ACT FIVE*

5.1*

Enter LODOVICO [and] EULALIA.

1096LodovicoFear not, good madam, trust my care and reason.†

1097EulaliaGood Lodovico, though I thank* your care

And love to me, yet give me leave to doubt

That as that cruel and ambitious woman

Hath overswayed† the judgement of the King

She may pervert† his royal purposes

Of peace and love, to your and my destruction.

Before you sent,* would you had ta’en* my counsel.†

Enter PEDRO with GONZAGO and letters.

1098Lodovico To end all doubts, see, Pedro is returned.

1099PedroAnd happily:† see, madam.

Presents GONZAGO to her.

1100EulaliaMy Gonzago –

My prince, I should have said.*

1101GonzagoThrice-gracious† mother,*

I thank Petruccio, who preserved my life,

For nothing more than this one minute’s bliss,

In which I find your blessing in a kiss.

1102EulaliaWeep not,* fair sir.

1103PedroThe lord Petruccio, madam,

Presents you these.[Presents the] letters, she reads.

1104LodovicoWelcome, my sweet young prince.

1105GonzagoI thank you, Lodovico.

1106LodovicoNow I see

Methinks a court again.*

1107PedroWe shall do shortly,

For the King is coming, and not in terror,†

But with grace† and favour.†*

1108Lodovico’Tis happy, heavenly news.

1109EulaliaSee, here’s an inundation†

Of joys that do like waves o’ercome each other.

Brave, wise, and valiant Petruccio,

That couldst so happily† deceive the King

By a supposed death, to save the life

Of my sweet boy! All that I can be sorry for

Is this: Alinda is frantic.†Lod[ovico] reads.

1110PedroCan that grieve you?

1111EulaliaHe brings her with him, and I hope the change

Of air, with wholesome† prayers and physic’s art,*

In which I am not ignorant, may restore her.

1112LodovicoMadam, the sun shines fairly.

Enter LOLLIO and POGGIO.

1113Lollio News, news upon news!

1114EulaliaThe Queen is killed! Is not that it?

1115Lollio No, nor the King neither, God bless him; they are both alive, with all their pomp† and train† coming to see our schoolmistress.

1116EulaliaAuspicious† Providence!†

1117Lollio They take us in their way,* for they are passing to Nicosia, where the King means to keep his word with the Queen in giving her three what d’ye calls?

1118Lodovico Three boons,† as the custom is.

1119Lollio Boons? Aye,* boons: I warrant she’ll ask no baubles.†

1120Poggio O mistress, you were careful† for her that comes, I warrant, but to jeer you.

1121EulaliaPatience would die, if ’twere not exercised.*

But now it rests†

That we prepare to entertain our guests.*

We must to welcome them make holiday*†

And give our scholars leave† to feast and play.

The swains,† you say, are perfect† in the dance;

So are my maids: we’ll leave it for the King.*[They all exit.]*

5.2*

Enter KING, ALINDA, HORATIO, LODOVICO, [and] ATTENDANTS.*

1122KingI cannot but applaud† your mind,† Alinda,

But am not much affected† with the subject

On which you purpose now to cast your favour.

1123Lodovico [Aside to HORATIO]

More scorn, upon my life, and rude† vexation.*

1124AlindaIf my fair† meaning,† sir, shall prove mistaken,

’Tis but a loving† purpose† lost.

[Aside]

O that wretch Flavello!*

1125Lodovico [Aside to HORATIO] If she have further purpose, then, to raise

More sorrow by the King’s displeasure to her —*

1126Horatio [Aside to LODOVICO] Let her alone, her reign’s but short, we know.*

Soft Music.*

J.S. Manifold suggests that a direction for ‘soft music’ implies the use of string instruments such as viols or violins, with or without lutes (The Music in English Drama from Shakespeare to Purcell [London: Rockliff, 1956], 95). There is some support for this inference in other Jacobean and Caroline plays. For instance, Marston’s Sophonisba (Queen’s Revels, 1605-6) includes the direction ‘A treble viol, and a base lute, play softly within the canopy’ (Three Jacobean Witchcraft Plays, ed. Peter Corbin and Douglas Sedge, [Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1986], 4.1.198SD), and in Brome’s Court Beggar (Beeston’s Boys, 1640), Dainty is instructed to play the violin ‘softly’ [CB 5.2.speech1029]. In Davenant’s The Just Italian (King’s Men, 1629; printed London, 1631) a direction for ‘soft music’ is followed by the dialogue,

