. Because Tryman is in bed, and because much comedy in 3.1. revolves around her illness (the administering of disgusting medicines, her coughing and spluttering etc.), there is a major staging challenge once the group of visitors (in the first instance Linsy-Wolsey, Ticket, Rufflit, and Toby) arrive; that challenge is to keep what is becoming a crowded stage from blocking Tryman from the audience’s view. Tryman has asked Sarpego to write out her will and, after Pyannet and Josina have also joined the crowd of sickbed visitors, Tryman’s will is read out for her to confirm it. Although she has supposedly only just arrived in London, from Cornwall, her will includes several legacies for those present, characters whom she has only just met. Tryman’s will, however, also includes bequests to a host of very Cornish sounding relations and the reading of her will helps to impress the listening visitors with the ‘fact’ that Tryman has a great deal of wealth to bequeath. The audience, who know Tryman is a prostitute masquerading as a rich widow, are in a position of superior knowledge here. Tryman then requests a private interview with Doctor Pulse-Feel and all her visitors depart, leaving Tryman and Crasy-as-Pulse-Feel alone. Tryman immediately ‘revives’ as her performance of illness was entirely faked. She reminds Crasy that she is attempting to secure a rich and foolish husband so she can retire from prostitution. Tryman also informs Crasy that she knows he is not Doctor Pulse-Feel but Crasy in disguise and she also knows exactly what he has been doing since he left his home. Crack joins Tryman and Crasy and, although he needles Crasy slightly, the three agree to model themselves on Face, Subtle and Doll Common in Ben Jonson’s The Alchemist, the three rogues who scheme together to relieve fools of their money.
3.2. opens with Sarpego still smarting from being robbed of his money; he then has an argument with his supposed fiancée, Bridget, over his lack of wealth. Sarpego’s fortunes suddenly appear to take a turn for the better, however, when Pyannet and Sneakup arrive accompanied by Crasy in a new disguise; Crasy is now dressed as a court messenger, Master Holywater, who brings news that Toby Sneakup’s learning is so admired at court that ‘His Grace’, an unidentified dignitary, wishes to appoint Sarpego as tutor to ‘the young Prince’. As Sarpego contemplates the riches and status that would go with such an appointment, he turns his back on Bridget, although he does tell her that he might consider employing her as a menial servant. Sarpego leaves in order to dress up in more impressive clothes for his imminent departure for court. Meanwhile Master Holywater (Crasy) reports that ‘his Grace’ was also hoping to purchase some jewels from Crasy and that a great opportunity to make money is here going to waste because Crasy has left town. Pyannet reveals she has some jewels to sell as she made sure that Josina began to steal jewels from Crasy once it was clear that his fortunes were in decline. Pyannet proposes that her husband, Sneakup, should disguise himself as Crasy and go to the court to sell these jewels at an inflated price. As ‘his Grace’ has never met Crasy, Pyannet is confident that Sneakup will get away with impersonating Crasy even though, in Pyannet’s view, Sneakup will face a challenge in pretending to be merely citizen in status. Crasy-as-Holywater applauds the plot and departs; his part in the planned action is to help out at court, talk up the price of the jewels, and to take a share of the profits. Pyannet then instructs Sneakup how to behave at court focussing on which rooms at the palace he can wear his hat in and which rooms he cannot; how many times he should bow etc.. Sneakup proves completely inept at learning the protocols even though Pyannet role plays for him, pretending to be ‘the Prince’.
3.3. Tryman reveals more about why she wants to stop working as a prostitute: she became tired of men using her and at the same time despising and loathing her. It also transpires that at some time in the past (although he has forgotten the details) Crasy paid Tryman for sex somewhere near London Wall. Crack arrives and reports that Linsy-Wolsey is now excitedly planning his wedding to Tryman and behaving very out of character: he is singing and going shopping, that is, he is spending money without being forced to. Linsy-Wolsey then arrives and Crasy and Tryman work together to con him out of some money: Linsy-Wolsey has an obligation to pay Crasy £60 if Linsy-Wolsey ever marries and Crasy has supposedly written to Linsy-Wolsey asking for half that amount of money. Linsy-Wolsey is not keen on paying up, but his bride-to-be, Tryman, persuades him to do so. The money is paid directly to Crasy although he is still in disguise as Master Holywater, the court messenger, and so Linsy-Wolsey does not recognise him. Linsy-Wolsey and his fiancée, Tryman, depart and, when he is left alone onstage, Crasy muses on how much he is already in debt to Tryman for her help; he then sets off for the court and the next sequence of his plotting.
3.4. This scene is set in the Presence Chamber at Whitehall, even though the characters assembled there could never in reality have obtained such easy access to such a privileged location. Sarpego arrives dressed in very fine clothes although he explains to the audience that he has not had time to change his underclothes. A lurking Crasy-as-Holywater observes Sarpego strutting around in his pride. Sneakup then arrives disguised as Crasy, with jewels to sell to ‘his Grace’, and is completely nonplussed when Sarpego immediately recognises him as Sneakup. However Crasy, in his persona of Holywater, bursts in and takes the jewels from Sneakup, promising to take the jewels to ‘his Grace’ and to try to talk up their price. Once he has left with the jewels, Ticket, Rufflit and Toby arrive. They are stunned at Sarpego’s appearance and bewildered when Sarpego expects Toby to present him to ‘his Grace’. Toby also immediately recognises his father in his disguise as Crasy. Gradually Sneakup and Sarpego realise that they have been deceived and that Holywater is a con man. Sneakup is terrified as to how Pyannet will react when she hears about this, but he is encouraged to take refuge with Lady Ticket, who, everyone is sure, will smooth things over with her friend Pyannet.
The main dramaturgical challenges in this act are: managing the crowds in 3.1. and not losing the potential comedy of the scene in the melee; pacing the next three scenes so that the audience can keep up with the very fast paced plotting and counterplotting; achieving an appropriate balance in the delivery of the comic set piece of Pyannet’s instructions to Sneakup on how to behave in the various rooms at court. Clearly, in the original performances, this set piece would be very funny in a way that it cannot be now, because a modern audience would not have knowledge of how the court at Whitehall functioned, and the elaborate nature of court protocols under Charles I. While it might be tempting to attempt to generate laughs with, for example, comic, gauche bowing business from Sneakup, it is worth remembering that the scene was written with great attention to verbal humour as well. Making sense of ‘The Presence’ for a modern audience, and attempting to evoke the sense of it as an important place, where only the privileged could gain access, is perhaps one of the biggest challenges in staging The City Wit today. [go to text]

n7335   TRYMAN, [brought on in a bed] The octavo has 'enter in the Tryman' which suggests Tryman's touchstone aspect; she is the character who tries or tests men, and women, and who outwits everyone except for her accomplice Crack. There is no indication in the octavo stage direction that Tryman is in a bed but in the final stage direction of the scene Crasy, Tryman and Crack 'put in the bed'. Dessen and Thomson indicate there are roughly 150 examples of beds appearing in stage directions in plays of the period.
The scene is very reminiscent of much comic byplay in Volpone, both because of the central character's faked illness and the scenario of the attendant will-chasers expressing concern whilst really hoping the sickly character will expire as soon as possible. [go to text]

gg4877   urinal. a glass vessel or phial employed to receive urine for medical examination or inspection (OED n. 1) [go to text]

n9728   Look In the octavo the opening of scene is marked by large capital L, two lines high. [go to text]

gg4878   distemperature disorder, ailment of the body (OED 2) [go to text]

n7336   in her mouth. That is, she keeps calling out his name. [go to text]

gg4879   like verb - in the interrogative, used with how, 'like' can mean ‘How well or how ill do you like....?’ (OED v1. 6f); here this means something close to 'How do you like the look of her from the medical point of view?'; that is, 'Is she likely to survive?' [go to text]

gg4880   of for [go to text]

gg857   And if [go to text]

gg2214   ’scape escape [go to text]

n7338   vomit That is, a purging medicine that will make her vomit. [go to text]

gg4881   conflux flowing together [go to text]

gg4883   humours in ancient and mediæval physiology humours were the four chief fluids of the body (blood, phlegm, choler, and melancholy or black choler) and the balance of these humours determined a person's physical and mental health (OED n. 2b) [go to text]

n7341   sit a hunting nag Ride a horse used for hunting, and therefore one that jumps fences and hedges, a horse that is not going to provide a sedate ride. [go to text]

gg132   sennight. week (archaic); abbreviation of 'seven nights' [go to text]

gg859   warrant, assure, promise [go to text]

n9851   well seen in a woman. Joan seems to be eyeing up Crasy-as-Pulsefeel and liking the look of him. [go to text]

gg4419   La’ you. an exclamation formerly used to introduce or accompany a conventional phrase or an address, or to call attention to an emphatic statement (in recent use, a mere expression of surprise, but generally considered vulgar) [go to text]

gg4885   lay wager (OED v1. 12a) [go to text]

