ACT 5*n9622
The final act comprises a single scene in Victoria’s house, where spectators find her celebrating Flavia’s union with Francisco. Borgio arrives with Horatio and Piso and from their joyful conversation the audience learn that the Novella was herself instrumental in arranging the ruse with the disguised pedlar-woman. Borgio re-enters to report the arrival of a mysterious English factor, who has the full sum required to possess Victoria; she asks for privacy while she attends to this pressing business. Although Horatio and Piso (along with the newly wedded pair) leave her , they immediately return “above” to watch her encounter with the stranger, who presents his money and begins to pay court in expectation of his promised reward. Borgio appears “behind” also bent on watching the proceedings; alarmingly he is seen to be carrying a brace of pistols. Brome is again metatheatrically deploying the full resources of the playing space with a divided focus of interest on the main stage while two characters observe events from the gallery level. Four men study one woman, three voyeuristically expecting to see her sexually involved with the fourth, all make her the object of their gaze as, in consequence, does the audience.
Remarkably Victoria neither flinches from nor brazens out the situation; but, kneeling and threatening, if the stranger should approach her too closely, to take her life with the knife she produces, she holds their attention as she confidently chides her wooer for debasing himself in “bestial lust”; questions the origins of his wealth as suspicious; and, when he threatens her with the rigour of the law for seeming to renege on her own advertised reward for the man who can fulfil the conditions she sets for possessing her maidenhead, makes a determined plea for her honour. She tells of her birth, status and background in her native Rome, of her engagement with a visiting Venetian and the sudden breaking off of that relationship
at the urging of her lover’s father; of her coming to Venice in quest of him, setting herself up as a Novella and using the strategy of the reward and the month’s grace allowed her by its terms hopefully to find her lover again. To what extent is this just a clever performance to escape fulfilling the contract with the stranger? To what extent is it the performance of a frigid puritan? Piso, for all his misogyny, is won over by her honesty and virtue; so too is Borgio who, whatever his planned design with the pistols, suddenly departs in a state of high relief praising Victoria’s nobility. Both are convinced of her truth to self. The stranger offers to wed Victoria should she fail to find her first lover, but she fends him off by recalling the promises she made to Swatzenburgh out of gratitude for defending her from Don Pedro. The stranger reveals he is Swatzenburgh, who has come to her in this disguise to “try” her; he admits to finding her “honest”. Victoria is shocked by his lack of trust, the more so in that such a cruel tactic has challenged her to vindicate her own integrity.
The tense situation is resolved by Borgio’s appearing to announce the arrival of the “German”, as again the mood shifts to farce: Victoria races away to escape threat of danger, while Swatzenburgh in his disguise is confronted by an exact replica of himself in his customary garb. Alert spectators readily appreciate that this new figure is actually Fabritio in his chosen disguise. Fabritio quickly expels Swatzenburgh from the stage and demands to see Victoria, whom (on viewing) he takes to be a ghost or vision. When she touches him, he realises she is palpably alive; but that realisation renders him dumbstruck, since he presumes her genuinely a courtesan and reduced to that fate by his own former treachery. If his surmise is true, then they are lost to each other absolutely. Victoria is evidently moved by Fabritio's words but remains, given his disguise, unsure who he might be.
Before their doubts and confusion can be resolved, Pantaloni, Guadagni and a train of angry individuals including Swatzenburgh and Don Pedro storm in. To calm Guadagni Victoria bids Borgio fetch Flavia and Francisco with their friends. Piso and Astutta on their entering have to leap to Flavia’s defence in face of her father’s rage. Both fathers are addressed by Piso about the error of their assumptions, the evil of their prizing money above honour, birth and true devotion, and the tragedy in the lives of four young people that will ensue if they do not change their values. (Having traced Piso’s transformation from misogynistic cynic to willing defender of Victoria’s integrity, Brome now makes him the mouthpiece for moral sanity in the world of the play.) The lovers meanwhile in dumbshow have sorted out their difficulties; Fabritio has shown Victoria his face hidden behind the false beard, and the pair are reconciled. Borgio reveals that he earlier married Flavia and Francisco, and now offers to marry the other pair of lovers too. Pantaloni, supposing from his particular disguise that Fabritio is actually the state executioner whom he planned to use as a pawn to bring about Victoria’s disgrace, encourages Borgio in this idea. He is ecstatic at the thought of triumphing over everyone. The marriage completed, Pantaloni orders Nicolo to pull the beard off the man he considers is the hangman only to discover he has unmasked his own son. Guadagni now objects to any marriage that Borgio, a pimp, might have solemnised, which prompts Borgio in turn to remove his Bravo’s gear and wig to reveal himself as Victoria’s brother, Paulo, a Franciscan friar in orders. He explains his motive for following Victoria from Rome to guard her and her family’s honour.
The play ends with everyone onstage endorsing Victoria’s integrity and with a call for the audience to do likewise, showing their appreciation of her by way of their applause. No summary can do adequate justice to Brome’s meticulous dramaturgy in compressing such complexities of plotting and disguising plausibly within the space of a single act: his pacing of events, his calculated shifts of tone (from the joyous to the threatening, from the morally earnest to the farcical, from the transcendent to the aggressive and so on through the multiple exposures of identities and disguises to end with the vindication of the heroine’s absolute self-possession and daring proactive agency) is handled with consummate expertise and, characteristically, in a manner that celebrates the virtuosity of an ensemble of performers gifted with the skills to match the playwright’s demands.
5.1
[Enter] VICTORIA, FRANCISCO, FLAVIA, ASTUTTA, JACCONETTA.
642VictoriaNow, lady, has your entertainment pleased you
In the
Novella’s house? Is all well
yet†gg1497
still
?
643FlaviaSo well that now, come father, friends and all
The
friendly foes*n7779
Flavia found her intrusive, organising father anything but friendly in earlier acts. But now that she is married and therefore out of his control and under her new husband's, she can afford to be generous and recognise that perhaps he tried to arrange a marriage for her in part with her best interests at heart. She seems somewhat naively assured that her father will welcome the match that she has entered into with Francisco. Time will show her otherwise: Guadagni is not easily convinced of the wisdom or social acumen of what she has done and in the final scene of the play will take some persuading to accept the fait accompli.
that did oppose my bliss,
I can maintain my cause in
these safe arms*n7780
She is referring to her husband, Francisco.
’Gainst all their frowns and furies.
644VictoriaAnd your mistrust is over*n7781
] your mistress is over. The reading in all copies of the 1653 text collated for this edition poses some difficulty: it is so compact a sentence in its expression that it verges on the confused and confusing. The problem focusses on the words "mistress" and "over". One might have been tempted to emend "mistress" to "distress", given the context of the word between the preceding and the next sentence, but for the capitalisation of the word, "Mistress", in the 1653 text, which it would not be easy to argue as being a misreading on the part of the compositor. One might infer the idea of Flavia's being "(won) over", since Francisco is now firmly married to her and, given the scene of his wooing in the guise of the pedlar-woman, he had to take some care in winning her. Part of that process of wooing and winning required him to allay Flavia's "frowns and furies" but her temptestuousness is now happily "over" and the man she thought as "foe" is now her absolute "friend". This is to presume that Flavia and Francisco have informed Victoria of the difficulties he faced on gaining entrance to Guadagni's house. It is possible to retain this reading but it would require careful handling by the actor playing Victoria to convey this intricate interpretation of its sense to an audience. The Eton College Library copy of the 1653 volume of Five Plays contains a number of neat handwritten emendations and corrections to the text. At this point the copy has been emended in black ink to read "mistrust", which makes good sense in the context. It neatly turns Victoria's conclusion to the sentence "The place is not so dangerous as it was" into a teasing joke at Francisco's expense and it chimes with Francisco's reference in his next speech to his "foul suspicion" which has been "wiped off" on account of Victoria's "great bounty". This emendation has been included here as most sensitively and sensibly resolving the problem posed by the 1653 text.
too. I hope, sir,*n7782
] hope sir
*n9350
] And your mistress is over, too, I hope sir (The lack of any punctuation mark at the close of the line makes it possible to read this in two ways: either as offered by this edition, which prefers to begin a new sentence with "I hope" and to carry both sense and sentence on into the following line; or one might argue for the line as a finished sentence in itself ("And your mistress is over too, I hope, sir.") If this reading is taken then the following line would be framed as an assertion rather than, as in this edition, as a question.)
The place is not so
dangerous*n7784
That is: given her reputation as a courtesan and the social challenges that role poses.
as it
was?*n7783
] was.
645FranciscoLady, your nobleness shown in this great
bounty†gs791
kindness, generosity
,
Hath
not alone†gg5113
not only
wiped off*n7785
The image here draws on the idea of the tavern reckoning or slate on which one's purchases were scored or marked up until a final bill or tally would be paid. The metaphor continues through the use of the words "scored", "sum", "discharge".
my foul suspicion,
But scored upon my breast an endless sum
Of thanks which I, unable to
discharge†gg5114
pay (but often with accompanying sense of relieving a debt of gratitude)
,
Must not presume to live but as your
creature†gg40
one ready to do another's bidding, puppet (through patronage or devotion) (OED 5)
;
Nor will I further dare to
tempt†gg5115
try, make trial of, put to the test or proof (OED v. 1)
your goodness
In†gs1184
by, through
deeper search of what your reason was
(Past all my hopes and wishes) to
provide†gg5116
supply the necessary resources for a thing to happen, arrange matters for a given purpose (OED v. 8b)
For me. I will not
sum in such a scruple*n7786
This is an overly concise expression, which yields several possibilities of interpretation, depending on what one chooses to read into the word, "sum". One might infer that Francisco is refusing to add to the precise amount that constitutes the debt of gratitude he owes Victoria for her help, and that he does so out of a proper sense of scruple and decorum. Or that out of such a scruple he does not wish to assess the amount of the debt he owes her for her kindness, lest it cause her undue embarrassment. "Scruple" may bring into one's reading a religious interpretation relating to Puritan fastidiousness and exactitude: in other words, Francisco would be embarrassed for her sake to make a precise calculation of Victoria's virtues and strength of goodness. Some such inference must colour a reading, given the way that the speech continues by evoking concepts of divinity.
:
For sure, I hold you for a power divine
(Past all the
fictions†gg5118
myths, legends, fables
of the
fabulous†gs1185
fabled, mythical, legendary (classical or pagan)
times,
Fashioning out†gg5119
imagining, shaping (within a narrative or story)
the gods in earthly forms)
Sent by the highest
providence†gg2236
God (‘applied to the Deity as exercising prescient and beneficent power and direction’: OED n. 4); divine care or guidance (OED n. 3)
to help me.
646VictoriaYou take too
deep†gs1186
profound, earnest
a sense of
courtesy†gs1187
generosity, politeness, standing on ceremony
!
Enter BORGIO with HORATIO and PISO.*n9351
The 1653 text positions this direction immediately after the second line of Victoria's speech. It is the usual pattern in this text (abandoned in this instance) to place directions for entrances in advance of when characters are referred to in the dialogue, allowing the actors time to be well into the playing space before they are seen and addressed. Here clearly Horatio and Piso need to be within the audience's view as well as the characters' to make sense of Victoria's line. Hence in this edition the placing of the direction has been brought forward.
But see, are these your friends?
Your
suffrage†gs1188
approval, sanction, consent, permission (OED 5a and b)
, lady, I may bid them welcome.
648VictoriaYour bride and I will both
supply†gs1191
answer your need, grant (permission)
you in it.
Neither of these is he they call Fabritio?*n9608
This is a curious question, almost an outburst, from Victoria who has till this moment been so coolly in control of herself. For once her feelings would appear to have got the better of her judgement. It would be possible for an actress to handle the words very lightly or nonchalantly, but the importance of the question as indicative of the way Brome is guiding the play to its conclusion cannot be underestimated.
649BorgioNo, but he’s sent for and comes instantly.
[BORGIO] exits.
650FranciscoThis is
the lady*n7788
The identity of the "lady" poses something of a problem for director and cast. One might interpret this as Francisco introducing his wife to his friends. More likely, given the ensuing dialogue, he is addressing Victoria here and is continuing his line of courtesy towards her. He and the rest are after all guests in Victoria's house; he does not know that both Horatio and Piso have already made fruitless approaches to Victoria in her role as courtesan.
I am bound to serve.
652Victoria [Aside to HORATIO]*n7790
There is no such direction in the 1653 text, which generally leaves some of the complexities of staging in this scene unresolved. The prevailing tenor of the scene is that people are loading praise and expressions of gratitude on Victoria who modestly and wittily tries to make them desist. Victoria would appear to be enjoying the embarrassment of Horatio and Piso and teasing them out of her knowledge of their former approaches to her. But since courtesy prevails, she would appear to do this without creating a situation in which they would lose face. It is in the spirit of that overall tenor that this edition has chosen to insert an aside at this moment in the action.
Setting aside your suit*n7789
Victoria is teasing Horatio by reminding him of his behaviour in the previous act.
, sir.