Hark, hark how the Roman organ seems
T’invoke the Thracian lyre; the cymbals of
Judea, call Castilian cornets forth,
And German viols wake the Tuscan lute
(sig. K1v)

Julia K. Wood (‘Music in Caroline Plays’, 104) notes that some Caroline play-texts imply the use of lutes alone; the direction in Ford’s The Broken Heart (King’s Men, c. 1629), ‘Cease recorders, during her devotions. Soft music’ (The Broken Heart, ed. Brian Morris [London: Ernest Benn, 1965], 5.3.0SD) implies that recorders or flutes were not assumed to be included in 'soft music'. The playhouse manuscript of The Two Noble Ladies (Company of the Revels, c. 1619-22) perhaps supports this conclusion, as it includes a direction for ‘Soft music’, which has been crossed out and the direction ‘Recorders’ interlined (Rebecca G. Rhoads, ed., The Two Noble Ladies [Oxford: Malone Society, 1930], l. 1856SD). Marston’s Antonio’s Revenge (Children of Paul’s, c. 1599-1600), however, includes a direction ‘The still flutes sound softly’ (Antonio’s Revenge, ed. W. Reavley Gair [Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1978], 4.3.0SD).

1127HoratioIs this the sound of want† and misery?†

1128AlindaOf wantonness,† I fear, and luxury.†

[Aside] The villain† had no purpose† but to flatter.*

O sir, why came we hither?†

1129Lodovico [Aside to HORATIO] Mark the chameleon.†*

1130King’Tis most sweet music.

Enter EULALIA with three or four GIRLS, and work† in their hands.

1131EulaliaSuch as the rudeness† of the country yields, sir.

Hail to the King and Queen, and may the thanks

Which on my knees

I offer at those feet

That beautify† and bless this humble earth

Add many years unto your happy lives.

1132AlindaWe have e’en† seen enough:

’twas all I feared,

To find her knee-deep in hypocrisy.

1133EulaliaSeem not to turn away, most gracious madam,

Before I show for which* I hoped you came:

The manner how I get a competence† to live.

Shows her works, and makes a brave† description of pieces: as sale-work,† day-work,† night-work,† wrought† night-caps,† coifs,† stomachers.†*

1134AlindaYour work, you say; though’t be o’th’ newest frame,†

I fear your play is still at the old game.†

Both ways bring money:* is’t not so, forsooth?†

1135KingEnough, Alinda.

1136Lodovico [Aside] Too much, to tread upon affliction.*

1137KingWhat say you, Lodovico?

1138LodovicoI say, sir, the distresses of that lady merit a king’s pity, and not such scorn as I see cast upon her. But the best are women.**

1139KingNo more.

1140EulaliaMay it please your highness sit, and note the play

By which we gain when we lay work away.

[To GIRLS] The song I taught you last.

1141[Girls] [Singing]* How blessed are they*

Like the first song, this also appears in another text, in this case Francis Quarles's play The Virgin Widow, printed in 1649 and apparently written for private performance around 1640-2. The long gap between the original performances and publication of The Queen and Concubine make it difficult to tell what the provenance of the song is, but it may seem unlikely that Quarles would have incorporated a pre-existing song into his play, especially one deriving from the commercial theatre. If the song is by Quarles, and was written at the same time as the rest of his play, it cannot have featured in early performances of The Queen and Concubine. It is possible that it was incorporated for a revival in the early 1640s, or for a surreptitious performance after the official closure of the public playhouses; on the other hand, it may have been accidentally placed in the manuscript, or have been inserted by the publishers of the 1659 octavo. Like the first song, its lyrics are printed at the head of the play, suggesting that they were originally on a separate sheet of paper.