gg4884   mess a portion or serving of liquid or pulpy food (OED n1. I 2a) [go to text]

n7344   Tewksbury mustard A blend of mustard and grated horseradish root. [go to text]

gg1873   thrice three times (in succession) [go to text]

gg491   want lack [go to text]

gg4886   approve prove, demonstrate (OED v1. I 1a) [go to text]

n7364   How do you find What do you think of...? [go to text]

gg583   melancholy, a depressive illness, which in the seventeenth century was thought to be caused by an excess of ‘black bile’, one of the four humours controlling the well-being of the body and the mind [go to text]

gg4878   distemperature disorder, ailment of the body (OED 2) [go to text]

gg2535   passion suffering, affliction, disorder; overpowering emotion; fit of madness or anger [go to text]

n7365   liver, The liver was the bodily organ regarded as the seat of love as well as other passionate emotions such as anger or bitterness (OED n1, II 4a). [go to text]

gg4786   withal what is more [go to text]

gg4887   vitals, those parts or organs of the body essential to life, or upon which life depends; the vital parts (OED n(pl), 1) [go to text]

n7366   scarce matter Hardly anything in the body. [go to text]

gg3779   physic medical science (OED n. 4) [go to text]

n7367   basin. The opening stage direction only indicated that a 'urinal' was needed for this scene. It is possible that an 'urinal' could be a basin but, given all the talk of urine in this scene, it seems likely that this basin is a different stage property. [go to text]

n7368   Here’s As this scene is full of jokes about medical practice and bodily functions it seems likely that Dr Pulse-Feel now examines the revolting contents of the basin. [go to text]

gg4888   choler bile, one of the four humours of Renaissance physiology, supposed to cause irascibility of temper (OED n1. 1) [go to text]

n9684   He speaks with great reason, methinks, and to the purpose.[Aside]I would I understood him. Joan might be talking to Isabel or she might be addressing the audience. This edition assumes that her first sentence is for everyone to hear but that her confession that she has no idea what he is talking about is only meant to be heard by the audience. [go to text]

gg4889   open patent, evident (OED adj. II 24) [go to text]

gg4890   quick. any part of a wound or the body that is sensitive or painful (OED n1. 3a) [go to text]

gg4891   extremity. extreme situation in relation to health, risk of death [go to text]

n7369   does There is a clearly implied stage direction for the performer playing Tryman here. [go to text]

gg4892   quiddle to fiddle or play about with (OED v. 2, citing The City Wit as first recorded usage) [go to text]

gg3219   gripe grasp [go to text]

n9620   suddenly. Crasy is stating that Tryman will recover forthwith, or promptly, or soon, but he is not necessarily saying she will recover in a sudden manner. [go to text]

n9863   Alack a day. Woe, or shame to the day (OED) but the phrase could also, in later usage, express surprise. Here Linsy-Wolsey seems to be saying 'If she is in love with me then she has odd taste'. Linsy-Wolsey seems convinced that no woman would ever want to marry him. [go to text]

n7370   Ad manum. 'at hand' [go to text]

gg4893   buds children or young persons, or as a term of endearment (OED n1. 3b) [go to text]

gg5547   forbear: refrain from enforcing, pressing, or demanding (OED v. 9) [go to text]

n7371   admirare An affected, Latinate formation (admiror) for 'admire'. [go to text]

n7372   to sue to you for love as I do now to the highest power for life. To make an entreaty for your love/ hand in marriage as I now actually make an entreaty to the highest power, that is, God, that he will spare your life and restore you to health. [go to text]

n7373   married The reason for Toby's wish is that if he had been Tryman's husband, even for only an hour, he would have taken possession of all her wealth at her death. [go to text]

n7374   here That is, Pyannet would have contrived a marriage between Toby and Tryman. [go to text]

n7375   O dii immortales! 'O immortal gods!' [go to text]

n7376   huh, Presumably Tryman is about to say 'husband' when she starts coughing. [go to text]

n9685   Bear up her body a little. Bow it forwards. Stage directions for business are implicit in Crasy's speech here. [go to text]

n9621   sir. ] Sr. (O) [go to text]

gg4894   cordial. a medicine, food, or beverage which invigorates the heart and stimulates the circulation (OED n. 1) [go to text]

n9686   What, now she is drinking? The octavo has no question mark which suggests that this sentence could mean 'What (Look! or Good!) now she is drinking'. However, this edition takes this sentence as a response to Linsy-Wolsey's crassness in speaking to Tryman when she has her mouth full of medicine. The octavo's long dash after this sentence suggests the marking of stage time whilst Tryman drinks; after this Crasy indicates to Linsy-Wolsey that it is an appropriate moment to speak. [go to text]

n7377   you or no man Crasy is saying that Linsy-Wolsey is absolutely the only man in the world who can help Tryman, thus building up the sense that Tryman has conceived a grand passion for Linsy-Wolsey. [go to text]

gg4895   dee do ye [go to text]

n9687   Very comfortably spoken! This edition takes Ticket and Rufflit's exchange as asides, mocking Linsy-Wolsey's gauche bedside manner. [go to text]

n8192   Aye, ] I (O) [go to text]

n9852   if she have but a word left in her belly ... Words are not usually thought of as coming out of a person's belly but Toby's comment may be a response to a spectacular bout of vomiting, or belly emptying, by Tryman. [go to text]

gg4896   Mass, by the mass (eucharist), that is, an oath (OED n1. 4a) [go to text]

gg4897   shrewdly severely (OED adv. 2) [go to text]

n7379   When had she a stool, When did she last open her bowels. [go to text]

gg4898   closet, a small side-room or recess for storing utensils, provisions, medicines (OED n. 3b) [go to text]

n7380   my own water, The long dashes which precede this phrase suggest that it should be given plenty of emphasis, giving full weight to the joke that Pyannet's 'water' may be her urine rather than a medicinal drink that she has mixed. [go to text]

gg4899   cabinet. a case for the safe custody of jewels, or other valuables (OED n. 5) [go to text]

n9688   Let me note her eyes: Stage business is implied here. [go to text]

gg4900   water, urine [go to text]

n7381   [Aside] While the octavo does occasionally mark asides it does not do so here; however, this is not a remark that could be addressed to the assembled company and Pyannet certainly would not continue speaking politely to Pulse-Feel if she heard this comment. [go to text]

gg4901   beshrew this can be an imprecatory expression meaning 'plague on ...', and can be humorous or playful (OED v. 3b); here it is a reprimand and 'I beshrew you' means 'devil take you' or 'plague on you' [go to text]

n7382   Pluck up a woman’s heart, This has to be addressed to Tryman as she is the only woman who needs to pluck up (her heart/ spirits etc.). [go to text]

gg4902   stays. (v) delays [go to text]

n7383   the three That is, three stars or luminaries although the phrase is dangerously close to 'We three' which was a tavern sign of two fools with the spectator making the third (see Twelfth Night 2.3.15-16). [go to text]

gg4904   alone, without other companions (OED adj. I 7), not doing much entertaining or socialising [go to text]

n7384   drove ] drave (O) [go to text]

n7385   vial. The colour of the liquid in the small vessel or glass bottle that Josina is carrying can emphasise the joke of Pyannet's line 'It is a composition of mine own distilling', that is, it may be her urine and not just a medicinal drink she has mixed. [go to text]

n7386   O welcome, daughter Having professed concern over how long Josina is taking, Pyannet now hardly notices Josina's arrival so busy is she sucking up to Ticket and Rufflit. [go to text]

n9826   Pox o’your compliment. That is: a plague on you for paying compliments. [go to text]

n9689   Take up the lady. Pyannet is probably instructing Isabel and Joan to lift Tryman up so she can drink her medicine. The stage is by now quite crowded and Tryman could easily be obscured if she is lying down on a bed, whereas is she is sitting up the audience are more likely to be able to see her facial reactions to the taste of Pyannet's 'water'. [go to text]

n7387   break wind, This may be a cue for business by Tryman. [go to text]

n7388   fears Rufflit first confirms that Lady Ticket desires to see Josina; he then indicates that Lady Ticket fears that Josina is not making the most of her liberty. [go to text]

gg4903   expect be in store for (OED v. 2c) [go to text]

gg578   ’Sfoot, an oath, short for ‘God’s foot’ [go to text]

gg4905   smock council. in allusive terms, 'smock' can be suggestive of loose conduct or immorality in, or in relation to, women, (OED n. 3b); so Josina's smock council is made up of the people she consults in order to advance her adultery [go to text]

gs1604   enlightened, OED does not list any definitions of 'enlightened' which would work here; however 'to enlighten' (OED v. 6) is listed as meaning contextually 'to revive, exhilarate' (citing Milton 1667 as the first usage), which is the meaning that makes most sense here (Tryman means she is revived enough to listen to her will being read) [go to text]

n9732   enlightened ] enlightned (o). [go to text]

n7389   In Dei nomine. 'In the name of God' [go to text]