654Piso [Aside to VICTORIA] And I*n7791
Who is speaking here and whose name therefore should be indicated in the prefix? The 1653 text assigns this and the following speech to Victoria but it would hardly seem logical for her to be referring to herself in the third person as "her" and later "she" or to be wishing to possess double the advertised price of her maidenhead. Nor is it feasible that Victoria would crack the crude joke with which the speech ends with its reference to sexual doings. (She at no point in the play indulges in bawdy, but generally deflects it when it is addressed to her.) That the next speech is properly assigned to Victoria is acceptable, since the tone and tenor are exactly in line with her exchange with Horatio. That Piso immediately responds to her irony suggests that he should be given the first speech in this bantering exchange and that he is the individual denoted by that "I" and that, as in this emendation, he be assigned the speech prefix accordingly.
do wish
I
had her double price*n7792
That is: had double her price.
in
ready†gg5127
as cash in hand, the sum proposed in actual coins
ducats†gg2741
gold, sometimes silver, coins used in several European countries including Italy; an Italian ducat was worth around 3s. 6d in the 1600s (roughly £15.60 in currency in 2009)
For what she has done, and tother†gs240
the other
do besides.*n7793
Piso wants possession of twice the number of ducats than is the advertised price of Victoria's maidenhead so that he would be able both to reward her first for her generosity in helping Francisco to his bride and then to purchase the right to have sex with her.
655Victoria [Aside to PISO] You still
stand†gg5128
remain steadfast, firm, secure (in an opinion); hold to, stand firm (in one's beliefs) (OED v. 9b)
in your good
conceit†gg302
notion
of me.
656Piso [Aside to VICTORIA] Yes, and I would so
stand†gs1192
maintain an erect penis
to’t, ha――――
658FranciscoI will not whisper it, Horatio*n7794
This implies that the two men have been talking quietly together with Flavia till now and during the exchange between Piso and Victoria, which has occupied the stage focus. For this reason, the aside directions implying an intimate tone to that exchange have therefore been added to this edition throughout the preceding four speeches.
:
The woman*n7795
That is: the pedlar-woman.
that I dealt with for disguise
Was
wrought†gg1029
(literally) moulded, shaped; (in context) persuaded
before by this most
matchless†gg3918
peerless, incomparable
lady
To
cross†gg2445
(v) thwart, forestall; contradict; afflict, go against
the match twixt Flavia and Fabritio;
And had undone it
though†gg5129
even if
I had done nothing;
And,
ere†gg1781
before
she would
condition†gs1193
agree terms or conditions, bargain
with me,
Obliged me, by an oath, (
in case†gg5130
in the event that
we ’scaped)
To bring her
hither†gg1268
here (to this place)
to this lady's house.
I kept that oath and here you find us welcomed.
659PisoThen
thou*n7796
That is: Victoria.
hast
done’t. Would*n9593
That is: if, or I wish.
*n9352
] done't, would
I had still the ducats
To pledge†gs1194
redeem, ransom or bail a person out of a contract or set of conditions (Piso is still wanting to possess Victoria and thinks, if he had the required fee, he would bring her freedom from the terms of her advertisement)
thee here.
Enter BORGIO
660VictoriaWe’ll talk of that hereafter†gg5131
later, in the future
.
[BORGIO] whispers with VICTORIA*n9353
The 1653 text places this as a continuation of the direction indicating Borgio's entrance. As a servant he would wait until his mistress has completed her exchange with her guests before taking her aside to impart news to her privately. Brome devises a new line of dialogue concerning the two servants Astutta and Jacconetta to engage the other actors onstage, while mistress and servant speak apart unheard. Victoria joins the conversation again at [NV 5.1.speech668] only to ask her guests to leave her in private for a while as business demands her attention. This edition has divided the 1653 stage direction in two to observe a proper decorum between Victoria and Borgio in respect of her guests.
661PisoWhat acted you,
tit†gs1195
hussy, minx, jade
, in this comedy?
662AstuttaThe chambermaid, a kind of
putter-forwards†gg5132
one who advances an action, moves matters along (OED cites this as the only known usage)
,
Sir, to the business.
That, if a match in Venice may be found
By my best care, I’ll help her to a husband,
For she deserves a good one.
664AstuttaAnd if he prove not so, I am like to prove
A good one myself
and make him something*n7798
That is: make him a cuckold or maybe make him accept parentage of an illegitimate offspring. Astutta, as several of her speeches with Flavia earlier in the play indicate, is looking forward to sexual experience with an almost manly enthusiasm and, if a chosen husband fails to live up to her expectations, then she will find her pleasures elsewhere. See [NV 4.1.speech392].
.
665PisoThou wilt: I find it in a villainous
cast†gg5133
a glance, a look, expression
Of that eye there.
666HoratioAnd what think you of this?[HORATIO stands] by JACCONETTA
667PisoEven such another, of another
hue*n7800
Piso is crudely drawing attention to Jacconetta's black skin.
:
She has a devilish
gloat*n7802
OED defines this word as a particular way of looking: either furtively or as an "expression of triumphant satisfaction" (OED n1, 1 and 2). Though no citation is offered before 1899 for the second meaning, it would seem to be appropriate here. Both servant women clearly have a "knowing" look that is sexually appraising, if not exactly experienced. This whole sequence is in a manner characteristic of Brome, himself a former servant to Ben Jonson: it draws attention to servants as astute (note the actual name of one of the women), highly pro-active, indomitable, forthright. Neither woman is embarrassed by being suddenly made the focus of the discussion onstage.
too.
668VictoriaGallants, I find you merry; you’re more welcome.
My man acquaints me with a present business
Requiring privacy. Please you with your friends,
Go up to the bride-chamber; there is music.
[Aside] To JAC[CONETTA]*n7804
] To Jac.
Wait†gs155
tend (upon someone); accompany as a servant
you respectively†gg5135
attentively; with becoming respect, deference, or courtesy
.
669HoratioWe’ll all observe†gs1196
obey someone's instructions
you, lady.
[HORATIO, FRANCISCO, FLAVIA, ASTUTTA and JACCONETTA] exit*n7803
] Exeunt
670PisoBut lady, if you receive the
ducats†gg2741
gold, sometimes silver, coins used in several European countries including Italy; an Italian ducat was worth around 3s. 6d in the 1600s (roughly £15.60 in currency in 2009)
Before you come to us, pray bring our
shares*n7807
Piso implies that the gallants are running a raffle or sweepstake for Victoria's favours and deserve their respective rewards. This is not the only reference in Brome's plays to such an idea: much of the action of the final three acts of The Demoiselle is taken up by Dryground's scheme to raffle the Demoiselle's virginity to all-comers who are capable of laying down the money for an appropriate share. Borgio has also floated the possibility of a sweepstake for possession of Victoria's maindenhead in his first scene with her, but he hedges his idea with a deep sarcasm [NV 2.2.speech232].
;
We all connive†gg5136
have a covert understanding with (a person); to take part or co-operate with (others) privily (OED 3b)
you know.
671Victoria [To PISO] Pray be not jealous†gg5137
apprehensive of losing some desired benefit through the rivalry of another; zealous, vigilant, watchful of one's interests (OED adj. 4b and 3)
.
Follow your friends, I’ll follow you straightway.PISO exits
[Aside] *n9354
No such direction is given in the 1653 text but it would not seem logical for Borgio to be a party to Victoria's musing here: he knows nothing of her actual scheme in presenting herself as a courtesan in Venice and will not till much later in this act. While this observation and anxiety of Victoria's alert spectators to the fact that all is not as it seems regarding her, she dares not similarly step out of her role as courtesan with him. To Victoria, Borgio is still merely a Bravo and her pimp.
How dreams he of this
money!*n7809
] money?
He knows nothing.
[Aloud to BORGIO] An English
factor†gg5138
one who buys and sells for another person; a mercantile agent; a commission merchant (OED n. 4)
, say you, Borgio?
Out of his master’s
trust*n7810
Here: moneys entrusted to an agent by a merchant to buy merchandise advantageously on his behalf. Victoria is astutely questioning whether she should trust a man who uses other's money for his own private pursuits and not their gain.
so great a sum?
674BorgioOh he’s a master here himself. They are,
Abroad,
the royalest†gg5139
(when used ironically) behaving like royalty, kingly in manner, absolutist in tendency
*n9355
] royalist (The meaning "most royal" is required in the context, hence the emendation. There is more than a hint of absolutism in the use of the word here, which is neatly framed as a critique of a particular English quality.)
nation of the world*n7812
It is difficult to judge the tone of this observation, which would depend very much on the style and tenor of its delivery in the theatre. Is the remark flattering to the English abroad? Venice was a republic and proud of the fact, which Brome must have appreciated from his reading in Coryat's Crudities, and this may give this line and the following ones a distinct political and satirical edge. Certainly the adjective "royalest" carries an ironic force, implying an absolutist and colonising attitude to the possessions of other countries.
.
What rich Venetian rarety has not
The English money-masters purchased from
Princes and states to bear home as their triumphs?*n7813
Again at face value this observation might seem laudatory and triumphalist, which might be Brome's defence if questioned about his intention with these three lines. But he has placed the comment in the mouth of an Italian, who is in part afraid (as the act will reveal) of what the power of money might achieve with Victoria. It is possible too that behind this long sentence, where complex syntax cleverly disguises the precise point of view being expressed, there lies a critique of Charles I's purchase the previous decade of a substantial amount of the famous Gonzaga collection of pictures and statues from the palaces in Mantua. The negotiations, left to Daniel Nys, were protracted and necessarily secret (when they eventually became known about, there was an outcry in both Italy and England). There is some point in mentioning the sale, which was concluded by 1628, in a play set in Venice, since it was from Murano that many of the paintings were eventually shipped. The phrase "bearing home as their triumphs" would in this context be loaded, since one of the finest treasures included in the English purchase was Mantegna's series of images depicting "The Triumphs of Casesar" (now housed at Hampton Court), which show Roman soldiery either carrying bodily or leading chariots laden with the spoils of Caesar's wars. The imagery is triumphalist in the extreme. The cost of the transaction was in the region of £30,000 (which has been variously estimated as well in excess of £3 million in today's currency). Charles was not alone in developing a taste for Italian art: the Duke of Burckingham and the Earls of Somerset and Arundel also deployed agents throughout Europe to add items to their collections. During the period of the Civil War and the Protectorate the decision was taken by Parliament to sell the royal collection, which Charles had been forced to abandon when he fled north from London in 1642. The sale lasted over three years from 1649 to 1651 or later and many of the finest items were sold abroad. The Mantegna series escaped that fate, being reserved for the use of Oliver Cromwell.
And for their pleasures ――――but I’ll say no more.
He thinks I stay too long for him to wait
Without†gg1432
outside
with so much money.
676BorgioMost brightly shining! He’s now
telling†gg3818
tallying, counting
it
In the next room! He comes not to
tender†gs1061
offer, proffer
The value of it in fine qualities
Like
your supposed Monsieur*n7816
That is Horatio in disguise, as he appeared in the previous act.
, but in cash!
Cash! Cash of gold! Oh, ’tis a tempting sight!
Able to damn a noblewoman’s honour.
What’s your
descent†gg5143
lineage (blood and parentage)
? But poor, I make no question.
Why, this will
set you up*n7817
This is an ambiguous phrase with the possible meaning, "establish you in Venice" in the sense of providing for Victoria's future income and wellbeing. Or it may mean "establish" in the more loaded sense of "settling you in a career as courtesan, keeping you as his private mistress".
and make you noble.
677Victoria [Aside]*n7818
The 1653 text contains no such direction but by the close of the speech it is evident that this is a critique of Borgio and not of the Dutchman without. As Victoria talks of Borgio in the third person, her words cannot be intended to contribute to a dialogue with him but must be private musing or direct address to the audience as she tries to understand the motive for his speaking as he is currently doing (the actress has a choice of modes of delivery here).
This way of his might serve to
turn†gg5144
change, alter, deflect (OED v. 13)
the
blood†gs1198
passionate desire, lust
That has but any
tincture†gs1199
quality, hint, smattering (OED 5b)
of good in it
From touching such a
bait†gg5145
an enticement, allurement, temptation (OED n1. 2)
, yet he thinks now
He
spurs†gg5146
urges, prompts, goads, incites
me to it. But,
bravo†gs1176
pimp or procurer
, I will
fit†gs1200
match (in the sense of "be equal with", "get even with", "parry")
you.
[Aloud to BORGIO] Go call him in, go.
678Borgio [Aside]*n9356
There is no such direction in the 1653 text but it seems called for here in context, where (like Victoria in the previous speech) Borgio confidentially muses with himself, also letting spectators see that maybe he too is wearing a mask and playing a role, even though its nature is not yet to be revealed. The actor may choose whether to play this inwardly or confidingly to the audience.
Now my blood†gg4427
passion, temper, anger (OED n. 5)
and brain†gg5147
intelligence, strength of purpose, intellectual objective
Be strong and sudden!*n7820
The words convey a dark intention, being appropriate for a mind bent on revenge. That Borgio has a secret bloody scheme intending no good to Victoria, should she succumb to a lover and betray her noble origins, is not revealed in its details till the long speech in which he reveals his identity and purpose. See [NV 5.1.speech872].
[Aloud] Stay!
680BorgioTo see him weigh his gold. Oh
dainty†gs1201
fine, excellent, delightful, rare
sight!
He brought his weights in’s pocket:
just†gs1202
fair-minded, honest
gentleman,
He will be sure you shall not
want†gg491
lack
a
grain†gg5148
diminutive particle, the least fraction
Of your full price of
sweet damnation*n7821
Borgio's phrase is again ambiguous in its tenor: words like "sweet" are wholly appropriate in the mouth of a pimp with reference to sexual pleasure; words, however, like "damnation" are utterly unfitting because they hint at clerical condemnation of such pleasure as a sin. The sense of unknown and unknowable depths in Borgio renders him throughout somewhat sinister. Only in the final moments of the play will these ambiguities be resolved.
.
