ACT THREE*
n9755
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.
n9755
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.
3.1
Enter TRYMAN, [brought on in a bed]*n7335
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.
attended by ISABEL, JOAN,
CRASY [as Doctor Pulse-Feel], with an urinal.†gg4877
a glass vessel or phial employed to receive urine for medical examination or inspection (OED n. 1)
n7335
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.
CRASY [as Doctor Pulse-Feel], with an urinal.†
gg4877
280IsabelLook*n9728
In the octavo the opening of scene is marked by large capital L, two lines high.
up, mistress.
n9728
281JoanTake a good heart, the worst is past, fear not.
282TrymanAh, ah, ah!
283IsabelReach the bottle again of Doctor Stephen’s water.
284CrasyNo, no, apply more warm clothes to her stomach. There the matter lies which sends this distemperature†gg4878
disorder, ailment of the body (OED 2)
into her brain.
Be of good cheer, gentlewoman.
gg4878
285TrymanIs Master Wolsey there?
286IsabelNothing but Master Wolsey ever in her mouth.*n7336
That is, she keeps calling out his name.
n7336
287JoanPray, sir, how do you like†gg4879
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?'
her? I am much afraid of†gg4880
for
her.
gg4879
gg4880
288CrasyLet me see. Tonight it will be full moon. And†gg857
if
she
’scape†gg2214
escape
the turning of the next tide, I will give her a
gentle vomit*n7338
That is, a purging medicine that will make her vomit.
in the
morning that shall ease her stomach of this conflux†gg4881
flowing together
of venomous
humours†gg4883
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)
and make her able to
sit a hunting nag*n7341
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.
within this sennight.†gg132
week (archaic); abbreviation of 'seven nights'
gg857
gg2214
n7338
gg4881
gg4883
n7341
gg132
289JoanA rare man sure. And, I warrant,†gg859
assure, promise
well seen in a woman.*n9851
Joan seems to be eyeing up Crasy-as-Pulsefeel and liking the look of him.
gg859
n9851
290TrymanUh, uh, uh, uh! [TRYMAN] cough[s] and spit[s].
291CrasyWell said! Spit out gently, strain not yourself too hard.
292TrymanAgh ...fagh!
293Crasy’Tis very well done. La’ you.†gg4419
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)
Her colour begins to come.
I’ll lay†gg4885
wager (OED v1. 12a)
all my skill to a mess†gg4884
a portion or serving of liquid or pulpy food (OED n1. I 2a)
of Tewksbury mustard*n7344
A blend of mustard and grated horseradish root.
she sneezes thrice†gg1873
three times (in succession)
within these three
hours ...
gg4419
gg4885
gg4884
n7344
gg1873
Enter LINSY-WOLSEY.
294Linsy-WolseyGood sir, want†gg491
lack
nothing that your skill shall approve†gg4886
prove, demonstrate (OED v1. I 1a)
necessary in this time of need. Good wives and kind neighbours,
I thank you for your cares.
gg491
gg4886
295TrymanIs Master Wolsey there?
296IsabelShe does nothing but call for you, sir. Pray speak to her.
297TrymanWhere’s Master Wolsey?
298Linsy-WolseyHere, lady. How do you?
299TrymanThen I am even well methinks ...agh ... agh!
300Linsy-WolseyShe’s very far gone, I fear. How do you find*n7364
What do you think of...?
her disease, sir?
n7364
301CrasyDangerous enough, sir. For she is sicker in mind than in body. For I find most plainly the effects of a
deep melancholy,†gg583
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
fallen through her distemperature†gg4878
disorder, ailment of the body (OED 2)
of passion†gg2535
suffering, affliction, disorder; overpowering emotion; fit of madness or anger
upon her liver,*n7365
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).
much disordering, and withal†gg4786
what is more
wasting
the vitals,†gg4887
those parts or organs of the body essential to life, or upon which life depends; the vital parts (OED n(pl), 1)
leaving scarce
matter*n7366
Hardly anything in the body.
for physic†gg3779
medical science (OED n. 4)
to work on. So that her mind, receiving the first hurt, must
receive the first cure.
gg583
gg4878
gg2535
n7365
gg4786
gg4887
n7366
gg3779
302TrymanAgh, agh, ah ... pagh fagh........!
[TRYMAN] cough[s] up in a basin.*n7367
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.
n7367
303CrasySo, so. Strain not yourself too hard. No hurt, so, so. Here’s*n7368
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.
melancholy and choler†gg4888
bile, one of the four humours of Renaissance physiology, supposed to cause irascibility of temper (OED n1. 1)
both in plenty.
n7368
gg4888
304JoanHe speaks with great reason, methinks, and to the purpose. [Aside] I
would I understood him.*n9684
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.
n9684
305CrasyDo you not know, sir, any that has offended her by open†gg4889
patent, evident (OED adj. II 24)
injury or unkindness?
gg4889
306Linsy-WolseyAlas, sir, no such thing could happen since her coming hither.
307CrasyThen, on my life, ’tis love that afflicts her.
308TrymanOh, oh, uh, oh ...!
309CrasyI have touched her to the quick.†gg4890
any part of a wound or the body that is sensitive or painful (OED n1. 3a)
I have found her disease, and that
you may prove the abler doctor in this extremity.†gg4891
extreme situation in relation to health, risk of death
gg4890
gg4891
310Linsy-WolseyWho I? Alas I believe no such matter.
311TrymanMaster Wolsey, Master Wolsey!
312CrasyHere he is, lady. Pray speak your mind to him. [to LINSY-WOLSEY] Must I pull you to her?
[to TRYMAN] Here he is. What do you say to him? Pray speak.
313TrymanO no, no, no, no...
314Crasy [to LINSY-WOLSEY] She hath something troubles her that concerns only you. Pray take her by the hand.
Do as I intreat you. [to TRYMAN] Lady, we will go and
leave you in private awhile, if you please.
315TrymanPray do. O but do not, pray do not.
316Crasy [to LINSY-WOLSEY] Do you perceive nothing in this passion of hers? How does she feel your hand?
317Linsy-WolseyO she does*n7369
There is a clearly implied stage direction for the performer playing Tryman here.
so quiddle†gg4892
to fiddle or play about with (OED v. 2, citing The City Wit as first recorded usage)
it, shake it, and gripe†gg3219
grasp
it!
n7369
gg4892
gg3219
318CrasyYou are then the man, sir, the happy man. For she shall recover suddenly.*n9620
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.
n9620
319Linsy-WolseyWho I? Alack a day.*n9863
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.
n9863
320TrymanWhat, will you have me die intestate? Is not my will made, as I directed?
321JoanWhere are you, Master Sarpego, with the will?
Enter SARPEGO, TICKET, RUFFLIT, TOBY.