n7390   Knockers Hole, Knockers Hole is at St Germans, near Plymouth, but just across the border into Cornwall. The name also, of course, provides a joke: OED cites two roughly dramatic contemporary usages of 'knocker' (A Woman is a Weathercock and A Chaste Maid in Cheapside), where it features as slang for a person of ‘striking’ appearance, or who moves others to admiration (OED 1c). The combination of the genitive form of knocker, 'knocker's' and 'hole' (OED n, 8 defines this as meaning the orifice of any organ or part of the body, especially in slang the mouth, the anus, or the female external genital organs) makes the joke clear: Tryman comes from a place that has a name meaning 'the orifice of an attractive person'. Later in the play the precise number of orifices 'Tryman' possesses becomes a moot point. Knockers Hole was the site of military skirmishes on 6th October in 1643 which might possibly have given the name added loading for the readership of the octavo text. [go to text]

n9690   As for the manner and form ’tis no matter. To the legacies briefly. This speech seems an odd one for Crasy to make. Apart from asides, most of his speeches in this scene have been concerned with medical matters. However, Crasy does want the other characters to show themselves up by their bad behaviour and he may be stirring them up to do more of this. [go to text]

n7391   Imprimis, 'First of all'. The formulation of the will is standard: see E.A.J.Honigmann and Susan Brock, Playhouse Wills. [go to text]

gg4907   dole a portion to be dealt out or distributed as a gifts, especially of food or money given in charity (OED n1. 5a) [go to text]

n7392   five pound. Worth £446 in 2009 (National Archives currency converter). [go to text]

gg1561   charge (n) task, duty, commission (OED n. 12) [go to text]

n7393   after. That is, it is better to take grateful prayers with you in life rather than have them sent after you when you are dead. [go to text]

n9124   forty pound Worth £3,566 in 2009 (National Archives currency converter). [go to text]

n7394   forty pound? Linsy-Wolsey's reaction seems appropriate, given that the 2009 equivalent is £3,566. [go to text]

n7395   Di boni! 'Good God' [go to text]

n7396   forty shillings. Worth £178 in 2009 (National Archives currency converter). [go to text]

gg4908   Item, used to introduce each new article or particular in an enumeration, especially in a formal list or document, as an inventory, household-book, will, etc. (OED adv) [go to text]

n7398   Trevaughan The 'Tre' marks this name as Cornish as indicated by the proverbial couplet 'By Tre, Pol and Pen you shall know the Cornish men' (Tilley T479). [go to text]

n7397   St. Miniver, A coastal town in north Cornwall. [go to text]

n7399   one thousand pound in gold. Worth £89,160 in 2009 (National Archives currency converter). [go to text]

n7405   Trepton, 'Tre-' looks as if it is in line with classic Cornish surnames ('By Tre, Pol and Pen you shall know the Cornish men' Tilley T479), but the emphasis ('Trep' instead of 'Tree') is not archetypally Cornish. [go to text]

n7399   one thousand pound in gold. Worth £89,160 in 2009 (National Archives currency converter). [go to text]

n7400   two thousand pound Worth £178,320 in 2009 (National Archives currency converter). [go to text]

n7401   five hundred pound Worth £44,580 in 2009 (National Archives currency converter). [go to text]

gg4909   ewer; a pitcher with a wide spout (OED n2. 1) [go to text]

gg4910   flagon a large bottle [go to text]

n7402   standing cups. That is, cups with a base or a stem and a base to stand on. [go to text]

n7403   ten pound, Worth £892 in 2009 (National Archives currency converter). [go to text]

n9124   forty pound Worth £3,566 in 2009 (National Archives currency converter). [go to text]

gg4911   reparation repair [go to text]

n7404   two hundred and fifty pounds. Worth £22,290 in 2009 (National Archives currency converter). [go to text]

n7392   five pound Worth £446 in 2009 (National Archives currency converter). [go to text]

n9124   forty pound. Worth £3,566 in 2009 (National Archives currency converter). [go to text]

n7403   ten pound Worth £892 in 2009 (National Archives currency converter). [go to text]

n7406   Tredrite, Although 'Tre-' could read as a classic Cornish surname ('By Tre, Pol and Pen you shall know the Cornish men', Tilley T479), to tread right would suggest a joke: 'tread' was used of the copulation of birds (OED v, 8a, b) so 'Tredrite' suggests to copulate with, in the correct or appropriate manner. [go to text]

gg4909   ewer; a pitcher with a wide spout (OED n2. 1) [go to text]

n7407   In cuius rei testimonium, 'In witness of this matter...' or 'In testimony of this matter...' a legal Latin phrase used for confirming a will; the 'et cetera' which follows signals the formulaic nature of the phrasing. [go to text]

n7408   twenty pound. Worth £1800 in 2009 (National Archives currency converter). [go to text]

n7409   an hundred pound Worth £8,900 in 2009 (National Archives currency converter). [go to text]

n7411   Hoc nihil refert. 'This pays nothing'; Sarpego's complaint at the extra work for no extra reward gets an immediate response from Tryman who increases his pay packet. [go to text]

n7396   forty Worth £178 in 2009 (National Archives currency converter). [go to text]

n7392   five pound. Worth £446 in 2009 (National Archives currency converter). [go to text]

n7412   Gratias vel ingentes ago. 'I give very great thanks' [go to text]

n7413   neighbour That is, Pyannet. [go to text]

n7414   Exit The octavo has 'Exeunt omnes praeter Crasy, Tryman' that is, exit all except for Crasy, Tryman. [go to text]