683VictoriaI pray thee go. Thou know’st not how the thought
Of so much gold and the
conceit†gg302
notion
o’th’ maidenhead
Lost i’ the house today*n7822
That is Flavia's, when she and Francisco consummated their marriage.
sets my virginity
On edge†gs1203
(when used in conjuction as here with "sets") sharpens a desire to, prompts a need or inclination to
now to be going.
684BorgioAre you so ready? Then I fly†gs320
run, hasten
.
Enter above PISO [and] HORATIO*n9357
Brome is steadily setting up a highly metatheatrical and intertextual strategy here while deploying the full resources of the Caroline stage. Soon Victoria's behaviour with Swatzenburgh is to be viewed by two separate onstage audiences as well as by the actual theatre audience. For informed theatregoers (or, in Caroline contexts, more likely readers of dramatic texts) the situation begins to reflect that created by Shakespeare in Troilus and Cressida (5.2) where, variously positioned about the stage, Troilus (with Ulysses) and Thersites (alone) watch Cressida being wooed by Diomede. For a fuller discussion of the remarkable nature of this scene and its dramaturgical devices see the General Introduction.
685VictoriaWhat
ails†gs519
troubles, afflicts, disturbs
the fellow,
trow†gg4252
I wonder
*n9358
] troe
?
686PisoI must yet have an eye upon this female
To quit my jealousy or
catch her i’th’ nick*n7823
This literally means: to catch her at a critical moment; but "nick" is also a crude term for the female genitalia; and so, by virtue of the pun involved in that word, the phrase comes to mean "catch her in the act of copulation".
.
687HoratioHere we may see and hear all undiscovered.
688PisoWatch
close†gs1204
two meanings are relevant in context: intently and secretly, covertly
, he comes.
Enter SWATZENBURGH like a merchant with a full bag.
(With studied oratory; nor address a sonnet,
Or trifling love-toys to persuade
admittance†gg5150
permission to enter, admission
By slow degrees into your inmost favour)
But a rich purchaser, that brings at once
The golden
sum*n9360
] Summe
and price of
your enjoying*n7824
That is: (the price required for) enjoying you (sexually).
.
Here,*n9614
] Here
precious beauty, made by this more precious!
Take your full
due†gg2195
(n) that which is due or owed, or that someone has a right to (OED n. 2a); fee, payment (OED n. 4a)
and render readily
The full
tuition†gg5151
(sexual) teaching, instruction (in carnal knowledge)
of†gs1205
concerning, regarding, consequent on
my wealthy purchase.
692HoratioShe invokes†gg5152
calls upon, makes an appeal to
virtue.
Let not the glorious sight of this amaze you,
Though it be granted,
sudden*n9361
] sodaine
apprehension†gs1206
the taking possession of; (but also with regard to the mental faculties) the conscious awareness of
Of such bright blessings may transport a soul
Into high raptures, when it is considered,
The
ornament†gg5154
that which confers or adds distinction; embellishment
of youth, the strength of age,
Life’s great maintainer. Lady, let not this
At all
transmute†gg5155
take out of one's self
you, for I’ll bring supplies
That shall so frequently acquaint you with
Such sights as these that you shall grow
regardless†gg5156
heedless, indifferent, careless
Even of the care to keep them, in respect
Of
the delicious pleasure brings them in*n7825
That is: the repeated sexual encounters that will be rewarded by yet more gold.
.
Delay not therefore that high purchased pleasure
That brings this to you by a minute’s loss
To make it fully yours.
Enter BORGIO behind with pistols.*n7826
The sinister qualities evident in Borgio are here embodied in his carrying pistols, which immediately poses the question: who would he aim to shoot? In addition to this, the theatre audience are made fully aware by Brome's exploiting of the possibilities of the playing space that there is now a growing onstage audience (two spectators watching from above; two variously disposed on the main acting space) observing Victoria. This awareness brings with it the further question of whether or not Victoria should be interpreted as playing the scene here. Is her outpouring to be read as a genuine outburst of feeling or as consummately skilled acting? Also to be noted in the episode is the degree to which Victoria is the focus of the male gaze throughout: four men watch her intently, interpreting her every word and action, each motivated by a different emotional need.
And now must let you know*n7828
The speech which follows is a tour de force of syntactical control, demonstrating a disciplined mind reasoning out a means to persuade Victoria's listener(s) of her strength of mind and firm intent. This is not the language and linguistic intensity that might (in terms of theatrical conventions) be expected of a courtesan. The challenge to an audience's powers of perception and interpretation is considerable.
, ’tis not the sight
Of that your glorious sum can
take†gs1208
take possession of (my capacity for wonder)
my wonder;
Much less my love or person. My amazement
Is, that a man that
bears his Maker’s shape*n7827
That is: made in God's image.
,
Indued†gg2078
archaic form of 'endowed'
with reason to direct and govern
That goodly fortune, and has such treasure given him
(Besides his greater blessings of the mind
By well disposing of it) to advance
This worth in deeds of virtue, should descend
Below the sense of beasts to part with that,
Allotted†gg5157
assigned
for his livelihood and honour,
To waste it and himself in bestial lust.
695SwatzenburghHow’s this?*n9362
Victoria's speech with its beautifully controlled syntax, regular verse lines and onward dynamic begins to be disrupted by short half-lines, as privately her various watchers and listeners voice their reactions to the import of what she says. Their muttered expressions of surprise or shock effectively offset Victoria's sustained confidence.
696PisoI know not what to make o’ this wench.
She preaches, methinks!*n7829
What is Piso's tone here? Is he still inclined to be abusive to women? If so, then this speech implies that he judges Victoria to be "performing" virtue. Or is he beginning to think of her in more positive terms and so is undergoing a significant reappraisal of her?
697VictoriaBesides, sir, were it well
examinèd*n9363
] examin'd (The metrical scansion of the line requires that the final syllable of the past participle be enunciated.)
,
The golden sum you
tender†gs876
offer (for acceptance)
is, perhaps,
None of your proper own: I understand
You are another’s
factor†gg5138
one who buys and sells for another person; a mercantile agent; a commission merchant (OED n. 4)
. I presume
In all your catalogue of merchandise
You find no
warrant†gs1209
authorisation, sanction, permission
to buy maidenheads.
Is such a thing in all your
bills†gg5158
documents listing charges for goods delivered or services rendered, in which the cost of each item is separately stated (OED n3. 6)
of
lading†gg5159
freight, cargo with which a ship is loaded (laded)
?
They are no way
transportable†gg5160
capable of being transported
, though you allow
For
fraught†gg5161
the money paid for the hire of a boat for the transportation of cargo
and
leakage†gg5162
allowance made for the waste, damage or loss of cargo by the leaking of seawater into the hold of a ship or the seeping of its contents into the ocean
half the worth; and less
Returnable by way of exchange. How can
You take up a virginity in Venice,
And make a London-payment of it on
Sight of your
bill†gg5158
documents listing charges for goods delivered or services rendered, in which the cost of each item is separately stated (OED n3. 6)
or†gg3456
either
six or ten days after?
699SwatzenburghNay then, you
dally†gs1098
are playing (with), toying, making light of
with me, and I must
Deal plain and briefly with you. Here’s the price,
And either render me my just demand
Or I shall take for your disgrace an
order†gs1210
legal injunction or authorisation
Shall spew†gg5163
literally "vomit"; but here used figuratively meaning "violently expel or exile"
*n9364
] spue
you forth the city.
700Victoria [Aside]*n9365
The 1653 text offers no such direction here but this is a decisive moment where, sensing herself as trapped, Victoria reveals her capacity for quick thinking and resourcefulness: she has a fall-back plan. That Swatzenburgh does not hear Victoria's remark is apparent from his next demand for a direct answer, which suggests that to him she is a still and silent presence. That same image is what convinces Piso of Victoria's honesty. It is essential for the logic of their lines that Victoria's are heard only by the theatre audience. It will be a decision for the actress and director, however, whether her lines are delivered as a direct appeal to the audience.
Now I fear
I am
ensnared†gg5164
trapped
. I have but one way left
To
fly from†gs889
flee, escape
shame or fall to utter ruin.
701PisoI begin to suspect†gg5165
to imagine or fancy (something) to be possible or likely; to have a faint notion or inkling of; to surmise (OED 3a)
her honest.*n7834
Piso, the most consistently critical and misogynistic of the onstage spectators, begins hesitantly to revise his opinion of Victoria. This neatly directs the audience's sympathies and understanding too, challenging them to examine their own responses to her words and actions.
The law hath made me yours. And I have now
No court but conscience to
relieve†gs1231
free from the obligation (to fulfil the terms of a contract)
me in.
[VICTORIA] kneels
704SwatzenburghWhat may this mean?*n9366
A short line of four syllables is isolated within more regular verse. It is a matter for decision in performance whether the rest of the line be observed as silence (or as actors' term it: a silent beat) or whether its irregularity be treated as simply an aside. If the former decision is taken, then the audience through pressure occasioned by the silence are themselves invited to ponder the significance of Victoria's changing moods and postures. Victoria hinted at having an alternative strategy should her first one fail, but what it should comprise is not revealed till its enactment and embodiment now. Swatzenburgh's interjection encourages the audience to share his bewilderment and themselves reach for explanations of Victoria's conduct.
Expressed in bitter’st tears, move not your
pity*n9367
] pitty
,
This shall prevent your cruelty.[VICTORIA produces] a knife
706PisoShe’ll prove†gs684
to show oneself as or turn out to be something (OED v. 2d)
honest, o’ my life.
708VictoriaKeep at that distance, sir, and you shall know.
Come nearer, and I will not live to tell you.
I hold it very
strange†gs1232
surprising, exceptional, wondrous, remarkable
that so much money
And such a one as I (
none of th’unhandsom’st*n7890
Swatzenburgh is being chivalrous and modest, claiming he is not one to be numbered amongst those deemed ugly. In other words he is saying he is surprised by the situation he finds himself in, as he is in fact dashingly handsome.
)
Should not
go down†gg5210
find acceptance (with a person); appeal to (someone ) (OED go v, 80g)
with a young wench, and one
Of the
profession†gg5211
occupation as courtesan (prostitution has been commonly termed "the oldest profession")
you
pretend to be of*n7893
There is a significant shift in how Victoria is perceived at this moment in the scene. Earlier the question posed related to the degree to which her virgin modesty was an enacted role. Swatzenburgh now questions whether her career as courtesan is more a performance than a reality.
,
Before
cold iron*n7894
He means the dagger that Victoria is threatening to use on herself.
! Methinks, most
unnatural*n7896
Victoria is not in Swatzenburgh's eyes acting true to type or to theatrical convention whether one sees her type as virgin or whore.
!
Think better yet before you utter further.
712Victoria’Tis true:
I am indeed a mere pretender*n7901
This act is to end with a succession of spectacular revelations of various characters' true identities and relations with each other. These follow the long-established theatrical tradition of a character throwing off a disguise to reveal the extent to which throughout the play he or she has been acting an assumed role. Brome adopts a different tactic here: Victoria's revelation is defined through confessional words and the response she elicits is not shock or surprise but a transforming wonder. Swatzenburgh and Piso are themselves quite changed psychologically by the experience, while Borgio hides his threatening pistols and departs the stage.
To the
profession†gg5211
occupation as courtesan (prostitution has been commonly termed "the oldest profession")
you supposed me of:
A spotless virgin (by
my utmost hopes*n7903
That is: my hopes of utmost (heavenly) bliss in the afterlife. In other words: on my honour as a Christian.
)
And will remain so till I am a bride.
713PisoToo honest to be a woman!*n7905
Piso admits his belief in Victoria's virginity and honesty, but he cannot yet abandon his misogynistic attitudes towards women generally.
714SwatzenburghWhy took you this
deceiving habit*n7908
That is: these clothes and an appearance designed to deceive.
then?
715VictoriaI am about to tell you for your
pity*n9367
] pitty
.
I am a Roman born, of good descent;
My father noble (
of the Candiani*n7910
That is: a member of the aristocratic Candiani family. This is the last of the many borrowings from Coryat's Crudities. Towards the end of his account of his travels in Venice, Coryat names what he deems "the nobler families of the citie": of the eighteen aristocratic lineages, the Candiani heads the list. Brome did not look far for an impressive name, even though to an Italian the chosen one is decidedly Venetian rather than Roman.
)
Howe’er*n9368
] How ere
decayed in fortune
ere†gg1781
before
he died;
Which drew on my misfortune: for, being betrothed
Unto a wealthy heir, here, of this city,
Who
sojourned†gg5212
resided for a time (made a temporary stay)
then in Rome, his
covetous†gg3932
greedy, grasping, avaricious
father
Ravished†gs1233
snatched; tore away; broke off
his faith from me, to give’t another;
And called him hastily from Rome to Venice.
I followed him in hope to
cross†gs1234
thwart, obstruct
the match
And so regain him, towards which already
I have done something.
716PisoFabritio’s wench*n7916
Piso makes the connection for the audience, should any spectator not have followed Victoria's speech and perceived its import. It is characteristic of Piso's characterisation as misogynist that Brome should give him a somewhat derogatory word like "wench" to refer to Victoria.
, my life on’t!
717SwatzenburghWhat, in this
habit†gg128
clothing
as a
courtesan*n6901
In Rome and Venice, but especially in the latter, courtesans were mistresses of high-ranking persons; they ran luxurious households where they frequently entertained groups of men with their singing, dancing and lively intellectual discussion (they were often far better educated than aristocratic wives, as is evident from the career of the most famous courtesan of the sixteenth century, Veronica Franco). It would be wrong to categorise them as prostitutes or whores (though their enemies sought to do so on occasion), since their relationships were centred on far more than sexual encounters, and they did not sustain a constantly changing sequence of partners. Though paid lavishly for their companionship, this was rarely in the form of a straight fee in return for the sexual favours granted. (See Margaret F. Rosenthal, The Honest Courtesan: Veronica Franco, Citizen and Writer in Sixteenth-Century Venice [Chicago: Chicago University Press, 1992].)