322SarpegoAd manum.*n7370
'at hand'
Sweet buds†gg4893
children or young persons, or as a term of endearment (OED n1. 3b)
of
generosity, forbear:†gg5547
refrain from enforcing, pressing, or demanding (OED v. 9)
you
may admirare*n7371
An affected, Latinate formation (admiror) for 'admire'.
at the abundance here specified, but not find a legacy
bequeathed among you. [SARPEGO produces] a will
n7370
gg4893
gg5547
n7371
323TicketWe expect nothing.
324RufflitI only wish your health, lady, and that it may, or might have been, my happiness to sue to you for love as I do now to
the highest power for life.*n7372
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.
n7372
325TobyWould I were married*n7373
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.
to her, as she is and ’twere but for an hour, I cared not. Had my mother been but acquainted with
her before she fell sick, here*n7374
That is, Pyannet would have contrived a marriage between Toby and Tryman.
had been a match!
n7373
n7374
326SarpegoO dii immortales!*n7375
'O immortal gods!'
A rich widow shall have suitors on her deathbed.
n7375
327Tryman To Ruff[lit] Good sir, it is too late to speak of these things. I only crave and wish your prayers
in your absence. This place can yield no pleasure to you I know. Master Wolsey, pray your hand again. I could be even content to
live methinks, if I had but such a man as you to my huh,*n7376
Presumably Tryman is about to say 'husband' when she starts coughing.
uh, uh, uh ... She coughs.
n7376
328CrasyBy your leave, pray by your leave. Help, women. Bear up her body a little. Bow it forwards.*n9685
Stage directions for business are implicit in Crasy's speech here.
So, speak to her,
sir.*n9621
] Sr. (O)
Good lady, drink of this cordial.†gg4894
a medicine, food, or beverage which invigorates the heart and stimulates the circulation (OED n. 1)
n9685
n9621
gg4894
[TRYMAN] drinks.
329Linsy-WolseyHow do you now, forsooth?
330CrasyWhat, now she is drinking?*n9686
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.
[TRYMAN drinks again] [to LINSY-WOLSEY] Now speak, sir, you
or no man*n7377
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.
must do her good.
n9686
n7377
331Linsy-WolseyHow do you, forsooth?
332CrasyWell said, sir, speak cheerfully to her.
334Ticket [To Rufflit] Very comfortably spoken!*n9687
This edition takes Ticket and Rufflit's exchange as asides, mocking Linsy-Wolsey's gauche bedside manner.
n9687
336Linsy-WolseyAlas she cannot speak. I’ll call my neighbour Mistress Sneakup. If any body can make her speak, ’tis she.
337TobyI’ll call my mother for you. She will make her speak, if
she have but a word left in her belly ...*n9852
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.
Mass,†gg4896
by the mass (eucharist), that is, an oath (OED n1. 4a)
here she comes.
n9852
gg4896
Enter PYANNET and JOSINA.
338PyannetHow comes it Master Wolsey, that you have a gentlewoman sick in your house and not send for me? Let me feel her hand.
Alas, she is shrewdly†gg4897
severely (OED adv. 2)
distempered. When had she a stool,*n7379
When did she last open her bowels.
sir?
Prithee, daughter, step home to my closet,†gg4898
a small side-room or recess for storing utensils, provisions, medicines (OED n. 3b)
and bring the vial
of ......... my own water,*n7380
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.
which stands next to my blue
velvet cabinet.†gg4899
a case for the safe custody of jewels, or other valuables (OED n. 5)
gg4897
n7379
gg4898
n7380
gg4899
340PyannetShe’s a young gentlewoman, may have many children yet. Let me note her eyes:*n9688
Stage business is implied here.
I find nothing there. When did you see
her water,†gg4900
urine
Master Doctor?
n9688
gg4900
341Crasy [Aside]*n7381
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.
What Devil sent this fury among us?
n7381
342PyannetIn troth I beshrew†gg4901
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'
you, Master Wolsey, you sent not for me, but I hope
I come not too late. [To TRYMAN]. Pluck up a woman’s
heart,*n7382
This has to be addressed to Tryman as she is the only woman who needs to pluck up (her heart/ spirits etc.).
you shall find a good neighbour of me.
gg4901
n7382
343TrymanI will thank you in my will. I shall not live to thank you otherwise.
344PyannetAlas, talk not of your will. You shall have time enough to think of that many years hence.
345CrasyI tell her so, lady, yet she calls for it still.
346TrymanPray let me see it, that I may sign it. Uh, uh ...
347PyannetLord how my daughter stays.†gg4902
(v) delays
Good Sir Andrew Ticket! worthy Master Rufflit!
My son Tobias is highly honoured in your noble acquaintance and courtly conversation.
gg4902
348TicketWe rather hold ourselves dignified in being his endeared companions.
349TobyI assure you, mother, we are the three*n7383
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).
of the Court.
n7383
350PyannetI most entirely thank you for him. And I do beseech you make yourselves no strangers to my poor house. We
are alone,†gg4904
without other companions (OED adj. I 7), not doing much entertaining or socialising
can give
but light entertainment, my daughter and I, since my son Crasy’s misfortune drove*n7384
] drave (O)
him
from us ...
gg4904
n7384
Enter JOSINA with a vial.*n7385
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.
n7385
O welcome, daughter*n7386
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.
... [To TICKET and RUFFLIT] I beseech you, noble sirs, estrange not yourselves to us, your servants.
n7386
352PyannetGive me the vial, daughter. Take up the lady.*n9689
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'.
[To TRYMAN]. Taste of this. It is a composition of mine own
distilling.
n9689
TRYMAN drinks.
353TrymanUh, uh, uh, umh ...
354PyannetWell done. Nay it will make you break wind,*n7387
This may be a cue for business by Tryman.
I tell you.
n7387
TICKET and RUFFLIT court JOSINA.
355Ticket [To JOSINA]. By the service I owe you, sweet mistress, ’tis unfeigned. My wife desires to see you.
356Rufflit [To JOSINA]. As I can best witness; and fears*n7388
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.
you enjoy not
the liberty of a woman since your husband’s departure. Your brother
having promised too to conduct you to court.
n7388
357Toby [To JOSINA]. It is confessed and I will do it.
358Ticket [To JOSINA]. Where the best entertainment a poor lady’s chamber can afford
shall expect†gg4903
be in store for (OED v. 2c)
you.
gg4903
359JosinaI shall embrace it.
360Crasy [Aside] ’Sfoot,†gg578
an oath, short for ‘God’s foot’
’tis time
to part you ... [To JOSINA]. Mistress, I beseech your help joined with your virtuous mother’s.
gg578
[CRASY] pulls [JOSINA] aside.
361Josina [Aside to CRASY as PULSE-FEEL] You forget the young man that can dance, write, and keep counsel.
362Crasy [Aside to JOSINA] I forget you not, lady. But I wish you to beware of these courtiers
till I tell you what they are.