n10109   Are they all gone? Video The reason for looking at this section in a workshop was to investigate further the relationship between Crasy and Tryman, which is actually the relationship between Crasy and Jeremy-as-Tryman. This is the central relationship of the play although the audience do not realise this until the closing minutes of 5.1.. Although modern character psychology would not have obtained in the original performances, modern actors approaching the roles cannot ditch their training which is often grounded in post-Stanislavskian approaches to character building in performance; the questions raised by the actors in relation to this section were what has happened previously? Where are the characters? And most of all why are they doing what they are doing? Dwelling on such questions may be anachronistic but they raise a range of issues about the relation between Crasy and Jeremy which render the play more interesting to a modern audience. From a position of hindsight, knowing the ending of the play, a modern audience might see the relationship between Crasy and Jeremy as actually being the most emotionally stable relationship in the play; certainly Crasy and Jeremy are more committed to each other’s welfare than the various married couples are: Crasy and Josina; Sneakup and Pyannet; the Tickets. And while the knowledge that Tryman is Jeremy should not be played here, when thinking about this scene with the knowledge that Tryman is Jeremy, a structural balance can be discerned: Josina makes advances to Jeremy at the end of 1.2.; here Jeremy as Tryman seems, just briefly, to make advances to Crasy.
On one level this scene exhibits the interplay between a jewel merchant disguised as a doctor and a London prostitute disguised as a Cornish widow. Given this level of meaning an obvious question to ask is ‘Is there any sexual tension here?’ If there is then the final revelation that Tryman is actually Jeremy in disguise may gain a new frisson. While the audience may not have 3.1. clearly in their minds by the end of the play, 5.1. does include a whole raft of precise references back to earlier moments in the play all of which work on the lines of ‘You didn’t recognise me at the time and don’t you feel foolish now? The one failure to recognise a character in disguise that is not subjected to this mocking, triumphalist treatment is Crasy’s failure to recognise Jeremy, perhaps because revisiting this might raise questions about motivation that are too complex for the final moments of a farcical comedy.
This sequence is also the first time that Tryman performs her identity as a prostitute. Later on, in the Lady Luxury play performed in 5.1., she performs the character of a courtesan as an outrageously loud, shrewish and foul-mouthed trollop. That is clearly not how she performs here but the question has to be asked as to how sexually forthcoming or indeed threatening she might be. This dynamic was explored firstly by an actress, Olivia Darnley, playing Tryman followed by an actor, Alan Morrissey playing the same role. When Tryman was played by a male actor there was no attempt to evoke original practices or putative performances by boy players; the intention was simply to explore the scene and what the actors might find there.
The most critical issue initially was to do with the levels of knowledge in the scene, and, perhaps more importantly, what knowledge can actually be played. Because the actors were 'parachuting in' to the scene, it was difficult for them to establish who knew what, and why they were doing what they were doing etc., simply because the plot is so extremely complex by this stage in the play. The biggest problem was establishing exactly what Crasy knows. He has been told by Crack at the end of 2.2. that Crack’s mistress wants to see him and that this mistress is pretending to be a Cornish widow, although she has never been ‘half a day’s journey from Bridewell in her life’. Although the use of ‘Bridewell’ is suggestive, Crack does not actually say that Tryman is, as she reveals here, a prostitute. Crack’s songs in 2.2. suggest that sex might be in the offing and he approaches Crasy initially by saying that Crack could ‘conduct you to a more lovely creature that her you last courted’ [CW 2.2.speech205]; Crasy interprets this as meaning Crack is a pimp. Crack has also told Crasy that Tryman is ‘free from any disease, but the counterfeits’ but the emphasis is on the fact that Tryman’s counterfeiting is targetted at securing rich husband and ‘She wants a wise man’s counsel to assist her in getting a husband’. While a first-time audience probably would not worry about the details here, they have just travelled through a long scene, 3.1., with Tryman appearing be on her deathbed, with lots of physical comedy related to her illness and no indications whatsoever that this illness might be signalled as fake; the pay off if Tryman is played as ‘really’ ill is that the moment here, when she suddenly gets up, can achieve great comic surprise value. However, the real surprise for everyone in this section – for Crasy and for the audience – is that Tryman reveals here that she knows a lot more than anyone else: she knows Doctor Pulse-Feel is really Crasy; she knows Crasy only pretended to leave London; she has been watching his movements, directing Crack to bring her to him, and Tryman’s comment ‘startle not’ [CW 3.1.speeches388-389] indicates Crasy is startled at her revelation of this knowledge.
1. In the first run through Tryman stayed on the bed, which did not make it clear enough that she was not really ill, and she did not push her identity as a prostitute. The play with Cornish and Clerkenwell accents gave some indication of what a virtuoso player Jeremy/ Tryman needs to be and what fun could be had with rapid changes from one accent and persona to another. Audience feedback to this run through suggested that Tryman does need to get off the bed and move around; Richard Cave suggested it would be useful to think of Volpone’s lighting moves from (apparent) deathbed to robust good health. This run through helped focus on the importance of ‘good Master Crasy’ as being a shock to Crasy who did not realise anyone could see through his disguise.
2. The second run through brought about discussion of what might be at stake for the characters. Crasy thinks he is increasing his knowledge significantly in this scene and gaining a position of knowledge over all the other characters; however, he is only gaining access to partial knowledge and running the risk of feeling overly secure, even smug, because he thinks he knows more than most do. Sam Alexander, playing Crasy, asked what does he want in this scene? This question highlighted that, in fact, Crasy is reactive in this scene; he does not ‘want’ anything. He thinks he is learning Tryman’s secrets but she is driving the scene. This discussion also brought out the fact that much of this play consists of virtuoso performances – one character performing to another and deceiving them – and what is critical here is that Tryman has seen through Crasy’s performance but he never sees through hers. There was speculation that Crasy’s ‘Better than I for a doctor’ [CW 3.1.speech386] should be played almost as an aside to the audience. This had merit, but Tryman’s next speech ‘You are right’ picks up on ‘Better than I for a doctor’ so the implication would then be that Crasy attempts an aside but Tryman is still one step ahead of him and manages to hear what he is saying.
3. The third version of the scene made much more of the fact that this section could be sexually embarrassing/ threatening for Crasy (or he might even be sexually responsive?). It also finished with an emblematic moment where Crasy and Tryman both sat down on the bed at the end clearly as colleagues, two people who were committed to working together. It was a comfortable image and only those who knew the ending would see the different layers of knowledge operating between the two characters. The discussion of this version brought out the fact that the widow is not deemed beautiful (see Toby’s comments in [CW 2.3.speecheds257-261]; Tryman is ‘So so’ and it’s her money that makes her attractive) and so she does not have to be played as conventionally sexually alluring. Lucy Munro also commented that in the original performance, if the audience recognised that the same player who played Jeremy was playing Tryman, then they would just assume that the player was doubling the roles, something which was accepted as a convention, and that he had moved from the small role of Jeremy on to the more substantial and demanding role of Tryman.
4. The first run through with Alan Morrissey had a somewhat manly Tryman, something epitomised in the entertaining but rather blokish handshake between Crasy and Tryman. Sam Alexander commented in retrospect that in this run through he felt he had played Crasy knowing that Tryman was not a woman. Alan Morrissey posed the question as to why is Jeremy doing all this? The play never fully answers this question and a modern psychologically driven reading might suggest that Jeremy goes to suggestively excessive lengths to achieve comic revenge on behalf of his master. On one level, however, the theatrical answer might be that Jeremy is one contender for the title of ‘city wit’ (although the audience does not know this at the time) and his performance of Tryman is the demonstration of his wittiness in the sense of cleverness.
5. In the final run through Alan Morrissey as Tryman was playing the role thinking of the performance of Tryman partly in terms of it being a clearly defined exercise in acting, or an acting challenge. Making the performance of Tryman more overtly actorly, but doing this in a subtle way, rendered the performance enjoyable to watch but slightly unsettling to those alert to the risk of trusting any character’s public performances in this play. Consideration of acting as a subject becomes most formalised with the performance of the Lady Luxury play in 5.1.; however throughout The City Wit skilful acting is always allied to the ability to con, scam and deceive. [go to text]

n7415   done her part When Tryman asks for a critical appraisal of whether or not she has 'done', or played, her part, well so far, this begins a whole thematic sequence of ideas about play acting in relation to Tryman which will last throughout the rest of the play. See Steggle (2004 p.36) for comments on Tryman, acting, masquerading and 'the performative nature of gender'. [go to text]

n7416   the same That is, a fake. [go to text]

n9699   what I bear about me. Tryman means she has to sell her body, or 'what I bear about me', for sex. [go to text]

n7417   vulgar translation The 'vulgar translation' or common slang would be 'a whore'. [go to text]

n7418   be kept. That is, I need to earn a living, I need food and drink etc. [go to text]

n7419   make the best of my own, Tryman is euphemistically saying she sells her body for sex. [go to text]

gg4912   member OED (n, 1a) indicates that although 'member' in relation to the body most usually refers to the penis, it can also, as in The City Wit 3.1. refer to the vagina, the vulva, the female genitals [go to text]

gg430   whiskin (1) northern dialect term in Caroline period for a shallow kind of drinking vessel; (2) slang term for a pander (OED's first recorded usage in this sense) [go to text]

n7421   purlieus These are places where a person has the right to come and go freely, or has control (OED 3), which could mean that Tryman has been keeping Crasy under observation. However the expression 'to hunt in purlieu' (OED 2b) meant to have an illicit relationship, especially with a prostitute, and that seems to be Tryman's main meaning here. Certainly 3.3. opens with Crasy and Tryman discussing an incident when they supposedly had sex. [go to text]

gg4913   freeman a person who possesses the freedom of a city, borough, company, guild, etc. (OED n. 2) [go to text]

n7422   certain tokens Incontrovertible evidence. [go to text]

n7423   old course Prostitution. [go to text]

n7424   wiser, That is, wiser courses. [go to text]

n7425   diseases Especially venereal disease. [go to text]

n7427   this rich coxcomb The rich fool Tryman is referring to is Linsy-Wolsey. [go to text]

n9855   O here comes your pigwidgeon. The octavo has no entry but Crasy's 'O here comes your pigwidgeon' indicates Crack's entry at this point. [go to text]

gg4914   pigwidgeon. derogatory term for a small or insignificant person (OED 2) [go to text]

n9855   [Enter CRACK]. The octavo has no entry but Crasy's 'O here comes your pigwidgeon' indicates Crack's entry at this point. [go to text]

n7429   of counsel That is, of my counsel. [go to text]

n7430   blue boys of the hospital, Blue was the distinctive colour for the clothes of servants, tradesmen and charity cases. It was especially the colour of the uniform of boys attending charity schools. Tryman is saying that Crack has been at a Blue-coat school and the mention of a hospital here makes it possible she is referring to Christ's Hospital School at Newgate, which began educating boys and girls in 1552. Charterhouse, the hospital and almshouse where Brome ended his days, also had a school which educated 44 poor boys. [go to text]

n10106   sweet singers to the city funerals Harding (p.236) indicates that in Pre-Reformation London it was common for citizens to ask for children to form part of their funeral procession 'often as torchbearers, sometimes perhaps as choir' and were mostly 'left small sums for their attendance' although an allowance of bread was also popular (Harding p.243). Children mostly attended 'as inmates of the city orphanages' (Harding p.239). Although post-Reformation England saw major changes in funeral customs, and those that were associated with Catholicism were mostly abandoned, important civic funerals still included large numbers of the poor. [go to text]

n7431   two penny Worth 74 pence in 2009 (National Archives currency converter). [go to text]

n7434   wheel The treadwheel or treadmill at Bridewell. Bridewell housed a treadmill from circa 1570. [go to text]

n7433   Saint Bride’s nunnery Bride is a form of Bridget, and Saint Bride or Bridget was associated with the well near Bridewell place; the 'nunnery' Crack is talking about is Bridewell prison, which at this time functioned as a house of correction for women involved in crimes, especially prostitution. Crack is saying he hasn't been in prison for prostitution as his 'sister' has. [go to text]

n9853   sung to the organs After the Reformation the use of choirs and organs in English churches became associated, for some, with Roman Catholicism. While organ music had seen something of a revival under the reign of James I, many puritans opposed the use of organs in church and later, during the Commonwealth period, many church organs were taken out. However, 'organ' could also include sexual innuendo as is clear from the ribald remarks about the organ in Thomas Middleton's A Mad World My Masters. [go to text]