?
I draw the eyes of all the youthful gentry,
Not without hope to gain a sight of him.
My price and
port†gg634
dignified demeanour or manner (OED n4. 1)
keep back inferior persons.
Nor lose I honour by it: for the strictness
Of our Italian
censure†gg362
judgement (especially, though not always, adverse judgment)
gives*n7919
Here used in the sense of "gives out publicly as a verdict on or about someone".
a virgin
That
held familiarity with*n7920
That is: was intimate with (a man to whom she was betrothed through the ritual of handfasting).
any man
By way of marriage-treaty and then forsaken,
Lost in repute*n7921
That is: to have lost her honour and reputation.
; she is no honest woman
Until that man do
vindicate her honour*n7922
That is: by making her his wife.
.
719SwatzenburghBut should he find you here, what were his
censure†gg362
judgement (especially, though not always, adverse judgment)
?
720VictoriaHere he should find what his
disloyalty†gg5213
want of faith; violation of a duty or allegiance (OED 1a and 1b)
Had
wrought†gs1235
caused (me to do)
me to; and should restore me
firm†gs1236
absolutely, securely
On my first basis*n7923
That is: make me again his betrothed as formerly.
or exchange a life
For mine*n7924
That is, she would kill him and herself (rather than be parted from him again).
ere we would part.
722BorgioI’ll trust thee now: thou art a noble wench,
Thou hadst
kissed death*n7925
Precisely why Borgio has been contemplating murdering Victoria, were she to succumb to Swatzenburgh, is not fully revealed till one of the final speeches in the play. See [NV 5.1.speech 872].
by this else. Now I’ll trust thee.
[BORGIO] exits
723VictoriaIf he were lost by marriage
of†gg5214
to; with
another,
I would
remove†gs1237
depart, withdraw, quit (this place)
with such a
testimony†gs1238
evidence, proof
Of my
reserved†gs1239
preserved
honour (in despite
Of this my outward
carriage†gs1240
conduct, behaviour (OED n. 15a and 15b)
, for my
ends†gg2153
aims, purposes
;
Maugre†gg3389
despite
the stern
construction†gs594
the interpretation put upon conduct, action, facts, words, etc.; the way in which these are taken or viewed by onlookers; usually with qualification, as to put a good, bad, favourable, charitable (or other) construction upon (OED n. 8a)
of my country)
That strangers should
receive†gs1241
welcome, admit into their company
me; and some one
More noble than himself――――
But if my first love fail me, there is one,
A noble German, that commenced his suit
To me this day.
That in this
shift†gs1242
strategy involving disguise
,
reducing†gg5215
removing (from the more common sense of reducing as lessening, diminishing) (OED reduce v, 26b)
of my beard,
With this supply of money came to
try†gs1243
put (your integrity) to the test
you.
I find you noble and, above it, honest.
729PisoThis is the German that Fabritio apes†gs1244
imitates, mimics, impersonates
.*n7932
Once again Brome finds a neat way to remind an audience of a crucial element in his plotting.
730HoratioAnd†gs1245
what if...!
he should come now!*n7933
Horatio's joking exclamation subtly prepares spectators for what will be the next development in the action. As the Irish dramatist G.B. Shaw observed of one of his staple ways of starting a comedy: begin by establishing that there are two people who simply must not meet under any circumstances, then organise an immediate confrontation between them, and see what ensues. That is precisely what happens here.
Enter JACCONETTA to them above.
Indeed it is not
civil†gs1246
well-mannered, polite, courteous
in you to pry beyond
Your
hospitable usage*n7935
That is: the open and generous hospitality offered to you as guests.
. Pray forbear.
732Horatio’Tis
timely†gg5217
in good time
chidden†gg5218
scolded, rebuked
, wench, we will obey thee.
734PisoO! ha’ they done? We come, we come.
HOR[ATIO and] PI[SO] exit [with JACCONETTA]*n7937
] Exit Hor. Pi.
735VictoriaThis
jealous†gg5137
apprehensive of losing some desired benefit through the rivalry of another; zealous, vigilant, watchful of one's interests (OED adj. 4b and 3)
trial*n9369
That is: this trial occasioned by your jealousy.
now of yours (
howe’er*n9368
] How ere
You have expressed strong arguments of love)
Has not
augmented†gg5219
raised in estimation, increased, enlarged
you in my affection.
You are so changed from what you seemed today.
Must the mind alter with the outward habit?*n7939
That is: is there an accompanying change in one's psychology when one dons a disguise (literally changes one's clothes)?
Enter BORGIO*n9370
It is ironic that Brome places this entrance directly after Victoria's question: "Must the mind alter with the outward habit?" This is an intricately complex moment since that question relates as much to Victoria herself as to Swatzenburgh (though his identity as defined by his costuming is soon to be challenged when his exact double walks onstage). Perhaps in this moment Brome is also preparing his audience for Borgio's final revelation of how and why he too is in role (a role moreover, as the audience shall shortly learn, which is diametrically opposed to his "real" identity). The issue of whether being in disguise or playing a role seriously affected one's integrity is one that attracted numerous dramatic treatments throughout the Jacobean and Caroline periods, especially in the plays of Jonson and Middleton. That onstage debate may well have been fostered by Puritan attacks on the whole art of theatre, of play-acting, as if among morally sensitive dramatists those attacks touched a raw nerve that needed salving through careful investigation within the process of theatre itself.
739VictoriaHere he is, man,*n9371
] Here he is man,
he says.
740BorgioI say he is
without†gg1432
outside
and
craves†gg5221
desires, entreats
to see you.
742BorgioGood sir, depart and make room for yourself,
Your proper self, to enter: the Dutch prince.
I am Swatzenburgh.
744BorgioYes, in your tother†gg1195
other (of two)
beard*n9372
Borgio is implying that Swatzenburgh is a master of disguises with a collection of beards to aid his impersonations.
, sir.
Hans Snortanfart, are you not? Well I can but warn you:
If you will needs stand to the taking-off
A man’s good name from him before his face,
Then take what follows. I will fetch him in.
Mistress, you were best be out of sight a while:
Your presence with this stranger may
whet up†gg5222
provoke, sharpen (the term is taken from the image of a boar sharpening its tusks in preparation for an attack or of a grinding stone being used to hone the blade of a weapon)
his fury
To cut all our throats else.
746BorgioFor, sir, I’ll tell you: if you had but seen
How he
worried†gg5223
mangled; maltreated, harassed; troubled or distressed
a Spaniard today, you would
Have been able at your return to make
As many of your countrymen as thrive
By serving of the states to laugh i’faith.
The Spaniard hence.
You were best be gone before the
He*n9373
] He
indeed
Come in to chase you after him.
749SwatzenburghI’ll stand the hazard†gg5225
take (my) chance; chance it; face the danger
.
750BorgioSee his impatience pulls him in already.
Enter FABRITIO
in the German’s habit*n9623
The disguisings have become so complex by now that, in reading the text rather than seeing the play in performance, it is easy to forget what kind of "habit" is involved in each of the transformations. The bearded Swatzenburgh appeared in the third act in what we are to suppose seventeenth-century audiences took for German attire. He has reappeared in this scene in the clothes of an English factor. Fabritio enters in the German's style of habit. We know that earlier in Act Two Fabritio relieved Nicolo of a Zaffi's habit or uniform. When in 4.2 he shows his disguise (presumably the Zaffi's attire) to Horatio and Piso, they immediately point out a resemblence to Swatzenburgh and especially when Fabritio dons a large beard. This is presumably how Fabritio appears on his entrance here. In other words, the "German" habit and the Zaffi's uniform must be relatively similar in structure and perhaps in decoration. Swatzenburgh has changed out of the costume he wore for his earlier appearance in Act Three (the one that is now imitated by Fabritio). His English clothing must be sufficiently different to fox Borgio and Victoria into believing he is the factor that at this point he claims to be. He needs must retain the all-important beard (though he admits to having trimmed it somewhat). It would make for much fun, admittedly, if Swatzenburgh confronted an identical image of his current self at this moment (much as do the two Antipholi in Shakespeare's The Comedy of Errors, or eventually Viola and Sebastian in Twelfth Night). But following the indications in the dialogue, what is in fact occurring is a confrontation between the "English" Swatzenburg and a duplicate of his German self. Perhaps only the beards are close to being identical. Immediately after he has been chastised by Victoria for abusing her by donning a disguise, an apparition of his "true" self appears as if to taunt him in his disgrace. This might be used by the actors involved in the scene to account for Swatzenburgh's rapid overpowering by his rival: that he is already too cowed by Victoria's disdain to put up a vigorous fight.
.
751FabritioWhere is this lady?
Does*n9374
] Dos
her beauty
fly†gg147
(v) run away from
me?
752BorgioShe is at hand, but first here is a stranger,
A most strange stranger, that says he is you, sir.
753SwatzenburghWas oder wer bistu*n9609
This and the following two sentences in German that comprise Swatzenburgh's speech may be translated: "Whatever are you? Are you German? Tell me which region you lived in." I am grateful to Jennie Clark for help with the translation and who confirmed the accuracy of the German in the 1653 text.
Fynes Moryson tells a story of a strange incident he experienced when he passed "from Genoa to Milan on foote, in a disguised habit, and that in an Inne not farre from Pavia, I met an Englishman. Wee sat downe to supper, where he voluntarily and unasked, did rashly professe himselfe to be a Dutchman, whereupon I saluted him in Dutch familiarly, till he betraied manifestly his ignorance in that language, and excused himselfe that he was not Dutchman, but borne upon the confines of France, where they speake altogether French. Then I likewise spake to him in French, till he was out of countenance, for his want of skill in that language. So as my selfe being a man in his case, dissembling my Country and quality, ceased further to trouble him...Thus when supper was ended, I tooke him aside, and spoke English to him, whereat he rejoyced, and imbracing mee, swore that he had been in the stable, and commanded his man to make ready his horses, and would presently have rid away, if I had not discovered my selfe to him" (Fynes Moryson, An Itinerary, [Glasgow: James MacLehose and Sons for the University of Glasgow, 1907], Vol.3, p. 381). Sharpe is convinced that Moryson's tale was the inspiration for this episode in The Novella where Swatzenburgh challenges Fabritio's identity as German (R.B. Sharpe, 'The Sources of Richard Brome's The Novella', Studies in Philology, 30 [January, 1933], 69-85; especially
pp. 82-83).
?
Bistu ein Deutscher?
Sag mir*n9375
The 1653 text prints Swatzenburgh's German words as prose by making the line break after "Sag", but the German can be scanned into two lines of verse and is so rendered in this edition. "Mir" is modern German spelling for the word, "mihr", which appears in the 1653 text.
in was ort Du gelebst hast?
755SwatzenburghIch denke du bist ein heuchler*n9610
This phrase and the rest of Swatzenburgh's speech may be translated as "I think you are a fraud; if you are German, answer me in German". I am grateful to Jennie Clark for help with the translation.
;
bistu aber
Ein Deutscher*n9376
The 1653 text again prints Swatzenburgh's German sentences as prose, making the line break midway through the word "Deutscher": " ein Deut-/scher". This is clumsy and, while these two lines do not scan as comfortably as the previous two in German, it is possible to render them as verse since a strong rhythm does underlie them. Hence the emendation.
so anwort mihr in deutscher sprach.
The nation we are in, though it come
brokenly†gg4085
imperfectly
From you, that this good fellow here may understand us.
757SwatzenburghThou son of impudence and
imposture†gg5226
fraudulent deception
, speak:
What is thy end†gg2357
purpose, aim
in this?
Thou son of slander*n9377
The 1653 text prints the whole of Fabritio's speech as prose, making the line-break as follows: "...son of /slander." "Thou son of slander" and "Precious counterfeit" together make up a perfect pentameter and are the funnier for doing so. Hence this edition has emended the scansion accordingly.
.
759SwatzenburghPrecious counterfeit!*n7943
It is not easy to determine whether "counterfeit" here is used of the man or of the act of impersonation. Therefore one may interpret the phrase as meaning: "You out-and-out impostor!" Or alternatively as: "What downright fraud!" "Precious" is used here as an intensifier.
But I am weaponless and must fetch
strength†gg252
a body (of men); military strength
Of officers to right me.[SWATZENBURGH] exits
760FabritioWhat, does your shame
remove†gs1247
take (you) away; urge (your) departure
you, sir?
762Fabritio*n9378
The 1653 text assigns this speech to Swatzenburgh, but he has already quitted the stage and, though at this moment Fabritio is impersonating the Dutchman, his speech prefixes have since his entrance always read "Fabritio" or "Fab." Was the compositor confused by the ambiguous relation between role and man? An emendation was clearly necessary.
I care
not. [To BORGIO] Honest*n7944
] not honest
fellow, where’s thy mistress?
Enter VICTORIA*n9379
The 1653 text positions this entrance after Fabritio's words, "Good angels guard me!" when clearly this is his response to the sight of Victoria. Her entrance logically should therefore precede his prayer and this edition has emended the placing of the stage direction accordingly.