363RufflitI’ll be hanged if this doctor be not of her smock council.†gg4905
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
gg4905
364PyannetHow is it now, good heart?
365TrymanMuch enlightened*n9732
] enlightned (o).
,†gs1604
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)
I thank Heaven and you. Now, pray, read, sir, my will.
n9732
gs1604
367TicketO let us hear the will.
368SarpegoI, Jane Tryman of Knockers Hole,*n7390
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.
in the county
of Cornwall,
widow, sick in body, but whole in mind, and of perfect
memory, do make my last will and testament, in manner and form following.
n7390
369CrasyAs for the manner and form ’tis no matter. To the legacies briefly.*n9690
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.
n9690
370SarpegoHum, hum. Imprimis,*n7391
'First of all'. The formulation of the will is standard: see E.A.J.Honigmann and Susan Brock, Playhouse Wills.
a dole†gg4907
a portion to be dealt out or distributed as a gifts, especially of food or money given in charity (OED n1. 5a)
of bread to be
given to the poor of this parish ... five pound.*n7392
Worth £446 in 2009 (National Archives currency converter).
n7391
gg4907
n7392
371TrymanStay. This I entreat of you, Master Wolsey, that, whether I live or die, this dole may be given tomorrow. It was the
charge†gg1561
(n) task, duty, commission (OED n. 12)
of my mother to see it done, saying it was better to take the prayers of the poor
with me than leave them to be sent after.*n7393
That is, it is better to take grateful prayers with you in life rather than have them sent after you when you are dead.
gg1561
n7393
372Linsy-WolseyIt shall be done, and you, I hope, shall see it.
373SarpegoTo Master Sarpego, the writer hereof, a mourning gown and forty pound*n9124
Worth £3,566 in 2009 (National Archives currency converter).
to preach at the funeral.
n9124
374Linsy-WolseyHow! forty pound?*n7394
Linsy-Wolsey's reaction seems appropriate, given that the 2009 equivalent is £3,566.
n7394
375SarpegoDi boni!*n7395
'Good God'
No. ’Tis forty shillings.*n7396
Worth £178 in 2009 (National Archives currency converter).
Item,†gg4908
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)
to my nephew, Sir Marmaduke Trevaughan*n7398
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).
of
St. Miniver,*n7397
A coastal town in north Cornwall.
one thousand
pound in gold.*n7399
Worth £89,160 in 2009 (National Archives currency converter).
Item, to my nephew Master Francis Trepton,*n7405
'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.
one thousand pound in gold.*n7399
Worth £89,160 in 2009 (National Archives currency converter).
Item,
to my kinsman, Sir Stephen Leggleden,
I do forgive two thousand pound*n7400
Worth £178,320 in 2009 (National Archives currency converter).
for which his lands are mortgaged to me. Item, to his
daughter, my God-daughter Jane Leggleden,
five hundred pound*n7401
Worth £44,580 in 2009 (National Archives currency converter).
in money, my best basin and ewer;†gg4909
a pitcher with a wide spout (OED n2. 1)
two silver flagon†gg4910
a large bottle
pots, and three silver and gilt standing
cups.*n7402
That is, cups with a base or a stem and a base to stand on.
Item, to the poor of the parish of Knockers Hole, ten pound,*n7403
Worth £892 in 2009 (National Archives currency converter).
and forty pound*n9124
Worth £3,566 in 2009 (National Archives currency converter).
towards the reparation†gg4911
repair
of their church.
Item, to Master Linsey-Wolsey the ring which was my wedding ring, and fifty other rings, with
several stones in my trunk
in his house, valued at two hundred and fifty pounds.*n7404
Worth £22,290 in 2009 (National Archives currency converter).
Item, to all his servants, and to
the women that attended me in my sickness, five pound*n7392
Worth £446 in 2009 (National Archives currency converter).
a piece.
n7395
n7396
gg4908
n7398
n7397
n7399
n7405
n7399
n7400
n7401
gg4909
gg4910
n7402
n7403
n9124
gg4911
n7404
n7392
376JoanNow the Lord receive her to his mercy.
377IsabelMy legacy will save her life for never anybody died yet that bequeathed me anything.
378SarpegoItem, to my page, Jeffrey Crack, forty pound.*n9124
Worth £3,566 in 2009 (National Archives currency converter).
And all my other
servants ten pound*n7403
Worth £892 in 2009 (National Archives currency converter).
a piece. Item, to my niece, Barbara
Tredrite,*n7406
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.
five hundred pound; my second basin and ewer;†gg4909
a pitcher with a wide spout (OED n2. 1)
a dozen of silver dishes; and four dozen of silver spoons.
Lastly, all the rest of my lands, jewels, plate, money, debts, moveables and unmoveables, to my dear and loving
brother, Sir Gregory Flamsted, whom I make my full executor. In cuius
rei testimonium,*n7407
'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.
and et cetera. This is the brief of it.
n9124
n7403
n7406
gg4909
n7407
379Tryman’Tis well. Only add to ...uh ... a gold chain also in my trunk to this virtuous gentlewoman. And another chain,
that is there of pearl, to her daughter. To this learned doctor twenty pound.*n7408
Worth £1800 in 2009 (National Archives currency converter).
And to the gentlemen which have visited me,
for them and their friends an hundred pound*n7409
Worth £8,900 in 2009 (National Archives currency converter).
to be spent in a banquet.
n7408
n7409
380SarpegoHoc nihil refert.*n7411
'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.
I must write all over again then.
n7411
381TrymanDo so then. And make your forty*n7396
Worth £178 in 2009 (National Archives currency converter).
shillings five pound.*n7392
Worth £446 in 2009 (National Archives currency converter).
n7396
n7392
382SarpegoGratias vel ingentes ago.*n7412
'I give very great thanks'
It shall be done ...Exit [SARPEGO].
n7412
383TrymanNow Master Wolsey, and your virtuous neighbour*n7413
That is, Pyannet.
here, I entreat that when
I have signed this will that you keep it
till my brother comes to town. This doctor shall direct you in all. And that he may be the better able so to do,
I desire you all that I may a while be private with him.
n7413
384Linsy-Wolsey, Ticket, Rufflit, Pyannet, Josina, Toby, Isabel, Joan, Crasy.With all our hearts.Exit*n7414
The octavo has 'Exeunt omnes praeter Crasy, Tryman' that is, exit all except for Crasy, Tryman.
[LINSY-WOLSEY, TICKET, RUFFLIT, PYANNET, JOSINA, TOBY, JOAN, ISABEL leaving] CRASY, TRYMAN
n7414
385TrymanAre they all gone?
n10109
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.
Now Master Doctor, what think you of the sick widow? Has she done her
part*n7415
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'.
hitherto?
n10109
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.
n7415
386CrasyBeyond my expectation! Better than I for a doctor.