n7435   more certain That is, more dependable employment. [go to text]

gg4917   indenture a deed between two or more parties with mutual covenants, executed in two or more copies, all having their tops or edges correspondingly indented or serrated for identification and security; hence, a deed or sealed agreement or contract between two or more parties, without special reference to its form (OED n. 2) [go to text]

n7437   tripartite In The Alchemist 1.1.135 (ed. Mares), Doll Common proposes the three tricksters, Doll, Face and Subtle, see themselves as a 'venture tripartite' with 'all things in common' (l.135) and 'equality' (l.134). Crack, who goes on to state he is good friends with the players and so, presumably, used to seeing plays, is evoking a phrase from a popular play. The phrase 'indentures tripartite', however, also appears in 1 Henry 4 3.1.77 in the rebels' discussion of how to divide up the kingdom. [go to text]

n7436   Subtle, Doll, and Face. The names of the tricksters in Ben Jonson's The Alchemist. Face, whose first name is Jeremy, is the one who outwits everyone, including his accomplices at the end of the play, something which is also relevant in this play where Jeremy the apprentice proves wittier than, or able to outwit, all the other characters. Doll in The Alchemist is a prostitute and so offers a comparison with Tryman here. [go to text]

gg4918   trade course of action (OED n. I 3a) [go to text]

n9700   CRACK sings. As usual, when Crack bursts into song, the performers of the other characters onstage are faced with the dilemma of how they are supposed to react. [go to text]

gg438   punk prostitute [go to text]

gg4919   vamps to mend, repair or restore (OED v1. I 1) [go to text]

gg4920   upsets to restore to good or usual condition (OED I 2b, citing The City Wit 3.1.); to set up [go to text]

n9119   in the high way well on the way to [go to text]

n7440   high Holborn Crack puns on 'high way', which Crasy uses as meaning progressing well along the route (to preferment); Crack refers to the high road that is Holborn Hill, which was on the route used for taking prisoners, usually by cart, from Newgate prison to execution at Tyburn tree. Tilley confirms the proverbial assocation between Holborn and the journey to Tyburn in H507 'To go up Holborn backwards'. [go to text]

n7441   match That is, the marriage to Linsy-Wolsey. [go to text]

n9701   three days hence The precise passage of time in this play is often unclear but much of the time the pacing is very fast (see, for example, the speed with which Toby and Tryman are married) and 'three days' seems a very leisurely timescale for the rest of the play's action. [go to text]

n7316   curtains The curtains of a four poster bed. [go to text]

n7442   bed This is the octavo's first mention of the fact that a bed is onstage although it must be brought on at the beginning of the scene. [go to text]

n9120   Ex[it TRYMAN, CRASY and CRACK]. The octavo has Exeunt [go to text]

n9730   Now In the octavo the opening of scene is marked by large capital N, two lines high. [go to text]

n7443   Catilinarian An adjective meaning 'like Catiline', the first century B.C. Roman politician who conspired against the republic and was denounced by the orator Cicero. Catiline would be readily associated with treachery and conspiracy. Brome's mentor, Ben Jonson, wrote a tragedy about Catiline. The octavo has 'Catlinarian'. [go to text]

gg4921   defeated to deprive of (something one already possesses); to dispossess (OED v. 7b) [go to text]

n7403   ten pound, Worth £892 in 2009 (National Archives currency converter). [go to text]

gg5876   precogitated thought over beforehand, premeditated (OED) [go to text]

gg4922   suspend hang or execute (OED II 8a) [go to text]

n7444   abiit, evasit, erupit. 'he has gone, he has escaped, he has broken free'. The phrase is close to a well-known expression from Cicero's In Catilinam 2 paragraph 1 'Abiit, excessit, evasit, erupit'. [go to text]

n7445   supply. The fee of forty shillings that would be forthcoming when Sarpego preached at Tryman's funeral [CW 3.1.speech375]. [go to text]

n9702   not Nothing or not enough money; 'nought' might work better here. [go to text]

gg3992   furnish supply what is necessary (OED v. 5a) [go to text]

n7446   Væ mihi misero nec aurum, nec argent ... tum! 'Alas I have misery but not gold, not silver'. The ... between the two parts of the word 'argentum', silver, may suggest some business such as a sigh. [go to text]

n7447   beatitude. That is, supreme blessedness or happiness (OED 1a), an extravagant compliment to Bridget. [go to text]

n7448   old mistress That is, Pyannet. [go to text]

gg4923   conjunction? joining, as in marriage [go to text]

gg4924   faugh, an exclamation of disgust [go to text]

gg858   Goodman a man of substance, a leader (often with the implication of a moral leader) [go to text]

gg4925   Fist. a foul smell, stink (OED n2. 1) [go to text]

n7449   Hic iacet, 'Here lies', suggesting the opening words of an inscription on a gravestone. [go to text]

n7464   court-messenger Crasy might be dressed in some kind of uniform, possibly a rather showy one, to indicate his status as court messenger, someone who runs messages for the high ranking 'his Grace'. However, Crasy has only exited less than a page (in the octavo text) previously, dressed as Doctor Pulse-Feel. While a ridiculously under disguised Crasy can create comedy (using the gag that it is ludicrous that the characters don't recognise him), if any attempt is made at a convincing quick change here it has to be using items of clothing that can be got on and off very fast, and in period costume that would mean hats and capes. However, in [CW 3.3.speech460] Crack also indicates that Crasy-as-Holywater is wearing a false beard that Crack obtained from his friends at the playhouse. [go to text]

n7450   under right worshipful. Pyannet's obsession with titles continues: what she is saying is that Sarpego should be expecting at the very least to obtain the right to be addressed as 'right worshipful Master Sarpego'. [go to text]

n7451   beneath Pyannet lists clothes and symbols of status and wealth that will be commonplace for Sarpego in his newly elevated position. [go to text]

gg4927   damask rich silk fabric woven with elaborate designs and figures, often of a variety of colours (OED II 3), the wearing of which indicates wealth [go to text]

gg4926   footcloth. a large richly-ornamented cloth laid over the back of a horse and hanging down to the ground on each side; it was considered as a mark of dignity and state (OED 1) [go to text]

n7452   Phoebus Phoebus was the sun god and his son, Phaethon, nearly destroyed the world as well as himself when he attempted to drive his father's chariot, that is, the sun, across the sky. Phaethon is thus an image for someone who aspires beyond his capability and Sarpego is saying Pyannet is talking of status symbols he, Sarpego, will never achieve. [go to text]

gg4928   brainpan. that which contains the brain; the skull [go to text]

n9827   progeny Pyannet's use of the term 'progeny' to describe her offspring, Toby, is pretentious and so complements her other pretentious terms for him 'my worshipful son' and 'heir apparent'. [go to text]

gg4619   preferred recommended [go to text]

n7453   the young Prince his tutor. That is, to be the tutor of the young Prince. The only historical young prince who might eventually be in need of Sarpego's services would be the future Charles II who was born on 29 May 1630 (The City Wit is usually dated 1629-32). Keeping the identity of 'the Prince', like that of 'his Grace', vague, would protect Brome from accusations of attacking Charles I's court; however there is no doubt that Charles's court is the object of his satire. [go to text]

n7454   place, That is, high place, high social standing, a place of influence at the court. [go to text]

n7455   office, That is, high office. [go to text]

n7456   his Grace This title would be used for a duke or an archbishop although it had earlier also been a form of address for the reigning monarch. [go to text]

gg4929   ’haviour behaviour [go to text]

n7457   sometimes pupil, That is, one time pupil. [go to text]

n7458   possess a prince’s ear. Crasy as Court Messenger is tempting Sarpego with the prospect of years and years of influence at court; if Sarpego gains the ear of the Prince, and is listened to by him as a boy, then when the Prince grows up and has power, Sarpego could be a major power behind the throne. [go to text]

n7459   in place That is, in a position to. [go to text]

gg3430   countenance give sanction or credit to [go to text]

n7460   old pupil That is, Toby. [go to text]

n7403   ten pound Worth £892 in 2009 (National Archives currency converter). [go to text]

n7461   odd The octavo has 'od'. The suggestion is that the ten pound is 'odd' money, that is, almost loose change compared with what the future could bring to Sarpego. [go to text]

gg4931   furnished supplied with [go to text]

gg4016   complements qualities or amounts that complete (OED n. 4a); complementing accessories (OED n. 6) [go to text]

n7463   Quid nunc? 'What then?' [go to text]

n7465   [Aside to SARPEGO].Whist That is, hush, be quiet. This speech has to be mostly an aside to Sarpego as neither Pyannet nor Sarpego want the impressive court messenger (Crasy-as-Holywater) to realise how hard up Sarpego is. [go to text]