Good angels guard me!*n7945
There is a strong echo here of Hamlet's words on first seeing his father's ghost: "Angels and ministers of grace defend us!" (1.4.20). The effect is to suggest that Fabritio thinks he too has seen a ghost: that he recognises the woman before him as his lost love, Victoria, but supposes her a phantom. Much of the ensuing dialogue relies on an actor's ability in the role of Fabritio to convey the impression that the character truly believes he is seeing a ghost or apparition.
766FabritioThou powerful man in magic*n7946
That is: you man, powerful in magic. In other words: you magician, you conjurer.
, I will tell thee:
Th’ hast
raised†gs1248
conjured forth, invoked, roused up, summoned
an
apparition†gs1685
ghost, vision
, that has damned thee
Blacker than thy black art; nay, hell itself.
768FabritioThe heavenly spirit that
inspired†gg5228
was the inspiration for, gave life to
this form,
(When the unworthy world enjoyed her being,
Which thou hast conjured into this lewd
habit†gg128
clothing
)
Has at this instant won the powers above
To
sink†gg5229
cause to descend (to Hell)
thee and thy sorcerers.
769BorgioWhat may you mean? Here is no sorcery:
This woman’s flesh and blood.
770FabritioI would not dare to try to be the Duke.*n7948
This is a difficult line to try to interpret but, in context, it seems to continue the theme of impersonation and mimicry that dominates this episode of the play. Fabritio is expressing his complete disbelief that it is a woman standing before him and not his former beloved who, if dead, must be a saint in bliss. The idea that she is truly flesh and blood and not a magical trick or illusion is to him as farfetched as for him to try impersonating the Doge of Venice.
771BorgioYou may depart, pray
hinder†gg5231
impede, obstruct
not the house.
772FabritioHadst thou but seen, as I have, one like her
And noted the divinity in her looks
(
Although†gg5232
despite
in those
adulterate†gg273
adulterous (OED ppl. a, 1); coming from a base origin: impure, corrupted, degraded (see OED ppl. a, 2)
incitements†gg5233
provocative garments (that encourage lustful or adulterous responses)
She seems to wear) she would have struck thy soul
With fervent adoration not base lust.
773Borgio [Aside] I know not what to say t’ him.[A] bell rings*n9380
This is a neat dramaturgical touch. All three characters onstage are caught in a moment of awe, wonder, stupefaction, puzzlement. The bell breaks the spell, which this scene has brought about. The resolution of Victoria's strand of the plot is clearly present to the subconscious awareness of all three characters and to some degree to the audience, though it will need the intervention of others to bring that denouement about.
774VictoriaSee who rings.*n7952
This command to Borgio effectively removes him from the stage (he might otherwise have left Jacconetta to attend to the new arrival). Victoria has met Fabritio, the man she has been searching for (though she supposes that Borgio knows nothing of her intention in setting herself up as a courtesan in Venice) and in circumstances that have allowed her to appreciate the depth of feeling he still holds for her. She needs above all now to be alone with her former love.
BORGIO exit[s]
What divine creature, sir, was that you mentioned?
Her
incensed ghost*n7977
There is a pun involved in the use of the word "incensed" in that it can mean both "perfumed with a scent like incense" (OED ppl and a, 1) and "angry, enraged" (OED ppl and a, 2). The ambiguity should be played by the actor if possible, since Fabritio is both alert to the reality of the woman before him who, decked as a courtesan, is likely to be highly perfumed, but also acutely conscious of the difficult situation he is in, if this is indeed the ghost of the Victoria he cruelly abandoned at his father's urging. If she is a woman, then he is lured by her charms; if she is a ghost then he fears she is a justifiably vengeful one. The linguistic usage neatly captures his psychological predicament.
to
work†gs1249
bring into a particular mental state; move powerfully; induce (a particular state of mind) (OED v. 14a and 14b)
me to despair.
It was Victoria.
776VictoriaThis sounds most
strangely†gs1250
eerily; wondrously; astonishingly
! Have you been at Rome, sir?
778VictoriaAnswer me. Pray sir, why could not this
fall†gs1251
come by chance into; drop into, engage upon, become the subject of (OED v. 35, 63a and 63d)
In your
discourse†gg1027
talk, conversation
today, when I related
My life and fortune to you? Why do you
start†gg5243
undergo a sudden involuntary movement of the body (OED v. 5a); flinch, recoil
?
I am no
shadow†gs1252
phantom, ghost
; but suspect you rather
To be not as you seem, the noble German
That vowed me love. Does that too
startle†gg5244
feel sudden astonishment or alarm; take fright
you?
See, sir, to prove I am no
airy†gg5245
ethereal, incorporeal, insubstantial
spirit,
I’ll trust your hand (if you be mortal
substance†gs1253
body or bodily matter (a solid or real thing, as opposed to an apparition or shadow)
)
With so much flesh and blood as may
resolve†gg1491
answer (a question, argument, etc.); to solve (a problem of any kind); explain (something to someone) (OED n. 11a and 11c)
you.
779FabritioI find ’tis she; and, having found her
thus*n7980
Fabritio means "with all the trappings, appearance and retinue of a courtesan".
,
She’s lost for ever, and myself no less
That was the cause of this her
desperate†gs348
hopeless; hazardous; reckless
fortune.
780VictoriaWhat’s that you say? What ails you, sir? How is’t?
And what moves thy
distraction†gg5247
disorder or confusion, caused by internal conflict or dissension; disturbance of mind or feelings
?
[Calling offstage] Borgio!
[To FABRITIO] Speak.
Enter BORGIO
781BorgioHorror and shame invades
us! All*n7981
] us, all
the house
Is round beset with officers. The magistrates
Are entering
now. For what*n9381
] now, for what
or whom they search
I cannot guess, unless this be some murderer
Slipped in, to
draw†gg5248
bring (but the OED also cites another meaning which may underlie the usage here: "to drag (a criminal) at a horse's tail or on a hurdle", which was in England in the 1600s a punishment along with whipping for prostitution and pimping)
our lives
in question*n7983
That is: into being questioned, where "question" carries the sense of being interrogated, examined, put on trial. But just as "draw" can convey darker associations to do with criminal punishment, so "question", especially in terms of Venetian judicial practice, could in the 1600s involve the application of torture.
.
782Victoria [To FABRITIO] Deal plainly, sir. What are you?
[To BORGIO] He’s
stupefied†gg5249
stunned with amazement (and so deprived of apprehension, feeling, sensibility or the power of speech)
!
783BorgioThe Spaniard’s with ’em too that
took th’affront†gg5250
took offence, was insulted
By the supposèd Dutchman here
today*n9382
] to day
;
And he that
feigned†gs1254
pretended, simulated, dissembled
*n9383
] fain'd
himself to be that Dutchman
Desires their aid against this unknown person.
Enter PANTALONI,
PEDRO*n9384
Interestingly Brome brings this Spanish character back onstage for the conclusion. Though he is given few lines to speak, his very presence adds to the general sense of uproar and mayhem that threatens to prevail as everyone storms in at this point.
, GUADAGNI, SWATZ[ENBURGH] PROSPERO, CHEQUINO, ZAFFI, PEDLAR-WOMAN.
784GuadagniThis is the house, you say.*n9385
This and the following two speeches are all of seven syllables in length; and, though they have a marked rhythm and drive, it is impossible to render them as verse. It makes a superbly dramatic shift of tone, if the heightened mood of the sequence involving Victoria and Fabritio is suddenly broken into by such grossly pedestrian questioning. The rendering of the lines as prose emphasizes the rudeness of Guadagni's intrusion into the house: he may be a magnifico but he lacks civility. It is equally telling in context that Victoria responds to his outburst with a quietly studied control. She wittily deflects the intended insult to her by choosing to hear Guadagni's use of the word "harlot" (referring to herself) as deployed in apposition to Guadagni's reference to his daughter, whom she then proceeds to exonerate from her father's cruel supposition.
785Pedlar-Woman*n9418
Some confusion appears at first to surround the assigning of this particular speech, which is occasioned by the fact that in the 1653 text the abbreviated speech prefixes for both Pedro and the Pedlar-Woman are rendered as "Ped.". Both characters have met with Victoria in the course of the action, either within the action (Don Pedro) or reportedly so (the Pedlar-Woman). Later in the scene at [NV 5.1.speech807], the Pedlar-Woman comments to Guadagni: "...for look you, sir, /I brought you where you find your daughter, safe". This would seem to indicate that the speech here be assigned to the Pedlar-Woman rather than Don Pedro, who has not previously met with Flavia in the action. This is the reasoning behind the emendation here.
And this is the gentlewoman.
787VictoriaHere’s no such
creature*n7984
With great dignity, Victoria is expressing her affront that Guadagni dares to use such gross language in her presence. She preserves the level of decorum in polite conversation that he ignores. "Creature" here is a derogative term, implying the lowliest kind of life.
here, sir. If she be
Your daughter
this woman*n7985
That is: the pedlar-woman.
directed hither,
She is no harlot, but an honest bride,
Lawfully wed and bedded, as may appear
By the strong testimony of
divers†gs509
various, sundry
friends.
[To BORGIO] Call them all down.BORGIO exit[s]
Fit matchmakers for
magnificos’†gg4475
a great or noble person (generally deployed as an honorary title for any of the magnates of Venice who held high office)
daughters?
789VictoriaSpeak lower or at home*n9386
] at home sir, you know not
, sir: you know not*n7986
That is: moderate your tone or, if you persist in shouting, do so within the confines of your own home (and not here in my house).
What we
are. *n9387
] are:
[Aside to PANTALONI] Hark you, sir――――your last night’s trial
Did not enough inform you?
790PantaloniWe shall know more anon.*n9388
From this speech till [NV 5.1.speech796] where Pantaloni dominates the stage, the 1653 text struggles to render the dialogue in verse; but the results are very clumsy and irregular. Just as the earlier moment works best as prose when this group burst onto the stage and begin hectoring everyone they find there in the rudest manner possible, so this sequence with various characters clamouring for justice seems better rendered as prose, except for the two lines spoken by Don Pedro. Given his enormous sense of self-importance, it seems proper to give his lines as verse. And they do scan neatly in the 1653 text. For the layout as verse attempted by the 1653 text, readers are requested to study the period text in comparison with this modernised version.
[To FABRITIO] I’th’ meantime,
what are you?*n7987
Absurdly and ironically, Pantaloni has failed to recognise his own son beneath his disguise as Dutchman.
793Pedro [Pointing to SWATZENBURGH]*n7988
There is no such direction in the 1653 text but, given the congregation of persons onstage by now, some means of identification is necessary. Apart from Borgio and Victoria, the only other person onstage at this moment whom Don Pedro has encountered is Swatzenburgh and he points accusingly at him. Victoria would in theory count as a stranger being newly come to Venice, but the Dutchman burst into the room unannounced and was not introduced by Borgio; and so he is still to the punctilious Spaniard a "stranger".
This is the stranger that
affronted†gg5252
confronted, faced
me,
’Gainst whom I crave your justice.
795Swatzenburgh [Pointing to FABRITIO]*n7989
There is no such direction in the 1653 text, but one has been added here to point up the symmetry of the comic dramaturgy.
And this is my
abuser†gg5253
one who perverts truth or abuses confidence; one who by so doing insults the honour of another; a deceiver or impostor
.
Enter BORGIO, FRANCISCO, PISO, HORAT[IO], FLAVIA, ASTUTTA, JACCONETTA.
797Guadagni [To FLAVIA] You are well met, gentle-woman ――――I
gave you lost*n7991
That is: gave you up for lost; believed you lost.
.
798Astutta [To FLAVIA] What will you
whimper†gg5254
whine; "utter a feeble, whining, broken cry, as a child about to burst into tears" (OED)
now? Will not marriage
Make you bold that makes so many impudent?
[To GUADAGNI] She was not lost, sir*n7992
Noticeably despite her chiding Flavia, Astutta has still to speak for her, even as she did earlier in the play. A director and actress could make something of this in terms of the dominating patriarchal presence of Guadagni and how this invariably renders Flavia tongue-tied.
, nor in danger of losing;
She was but mislaid a little, as your writing was today.
799PisoWell said, my
chatt’ring magpie*n7993
The magpie was proverbially linked with the idea of the gossip because of its noisy, chattering call. OED gives as one definition of magpie: "an idle or impertinent chatterer" and cites an example of its usage in this way from Massinger and Field's The Fatal Dowry (1632): "I have waited, sir, /Three hours to speak wi'ee, and not take it well, /Such magpies are admitted, whilst I dance attendance" (IV. sig. H2).
. I will
side†gs1255
take (your) side, support (you)
thee.
800GuadagniAudacious
strumpet†gg762
debauched woman, whore
, that seduces my daughter!
801PisoYou are mistaken: she did but wait upon her.
802AstuttaRight sir, and did but duty, I’ll be sworn.
804GuadagniNot in consenting to the stealth?*n7994
That is: how do you account as duty your agreeing to (being complicit with) the secret plot?
*n9389
The 1653 text struggles to render the dialogue from this speech down to the Pedlar-Woman's exit as continuous verse; but the result makes for some highly irregular lines. What becomes apparent from studying the scansion is that Brome works a subtle comic ploy in rendering the Pedlar-Woman's lines in pentameters, whereas Guadagni cannot fit his anger and exasperation to the metre and is reduced to speaking prose. It is a neat aesthetic correlative for his upstaging by the Pedlar: he cannot fit into the scene, for all his attempts to retain the dignity of his position as a senator and magnifico. Consequently this edition renders most of his speeches in prose in this short sequence.
We all would live you know.
807Pedlar-WomanI hope I am
discharged†gg5255
exonerated, released, dismissed
: for look you, sir,
I brought you where you find your daughter safe.