387TrymanYou are right. And I am even the same*n7416
That is, a fake.
for a widow as you for a doctor. Do not I know you?
Yes, good Master Crasy. I dare trust you because you must trust me. Therefore know, that I, the rich widow, am no better
than a lady that must live by what I bear about me.*n9699
Tryman means she has to sell her body, or 'what I bear about me', for sex.
The vulgar translation*n7417
The 'vulgar translation' or common slang would be 'a whore'.
you know,
but let them speak their pleasure; I have no lands and, since I am born, must be kept.*n7418
That is, I need to earn a living, I need food and drink etc.
I may
make the best of my own,*n7419
Tryman is euphemistically saying she sells her body for sex.
and if one member†gg4912
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
maintain the
whole body, what’s that to anyone?
n7416
n9699
n7417
n7418
n7419
gg4912
388CrasyI collected as much by your young whiskin†gg430
(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)
that brought me hither.
gg430
389TrymanIt was by my direction that he did so. And, by my instructions, he has had an eye upon you in all your disguises ever
since your pretended journey out of town. Nay, startle not, nor muse at my acquaintance with you. I have had you in my
purlieus*n7421
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.
before you were a freeman†gg4913
a person who possesses the freedom of a city, borough, company, guild, etc.
(OED n. 2)
and will hereafter give
you certain tokens*n7422
Incontrovertible evidence.
of it. In the mean time, if you comply with me
you can be no loser by it. I am grown weary of my old course*n7423
Prostitution.
and would fain,
by wiser,*n7424
That is, wiser courses.
do myself good before age or diseases*n7425
Especially venereal disease.
make it too late.
n7421
gg4913
n7422
n7423
n7424
n7425
390CrasyI will work close and friendly with thee. Therefore say this
rich coxcomb*n7427
The rich fool Tryman is referring to is Linsy-Wolsey.
is thine own. O here comes
your pigwidgeon.†gg4914
derogatory term for a small or insignificant person (OED 2)
*n9855
The octavo has no entry but Crasy's 'O here comes your pigwidgeon' indicates Crack's entry at this point.
n7427
gg4914
n9855
[Enter CRACK].*n9855
The octavo has no entry but Crasy's 'O here comes your pigwidgeon' indicates Crack's entry at this point.
n9855
391TrymanHe is of counsel*n7429
That is, of my counsel.
and one of us. He is indeed my brother and has
been one of the true blue boys of the hospital,*n7430
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.
one of the
sweet singers to the city funerals*n10106
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.
with a two penny*n7431
Worth 74 pence in 2009 (National Archives currency converter).
loaf under his arm.
n7429
n7430
n10106
n7431
392CrackWell he never sung to the wheel*n7434
The treadwheel or treadmill at Bridewell. Bridewell housed a treadmill from circa 1570.
in Saint Bride’s
nunnery*n7433
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.
yonder.
n7434
n7433
393TrymanNay, Jeff, be not angry. Thou hast sung to the organs*n9853
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.
I know, till, fearing their downfall, thou betookst thy self
into my more certain*n7435
That is, more dependable employment.
service. All friends, good Jeff.
n9853
n7435
394CrasyYes, yes, we must all agree and be linked in covenant together.
395CrackBy indenture†gg4917
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)
tripartite*n7437
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.
and’t please you,
like Subtle, Doll, and Face.*n7436
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.
gg4917
n7437
n7436
396CrasyWitty Jeff. I cannot see which can be spared from the rest, lest the whole trade†gg4918
course of action (OED n. I 3a)
break.
gg4918
CRACK sings.*n9700
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.
n9700
Then let us be friends and most friendly agree.
The pimp and the punk†gg438
prostitute
and the doctor are three,
gg438
That cannot but thrive when united they be.
The pimp brings in custom, the punk she gets
treasure,
Of which the physician is sure of his measure,
For work that she makes him in sale of her pleasure.
For which, when she fails by diseases or pain,
The doctor new vamps†gg4919
to mend, repair or restore (OED v1. I 1)
and upsets†gg4920
to restore to good or usual condition (OED I 2b, citing The City Wit 3.1.); to set up
her again.
gg4919
gg4920
399CrackNot the high Holborn*n7440
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'.
way I hope, sir.
n7440
400CrasyAnd for you, damsel, as I said before, say to yourself, the match*n7441
That is, the marriage to Linsy-Wolsey.
is yours.
n7441
401TrymanI mean to say and know it shortly. Some three days hence*n9701
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.
all may be completed. Now draw the
curtains*n7316
The curtains of a four poster bed.
and follow your affairs, while I put on my sick face again. Uh, uh, uh.
n9701
n7316
They put in the bed*n7442
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.
and withdraw all.
n7442
Ex[it TRYMAN, CRASY and CRACK].*n9120
The octavo has Exeunt
n9120
3.2
Enter SARPEGO.
402SarpegoNow*n9730
In the octavo the opening of scene is marked by large capital N, two lines high.
could I accost that Catilinarian*n7443
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'.
traitor that defeated†gg4921
to deprive of (something one already possesses); to dispossess (OED v. 7b)
me of my ten pound,*n7403
Worth £892 in 2009 (National Archives currency converter).
I have a precogitated†gg5876
thought over beforehand, premeditated (OED)
oration
should make him suspend†gg4922
hang or execute (OED II 8a)
himself. But abiit, evasit, erupit.*n7444
'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'.
Or if the rich widow
would have died there had been a supply.*n7445
The fee of forty shillings that would be forthcoming when Sarpego preached at Tryman's funeral [CW 3.1.speech375].
But she is nearer a nuptial
than a funeral and hopeless Sarpego, that should wed, has not*n9702
Nothing or not enough money; 'nought' might work better here.
to furnish†gg3992
supply what is necessary (OED v. 5a)
him to his
intent, Væ mihi misero nec aurum, nec
argent ... tum!*n7446
'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.
Here comes my beatitude.*n7447
That is, supreme blessedness or happiness (OED 1a), an extravagant compliment to Bridget.
n9730
n7443
gg4921
n7403
gg5876
gg4922
n7444
n7445
n9702
gg3992
n7446
n7447
Enter BRIDGET.
403BridgetO are you here, sir? I was to seek you. My old mistress*n7448
That is, Pyannet.
would speak with you instantly.
n7448
405BridgetOur day of conjunction? Marry, faugh,†gg4924
an exclamation of disgust
Goodman†gg858
a man of substance, a leader (often with the implication of a moral leader)
Fist.†gg4925
a foul smell, stink (OED n2. 1)
Our day of conjunction?
gg4924
gg858
gg4925
406SarpegoDid you not once vow you did love me?
407BridgetDid not you once swear you had money?
408Sarpego Hic iacet,*n7449
'Here lies', suggesting the opening words of an inscription on a gravestone.