n7466   pieces. As pieces were gold coins usually worth 22 shillings, this is an improvement on ten pounds because a pound was only twenty shillings. [go to text]

n7467   Bear it as That is, act as if it is, pretend that it is. [go to text]

gg4932   driblet. a small sum of money (OED n. 1a) [go to text]

n7468   I use I am not in the habit of. [go to text]

gg1920   prefer advance, promote, favour [go to text]

gg4933   evacuate to empty out [go to text]

gg4934   procure obtain [go to text]

n9828   [Exit BRIDGET]. The octavo provides no exit for Bridget but she has nothing else to do in the scene so this edition locates her exit here. [go to text]

n7469   [to PYANNET] I am much grieved for’t. Crasy-as-Holywater seems to have been conversing with Pyannet during the Sarpego/ Bridget interchange. [go to text]

n7470   loss. The lost opportunity to sell jewels at court. [go to text]

n9854   worth .... Pyannet seems about to say something else, probably more vulgar; the '....' in the octavo certainly suggests a change of direction. Pyannet may tone down her comment as she does not want to be thought common by Master Holywater, the Court Messenger. [go to text]

gg4935   very of a friend, servant, or wife: true, faithful (OED adj. I 6); very own [go to text]

n7471   crafty There are two meanings here. On one level Pyannet hoped Crasy would prove wily, good at cheating customers and in so doing making a fortune; on another level she hoped he would be good at his craft as a jeweller. [go to text]

n7472   capacity, That is, your capacity to follow what I am saying. [go to text]

gg4938   melt (slang) to spend or squander (money) (OED v1. 7a) [go to text]

n7473   looked That is, looked out for, taking care of. [go to text]

gg4939   main the most important part of something (OED adj. II 3a) [go to text]

n8192   Aye, ] I (O) [go to text]

gg4940   bywords, words beside the matter in hand (OED 4, citing CW 3.2) [go to text]

gg4229   easy, compliant, credulous (OED 12a) [go to text]

n9703   By your husband? No question mark in the octavo. [go to text]

n7475   raise That is, raise the price of the jewels by praising them and making them sound like a good buy. The rhymes of 'praise them and raise them' give the phrase added emphasis. [go to text]

n7476   Nay, admire. Crasy as court messenger is playing to Pyannet's vanity about her wittiness and is saying he does far more than approve her plan, he admires it as well. [go to text]

n7479   No compliment among good wits, That is, let's not waste time complimenting each other on our wit but let's get on with our plot. [go to text]

n7477   make a leg, Make a fine bow. Dessen and Thomson (p.138) clarify that this is 'to show respect by a bending of the knee and extending backward of the leg'. [go to text]

gg4941   simply. humbly [go to text]

gg3269   Pish, an interjection 'expressing contempt, impatience, or disgust' (OED) [go to text]

n7478   ne’er ] ne're (o). [go to text]

n7480   he will make a rare citizen. The joke is that Sneakup is not that far socially from a citizen anyway, but when Pyannet is saying that he will be able to impersonate a citizen, she is implying that this is a great achievement because, as far as she is concerned, Sneakup is so far above that rank; 'rare' here has the sense of 'fine', that is, giving a fine or good performance as a citizen. [go to text]

gg4314   La! an exclamation used ‘to call attention to an emphatic statement’ (OED int.) [go to text]

n7481   shoot your bolt Pyannet here means 'speak', but shooting your bolt can be proverbial for any action (Tilley B512), usually suggesting precipitate action and possibly, in the context of a discussion between this dominant wife and submissive husband, hinting at the husband's tendency towards premature ejaculation. [go to text]

gg4942   mark. a target for shooting at (OED n1. VI 23a) [go to text]

n7482   them That is, the jewels. [go to text]

gg4943   cast (v) cast (a thought) [go to text]

gg4352   mistrust suspicion, distrust, doubt [go to text]

n7617   Remember that sentence. Although that sentence - 'Modest mistrust is the first step to knowledge' - sounds proverbial it is not in Tilley. [go to text]

n7483   Court Gate, This whole sequence exploits two joke lines: firstly, there are jokes at the expense of Charles I and his love of rigid codes of etiquette and precise, formal modes of behaviour, something which led to the introduction of a range of rules about how to behave at court; secondly, as Astington puts it, 'That such as booby as Sneakup would be allowed to proceed unchallenge through such a restricted area [of the palace] is part of Brome's joke' (Astington p.39). Astington is particularly useful in demonstrating how accurate Pyannet's geography of the court is: the arrangement of rooms at Whitehall 'progressed from larger, more public space to smaller, private, and increasingly secure and inaccessible chambers' a scheme that was 'defensive in origin' (p.38). The 'first and largest room in the series was known as either the guard chamber or the great chamber' and from there 'if allowed to do so' visitors passed to the next chamber which 'was occupied partly by members of the royal guard, armed, and dressed in a fashion similar to their modern descendants, the Yeoman of the Guard', these guards marking 'the boundary of a restricted and privileged area' and functioning as a 'an entirely practical measure of security' (p.38). The 'Presence' or presence chamber was beyond this and 'When the monarch was in residence, this room was set up with a throne and state -the dais, canopy, and heraldic backcloth- where the kind or queen would give a hearing to petitions and communications of one kind or another' (p.39). Beyond this lay 'the privy chamber and the bedchamber, sometimes with supplementary lobbies and smaller rooms connecting them, and forming a suite into which the monarch could retreat from official business and public view'. Astington sees Pyannet's instructions as offering a 'rather fantasticated version of a visit to Whitehall' (p.39) but the joke here is layered: it is funny that Pyannet thinks Sneakup will be able to gain entry to the Presence (but later he does actually manage to do this); it is funny that Charles I has such a complicated living arrangement at Whitehall; and it is funny, and quite edgy, that Pyannet, a woman, is standing for Charles I. For more comentary on this sequence see Steggle 2004 p.29-30.
In performance this sequence also invites comic enactment of the various actions under discussion.
Clarence Edward Andrews, Richard Brome, p.88 compares Pyannet's instructions on behviour to Ben Jonson's Every Man out of his Humour 5.1., and Cynthia’s Revels 3.3. [go to text]

gg4944   covered; wearing a hat [go to text]

n7486   Presence This is an important location for the play's action and 3.4. is actually set in 'The Presence'. However, it is very hard to evoke the ramifications of this location in modern performances and readings. The Presence Chamber was a room in which the monarch would receive privileged, and invited guests. [go to text]

gg154   bare; bare-headed [go to text]

n7484   Privy Chamber Like the Privy Lobby, this was part of the royal private apartments and not at all accessible to characters of lowly social standing like Sneakup. [go to text]

n7487   Privy Lobby A private passage or corridor connected with one or more apartments in the royal palace used as a waiting-place or ante-room for those with business at court. [go to text]

n7485   (like the Exchequer payment) That is, if Sneakup has to break wind he should not do so with gusto, but, like payments from the Exchequer, giving out as little as possible. Steggle (2004 p.29) describes Pyannet's comment here as 'a sly remark about Charles's budgetary difficulties in the Exchequer in the years after 1628'. [go to text]

n7488   bare. Sneakup's complete inability to memorise the instruction Pyannet is giving him on how to 'perform' the role of Crasy at court, compares with Brome's use of the joke of incompetent performers elsewhere; for example, Sir Salomon Nonsense in The Northern Lass; or see Jovial Crew 3.1. where Vincent is incompetent at following Springlove's instructions on how to beg and just keeps repeating 'Duly and truly pray for you'. [go to text]

gg4945   tablebook, a book of writing tablets, a notebook (OED 1) [go to text]

gg4946   con study, learn (OED v1. II 3) [go to text]

n7494   Something he has in him like my husband! That is, there is at least something in him which makes him an appropriate husband for me; he is not completely witless. [go to text]

gg4953   carriage bearing [go to text]

n7495   Suppose me the Prince. This moment was potentially quite subversive in the original performances: for a 'woman', let alone a 'woman' as chattering, class-obsessed, and social climbing as Pyannet, to enact the role of the Prince, which inevitably reflects on the reigning monarch Charles I, is far more subversive than, for example, Falstaff's impersonation of the historical Henry IV in 1 Henry IV. Steggle (2004 p.30) comments that here The City Wit 'gets as close as any play of the era to putting the reigning monarch on stage'. This speech, and the next few speeches, contain several implicit instructions to actors about comic stage business, ungainly bowing etc. [go to text]

gg4954   present. v. present yourself [go to text]

gg4955   honours. bows, obeisances (OED n. 5b) [go to text]

n7496   make my three legs Make three bows. Steggle (2004 p.30)comments on the use of 'triple bowing' in Charles I's court. The octavo's '...' presumably indicates the bowing taking place. [go to text]

gg4980   wont accustomed [go to text]

n7514   My stones are right, There are two meanings here: 'the jewels that I am selling are good ones'; 'my testicles are functioning, I am able to father children'. [go to text]

gg4970   stones testicles (OED n. 11a) [go to text]