809Pedlar-WomanNo whit the worse for wearing, as they say.*n7995
The very formulation of the sentence reveals it as proverbial, meaning "not the least affected or damaged by experience". In the context this is hilariously mis-judged in being addressed to a father beside himself with fears that his daughter's much-prized virginity may be lost.
810Guadagni [To the ZAFFI]*n7996
There is no such direction in the 1653 text, but the Zaffi is the only character onstage who does not have a direct involvement in the
dénouement of the play. He is also a minor officer of the law and therefore used to taking orders.
Go, thrust her out of doors.
813Pedlar-WomanMay you see your children’s, children’s, children’s children.*n7998
A particularly garrulous equivalent of "Long life to you!"
[PEDLAR-WOMAN] exit[s with the ZAFFI]*n8050
The direction in the 1653 text reads simply "Exit", which is sited on the same line a short space after the Pedlar-Woman's last words. Since the Zaffi has been ordered to escort her from the stage (and he has no further dialogue or role to play in the rest of the act) this edition includes the officer in the direction.
814Pantaloni [To PISO]*n7999
There is no such direction in the 1653 text. The line could be addressed to Victoria except that Pantaloni clearly has not recognised his son as the man in Dutch attire standing close beside her. It seems more appropriate that this remark be addressed to Piso, Fabritio's friend, whom Pantaloni sees as the corrupter of his son's youth (hence "misledst").
And thou misledst my son. I ask him of thee.
815PisoYou shall know more of that anon, sir.*n9390
Piso is sending Pantaloni up by reiterating what has become his catch-phrase in this scene. Given the intertextual presence of Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice behind some of the compositional ploys of The Novella, one cannot but hear in Piso's taunts something of Gratiano's baiting of Shylock in the trial scene of Act 4, where he cruelly reiterates phrases uttered by the now-vanquished Jew, when he formerly thought the trial was going in his favour: "A Daniel, still say I, a second Daniel! /I thank thee, Jew, for teaching me that word"(4.1.336-337).
816PantaloniOutbraved†gg5256
defied
and scorned by strumpets, bawds, and
bravoes†gs1176
pimp or procurer
!
Call in the officers.*n9391
Pantaloni's half-line hangs uncompleted and his command unaswered, marking his failure to regain his authority.
817PisoAnd call
the common hangman*n8001
A particularly ironic taunt, given Pantaloni's plot to get revenge on Victoria by exploiting that very hangman. Nicolo deliberately spoke privately to Fabritio about this plan of his father's to disgrace the woman who had tricked him, so Piso does not actually know of the scheme. His calling on the hangman here is a generalised expression of disgust with the hypocrisy of the older generation.
, if you please,
And end all ’mong yourselves. If your grave wisdoms
And lawyers here can find one guilty person,
We’ll all submit our necks to you.
HORATIO and FRANCISCO, etc., talk aside with FABRITIO and VICTORIA*n9392
What in this edition is placed centrally as a continuous stage direction is in the 1653 text presented as a block of five lines in italics, sited in the right-hand margin of the page alongside five lines of dialogue running from the third line of Piso's [NV 5.1.line2279] ("And lawyers here can find one guilty person") to the second line of his next speech, numbered [NV 5.1.line2283] [NV 5.1.speech820] ("And you, opposing it, shall wrong the dignity"). The layout of the direction is as follows, showing how each line is preceded by a bracket: "(Horatio and /(Francisco &c. /(talke aside with /(Fabritio and /(Victoria.
818Guadagni’Tis boldly†gg5257
impudently, shamelessly, presumptuously, brazenly
spoken.
819PisoI will speak but truth.*n9394
It is significant that Brome chooses Piso to be the voice of commonsense and morality at the close of his play, when his misogyny in earlier scenes has rendered him far from attractive to an audience. It is the mark of how far Brome has attempted to reclaim Piso through his astonished awareness of how seriously he has misjudged Victoria. Piso has undergone a transformation in the course of the last two acts and it is this which invests him with the authority now to dress down the errant fathers.
And you, opposing it, shall wrong the dignity
You bear i’th’ city to your utter shames.
[To GUADAGNI] This gentleman and your daughter were
contracted†gg3741
formally betrothed, or engaged (in the early modern period, this contract was as binding as a marriage, especially if accompanied by the ritual of handfasting)
,
Yourself a willing witness; [To PANTALONI] your son likewise
Unto a noble virgin (Sir, of whom
You shall know more anon).
It pleased
diviner providence*n8003
The reference is to God as the arbiter of human destiny but the comparative ("diviner") nicely critiques both fathers as usurping the privilege of being providers for their offspring and assuming godlike absolute powers over them.
to take
From either’s chosen mate their earthly fortunes;
Yet each had
person†gs1256
distinction of character; also rank and a name
,
blood†gs974
family line, lineage
, and virtue left
Above the value of
a prince’s dowry*n8009
Interestingly Piso is arguing in favour of inner qualities and accomplishments rather than material wealth as arbiters of the true worth of individuals (though ironically such a line did not stand Horatio in good stead when he pursued it in courting Victoria earlier). A dowry is the marriage portion that either the wife brought to her husband's estate or that the husband settled on his wife to be a source of income in the event of his death. The dowries of princes and princesses were often extensive, included the possession of tracts of land, and were generally viewed as important factors in a marriage between people of high rank, where dynastic claims were seen as more important than personal feelings.
.
Would you so
kick at†gg5259
object strongly to, rebel against, reject with anger or scorn, spurn, defy
heaven then, in
despite*n9393
] despight
Of its great
ordinance†gg5260
that which is ordained or decreed by God
, as to force your children
To
forfeit†gs1257
violate
both their faiths, thereby to lose
The never-failing hope of future blessings,
To pull
withal†gs977
besides
a curse on your own heads,
That could no less than ruin your estates,
And render you most wretched in your dotage,
Past help or hope how to
relieve†gs1258
find relief or release (from a burden or curse)
yourselves:
Your consciences still groaning underneath
The lashes that
your children’s bastard issue*n8014
The idea here is a strange one to twenty-first-century theatregoers and readers: that because Guadagni and Pantaloni's children will be married to partners not ordained by Heaven but arranged by their fathers, then the offspring ("issue") of those unions will be illegitimate ("bastard") and bring endless grief ("lashes") to their grandfathers. The view that Flavia and Fabritio would be commiting adultery, were they to marry, is grounded in the fact that each had entered into a prior contract with another lover through the ritual of handfasting, which still in the 1630s was considered as binding as a church wedding ceremony. The legal force of handfasting is excellently treated in chapters five and six of Greer's Shakespeare's Wife (London: Bloomsbury, 2007).
Should lay upon you? More, you may consider――――
No fit
receipt for†gg5265
place for receiving (OED receipt n, IV 11a)
warrantable†gs1259
genuine, legally guaranteed or sanctioned
business.
821PisoThis was no bawdy talk, sir, nor have I
Heard worse from any mouth in this free place
Till your arrival here.
822Victoria [Aside] I cannot be so happy.*n9395
This and the two following speeches from Francisco and Victoria are in the 1653 text all bracketed together and designated "Aside" by a single direction. The intention behind this mode of setting the speeches concerns the need to give a sense that the lovers are occupying a separate world from Pantaloni and the other accusers. In this text the speeches have been severally formatted as asides. While the moral world asserts itself in their defence on the main part of the stage, the four lovers are lost in their own world of blissful discovery, quite unaware of the two raging fathers.
825BorgioYou see the worst of us: I should be
loath†gs1260
reluctant, averse to, displeased
Any
unwarrantable†gg5266
licentious, loose, illicit, louche
act should pass among us.
826GuadagniThou look’st like one indeed of
upright†gs1261
of unbending integrity or rectitude; morally just
conscience!
827BorgioAnd for the marriage, sir, it is as lawful
As if yourself had given her in
St. Mark’s*n8018
The great basilica dedicated to St. Mark, the evangelist and patron saint of the city of Venice, which is situated near the Doge's palace. It is the centre of Christian worship in the Republic.
.
I’ll fetch the priest t’avouch†gg5268
to confirm, quarantee, certify, vouch for (OED v. II 5 and 6)
it.
BORGIO joins in conference with VICTORIA and FABRITIO*n9396
In the 1653 text this long direction is rendered as a block of four lines and sited in the right-hand margin alongside four lines of dialogue starting from Guadagni's "Fetch that priest" to Pantaloni's reference to "that Trull /here". The direction is rendered as follows with each line being preceded by a bracket: "[Borgio] joynes /(in conference /(with Victoria /(and Fabritio.".
829PantaloniBut I’ll be so revenged upon this
instrument*n8051
Pantaloni in his anger sees Victoria in the most reductive of terms, not even allowing her human status or agency, when he refers to how she has tricked him twice: once over his attempts to pay court to her; secondly over her frustrating of the scheme to marry Flavia with his son, Fabritio.
†gs1274
a thing with or through which something is done or effected (OED 1a)
,
This unknown trull†gg1701
a low prostitute or concubine; a drab, strumpet, trollop (OED)
here ――――
830HoratioOur ears and eyes,
Fabritio,*n9398
The 1653 text makes no line break here and gives as one pentameter "Our eyes and ears, Fabritio, witness for her". This is to suppose that Pantaloni's previous speech with its threats to Victoria's future safety are best rendered as prose. But he is a serious threat now as patriarch and senator and to be taken seriously as such: not any longer is he merely a pantaloon. As the metrics allow for the rendering of his lines and the following as verse, this makes for a verse line divided between Pantaloni's dismissal of Victoria as a "trull" and Horatio's vindication of her on the strength of what he has witnessed of her behaviour. This balancing of attitudes to and evaluations of Victoria will prevail till the last lines of the play when the choice is directed to the audience as ultimate judges.
Witness for her.*n9397
Horatio has revealed to Fabritio what he and Piso observed when they watched Victoria from "above" in conference with Swatzenburgh.
Yet with such faith as I shall ever wish
Locked in this heavenly
cabinet†gs1275
(literally) a case for the safe custody of jewels, or other valuables (OED n. 5) but here used in the sense that the beloved is such a store of treasures
, I
take*n8052
This simple word is not easily paraphrased in context. Fabritio has been remarking on the wonders he has been told relating to how Victoria comes to be in Venice and to her scheme in being there, where "take" may mean "understand, mentally grasp" the complexities of her narrative, which his friends have endorsed. But "the heavenly cabinet" refers to the excellences of Victoria's fair self, and in this context "take" may mean "come into the possession of, seize, take hold of" or even "embrace", all of which invite an appropriate action.
all.
832PisoYou may Fabritio, for as I
prize†gs1276
value, hold in high esteem
life,
Honour ’bove that; and above both thy friendship,
My soul is not assured of firmer truth.*n8053
These are remarkable words from Piso. Throughout this act he has been undergoing a steady transformation both in himself and in his estimation of Victoria's nature and virtue. Given his former misogynistic attitude to women generally and Victoria in particular, his endorsing of her character here to his close friend is especially convincing. In performance an actor is presented with the chance to build on this change of heart to depict the gradual growth in Piso's awareness as he moves from lecherous voyeur to ardent enthusiast for Victoria's integrity. Brome charts the aspects of that change meticulously, even if many stages in Piso's progress are indicated through single lines of dialogue (often in the form of asides).
Let thy Dutch habit drink off jealousy*n8054
There are complexities of meaning compressed into this single line. The basic instruction is for Fabritio to shed his Dutch disguise ("habit" as dress). Excessive drinking was proverbially seen in the sixteenth century to be a Dutch habit ("habit" as settled disposition, custom, instinctive tendency). Jealousy is also seen here as an assumed role (in the sense of Fabritio's fearing that Victoria has actually taken on the career of courtesan), so the advice is that this psychological (like the physical) disguise should now be shed in having been proved pointless.
And take her to thee.*n8055
Again the line carries a double meaning as a consequence of the resonances within the word "take": literally this involves the physical action of embracing Victoria; but there is also a psychological and emotional dimension present in the word, meaning "take her wholeheartedly to you" in the sense of Fabritio's opening himself to Victoria without fear, suspicion or prejudice. In this latter case "take" has the force it carries in the Anglican marriage service: "Do you take this woman to be your lawful wedded wife?".
834VictoriaAnd I made happy past
my height of hopes.*n8057
That is: the very highest of my hopes.
[They] kiss.
835Pantaloni [Aside] Good, you shall see how I shall cool those kisses.*n8058
There is no such direction in the 1653 text, but clearly Pantaloni is not a part of the rejoicing group around the two young couples. If he were and uttered these words, then one would have expected some remonstrance from the rest of the assembled group, but they continue talking of their own concerns as if unaware of him. There is much more dramatic tension present, if these words are uttered as an imminent threat of danger than if they are spoken as a publicly voiced accusation.
836BorgioMay I say
boldly†gs1277
confidently
you are man and wife?
837Fabritio and VictoriaWe are most faithfully till death.*n9611
The audience were informed earlier by Flavia (see [NV 1.2.speech103)] and by Piso (see [NV 5.1.speech819] that Fabritio and Victoria's relationship had developed as far as plighting their troth, that is by uniting themselves by the ritual known in the period as handfasting. They now renew that pledge. Handfasting was a recognised form of union and Pantaloni was actually breaking the law in forcing Fabritio to break off his relationship and prepare to wed Flavia. Germaine Greer gives a succinct account of the tradition of handfasting and the nature of the law surrounding it (see Shakespeare's Wife [London: Bloomsbury, 2007]; especially chapter six ).