Although it may not be original to The Queen and Concubine, the song is similar in its sentiments to the ‘Madrygale’ that Barmenissa sings to herself in exile in Greene’s Penelope’s Web:

The stately state that wise men count their good:
The chiefest bliss that lulls asleep desire,
Is not dissent from kings and princely blood:
No stately crown ambition doth require.
For birth by fortune is abased down,
And perils are comprised within a crown.

The sceptre and the glittering pomp of mace,
The head impaled with honour and renown,
The kingly throne, the seat and regal place,
Are toys that fade when angry fortune frown.
Content is far from such delights as those,
Whom woe and danger do envy as foes.

The cottage seated in the hollow dale,
That fortune never fears, because so low:
The quiet mind that want doth set to sale,
Sleeps safe when princes’ seats do overthrow.
Want smiles secure, when princely thoughts do feel
That fear and danger treads upon their heel.

Bless Fortune thou whose frown hath wrought thy good:
Bid farewell to the crown that ends thy care,
The happy fates thy sorrows have withstood,
By ’signing want and poverty thy share.
For now content (fond fortune to despite)
With patience ’lows thee quiet and delight
(D2r-v)

that waste† their wearied* hours

In solemn† groves,† and solitary bowers,†

Where neither eye nor ear

Can see or hear

The frantic† mirth

And false delights of frolic† earth:

Where they may sit and pant,†

And breathe† their pursy† souls;

Where neither grief consumes, nor griping† want†

Afflicts; nor sullen† care controls.

Away false joys, ye murder* where ye kiss.

There is no heaven to that, no life to this.

1142AlindaThese wenches will be a good help to you at wassail-tide.†

1143EulaliaWe have variety for all the seasons

Of such poor entertainments, mighty Queen,

To show our much contentment in their welcome.*

1144LodovicoGoodness speaks in her.

1145AlindaThere’s for your song —* No, stay, I may transgress

The law.

1146Lodovico [Aside to HORATIO] O devil!

1147Horatio [Aside to LODOVICO] Let her jeer on.*

1148KingNot if you give it for her pains,† Alinda.

1149AlindaNay, since you warrant it, let’s pay and go.

Though I have heard such pains disputed† begging.

1150LodovicoAs all arts are, by the rewards they find.*

[ALINDA and KING move to leave.]

1151EulaliaNay, I beseech your majesties.*[Gestures to the GIRLS.]

1152AlindaWhat’s the feat† now?

Music, dance.

1153AlindaSir, are you pleased to prosecute† your journey?

Or do these beauties and delights enchant you?

1154KingHa?† No, come, let’s away.

1155EulaliaO let me yet entreat your highness stay.

1156AlindaNot a stroke† more, I thank you: we have heard

And seen enough. So much, as I must tell you

I cannot but commend your parents’ wisdom,

Who having calculated† your nativity,†

By which they had the foresight of your fall,

Prevented thus the planets* by their care*

By teaching you to live by hand and foot.*

1157Lodovico [Aside] Did ever daughter of a king thus suffer?

Or has she pride* to smile on injuries?

1158AlindaSir, you forget Nicosia.

EULALIA whispers [to] her.

1159AlindaPlots against me?

1160KingHow’s that?

1161AlindaShe dreams of treason intended against me.

1162Horatio [Aside to LODOVICO] No divination against† her own good, I hope.*

1163EulaliaMighty sir, hear me: not to implore† your bounty,†

No, not your thanks, nor popular† applause,

But for I am your subject and your servant,

Bound by your allegiance as well to prevent

All ills might pass against you, as to do none,*

I could not think it but strict† duty in me

To hasten† this discovery.[Gives KING a letter. He reads.]

1164Lodovico [Aside to HORATIO]* Treason and a letter? We have never a false† brother amongst us, have we?*

1165Horatio [Aside to LODOVICO]* If ever you held your peace,† peace† now.

1166KingIt bears a face of horror.*

1167AlindaCunning and gypsy† tricks. Will you to Nicosia?

1168KingWhat we meant there we may do here as well;

The treason’s there intended. Look ye, my lords,

How careless† is this woman* of her safety!

1169AlindaYou, sir, are careless,† for if there be danger

Where can I fear it but in this place only?