I am now but a dead man.
n7449
Enter PYANNET, SNEAKUP, CRASY ...like
a court-messenger*n7464
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.
a court-messenger*
n7464
409PyannetO where’s Master Sarpego? Fortunate Master Sarpego! Venerable Master Sarpego! O sir, you are made. Never think
under right worshipful.*n7450
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'.
Imagine nothing beneath*n7451
Pyannet lists clothes and symbols of status and wealth that will be commonplace for Sarpego in his newly elevated position.
damask†gg4927
rich silk fabric woven with elaborate designs and figures, often of a variety of colours (OED II 3), the wearing of which indicates wealth
gowns, velvet jackets, satin
sleeves, silk nightcaps, two pages and a footcloth.†gg4926
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)
n7450
n7451
gg4927
gg4926
410SarpegoThe son of Phoebus*n7452
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.
rectify your brainpan.†gg4928
that which contains the brain; the skull
n7452
gg4928
411SneakupIndeed, and’t shall please your worship, it is ...
412PyannetIt is! What is it? You will be speaking, will you? And your wife in presence, will you? You show your bringing
up. Master Sarpego, bless the time that ever you knew the progeny*n9827
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'.
of the Sneakups: my worshipful son and heir apparent
hath preferred†gg4619
recommended
you to be the young Prince his tutor.*n7453
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.
Here’s Master Holywater, a gentleman of place,*n7454
That is, high place, high social standing, a place of influence at the court.
a courtier of
office,*n7455
That is, high office.
is sent for you.
n9827
gg4619
n7453
n7454
n7455
413CrasyRight fortunately-learned sir. So passionately doth his Grace*n7456
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.
approve the language, literature,
and ’haviour†gg4929
behaviour
of your
sometimes pupil,*n7457
That is, one time pupil.
Master Tobias Sneakup...
n7456
gg4929
n7457
414SarpegoUmh.
415CrasyThat I was, with all expedition, commanded to entreat your instant attendance.
416SarpegoUmh, umh ...
417Crasy’Tis even so, sir; you are like to possess a prince’s ear.*n7458
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.
You may
be in place *n7459
That is, in a position to.
where you may scorn your
foes, countenance†gg3430
give sanction or credit to
your friends, cherish virtue, control vice, and despise fortune. Yes,
sure shall you, sir. And (which I had
almost forgot) your old pupil*n7460
That is, Toby.
entreats you to send him by me the ten
pound*n7403
Worth £892 in 2009 (National Archives currency converter).
he lent you: an odd*n7461
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.
ten pound, that he may be
furnished†gg4931
supplied with
with the more seemly complements†gg4016
qualities or amounts that complete (OED n. 4a); complementing accessories (OED n. 6)
to conduct
you to his Grace.
n7458
n7459
gg3430
n7460
n7403
n7461
gg4931
gg4016
419Pyannet [Aside to SARPEGO]. Whist*n7465
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.
Master Sarpego. Let
not your poverty be read in your face. Here’s
ten pieces.*n7466
As pieces were gold coins usually worth 22 shillings, this is an improvement on ten pounds because a pound was only twenty shillings.
Bear it as*n7467
That is, act as if it is, pretend that it is.
your own
payment. [Addressing CRASY]. You talk of ten pound for my son, sir?
n7465
n7466
n7467
420SarpegoO an odd driblet.†gg4932
a small sum of money (OED n. 1a)
Here, friend, I use*n7468
I am not in the habit of.
not to carry silver:
convey it in gold.
gg4932
n7468
421BridgetI hope, dear love, you will not forget your affection to me now.
422SarpegoPoor maid, I will prefer†gg1920
advance, promote, favour
thee to scratch my head, make my bed, wash my shirt, pick my toes,
and evacuate†gg4933
to empty out
my chamberpot.
I will instantly procure†gg4934
obtain
me attire fitting my fortune and attend the Grace of
Court...Exit [SARPEGO].
gg1920
gg4933
gg4934
423BridgetNow am I but a dead woman.[Exit BRIDGET].*n9828
The octavo provides no exit for Bridget but she has nothing else to do in the scene so this edition locates her exit here.
n9828
424Crasy [to PYANNET] I am much grieved for’t.*n7469
Crasy-as-Holywater seems to have been conversing with Pyannet during the Sarpego/ Bridget interchange.
It was your son’s much labouring that Master Crasy
was sent for, to sell his Grace some jewels. But since his fortunes are so sunk that he hides his head, I can but lament
his loss.*n7470
The lost opportunity to sell jewels at court.
n7469
n7470
425PyannetShall I tell you, sir? [To SNEAKUP]. Pray you, husband, stand aside. [To CRASY].
My son-in-law Crasy is not now worth ....*n9854
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.
his very†gg4935
of a friend, servant, or wife: true, faithful (OED adj. I 6); very own
wife.
We hoped he would have proved a crafty*n7471
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.
merchant, and he proved an honest man, a beggar (if
I chance to speak above your capacity,*n7472
That is, your capacity to follow what I am saying.
I pray tell me of it). And, as I said, when I perceived
he began to melt†gg4938
(slang) to spend or squander (money) (OED v1. 7a)
and that every stranger abused him,
I, having some wit, fell too, and most cozened him myself. I looked*n7473
That is, looked out for, taking care of.
for my daughter’s good
and so, betwixt us, found the trick to get or steal from him two jewels of good deep value, being indeed
the main†gg4939
the most important part of something (OED adj. II 3a)
of
his rest of fortune. Now, sir, I come to you.
n9854
gg4935
n7471
n7472
gg4938
n7473
gg4939
427PyannetRight, sir, for there is no woman, though she use never so many bywords,†gg4940
words beside the matter in hand (OED 4, citing CW 3.2)
but yet
in the end she will come to the point. Now, sir, I, having these jewels, will send them by my
husband. A poor, easy,†gg4229
compliant, credulous (OED 12a)
weak man, as you see, but very obedient in truth ...
gg4940
gg4229
429PyannetYes, do you mark? By my husband. But now note my wit: his Grace knows not Crasy. My husband, habited like a citizen, shall take
the name of Crasy upon him, offer his jewels to the Prince. You shall present them, praise them
and raise*n7475
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.
them. His Grace pays;
my husband returns; and we will share. Do you approve?
n7475
430CrasyNay, admire.*n7476
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.
n7476
431PyannetAway then! No compliment among good wits,*n7479
That is, let's not waste time complimenting each other on our wit but let's get on with our plot.
but away! Exit CRAS[Y]. Come
our ways hither, good man. Put
off your hat, make a leg,*n7477
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'.
look simply.†gg4941
humbly
Why so!
Pish,†gg3269
an interjection 'expressing contempt, impatience, or disgust' (OED)
ne’er*n7478
] ne're (o).
tell me: he will
make a rare citizen.*n7480
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.