n7519   infection Pyannet means that the witless Sneakup has caught some wit from lying with, or sleeping with, her, as if wit is something infectious. [go to text]

n7520   by By the example of. [go to text]

gg103   presently. immediately (OED adv. 3); without delay [go to text]

n9121   Ex[it PYANNET and SNEAKUP]. The octavo has Exeunt. [go to text]

n10110   Enter TRYMAN, CRASY. Video This section was explored in a workshop where the objective was to carry on investigating the relationship between Crasy and Jeremy-as-Tryman (see [NOTE n10109]). In this brief section Crasy concedes that he must have had sex with the prostitute Tryman but he admits that he has completely forgotten about it, which suggests that Crasy’s sexual history involves enough sexual partners for him to be hazy about the details. The fact that the audience later find out that Tryman is actually Jeremy in disguise makes this moment funnier in retrospect.
1. The first run through with Olivia Darnley as Tryman indicated the potential for developing comedy of accents here: Tryman’s accent moved from Clerkenwell to Cornwall and back again and although Olivia didn’t feel entirely happy with what she achieved accent wise, she did demonstrate how much fun could be had with accent shifts.
2. When Alan Morrissey played Tryman he seemed far less forgiving of Crasy at the moment when Crasy looked Tryman in the eye and more or less said ‘I have completely forgotten ever having sex with you’; this seemed to be taken as the kind of insult a busy working prostitute would be accustomed to but still annoyed by.
3. In the final run through Alan Morrissey adopted a more overtly funny accent.
What was most striking about the work on the Crasy/ Tryman relationship here was that the actors did not develop any sexual charge here even though on one level this scene shows a male and a female character discussing the fact they have had sex. It may be that the agreement at the very end of 3.1. to work together and to create a ‘venture tripartite’ (like the one in Jonson’s The Alchemist) had settled the Crasy Tryman relationship into a business agreement that was free from sexual tension.
The repetition, in the workshop, of Tryman’s promise that she will explain to Crasy how she managed to convince everyone that she was wealthy served to underline that bluff, and acting ability were her prime resources. The audience only get a detailed discussion of this when Crack claims to reveal all to Linsy-Wolsey in 4.4. [go to text]

n7522   court habit. Crasy is still disguised as the Court messenger, Master Holywater; however, Linsy-Wolsey does not seem surprised that his bankrupt neighbour, Crasy, appears to have a court messenger running errands for him. [go to text]

n9731   Well In the octavo the opening of the scene is marked by a large capital W, two lines high. [go to text]

n7545   Doll, A diminutive of Dorothy, and a very common name for women. The prostitute in Ben Jonson's The Alchemist, with whom Tryman is identified, is named Doll Common. [go to text]

n7527   London Wall The wall originally built around the Roman city of Londinium in the second century. It was only in the mid sixteenth century that the city began to spread beyond these walls. Some of the walls can still be seen today. Weinreb and Hibbert (1995 p.494) state that the ditch by London Wall was used as 'a dump for rubbish and dead dogs'. Crasy's false memory that he had sex with Tryman 'about London Wall' suggests that he was, at least at some stage, in the habit of having sex with prostitutes in this location. [go to text]

n7528   saist thou? The octavo puts this in brackets, which could suggest Crasy is racking his brains trying to recall the incident. [go to text]

gg828   election choice, preference [go to text]

n7529   fountain of aches, bald brows and broad plasters, All these are indicative of venereal disease, something easily caught from a 'fountain', or source, such as a prostitute with many customers. [go to text]

n7533   remember thy creation. Remember how you were created by God; presumably that is to be a child of God and a fine upstanding woman, rather than a prostitute. For anyone who has worked out Tryman's real identity there is considerable irony here. [go to text]

n7537   use, That is, to use sexually. [go to text]

n7538   loved it but to loathe me: Loved having sex with me but actually loathed me as a person. [go to text]

n7539   scarce beauty enough to be tempted, Not enough beauty to be always surrounded by men trying to tempt her into having sex. [go to text]

n9856   not wit enough to be naught; Tryman is building up a picture here of her appearance and behaviour when in character as the Cornish widow (as opposed to the London whore version of Tryman). She looks and behaves as a not terribly attractive rustic woman, and as someone who is not street wise. When she says she has 'not wit enough to be naught' this suggests she appears not to have the wit or the cleverness to be be 'naught' in a moral sense, that is to be immoral, naughty, and to have lots of lovers, which is something the London whore version of Tryman could manage very easily. [go to text]

gg3005   cozenage. fraud, duplicity [go to text]

n7542   Jeffrey, The octavo sometimes uses 'Jeffrey' and sometimes, as here 'Geffrey'. This edition uses 'Jeffrey' throughout. [go to text]

gg5033   mercers, merchants who deal in textiles, especially silks and velvets [go to text]

n7547   Cheapside A major marketplace with mercer's stalls at the east end. [go to text]

n9705   He is overjoyed The possibility that Linsy-Wolsey's emotional investment in this marriage might be real and that, after years of never daring to dream of marriage, he has finally found a wife would make sense of the apparent bitterness of his last lines in the play [CW 5.1.speech976] when he declares 'I will have nothing to say to man, woman, or child, while I live again'. This reaction seems extreme in context, as Linsy-Wolsey has not been humiliated as much as Crasy's other victims, but the speech makes more sense if Linsy-Wolsey is seen as investing a great deal emotionally in Tryman. [go to text]

n9704   O she’s a dainty widow. The instruction 'Sings. O she's a dainty Widow.' appears in Aphra Behn's 1677 play The Debauchee or The Credulous Cuckold 4.1., play very closely based on Brome's A Mad Couple Well Matched. Behn's stage direction suggests that the song is well known. [go to text]

n7549   that beard Crasy's disguise as a court messenger includes a false beard. [go to text]

gg4984   set out v. to advance, to forward [go to text]

n7551   these patterns? This indicates that Linsy-Wolsey enters carrying samples of material to show Tryman. [go to text]

gg4986   patterns? samples (OED n. 5b) [go to text]

n7552   a letter This suggests that Crasy enters with the letter ready prepared. [go to text]

n7571   Crasy The octavo has the ambiguous speech heading 'Cra.' for speeches 465 and 467 (lines 1489 and 1491 in O), which could indicate 'Crack' as well as 'Crasy'. Earlier in the scene the speech headings have been more carefully differentiated as 'Crack' and 'Cras'; however, both speeches seem slightly more in keeping with Crasy. [go to text]

n7553   scratches An implied stage direction for the performer playing Linsy-Wolsey. [go to text]

gg4989   as lief rather, as willingly [go to text]

n7957   thirty pound, Worth £2,675, in 2009 (National Archives currency converter). [go to text]

n7560   threescore Threescore, that is sixty, pounds. Worth £5,350 in 2009 (National Archives currency converter). [go to text]

n7561   What the eye sees not... The proverb is 'That the eye sees not, the heart rues not' (Tilley E247). [go to text]

n7562   bonds, Two senses of 'bonds' can operate here: he is legally engaged by an agreement with Crasy; he is restricted, bound, restrained by his bond. [go to text]

n7563   sixty pound. Worth £5,350 in 2009 (National Archive currency converter). [go to text]

n7564   our contract. Our engagement to get married. [go to text]

n7957   thirty pound Worth £2,675, in 2009 (National Archives currency converter). [go to text]

gg2898   reckonings account, computed sum owing or due to someone; used especially of a bill at a tavern, but here implying a paying-back or settling of differences between parties (OED vbl. n, 3a and 5) [go to text]

n7566   Linsy-Wolsey This speech is not attributed to Linsy-Wolsey in the octavo and reads as an extension of Tryman's speech (and so does not make sense). It is also followed by the marginal stage direction 'aside'. It is not clear when the aside starts: Wilkinson locates it as beginning after ‘’Tis your best course’ a decision which is followed here. [go to text]

n7567   six or seven thousand pound? Worth £534,960 or £624,120 respectively in 2009 (National Archives currency converter). [go to text]

n7568   set it received That is, put down in writing (OED v1, 21a) that (a sum owing) is paid. [go to text]

gg4991   use interest, usury (OED v. 5b) [go to text]

gg1675   tell count [go to text]

n7570   [LINSY-WOLSEY, TRYMAN and CRACK]. The octavo has simply 'Exit'. While the octavo often uses 'exeunt' elsewhere for the exit of a group of people, Tryman does have to exit here as well as Linsy-Wolsey, as she cannot overhear Crasy's next speech. Crack has been quiet for quite a while but he presumably also exits here, attending on his mistress. [go to text]

n9706   to be laughed at among your neighbours. Crasy is referring back to Linsy-Wolsey's comments at [CW 1.2.speech 123]. [go to text]

gg4992   intend to fix the mind on (OED v. 12) [go to text]

gg1821   courtesy favour, good deed [go to text]

gg4993   piddled with messed about or around with (OED v. 1a) [go to text]