838BorgioI’ll fetch a priest shall straight†gg2252
immediately
pronounce*n8060
The word means "formally declare". It is part of the final required sentence in the Anglican marriage service to be spoken by the officiating priest ("I do pronounce you man and wife"). This statement makes the union legally and spiritually binding.
ye so.*n8061
In the 1653 text this line is assigned jointly to Fabritio and Victoria, following after "faithfully till death". The actor playing Borgio needs to leave the stage at this point to change his clothes so that he may return anon dressed as a friar and this is an appropriate line to allow him to do so. It makes no sense in the mouth of either Fabritio or Victoria and so this text has been emended accordingly.
BORGIO exit[s]
839PantaloniYou say that is a Dutchman, sir, that wronged you.
840PedroRight, worthy signior, that’s the man I challenge.
He offered to that noble virtuous lady.
843PantaloniGood! Virtuous lady! Let me join your friendships.
845Pedro [Pointing to FABRITIO] That is the man I challenge.
Since my abuse;
I fear to her much wrong*n9399
That is, I fear he (Fabritio) will do her much wrong.
:
For he is some disguised knave on my life.
And
out of†gg5951
beyond, after (that), further (to that)
(OED prep, 2)
him, what she is whom you call
So virtuous and so noble! And
you, sir*n9400
That is Piso, who invoked the hangman in his moral tirade against the two fathers. This falls exactly into line with Pantaloni's plan to disgrace Victoria by exposing her in conference with the hangman.
,
That mentioned the hangman. Come all and see
The commendable
port†gs1667
style of living; rank, status, social standing; also behaviour, conduct (OED n4. 2a and 1c)
this lady bears.
It seems, sir, you
affect†gg2587
love, like (OED v1. 2); also means ‘to show ostentatiously a liking for' (OED v1. 5)
this gentlewoman.
853PantaloniWould that were true i’faith. The rogue, your man,
Said he would fetch a priest――――
Enter BORGIO in [a] friar’s habit.
854BorgioNo
verier†gg5288
truer
rogue than myself, sir.
But such a priest! such a marriage!*n9612
] But such a priest, such a marriage, (Pantaloni's sarcasm seems to require a stronger form of punctuation than mere commas.)
Put ’em together.*n8067
Pantaloni is ecstatic at the thought that he is in the process of bringing disgrace on Victoria by marrying her with (as he supposes) the common hangman. This is his moment of hubris, when his lack of generosity or understanding is most marked.
856BorgioI do pronounce them lawful man and wife.*n8166
This is a variant of the statement made at the close of the marriage service in both the Anglican and the Catholic church: "I do pronounce you man and wife". The change may have been deliberate (since that statement was legally binding): the couple being so wed are doing so in role not in reality and the variation on the actual marriage service subtly makes the distinction.
857PantaloniThe bridegroom thanks you; but you,
Mistress Bride:*n9401
In the 1653 text this phrase is divided: the sheer length of the line cannot be contained within the space available so that "Bride" runs on to be caught into the extreme right-hand margin of the following line, and is separated from its concluding words ("put on me last night") by a gap and a bracket: "(Bride". The confined space allows no room for a concluding punctuation mark, such as a comma or a colon, which the sense seems to require. The lack has been filled in this edition with a colon.
For the fine trick you put on me last night,
Look now upon your husband.Enter NICOLO as the ZAFFI.
Who would you speak with, fellow?
858NicoloWith Signior Rastrofico here, the hangman.
I come to call him to state business, sir.
859PantaloniCan this be he?
[Aside to SWATZENBURGH]*n9615
There is no such direction in the 1653 text, however the words that in this edition are assigned to the aside to Swatzenbach are enclosed in that text within round brackets. This is often a means that either Brome or his compositors within the range of the printed texts of his plays use to denote words to be spoken as asides, though it is the only instance in the 1653 text of The Novella.
You said he was a
counterfeit†gs1148
impostor, dissembler (OED n. 2)
.
I saw him
ride†gg5339
(literally) mount a horse; (but in this figurative instance: mount the scaffold to conduct an execution)
the
wooden-horse†gg5338
the gallows, the scaffold
,
last day*n8167
That is, yesterday.
With less than half this beard. Unbeard him, sirrah.
I’ll
bear you out†gg5340
to support, back up, corroborate, confirm (bear v1, 3)
. So
rest you†gg5341
be at peace, be content (usually in the phrase "God rest you")
, gentlemen,
With your so virtuous lady and her husband.
[NICOLO removes FABRITIO's beard]*n8168
There is no such direction in the 1653 text, though clearly at some point before the general exclamation some action of this kind must needs take place. It must not occur before Pantaloni's speech ends, else the discovery with the unmasking that the figure revealed is not the hangman but Fabritio would make a nonsense of his final jubilant line and its ironic use (as he supposes) of the word "virtuous". This edition sites the direction in what examination of the context reveals as the only logical place. Fabritio has of course revealed his identity to Victoria earlier in the scene, see [NV 5.1.speeches822-824].
860Omnes*n8169
The 1653 text gives as speech prefix to this general exclamation at the discovery that the "counterfeit" is in fact Fabritio: "Horatio, Piso &c". Clearly everyone on stage at this moment is involved in surprise at the discovery, but Horatio and Piso make an odd choice for the prefix preceding "&c". Should they join in the general expression of surprise or shock? Both have known of Fabritio's disguise and false beard since during the final scene of the previous act they observed him prepare himself to play the Dutchman. Victoria knows who he is too, as does Nicolo. If a precise speech-prefix should be assigned here, then it should more properly include Pantaloni, Guadagni and Swaztenburgh, since they are the three who for different reasons are to be most deeply affected by the revelation of Fabritio. Omnes would seem a suitable compromise.
Fabritio!
861Victoria [To SWATZENBURGH] Sir, I must crave your pardon: this is he,
My first love that I told you of.
863PantaloniI am abused and
cozened†gs1317
duped, cheated, imposed on
.
864VictoriaI thank you, sir, for all the harm you did me
In your revenge―――― [Aside to PANTALONI] And hark you: be at peace,
And I’ll be silent for your last night’s work.
865GuadagniForbear†gs1318
avoid (me); get out of my sight
me, I am off*n8170
Various meanings of "off" are relevant here. In one sense Guadagni could mean that he is "taking off", that is leaving; but also he could mean that he is "off" with the whole idea of Flavia marrying Francisco, where "off" means "done with, no longer committed to" (OED prep, 4c).
again.
Stop not the blessing you were about to give us.n10129
In terms of dramaturgy, the final sequences of the play are remarkable. There is a lot of business going on here in the interest of resolving one strand of a complex plot. The old are revealed as unprincipled; the younger characters are shown to be morally impeccable; those in the know about their seniors (chiefly Victoria) choose to keep silent. All appears to be solved, but then one of the irate fathers realises that the priest that one set of lovers claims married them is none other than the man whom they all suppose is Victoria’s pander. And so the resolution is postponed, till Borgio reveals his true identity to be Paulo, a friar in orders and Victoria’s older brother. Why we chose to workshop this episode was to explore how best to pace it all so that an audience understands fully what is going on. Also we wished to examine what the impact is of that long narration from Paulo, a seemingly new piece of exposition, which turns steadily into the much-needed grounds for a denouement. Is this all to be played as preposterously absurd, to show the folly of mortals, young and old? Since the moral standing of Victoria has been at stake throughout the play and is still open to debate even in these closing moments, would it be possible to sustain a more complex tone? Brome’s prologue and epilogue imply that the play is all to be viewed as a good laugh. To what degree should we take this at face value? The play overall veers between a broad farce akin to commedia dell’arte and a more serious kind of romantic comedy. Would it be possible to sustain this tonal uncertainty till the very end? How much of this scene could be played directly out to the audience?
After a read-through of this final episode, Brian Woolland, the director, said he felt there needed to be a sense of danger about the old men’s intrusion into what appears to be a complete resolution: the end of the play is in sight and then the rapid progress towards it is forcibly derailed by Guadagni and Pantaloni’s questioning Borgio’s identity. The threat in this is what impels Borgio to reveal himself as Paulo and the ensuing surprise is shared by everyone on stage and in the audience; the contrast is what achieves the release into the finality of the actual ending in which the marriages are confirmed as lawful and Victoria’s true nature accepted by all. This is the logic that underlies the developments within the sequence. The cast were first arranged in family groups around the respective father-figures (but with Victoria and Borgio in close proximity to the centre of the stage) to produce a tableau indicative of a “happy ending”; each father stood as if blessing his respective child’s union; the stage picture was carefully balanced. This was done so that there would be a troubling disruption of the harmony almost at the moment it was formed. David Broughton-Davies playing Borgio was instructed to take time before starting on his long narrative to establish that, though all seemed suddenly lost, he remained confidently in control of himself and the situation. This was the first attempt at staging the episode.
There was discussion about details of the performance: Richard Cave felt that David’s speaking the narrative of his past with his back to the theatre audience had great power which was lost when he moved upstage, turning as he did so. It was decided to explore the impact of his remaining for much of his speech in this commanding position, thereby requiring the people he variously addresses to approach him, so that we see their facial reactions to his newly revealed identity as one-by-one they realise their close relationships to him. David was asked to find a means of relinquishing this position onstage to Sarah Edwardson as Victoria to enable her to include the theatre audience as well as everyone onstage in her final request that they all voice their judgement of her. The positioning of Borgio/Paulo in this version brought tension and complexity to the long narration (he now gave due weight to the disturbing lines about plotting Victoria’s death, should she have dishonoured her family by actually losing her virginity); and Victoria’s positioning invested a new power in her at this moment (while not marginalised, she has not been commanding our attention for some time in this scene). The actual ending with Paulo’s final couplet seemed messy by contrast with the clarity that obtained till that moment. It was decided to revisit this again and David was instructed to join Victoria downstage centre to give his lines better emphasis as the conclusion.
The cast at no point felt it worth attempting to play the episode as broad comedy: there were too many dark reflections, confessions, questionings to make that style and tone a viable choice for them. Rather they preferred to give due weight to those darker moments in order to make the actual resolution and the confirmation of a universal honouring of Victoria’s integrity thoroughly convincing. They also spontaneously kept the action within their stage groupings: no one looked out to the audience or addressed them directly till Victoria threw herself on their mercies. This gave significance to her daring their judgement and confirmed as absolute the self-assurance that has been the hallmark of Victoria’s stage presence throughout the play.
867GuadagniI am
off again*n8171
Here the sense is definitely "done with", "am no longer committed to" the marriage.
. The pandar was the priest,
The match is no match, you no more my children
But knave and strumpet.
868PantaloniI’ll not be so cozened†gs1317
duped, cheated, imposed on
.
This is no priest; and all that’s past unlawful.
BORGIO casts off his peruke†gg3390
a skull-cap wig, periwig, false hair-piece
and beard [during the following speech]*n9404
The 1653 text places this long direction as a block of four lines in the right-hand margin alongside the dialogue starting from Piso's "You will know more anon" and continuing beside the three lines of Borgio's next speech. The direction is separated from the main text by brackets and by being set in italics. It reads: "([Borgio] /(casts /(off his Perruk /(and Beard."
870BorgioThen cast your eyes on me, who dare maintain
My priesthood lawful; it being derived
From
th’ holy Order of St. Augustine*n8172
The Augustinian friars, named after St. Augustine of Hippo (354 – 430), were and are a monastic order living in accordance with the Rule of St. Augustine. Erasmus and Luther were of the order which, honouring principles of love, fairness and learning, devotes itself still to missionary and charitable offices. Brome twice refers to the order in this play (here and in [NV 2.2.speech237]) and the King chooses to retire to one of their houses to redeem his transgressions in The Queen and Concubine: "I vowed my after-life unto the monastery /Of the holy Augustinians at Solanto" [QC 5.4.speech1377].
?
871VictoriaLet me not
surfeit†gg5342
over-indulge; feed to excess or satiety
with excess of joy!
My brother, Paulo!*n9405
This revelation finally resolves much of the tension and strangeness that has persisted throughout Victoria's scenes with Borgio. The half-line allows for general surprise to be registered by the characters onstage and for some form of affectionate greeting to be expressed between brother and sister before the need for explanations pressures Paulo into his ensuing speech.
872BorgioThy brother and thy
father*n8173
Both in the religious and spiritual sense as priest; and as Victoria's protector and guide acting in place of her father, who is deceased. Throughout the renaissance period a woman was answerable to and under the guardianship of her father but after his death was under the protection of her nearest male relative within the family, usually a brother.
, virtuous sister:
Be ever subject of my
dearest†gg5343
most affectionate, loving, fond; most precious; most earnest (anxious, fastidious)
care;
And pardon me, who (
jealous†gs1319
zealous, vigilant, watchful
of thine
honour,*n9406
] honour
Inflamed by the same heart, of the same
blood†gs974
family line, lineage
:
For we are all the
relicts†gg5345
survivors (OED relict n, 3a , which cites as a characteristic usage the Argument to Ben Jonson's The New Inn (acted 1629): "The eldest daughter, Frances...is the sole relict of the family.")
of our parents)
Watched
nearly†gs1320
closely
, and pursued thy
’scape*n9613
That is: escape, flight.
from Rome.
For which I had good
warrant†gs1209
authorisation, sanction, permission
,
gentlemen:*n9407
] Gentlemen
See there my
dispensation†gg5347
the granting of a licence either exempting a person in special circumstances from some sacred obligation, or allowing a person to omit what is enjoined by ecclesiastical law or by any solemn obligation; also the licence so given (OED n. 8)
with th’
allowance†gg346
approbation, approval
Of all the holy brotherhood of my
covent†gg5952
the early form of convent, regularly in common use down to the seventeenth century and surviving in some proper names, as in Covent Garden, London
.