I have jewels for you to
carry to the Prince.
n7479
n7477
gg4941
gg3269
n7478
n7480
432SneakupYes, forsooth, I’ll carry them.
433PyannetLa!†gg4314
an exclamation used ‘to call attention to an emphatic statement’ (OED int.)
you are so quick! I have charged you not to shoot your
bolt*n7481
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.
before you understand your mark.†gg4942
a target for shooting at (OED n1. VI 23a)
And you shall carry
them*n7482
That is, the jewels.
like a
citizen, call yourself Crasy, sell them at my price and now cast†gg4943
(v) cast (a thought)
no further. You see the limits of your understanding.
Now, sir, how will you bear yourself to his Grace? How behave yourself at court?
gg4314
n7481
gg4942
n7482
gg4943
434SneakupI hope I am not too wise to learn.
435PyannetWhy, that was well spoken. Modest mistrust†gg4352
suspicion, distrust, doubt
is the first step to knowledge.
Remember that sentence.*n7617
Although that sentence - 'Modest mistrust is the first step to knowledge' - sounds proverbial it is not in Tilley.
Now mark. I will instruct you: when you come at the
Court Gate,*n7483
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.
you may neither knock nor piss. Do you mark? You go through the Hall covered;†gg4944
wearing a hat
through the Great Chamber covered; through the Presence*n7486
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.
bare;†gg154
bare-headed
through the Lobby covered;
through the Privy Chamber*n7484
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.
bare; through the Privy Lobby*n7487
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.
covered;
to the Prince bare.
gg4352
n7617
n7483
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.
gg4944
n7486
gg154
n7484
n7487
436SneakupI’ll do’t, I warrant you. Let me see. At the Court gate neither knock nor make water. May not a man break wind?
437PyannetUmh. Yes, but (like the Exchequer payment)*n7485
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'.
somewhat abated.
n7485
438SneakupThrough the Great Chamber bare.*n7488
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'.
n7488
439PyannetCovered.
440SneakupCovered? Well. Through the Presence covered.
441PyannetBare.
442Sneakup.Bare? I will put all down in my tablebook,†gg4945
a book of writing tablets, a notebook (OED 1)
and con†gg4946
study, learn (OED v1. II 3)
it
by the way.
gg4945
gg4946
443PyannetWell thought on. Something he has in him like my husband!*n7494
That is, there is at least something in him which makes him an appropriate husband for me; he is not completely witless.
But now you come
before the brow of royalty. Now for your carriage†gg4953
bearing
there, sir.
Suppose me the Prince.*n7495
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.
Come in, and present.†gg4954
v. present yourself
Here sits
the Prince. There enters the jeweller.
Make your honours.†gg4955
bows, obeisances (OED n. 5b)
Let me see you do it handsomely.
n7494
gg4953
n7495
gg4954
gg4955
444SneakupYes, now I come in, make my three legs*n7496
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.
... and then ...
n7496
445PyannetKneel.
446SneakupYes, and say ...
447PyannetWhat?
448SneakupNay, that I know not.
449Pyannet [As CRASY]. An’t please your Grace, I have certain jewels to present to your liking.
450Sneakup [As CRASY]. An’t please your Grace, I have certain jewels to present to your liking.
451Pyannet [As the Prince]. Is this Crasy, that had wont†gg4980
accustomed
to serve me with jewels?
[As Holywater]. It is that honest man, so please your
Highness. [As PYANNET] (That’s for Master Holywater, the by-flatterer, to speak.) [As the Prince]. You are a cuckoldly knave, sirrah,
and have often abused me with false and deceitful stones.
gg4980
452Sneakup [As CRASY]. My stones†gg4970
testicles (OED n. 11a)
are right,*n7514
There are two meanings here: 'the jewels that I am selling are good ones'; 'my testicles are functioning, I am able to father children'.
so please your Excellence.
gg4970
n7514
453PyannetWhy that was well, very well. I perceive there is a certain infection*n7519
Pyannet means that the witless Sneakup has caught some wit from lying with, or sleeping with, her, as if wit is something infectious.
taken with
lying with a woman that hath a good wit. I find it by*n7520
By the example of.
my husband. Come, I’ll disguise you,
and away to court instantly.
n7519
n7520
454SneakupTruly, wife, I fear I shall be discovered among the gallants presently.†gg103
immediately (OED adv. 3); without delay
gg103
455PyannetNo, no, a fool is never discovered among madmen.Ex[it PYANNET and SNEAKUP].*n9121
The octavo has Exeunt.
n9121
3.3
Enter TRYMAN, CRASY.n10110
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.
n10110
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.
CRASY in his court habit.*n7522
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.
n7522
456CrasyWell*n9731
In the octavo the opening of the scene is marked by a large capital W, two lines high.
Doll,*n7545
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.
(that thou sayst is thy name) though I had forgotten thee,
I protest. About London Wall*n7527
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.
was it, saist thou?*n7528
The octavo puts this in brackets, which could suggest Crasy is racking his brains trying to recall the incident.
Well, I cannot but highly commend thy wisdom in this, that so well hast mended thy election†gg828
choice, preference
from
being a fountain of aches, bald brows and broad plasters,*n7529
All these are indicative of venereal disease, something easily caught from a 'fountain', or source, such as a prostitute with many customers.
thus to remember
thy creation.*n7533
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.
n9731
n7545
n7527
n7528
gg828
n7529
n7533
457TrymanI did consider, and I think rightly, what I was; and that men that loved my use,*n7537
That is, to use sexually.
loved it
but to loathe me:*n7538
Loved having sex with me but actually loathed me as a person.
therefore I changed myself into this shape of a demure, innocent, country widow that had
scarce beauty enough to be tempted,*n7539
Not enough beauty to be always surrounded by men trying to tempt her into having sex.
but not wit enough
to be naught;*n9856
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.
and quite forsook the path I trod in, and betook me to this
private course of cozenage.†gg3005
fraud, duplicity
n7537
n7538
n7539
n9856
gg3005
458CrasyBut all my wonder is at the means: how thou got’st into this house and reputation. And to be held a woman of such an estate.
459TrymanThat shall be made plain to you hereafter.
Enter CRACK.
Now brother Jeffrey,*n7542
The octavo sometimes uses 'Jeffrey' and sometimes, as here 'Geffrey'. This edition uses 'Jeffrey' throughout.
where left you Master Wolsey?
n7542
460CrackAmong the mercers,†gg5033
merchants who deal in textiles, especially silks and velvets
so troubled as if all the satin in
Cheapside*n7547
A major marketplace with mercer's stalls at the east end.
were not enough to make you a wedding gown. He is
overjoyed*n9705
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.
that his happy day is at hand and I overheard him invite one special friend to his nuptials. He cannot
contain himself. On a sudden he fell a singing, O she’s a dainty widow.*n9704
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.