gg4994   ’prentice. apprentice [go to text]

gg5001   gorgeous in referring to dress: adorned with rich or brilliant colours; sumptuously gay or splendid; showy, magnificent (OED adj. 1) [go to text]

n7574   This is the Presence. The setting for this scene is the Presence Chamber, at Whitehall, a room at court where the monarch would receive important guests (see Astington). The joke is that someone like Sarpego would not be able to wander into this room even if showily and expensively dressed in 'gorgeous apparel', as he would need to get past the royal guards and he would need more than an improbable story of being hired as a royal tutor to manage that. Steggle (2004 p.29) discusses Brome's use of the Presence and comments (p.30) that The City Wit 'goes further than any other London-set citizen comedy of which I am aware, in setting scenes inside the king's palace'.
In the octavo the opening of the scene is marked by large capital T, two lines high. [go to text]

n7575   quondam Latinate way of saying 'former', or 'one time'. [go to text]

n7576   attends not my conduct! That is, is not here to attend on me and admire me as I am conducted to 'his Grace'. [go to text]

gg5002   instant of persons: pressing, urgent, importunate (OED adj. I 1) [go to text]

n7577   vacation, A Latinate way of saying 'leisure' or, here, 'opportunity'. [go to text]

n7578   variety, That is, he did not have more than one shirt. [go to text]

gg654   shift change [go to text]

gg5003   shirt. an undergarment (common to both sexes) for the upper part of the body, made of linen, calico, flannel, silk, or other washable material, which was originally always worn next to the skin (OED 1a) [go to text]

n7579   little cattle of infamous generation about me, that do most inseparably haunt me. Sarpego is saying, in as roundabout a way as possible, that although he is wearing fine clothes he did not have the time, or the resources to change his underclothes, that is his shirt, and so he can still feel the lice or fleas that normally live in his underclothes moving around and biting. [go to text]

n7580   them That is, the fleas or lice. [go to text]

n7581   his Grace perceive them, Sarpego is concerned that 'his Grace' will see Sarpego's lice or fleas - this may be a cue for Sarpego to do some scratching etc. [go to text]

n7582   at the hangings. Dessen and Thomson (p.110) comment that 'hangings' is 'an infrequently used alternative for the curtain or arras that hung just in front of the tiring house wall'. The force of 'at' suggests Crasy is lurking upstage; the hangings could be used for concealment, but Sarpego is so self absorbed Crasy has no need to hide. [go to text]

gg1529   pedant teacher, tutor [go to text]

n7583   his most natural strut! the prologue commented on how difficult it is (at least according to the prologue player) to impersonate a pedant, so the naturalness of Sarpego's absurd strutting suggests his innate absurdity [go to text]

gg5004   at the first dash, straight away, at the first stroke (OED dash n1, 2) [go to text]

n7584   outside His outer garments. [go to text]

n7585   of purpose I left my inside lousy. Sarpego's idea is similar to a penitential hair shirt: the inside mortifies the flesh even though the outside appearance might be rich and extravagant. [go to text]

n7586   like a citizen. This indicates that Sneakup's clothing earlier was very clearly, at least for the original audience, marking him out as above citizen class. [go to text]

n7587   Sed, O dii! Quem video? nonne 'But O ye gods! Whom do I see? Surely not....' [go to text]

gg5005   woodcocks proverbially foolish birds, probably as they were relatively easy to catch (See Tilley W746, W748) [go to text]

n7588   shoot into the glade. That is, [the fools] are rushing into the glade (the Presence); a woodcock behaves foolishly in rushing into a glade as it would there be more visible and more easily caught than if it lay quietly concealed among the bushes and undergrowth. [go to text]

n7589   O monstrum horrendum! 'O dreadful monster!': 'monstrum horrendum' is the phrase use to describe the Cyclops, Polyphemus, in Aeneid III.658, and 'Fama', infamy in Books IV and VI. The phrase also appears in Thomas Middleton's A Trick to Catch the Old One, (4.5.145) a play that has considerable common ground with The City Wit in the use of an intelligent prostitute figure setting out to gull the rich and foolish. [go to text]

n7590   Pray go home and ask my wife. Sneakup is already out of his depth in performing the role of Crasy without having Pyannet to refer to. [go to text]

n8056   Enter Strictly speaking, Crasy only comes forward from the hangings rather than making an entrance. [go to text]

n7591   for a need, sir. OED (n1, 13c) lists 'for a need' as meaning 'at a pinch; in an extreme circumstance'; here, however, the sense is more, 'if it is of any help'. [go to text]

n7592   be read in your eyes. This suggests Sneakup's eyes are giving the game away, perhaps by a look of terror. [go to text]

gg3670   Let me alone Let me deal with this by myself. [go to text]

gg5006   endear to render costly or more costly; to enhance the price of (OED v. 1) [go to text]

gg5007   correspondency. agreement (prearranged) [go to text]

gg3164   shift an expedient, an ingenious device for effecting some purpose (OED n. III 3a) [go to text]

n7593   own. ... The octavo has a full stop followed by dashes; these are hard to interpet. They could indicate Crasy interacting with, or mugging at the audience here; or he might bow to them as he, as it were, signs off with one of his trite rhyming couplets. [go to text]

n7594   quondam 'one time' [go to text]

gg2733   pedagogue! teacher, schoolmaster [go to text]

n7595   nuper alumnus! 'pupil of not long ago' [go to text]

n7597   am approached, That is, have approached, am here and am ready to approach [his Grace]. [go to text]

gg2273   entreats, entreaties, pleas [go to text]

gg4886   approve prove, demonstrate (OED v1. I 1a) [go to text]

gg157   Set on: advance, go forward (OED set v1, 148g) [go to text]

gg5008   construe a grammatical term meaning to analyse or trace the grammatical construction of a sentence, especially in the study of a classical language, adding a word for word translation (OED v. 3) [go to text]

n7596   Ludovicus Vives. Juan Ludovicus Vives, a sixteenth century Spanish philosopher and writer on education, who was tutor to the future Mary I. Among his writings was Exercitatio Linguae Latinae a text book for the study of Latin. [go to text]

n7598   walk, Sarpego seems still to be walking 'in his most natural strut' as Crasy described it in [CW 3.4.speech482]. [go to text]

n7599   nuntius, As Sarpego says, a nuntius is 'a messenger'. [go to text]

n7601   his Grace his instant desire, That is, his Grace's urgent desire: Sarpego is using an elaborate reflexive form for the possessive. [go to text]

gg5009   entertain to take a person into one's service, to hire a servant (OED v. 5b) [go to text]

gg5010   let blood to make an incision in a vein to allow blood to flow; this was thought to be helpful in a wide variety of medical situations, including a build up of humours which could produce aberrant behaviour [go to text]

n7403   ten pound? Worth £892 in 2009 (National Archives currency converter). [go to text]

gg5011   i’faith, in faith [go to text]

gg5012   bob to make a fool of, deceive, cheat (OED v1. 1) [go to text]

gg5013   dormitaries. a sleep-producing medicine, a narcotic (OED n. citing The City Wit 3.4) [go to text]

gg5014   ’noint anoint [go to text]

n7602   Midsummer moon! That is, madness (see Tilley M1117). [go to text]

n7603   hit as ’twill, Never mind the outcome. [go to text]

gg5015   ’twill, it will [go to text]

gg5016   mumpings grimacing, grumbling [go to text]

n7604   more dark than Delphos. As obscure as the (usually cryptic) Delphic oracle; however Delphos, for whom the city of Delphi was named, was reputed to be dark skinned and certainly his mother's name - Melaina or Melantho - suggests (in Greek) blackness. [go to text]

gg3016   coxcomb. conceited ass (the term is derived from the cap worn by professional fools, which was shaped like a cock's crest or comb, which came to be the natural substitute for the word "fool", the emblem representing the man) [go to text]

gg287   styled (v) call, term [go to text]

gg491   want lack [go to text]

n9707   seen a spirit, Rufflit is suggesting that Sneakup has been scared out of his wits by seeing a ghost. [go to text]

gg1611   cozened, beguiled, deceived [go to text]

gg3005   cozenage. fraud, duplicity [go to text]

n9123   appease This can not only mean to bring to a peace, to pacify but also to soothe or relieve, with sexual connotations. Pyannet will construe Lady Ticket's actions as sexualised and certainly the image Pyannet is confronted with in [CW 4.2.speech662] (see stage direction) of her husband's head in Lady Ticket's lap invites such a reading. [go to text]

n7605   Sic transit gloria mundi. 'Thus passes the glory of the world' [go to text]

gg5017   cony-caught literally caught like a rabbit, but cony-catching generally meant conning, defrauding [go to text]

n5932   Helicon This Greek Mountain was sacred to the Muses. Poetic inspiration was supposed to be derived from its streams. [go to text]

n7606   sixpence Sarpego is broke. Sixpence would only be worth £2.23 in 2009 (National Archives currency converter). [go to text]

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