My ends were
fair†gs352
virtuous; legitimate
, though in
this uncouth way*n8178
That is, his unseemly and indecorous impersonation of a bravo and pimp.
.
Though (Heaven, I beg thy
pardon!*n9408
] pardon
) as my care
Was to preserve her life and more her honour,
(Fearing*n9409
] Fearing
her violent and
abused†gs412
misused, ill-treated
spirit,
Might have made
wrack†gg5348
wreck, ruin; devastation, destruction (OED cites this term as in frequent usage until 1640)
of either or of
both)*n9410
] both,
I once had secret purpose to have
ta’en*n9411
] ta'ne
Her life in case she had forsook her honour*n8181
This explains Borgio/Paulo's dark moralising throughout the play that has seemed so incongruous with his function as pimp and bravo; and also his anxiety earlier in this final act when he tried to delay or prevent Victoria's encounter with Swatzenburgh, his later watching their scene together, hidden at the rear of the stage and armed with his pistols, and his departure expressing huge relief when she refused to succumb to Swatzenburgh's advances on the grounds of preserving her virginity.
;
And with her cut off
Candiani’s line*n8182
That is, the lineage of the Candiani family. Borgio/Paulo as a monk and priest would have been celibate in accordance with the vows of his order and thus prevented from extending that line. Victoria alone might conceive a child in wedlock but only, it appears, with his approval of the intended partner.
,
Which, now
branched†gs1321
Taking the image from the branches or limbs of a family tree (a diagrammatic representation of the succeeding generations of a given family), "branched" here relates to a collateral branch of that tree caused by Victoria's marriage, which will entail the loss of her surname but which will enable her to perpetuate the family honour and distinction through her children.
here, may touch the world’s end
With fair succession!*n8183
That is: Victoria's offspring will in turn reproduce as will their progeny and so on and on through endless cycles of generation, thus continuing to create further branches of the family tree till the end of the world.
Be you blest for ever.
And now, grave sirs, let me entreat your
likings†gg5352
approval, consent (OED vbl n1, 4b)
And cheerful reconcilement to your children,
That so*n8184
That is: so that you may...
you may your children’s children see,
Crowned by the prayers of your prosperity.*n8185
This is another instance of Brome's fondness for overly compressed syntax, where the sense is clear although a succinct paraphrase is difficult. To take the line as it stands, its meaning would be: may the final fruit of your wealth and good fortune be the prayers for your honourable afterlife, voiced by your heirs. (Here children and grandchildren are to be taken as indicators of each father's prosperity rather than their material wealth.) It could be that the final word in the line is a misreading by the compositors for "posterity". This is feasible and would make for an easier interpretation along similar lines to that offered above, but the 1653 reading is defendable. When this sequence was being examined in workshop, Marion O'Connor argued in favour of emending the line to read another way: "Crowned by the prayers for your prosperity". This would have required far greater intervention on the part of the compositor than the simpler change from "posterity" to "prosperity". The 1653 reading is retained in this edition.
874PantaloniAnd I, but for one scruple†gs1323
doubt, uncertainty or hesitation in regard to right and wrong, duty, propriety (OED n2. 1)
.
Clear me this point: how had you saved your honour
If the old youth last night (who shall be nameless)
Had but
mis-spent his time*n8186
That is: had sexual relations with (the moor).
upon your moor here?
875Victoria’Tis easily done,
sir. See, my*n9412
] done sir, see my
loved Fabritio,
The
eunuch†gg5353
a castrated (emasculated) male
moor you gave me.
[VICTORIA removes some of JACCONETTA's clothing]*n8187
The 1653 text offers no direction here but an action of some kind must occur, if Fabritio is to recognise Jacomo in Jacconetta. The moment is akin to the unfrocking of Epicoene in Jonson's comedy of that name (acted 1609), where a seeming woman is revealed to be a young boy actor. Director and actors can be inventive here, reducing the discovery to merely the removal of a wig or an outer garment or it may be made more complex, involving the wiping away of the "black" countenance to show it to be just makeup. It is a matter for discussion within a cast whether Jacomo should actually be a black pageboy (such were servants within English and Venetian households and feature in a number of portraits and paintings of the period) or his black skin be another of the many disguisings within the intricacies of the plot. The latter is most likely to be the situation in the play's original staging.
Has thy mistress used thee well?n10130
There was some discussion in the workshop about the tenor of this question and the two different responses it provokes. Is Fabritio questioning whether there has been any sexual play between his page and Victoria (particularly in her role as would-be courtesan)? As Lucy Munro pointed out a chambermaid (which is what Jacomo has become in being disguised as Jacconetta) would have far closer access to a mistress than a page, so Fabritio’s question, even if framed as a joke, expresses a certain anxiety. One recalls the scene that starts Jonson’s Epicoene where Clerimont’s boy tells how he is made sport of amongst the Collegiate women, who throw him on a bed and sexually taunt him, wanting to dress him as a woman and kiss him (1.1.12-17) or the scene in The Devil Is An Ass (4.1. passim) where Lady Tailbush tests Pug to assess whether he is fit material to be a fashionable lady’s “pretty proficient”. Here the erotic potential of a page or young servant and his attraction to a frustrated older woman is dramatised. If Fabritio’s words do carry a sexual enquiry in the word “used”, then is he being serious (and so once again doubting Victoria’s honour) or is he lightly teasing Victoria and Jacomo? Victoria’s reply is ambivalent: in her turn she would appear to be matching Fabritio’s ambivalence. It was the actor playing Jacomo, Alan Morrissey, who made the most illuminating commentary on these lines. . The cast consequently chose to play the lines between Fabritio and Victoria as “cheeky, flirty”, as so much harmless fun; but Jacomo prefers to be straight-forward rather than risk misunderstandings and so, as a servant, to avoid possible recrimination. Sarah Edwardson as Victoria saw that responding to Fabritio’s teasing with further teasing had an element of exasperation in it. A logic to the sequence of lines was emerging, once the actors began to seek a convincing motivation for what they were required by the text to say.
877VictoriaNot without much desert.*n8188
That is: the boy's excellent and compliant behaviour has more than merited Victoria's kind usage of him. The words are available for a bawdy interpretation.
879FabritioI see, sweetheart, you have an
honest*n8189
"Honest" here means respectable, socially above reproach or moral condemnation. All the dubious members of the courtesan's household (herself as mistress, Borgio/Paulo as pimp, Jacomo/Jacconetta as black maid) are revealed to be beyond criticism as persons working (by admittedly strange means) to preserve their integrity. Their united sense of purpose and tenacity in maintaining it makes them a kind of family, even though Victoria and Paulo are now known to be actual blood kindred.
family.
880VictoriaHere you see all, and all that came i’th’ house
(Since it was made mine).*n8294
There is a neat quibble with double meanings here. Victoria gestures to say that all her "family" are comprised of Borgio/Paulo, Jacomo, Fabritio and, hopefully, her new father-in-law, Pantaloni, though only the first two along with herself originally inhabited her home in Venice. However the gesture may extend out to embrace all the newcomers into her house that make up the cast of the play. Also by a further extension the gesture may include all the spectators that make up the "house" that comprise her audience in the theatre. "Since it was made mine" most likely refers to the fact that the play which has drawn everyone to the space both onstage and off is named after her in her role as the "Novella".
In this
convention†gg5424
(literally) an assembly or gathering of persons for some common object; a formal assembly met for deliberation on matters ecclesiastical, political, or social; (figuratively, as here) a theatre audience
I
dare†gg5177
will be so bold as to (OED v1. 1); will venture to (OED v1. 3)
them not, but give them freest leave
To speak the worst they found in the Novella.
882PauloAll’s well
accorded†gs1380
reconciled; harmonized; agreed to
then. We all are friends,
And may priests
travail*n8295
"Travail" has as its primary meaning, to labour, work hard, toil. But in the 1600s and earlier it was frequently the way in which the word, "travel", was spelt (appropriately since travel in that period did entail much labour and discomfort). Paulo has worked hard to protect his sister but he has also had to travel throughout Italy from Rome to Venice to fulfil that duty; and the pun encapsulates the complexity of his experience.
never to worse ends.
EPILOGUE*n8297
No speaker is assigned to the epilogue, which is often the case with printed texts of plays that include such a device in the 1600s. It is possible that the actor performing as Borgio/Paulo, who has the final speech within the actual play, might have stepped out of the action and continued into speaking the epilogue. That particular role must have been taken by one of the more senior members of the company, making him a suitable choice of speaker. Equally appropriately in relation to the play and its title, the actor playing Victoria might in a modern production take on the function (except that women characters but rarely spoke epilogues to judge by those where a named character is assigned as speaker in sixteenth-century texts). A director is faced with a choice, if he or she chooses to stage the epilogue.
883Epilogue’Cause†gg2756
because
’tis the custom,n10120
To complement the workshop on the Prologue, we also decided to investigate the brief epilogue to the play. Brome’s epilogues with the exception of The Court Beggar tend to be short and pithy: an attitude is struck, applause invoked and the whole experience is over within moments. Brome can make witty allusion to the title or content of the preceding drama, as he does in The Antipodes; but here he chooses to be especially curt. The same two actors worked on this as on the earlier sequence and were invited to stay with the persona they had each created for speaking the prologue so that with both cases we would get a sense of how the play overall might be framed. It is no easier to define the tone of this speech than that of the prologue: Brome establishes that it is customary to have an epilogue and that he wants the audience to applaud, since his pay depends on their approval. So far so good, but then comes a sting in the tail: the ending is hardly obsequious (the tone and manner which the situation would seem to require of him). Brome will not beg. The artistry throughout is consummately “smooth”, but the tone is decidedly equivocal, teasing and combative. Direct address is involved, and again we were curious to determine what kind of relation the actor might establish with the audience in announcing the end of the play?
Hannah Watkins adopted a world-weary attitude and tone, openly stating that Brome’s interest in giving spectators an epilogue at all is only to ensure he gets paid. She is caustic and terse, and so wry in her delivery that the combative element in the writing verges on the insulting. The dryly aloof persona who spoke the prologue has become jaded now (though still punctilious in her attention to defining in her delivery the three couplets that shape the speech) as if wearied by the experience of the play. The threat of a worse drama to follow, if the audience fail to summon up the energy to applaud what they have just seen, is all the funnier for the dead-pan expression. Hannah stresses that the epilogue is a custom that Brome is complying with because it is expected, yet her whole manner intimates that he and she would rather such a tradition were abandoned: it is for them both a meaningless routine. The implication is that an intelligent audience will know when a play is done and will applaud or not without being asked. Behind the threat to write a worse play lies an awareness that the writing of an epilogue is demeaning in the necessarily obsequious postures it demands of the playwright. Hannah’s handling made the epilogue seem a defence of Brome’s integrity: he complied with custom since he was compelled to, but did so in a manner that voiced an absolute detestation of being expected to sue for acknowledgement of the value of his invention. Brome strongly resists a situation in which he might be patronised.
Alan Morrissey again played the luckless comedian, clearly the lowest in the company’s pecking order: he is the actor sent out to remind the audience that the services of troupe and dramatist need rewarding. He spells out the situation (Brome wants his pay and so do the actors) and then admonishes his hearers: don’t withhold applause else worse plays and performances will follow. The absurdity of the device of epilogues is emphasized by Alan’s obvious performance in role, which distances the speaker from that which is delivered. By pointing to and isolating individual members of his audience, he generates a sense of embarrassment at the possibility of anyone not applauding, which cleverly ensures everyone will applaud rather than be seen to be a lacklustre kill-joy. Only then does he risk an outright joke: that if this play seemed bad, worse could well follow. Like Hannah he expertly controls the convoluted syntax that is required to fit the complex ideas within the first two tightly formed couplets, pointing to make the flow of the sentence absolutely clear. The sustained pause and utterly changed tone and tenor of “But don’t … if you be wise” implies both horror at the possibility of there being no applause and menace at the likely consequences. When the menace relaxes into a joke and he has got his audience laughing, he can afford rapidly to quit the stage. Where Hannah appears to speak for the playwright, Alan speaks for the actors caught between honouring their author and pleasing their audience. That the speech tricks them into compliant laughter is a cunning strategy that relies on an absolute control of tone and the ability to change it on the instant. Instead of the epilogue being an embarrassed and embarrassing plea to spectators, it becomes an exhibition of the actors’ artistry and expertise which command their attention and respect. Whichever way one prefers for delivering the speech, the force of either in performance is wittily to expose the questionable morality of epilogues in terms of what they exact of actors, dramatist and audience: a bogus humility in the one is met by the ostentatious compliance of the other with a round of clapping. Both sides in the contract are compromised. True applause, Brome implies, should be spontaneous. Interestingly, Ford makes a similar observation in the Epilogue to The Lover's Melancholy: "Know, beg'd applauses never were deseru'd" (M4r, p.87, l.4).
by the poet, sirs,
I’m sent to crave a plaudit†gg5425
a round of applause; clapping; an audible expression of praise or approval
, and the spurs
That prick him on to’t is his promised pay*n9413
"That" has to be understood as following the verb here and the phrase be interpreted as "is [that] his promised pay..."
May chance to fail, if you dislike the play.
But don’t, if you be wise: for he has vowed
To write far worse, if this be not allowed†gs1381
praised, approved, accepted as satisfactory
.
FINIS
Edited by Professor Richard Cave