O are you come, sir,
in your new shape? Does not that beard*n7549
Crasy's disguise as a court messenger includes a false beard.
fit you handsomely? Thank my acquaintance with the players.
gg5033
n7547
n9705
n9704
n7549
462CrackIf you can perform your part as well, ’tis well. Hark! I hear him coming.
Enter LINSY-WOLSEY.
463Linsy-WolseyWhere are you, sweet widow? Look you, look you: how do you like these
patterns?†gg4986
samples (OED n. 5b)
*n7551
This indicates that Linsy-Wolsey enters carrying samples of material to show Tryman.
gg4986
n7551
464TrymanSir, here’s a gentleman has a letter*n7552
This suggests that Crasy enters with the letter ready prepared.
to you. He tells me it imports the making or the undoing of his dearest friend.
n7552
465Linsy-WolseyFrom whom I pray you? LINSY-WOLSEY reads [the letter]
466Crasy*n7571
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.
Your sometimes neighbour, sir, Master Crasy.
n7571
467Tryman [Aside to CRASY] It shall take effect, doubt not.
468Crasy [Aside to TRYMAN] He scratches*n7553
An implied stage direction for the performer playing Linsy-Wolsey.
his head, though.
n7553
469Tryman [Aside to CRASY] He had as lief†gg4989
rather, as willingly
part with his blood as his money.
gg4989
470Linsy-WolseyMaster Crasy writes to me for thirty pound,*n7957
Worth £2,675, in 2009 (National Archives currency converter).
the value of a ring I had of him. I grant
I am to pay threescore*n7560
Threescore, that is sixty, pounds. Worth £5,350 in 2009 (National Archives currency converter).
at my day
of marriage, but we are all mortal and who knows whether I shall live till tomorrow.
n7957
n7560
471CrasyIf not, sir, your bond is due tonight: for it is equally payable at your hour of death.
472Linsy-WolseyO but such payments never trouble a man. What the eye sees not...*n7561
The proverb is 'That the eye sees not, the heart rues not' (Tilley E247).
n7561
473TrymanAre you in bonds,*n7562
Two senses of 'bonds' can operate here: he is legally engaged by an agreement with Crasy; he is restricted, bound, restrained by his bond.
Master Wolsey, for your day of marriage?
n7562
474Linsy-WolseyOnly for this sixty pound.*n7563
Worth £5,350 in 2009 (National Archive currency converter).
’Tis for that ring you wear and I gave you upon
our contract.*n7564
Our engagement to get married.
’Tis worth
thirty pound*n7957
Worth £2,675, in 2009 (National Archives currency converter).
ready money.
n7563
n7564
n7957
475TrymanThen, when you are married, you may say you paid the rest for your wife. Pray sir, make even such
reckonings†gg2898
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)
before you wed.
It will show nobly in you towards your poor creditor and be a special argument of your love to me, your wife. Pray discharge
it. I shall not think you love me else.
gg2898
476Linsy-Wolsey*n7566
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.
Aside [to CRASY] Hark you, sir, if you will take thirty pound in full payment and give me in my bond,
here is your money. ’Tis your best course. [Aside] Alas, I am an unlikely fellow for wedlock. What woman, think you,
would bestow her self upon me, a stale bachelor, unhandsome and poor ... not worth above six or seven
thousand pound?*n7567
Worth £534,960 or £624,120 respectively in 2009 (National Archives currency converter).
[To CRASY] Do. Take thirty pound.
n7566
n7567
477CrasyIf you please to befriend Master Crasy but with thirty pound, I’ll set it received*n7568
That is, put down in writing (OED v1, 21a) that (a sum owing) is paid.
upon
the bond. Here it is and he shall demand no more till it be due.
n7568
478TrymanPray, sir, pay it all, and take in your bond. You shall be married within these two days; tomorrow, if you please. What
use†gg4991
interest, usury (OED v. 5b)
will your money yield you for a night? Pray pay it. In truth I’ll pay it else.
’Tis but threescore pound.
gg4991
479Linsy-WolseySayst thou so, sweetheart? Come, sir, come in and tell†gg1675
count
your
money ...Exit [LINSY-WOLSEY, TRYMAN and CRACK].*n7570
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.
gg1675
n7570
480CrasyAnd thank you too, good Master Linsy-Wolsey, that knew so well a bargain was a bargain, and would not part with your money
to be laughed at among your neighbours.*n9706
Crasy is referring back to Linsy-Wolsey's comments at [CW 1.2.speech 123].
I would heartily now, if I could intend†gg4992
to fix the mind on (OED v. 12)
it. But I must
purse your money and then
about my court affairs. This wench I am infinitely beholden to. She remembers some old courtesy†gg1821
favour, good deed
that I have forgotten.
Perhaps I piddled with†gg4993
messed about or around with (OED v. 1a)
her when I was ’prentice.†gg4994
apprentice
Exit [CRASY].
n9706
gg4992
gg1821
gg4993
gg4994
3.4
Enter SARPEGO in gorgeous†gg5001
in referring to dress: adorned with rich or brilliant colours; sumptuously gay or splendid; showy, magnificent (OED adj. 1)
apparel.
gg5001
481SarpegoThis is the Presence.*n7574
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.
I am much amazed, or stupefied, that Master Tobias Sneakup,
my quondam*n7575
Latinate way of saying 'former', or 'one time'.
pupil, attends not my conduct!*n7576
That is, is not here to attend on me and admire me as I am conducted to 'his Grace'.
Ha! So instant†gg5002
of persons: pressing, urgent, importunate (OED adj. I 1)
was his Grace, his importunity to enjoy me, that although I purchased
the loan of clothes, yet I had not vacation,*n7577
A Latinate way of saying 'leisure' or, here, 'opportunity'.
nor indeed variety,*n7578
That is, he did not have more than one shirt.
to shift†gg654
change
my
shirt.†gg5003
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)
And now I come to Court, I feel certain little
cattle of infamous generation about me,
that do most inseparably haunt me.*n7579
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.
Now if, when the Prince surveys me, any of them*n7580
That is, the fleas or lice.
being strangers here, should peep to behold
strange sights, and his Grace perceive them,*n7581
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.
what should I answer? ...
n7574
In the octavo the opening of the scene is marked by large capital T, two lines high.
n7575
n7576
gg5002
n7577
n7578
gg654
gg5003
n7579
n7580
n7581
CRASY at the hangings.*n7582
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.
n7582
482Crasy [Aside] O my glorified pedant†gg1529
teacher, tutor
in his most natural strut!*n7583
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
gg1529
n7583
483SarpegoI will say it was by influence of the heavens, or, to appear the more perfect courtier at
the first dash,†gg5004
straight away, at the first stroke (OED dash n1, 2)
I will say that
though my outside*n7584
His outer garments.
were glorious, yet of purpose I left my
inside lousy.*n7585
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.
gg5004
n7584
n7585
Enter SNEAKUP like a citizen.*n7586
This indicates that Sneakup's clothing earlier was very clearly, at least for the original audience, marking him out as above citizen class.
n7586
484Crasy [Aside] See my worshipful father-in-law! Now the woodcocks†gg5005
proverbially foolish birds, probably as they were relatively easy to catch (See Tilley W746, W748)
shoot
into the glade.*n7588
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.
gg5005
n7588
485SneakupPray ye peace, you must not know me.