The world holds not an enemy of mine

But this enchantress you maintain against me.*

1170KingYour motion† and your own love drew us hither.

1171AlindaI would fain† love her, and certainly I should,

But that she still begets† fresh cause of hatred.

She has some devilish plot in hand this instant:

This show is but the straw that hides the pit.*

1172Lodovico [Aside to HORATIO] No enemy but she?

To let her know she lies, even unto profanation† against that lady, I’ll speak.*

1173Horatio [Aside to LODOVICO] I hope you will not.

1174Lodovico [Aside to HORATIO] The King shall see his error.

1175Horatio [Aside to LODOVICO] Will you?

1176Lodovico [Aside to HORATIO] She her cruelty.

1177Horatio [Aside to LODOVICO] Will you, will you?

1178Lodovico [Aside to HORATIO] The world Eulalia’s piety —

1179Horatio [Aside to LODOVICO] Will you? Will you?*

1180KingWhat says Lodovico?

1181LodovicoMost mighty sir, we here confess and say —

1182HoratioWe? You hear not me say anything, do you?

1183KingWhat will you say?

1184LodovicoThat letter was not ours.

1185HoratioThat’s well.

1186KingWe easily† believe it.

1187LodovicoNor any day or place as yet set down

Among ourselves for fact† against the Queen.

I mean Alinda.

1188HoratioNor fact intended was there, of death or danger?

1189Lodovico’Twas wished at least by us.*

1190HoratioLord, lord, lord, mum!

1191KingOur Guard.

Enter [KING’S] GUARD.

1192LodovicoKing, she’s the general grudge† of all thy kingdom.

1193HoratioYou do not hear me say so.

1194KingTheir grudge† incites my love: take ’em away.[GUARD removes HORATIO and LODOVICO.]*

Come, my wronged Alinda, this place shall serve,†

And this assembly, to make a King’s word good.

Make your demands: three things I promise you.

Ask what you will, even to my dearest blood.*

1195AlindaYour highness will excuse me if I urge you

To bind it with an oath?*

1196KingGive me a book.*

What I have promised to my lawful Queen

I will perform:* ask freely.

1197EulaliaGreat Queen, vouchsafe† to take an admonition,†*

My last and truest testimony† of love;

The rest were shadows† to it.

1198AlindaWell, pray let’s hear it.

1199EulaliaLet your demands be for the common† good,

Not for your own respects:† self-love may hurt you.

Beware ambition, envy, and revenge.*

1200KingThe oracle† could not pronounce† more wisely.

1201AlindaIs this your love? ’Tis fear of my just vengeance.

Therefore hear my demands, my King and husband.*

First* I demand the lives of these conspirators,

Lodovico and Horatio.

1202All *Bloody.

These massed speeches pose intriguing questions in relation to their delivery and dramaturgical function. Should they be delivered in unison, by all those on stage except for the King, Alinda and Eulalia? While the first two speeches can be treated as outraged exclamations, the third is more difficult to deliver in unison and poses a greater challenge to realist stage conventions. Should they instead be divided between different actors? Should they be spoken loudly or delivered in a whisper? Could they come from off-stage rather than from characters on the stage? Should they be directed primarily at the audience, or should they seem to influence the King in his judgement on Alinda? It is possible, for instance, for this to be the point at which the King realises that the court would support his rejection of Alinda, or for the massed speeches to represent what he is been thinking as Alinda has made her demands.

In the workshop on this sequence, we experimented with various ways of delivering the speeches and various ways in which they might be received by the King. Some participants felt that it might be more effective to divide the lines between different actors; others felt that the choric quality of the massed lines was extremely powerful in a non-naturalistic way. In this extract

the lines are simply read in unison, without any discernable reaction from the King. In this clip

the lines are delivered in a whisper, not entirely in unison, with each delivered by an actor to an individual in the audience. One problem with this is that it makes members of the audience who are not addressed directly feel excluded, they may not be able to hear the actors properly, and the long third speech has a tendency to dissipate, losing much of its force. In this version

, the lines are delivered loudly, in unison, but are still delivered to the audience. The most effective versions in the workshops were those delivered in unison, to the King. In this version

the first line is delivered relatively quietly, in unison, and the volume increases across the three speeches. In this version

the massed lines are delivered in the same way, but with the addition of an explicit acknowledgement of the final speech from the King. In the final read-through

the King acknowledges all three massed speeches. The King’s acknowledgement of the lines in the final version also means that his speech repudiating Alinda does not seem so sudden a reversal to the audience as it does to Alinda herself.