486SarpegoO monstrum horrendum!*n7589
'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.
May not you and I know one another?
n7589
487SneakupPray go home and ask my wife.*n7590
Sneakup is already out of his depth in performing the role of Crasy without having Pyannet to refer to.
n7590
Enter*n8056
Strictly speaking, Crasy only comes forward from the hangings rather than making an entrance.
CRASY in haste.
n8056
488CrasyMaster Crasy. Is not one Master Crasy here?
489Sneakup.Yes, sir. Here is Master Crasy for a need, sir.*n7591
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'.
n7591
490CrasyWell done. Be bold, sir. Let not your dissimulation be read in your eyes.*n7592
This suggests Sneakup's eyes are giving the game away, perhaps by a look of terror.
You know me;
give me the jewels.
n7592
491SneakupYes, sir.
492CrasyLet me alone†gg3670
Let me deal with this by myself.
to present them to his Grace and praise them before you are called.
gg3670
493SneakupWill you do so, sir?
494CrasyYes. For you know I must not seem to endear†gg5006
to render costly or more costly; to enhance the price of (OED v. 1)
them before your face, for that would smell
rank of correspondency.†gg5007
agreement (prearranged)
gg5006
gg5007
495SneakupYou say right, sir.
496CrasyBut betwixt us both we’ll make a shift†gg3164
an expedient, an ingenious device for effecting some purpose (OED n. III 3a)
to cheat him. Stay you here.
I will return instantly. O Master Sarpego! Your pupil will come and conduct you presently.
gg3164
[Aside] Thus sometimes, by deceit, deceit is known:
’Tis honest craft, by wit, to get one’s own. ...*n7593
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.
Exit
[CRASY].
n7593
Enter TICKET, RUFFLIT, TOBY.
498SarpegoMy nuper alumnus!*n7595
'pupil of not long ago'
Come, present me to the Grace of Greatness.
I am ready. Behold I am approached,*n7597
That is, have approached, am here and am ready to approach [his Grace].
according to thy entreats,†gg2273
entreaties, pleas
to approve†gg4886
prove, demonstrate (OED v1. I 1a)
thy praise and mine own perfection. Set on:†gg157
advance, go forward (OED set v1, 148g)
his Grace shall see that we
can speak true Latin, and construe†gg5008
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)
Ludovicus Vives.*n7596
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, set on.
n7595
n7597
gg2273
gg4886
gg157
gg5008
n7596
499TobyI cry you mercy, sir. Upon my troth, I took you for Master Sarpego, my learned tutor. He is very like him, is he not,
gentlemen? But now I come to myself again, I remember this was never his walk,*n7598
Sarpego seems still to be walking 'in his most natural strut' as Crasy described it in [CW 3.4.speech482].
nor these his clothes.
n7598
500SarpegoSent you not a nuntius,*n7599
As Sarpego says, a nuntius is 'a messenger'.
or a messenger for me, intimating
that it was his Grace his instant desire,*n7601
That is, his Grace's urgent desire: Sarpego is using an elaborate reflexive form for the possessive.
to entertain†gg5009
to take a person into one's service, to hire a servant (OED v. 5b)
me
as his instructor?
n7599
n7601
gg5009
501TicketAlas, he has over-studied himself! You were best let blood†gg5010
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
in time, sir.
gg5010
502SarpegoSent I not you, by the same messenger, your ten pound?*n7403
Worth £892 in 2009 (National Archives currency converter).
n7403
503TobyMy ten pound? Ha, ha, ha! I would laugh i’faith,†gg5011
in faith
if you could
bob†gg5012
to make a fool of, deceive, cheat (OED v1. 1)
me off with such payment.
gg5011
gg5012
504RufflitSure, sir, you use some dormitaries.†gg5013
a sleep-producing medicine, a narcotic (OED n. citing The City Wit 3.4)
Best shave your head
and ’noint†gg5014
anoint
it with oil of roses.
gg5013
gg5014
505TobyFather! Father!
506SneakupPray peace, son. The plot will be discovered else.
507TobyThe plot? What plot?
508SneakupThe jewels are sent in. What, I am Master Crasy now, you know. I shall be sent for in to his Grace instantly.
510SneakupIn very truth, son, hit as ’twill,†gg5015
it will
*n7603
Never mind the outcome.
I
say we are beholding to Master Holywater.
gg5015
n7603
511TobyHeaven not bless me if I understand not the baboon’s mumpings†gg5016
grimacing, grumbling
better than your
speech. You are more dark than Delphos.*n7604
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.
What Holywater?
gg5016
n7604
512SneakupWhy the gentleman, you know, you sent to bring Master Crasy to serve his Grace with jewels.
513TobyFather, heaven pardon me, for sure I have a great desire to call you coxcomb.†gg3016
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)
I
sent no man, nor is there any so styled†gg287
(v) call, term
as Holywater about the Court.
gg3016
gg287
515RufflitOr have you not seen a spirit,*n9707
Rufflit is suggesting that Sneakup has been scared out of his wits by seeing a ghost.
sir?
n9707
516TicketOr have you not over-mused or over-thought yourself, as we doubt Master Sarpego here, has done?
517TobyOr has not my mother over-beaten you, father? You may tell me.
518SneakupSon, I am not so very a fool, but I perceive I am made a stark ass. O son, thy father is
cozened,†gg1611
beguiled, deceived
and thy mother will beat me
indeed unless your charity conceal me in the Court here, till her fury be over.
gg1611
519TicketHe shall stay at my wife’s chamber.
521TobyDo not weep, father. My Lady Ticket will appease*n9123
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.
all.
n9123
522RufflitAdieu Master Sarpego. Lure your brains back again.Exit [RUFFLIT, TICKET, TOBY, SNEAKUP].
523SarpegoSic transit gloria mundi.*n7605
'Thus passes the glory of the world'
The learned
is cony-caught†gg5017
literally caught like a rabbit, but cony-catching generally meant conning, defrauding
and the lover of
Helicon*n5932
This Greek Mountain was sacred to the Muses. Poetic inspiration was supposed to be derived from its streams.
is laughed at.
The last sixpence*n7606
Sarpego is broke. Sixpence would only be worth £2.23 in 2009 (National Archives currency converter).
of my fortune is spent and I will go cry in private.Exit [SARPEGO].
n7605
gg5017
n5932
n7606
Edited by Elizabeth Schafer