1203AlindaNext that your son,* much of the mother’s nature,

By act of parliament be disinherited.

1204All *Oh, fearful.

1205AlindaLast, that this woman have her eyes put out

And be forever banished your dominions.†

1206All *Cruelty and ingratitude past all example.*

1207KingWas this your charity? You have now declared it fully,

And I of both have made sufficient trial.

Come here, Eulalia, take now thy wonted† seat

and keep it ever.

Thy poverty and patience have restored thee

By the just Providence,†* while her excess and pride

Casts her before thee to receive that doom†

She had devised ’gainst thy immortal goodness:*

Into perpetual exile. Hence, away with her.*

In Penelope’s Web the Souldan makes a much longer speech:

I see well, as the distressed estate of poverty is intolerable for want, so the presumption of an insolent person is not to be suffered for pride: thoughts above measure are either cut short by time or fortune: they which gaze on a star stumble at a stone: the Cimbriams look[ed] so long at the sun that they were blind: and such as are born beggars makes majesty a mark to gaze at: sith that in presuming with Phaeton, they fall with Icarus: and that in desiring with Tarquin to be counted more than Gods, they prove in the end with Polycrates to be worse than men. I speak this, Olynda, for that I see the glory of a crown hath made thee unworthy of a crown, and dignity that ought to metamorphose men into virtuous resolutions, hath made thee a very mirror of vicious affections. Could it not suffice thee to deprive the Queen of her due, I mean of my love, of her husband, her dignity, her crown, her possessions, but now thou seekest to exile her, her country, which is dearer to a good mind than her life? Hath she borne all with patience, and dost thou requite all with envy? Doth she salve her misery with content, and canst not thou brook majesty in quiet? Is ambition so furious a foe that it suffers no co-rival? Shall I join unnatural actions to disloyalty? Have I forsaken the mother, and shall I now disinherit mine own son? Shall I bring that curse upon myself to die without one [of] my mine own blood to sit on my seat? No, Olynda, the least of thy requests shall not be fulfilled, a hair shall not fall from the meanest of my subjects’ head to satisfy thy revenge. Yet will I keep mine oath, not to thee, but to the lawful queen of Egypt, which is Barmenissa. For anger is not a sufficient divorce; the will of a prince confirmed by false witness is no law; the dated time of marriage is not mislike, but death. Therefore proud and injurious concubine (for no better can I term thee) I here, where without law I invested thee with dignity, now in the same place according to all law depose thee from the state of a queen, and allot thee the same punishment which thou didst request for the Empress: namely to be banished out of all my territories, and then to live in perpetual exile (sigs E1v-E2r)

1208AlindaRemember your oath, my lord.

1209KingMy oath was

To perform what I had promised unto

My lawful Queen;* that’s my Eulalia.

And let good Lodowick and Horatio be restored.*KING and ATTENDANTS [exit]. ALINDA entranced† [is] carried out.*

Enter CURATE.

1210CurateOh! Proh! Proh nefas!*

I’ll have no hand in blood* of any man!

1211EulaliaMore exclamations? What distracts† you now?

1212CurateCoram senatu res acta est: sub judice lis est.* O curvæ in terris animæ:* the rusticks have ta’en† again the law into their hands.*

And will you tender clemency† non justante?*

A courtier* hang, his sweet face nec invante?*

1213EulaliaWhat is his name?

1214CurateHis name is hight† Alphonso

That treason brought in pectore et* skonso.*

1215EulaliaWho are the heads† of the judicious faction?

1216CurateAndrea, Lollio, Poggio, the drudges†

Have got the people’s voice to be* their judges.*

1217LodovicoDare they do this?

1218CurateYes, judges they will be,

And kill, they say, the snake of treachery.*

1219EulaliaI hope we may come yet to stay† their sentence.

Pray* bring us to the place, where if we can

Let us avert† their judgement* from this man.[They all exit.]*

5.3*

The tone of this scene owes much to Shakespeare’s portrayal of Dogberry, Verges and the rest of the Watch in Much Ado About Nothing, a play which seems to have been familiar to the Caroline audience. In ‘Upon Master William Shakespeare, the Deceased Author, and his Poems’ Leonard Digges compares the negative reception of contemporary drama with the popularity of Shakespeare’s plays in revival, selecting Much Ado About Nothing as one of his exemplars: ‘let but Falstaff come, / Hal, Poins, the rest you scarce shall have a room / All is so pestered: let but Beatrice / And Benedick be seen, lo in a trice / The Cockpit galleries, boxes, all are full / To hear Malvolio, that cross-gartered gull’ (Poems: Written by Will. Shakespeare. Gent. [London, 1640], sig. *3v). The popularity of Dogberry et al. is also indicated by Henry Glapthorne’s Wit in a Constable (Beeston’s Boys, 1639), Act 5, Scene 1, in which the foolish Busy instructs his men in nonsensical terms which are clearly indebted to Shakespeare's portrayal of the Watch. Brome draws in particular on Act 4, Scene 2 and Act 5, Scene 1 of Much Ado, in which the Dogberry and the Watch examine Borachio and Conrad and then present them to Don Pedro.

Like the Watch’s scenes in Much Ado, this sequence depends on the comic performances of the actors playing the would-be justices, and the interaction between the performers; physical ‘business’ is also likely to play an important part in its effectiveness. Although this workshop reading

of the scene up to the entrance of Flavello and the Guard is rough in places, it conveys something of the rhythms of the scene and the relationships between the three speakers; it also demonstrates some of the ways in which it might be developed. Particularly effective is the way in which Andrea, Poggio and Lollio sporadically attempt to speak in more formal manner - for instance, in Andrea’s initial speech and the dialogue immediately following it and in the exchange that starts at Lollio’s line ‘I have made speeches that I hope shall make traitors -’ [QC 5.3.speech1252]. The trio’s attempts at formality are matched by attempts to maintain co-ordination in their movements, attempts which also regularly break down. In the long extract, Andrea’s role in attempting to control the behaviour of Poggio and Lollio is clear; the pair follow his lead in their physical movements, and at various points they look to him for guidance. In this alternative version

of the sequence from Andrea’s opening speech until the exit of the Tipstaff, it is noticeable that Lollio is reluctant to join in the co-ordinated action at points when he feels that he has been slighted. For further comments on smaller sections of this sequence see notes below.

Like the scene in which the soldiers attempt to administer justice to Petruccio for his supposed murder of Sforza, and that in which the country people attempted to punish Fabio and Strozzo for their attack on Eulalia, this sequence undercuts the King’s role as arbiter of justice in Sicily. The foolishness of Poggio and Lollio is emphasised by the fact that Andrea - the professional fool - is the most sensible man among them, but their folly, and the humour it creates, does not mean that the sequence is without political bite. The attempt of the country people to administer justice may look like a distorted parody of the King’s justice, but by this point in the play the King’s ability to administer justice fairly has been so severely compromised that it has itself become almost a parody of how justice should ideally function. In addition, Lollio’s speeches to Flavello take on the style and diction of contemporaneous political prophecy, giving their critique of the court a force that transcends the speaker’s own inadequacies. For further discussion of the play’s interaction with 1630s politics, see the Introduction.

Enter ANDREA, POGGIO, LOLLIO, a Tipstaff† before them.

1220AndreaAnd can these turmoils† never have an end

Unless we load our heads and shoulders thus,

Our bodies eke† with justice cap-à-pie,*†

And pepper† all our brains with policy.†

1221Poggio’Twas time to have a care; aye,* and a piteous† care.

1222LollioA pious† care, you mean.

1223PoggioWell, pious, then: you’ll show your own wit,† whose clothes soever† you wear (so do the wits† of the time).*

But, as I said, ’tis time we have a care,

For though our Queen – our schoolmistress* I would say –

Be mercifully idleful,†* it is fit

That we be prejudicious* in the state.†*

1224LollioJu-dicious,* brother.

1225PoggioJew in your face!†* Trip me* again?

1226AndreaAgree upon’t, brother sages of the bench. My brother Poggio here said very well, and learnedly, and as I would have said myself

(if you will take his meaning*): to wit, that as our schoolmistress* dotes upon† clemency,† it is fit that we run mad upon† cruelty. So meeting her in the midst, we shall jump into the saddle of justice.* *

1227PoggioI do say so, without all peradventure, for if the candle of her mercy* be not put out, we shall shortly see more honest men than knaves among us.*

1228LollioMore knaves you mean, brother.

1229PoggioI mean no more knaves than yourself, brother.

1230AndreaAgree again, sage brothers of the bench, and let no private itch grow to a public scab.**

1231LollioThen the point: do not I understand the purpose of our meeting here in our petty† parliament, if I may so call it, is it not* for a reformation,† to pull down the Queen’s mercy and set up our justice, for the prevention of a superabundance†* of treason daily practised† against her?

1232Andrea Most true. And is it fit therefore that you brabble† among yourselves and leave all worse than you found it?

1233Lollio No, we will make such a reformation† that treason shall not dare to peep over the hedge of her dominion,* but we will take it by the nose and punish it indignly:† most indignly will we punish it!

1234Poggio All this I grant. But before we sit and bustle† on the bench, because it is, and that without all peradventure, the first* time that ever we played so wise a part, is it not fit to take advice among ourselves how to deform

ourselves in our office?

1235Lollio ‘De’, did you say? ‘In’, ‘in’, you should say.

1236Poggio In with your horns!* How now?†

1237Andrea Nay, brothers o’th bench.

1238Poggio Does he think to control† me? Because he has been a sexton,* and a little more book-learned than a layman with an amen, forsooth?

1239Andrea Nay, brothers. This will control the business.

1240Poggio Or because he has been in many a man’s grave before him, does he think no man so deep† in grave matters* as himself?

1241Lollio Well, I forbear.†

1242Poggio Shall he bid me ‘in’, ‘in’? As if I were not his inferior?*

1243Lollio I forbear

still.

1244Poggio I will show myself his inferior; aye,* and a greater man than he, and to prove myself a great man, let him hang one, I will save two.*

1245Lollio Still forbear.

1246AndreaPray, brothers, yet agree; and remember we use no mercy.

1247PoggioLet him that uses any mercy lack mercy, for my part.

1248LollioThen let us sit, and fall to† the business.

1249PoggioSit and fall!†

Was that so wisely spoken of a book-learned man now?

1250LollioStill I forbear;

passion becomes not judges.* Now bring in the offender, the new and last offender.*

1251AndreaPray think on your speeches.Exit Tipstaff.

1252LollioI have made speeches

that I hope shall make traitors —

1253AndreaHow?†

1254LollioAshamed to wear their own heads on their shoulders.

1255AndreaA traitor’s head is not his own head: ’tis forfeited by law to the King; ’tis the King’s head.

1256PoggioI say a traitor’s head is his own head and a good subject’s head is the King’s head.

1257LollioI say that’s treason, and the head thou wearest is not thine own, then, if thou be’st a good subject.*

1258PoggioWilt thou tell me that?

1259AndreaPassion becomes not judges, brothers o’ th’* bench. The offender comes.

[Aside] Now they are hot,† he shall be sure to smoke for it.*

Enter [FLAVELLO]* and GUARD [of Palermo].

1260[Flavello]*Whither† do you hale† me? You pease-porridge† peasants,

Is this a place for me to come to trial in?

If I had broke the law, as I have not,

I am a peer, and do appeal unto

The King’s high seat of justice publicly.*

1261LollioAnd will not our low stool† of justice privily† serve for a traitor?* Ha!*

1262[Flavello]*Yourselves are traitors

In succouring† ’gainst† the law a dissolute† woman

Whom I command you, in the King’s high name,*

To yield into my hands.

1263Lollio, Poggio and AndreaYou shall be hanged first.

1264[Flavello]*By whose authority?

1265LollioBy the said woman’s, sir; she is our queen and her authority is in our hands.**

1266[Flavello]*That speaks† you traitors, and the King has law against you and her.

1267LollioWhen you are hanged he has. To the next able† tree with him and hang him presently.

1268[Flavello]*Villains! You dare not so say.

1269[All]*We do all say hang him with one accord.

1270GuardIf one* cord will not do’t another shall;

So come away, sir.

1271LollioStay: hear a speech first.

1272[Flavello]*You dare not use me thus. Dare you take justice on* ye?*

1273LollioYes, sir, we can spy

Great faults† in noble coats with half an eye.

What though we nod?† Does treason therefore think

Justice is addle-brained?† Or though she wink†

In us (as thus) that she’s asleep? Or say

She take a nap, d’ ye think she’ll sleep for aye?†

No, she but dreams a while, to circumvent†

Your vain* hopes with sharper punishment.

For if she be but jogged† no mastiff† takes

Swifter or surer vengeance when she wakes.

1274PoggioAye,* hang him, hang him.

1275AndreaIs he not hanged yet?

1276PoggioWithout all peradventure, the hangman means to hang for him.*

1277GuardCome, sir, along, never hang backward, for up you must.*

1278LollioStay† him, my speeches will be lost† else.

1279PoggioYour long speeches will lose our purpose again,* without all peradventure.

1280[Flavello]*Must I be mocked out of my life, and have

My death by hanging made a sport† to peasants

In this blind hole† o’th’ kingdom?

1281AndreaWhy, thou choplogical† fellow, dost thou not think there are as good men hanged and as good sport made of it too in the blind holes of the kingdom, as in the very eye or open mouth* of it? Ha!

1282PoggioAway with him, without peradventure.

1283[Flavello]*I am a courtier and servant to the King.

1284Lollio *Come all the court* in all your costly braveries†

And treason in your breech,* we’ll hang you for your knaveries

On tree in hempen twine,* nay, if you come

In open arms, up* shall you all and some.*

For though for tournament your fames do fly*

Run all at tilt* on us, we’ll draw you dry.*

1285AndreaTell us you are a courtier? We find here

Faults to correct* which you perceive not there.

So, now away with him, I have spoke my best.

1286PoggioAnd without all peradventure, well said, judge Andrea. How long must we say away with him? Ha!*

1287[Flavello]*You hobnailed† rascals. Can you think that you

Are fit† to spy or correct faults at court?

1288LollioStay, a short speech for* that, and turn him off.*

Your shoes* at court are all too fine and thin*

To tread out snuffs and sparks of kindling† sin,

Which let alone the rushes may take fire,

Then flame, then burn up higher still and higher.

You warm you at such fire, ’tis we walk through’t

The hobnailed† commonwealth must tread it out.*

1289AndreaSo, now away with him. [To GUARD] Hang him first, d’ ye hear? He has the best* clothes, that will encourage the hangman the better to turn the rest after him.**

Enter EULALIA [and] LODOVICO.

1290Eulalia *Whither away* with him?

1291PoggioSo, now you see what’s become of your fine speeches.

1292EulaliaWill ye, ’gainst† all my counsels and requests

Persist to pull destruction*

By taking others’ lives upon your own

And seem to carry† it as* in care for me?

1293PoggioNo, ’tis in care of ourselves, because we know not to breed† our children honestly without you.*

1294EulaliaHave I not often counselled and entreated

You would forbear?

1295LollioYour counsels and entreats we are bound to disobey by proclamation, for we must grant you nothing.*

1296AndreaWell found out.†

1297PoggioAnd therefore if you say ’hang not this man’, we are bound to hang him; we will show ourselves the King’s subjects, not yours.

1298LodovicoIf you can answer’t to the King, ’tis well;

His majesty is here at hand.

1299EulaliaGo, leave him unto me.

1300AndreaThe King at hand? ’Tis time for us to look about us.*

1301LollioMust not we be hanged now?

1302PoggioIt will be so, without all peradventure.

1303EulaliaRelease your prisoner, set him free, and go

Send the rest of the confederates.†*

GUARD [exits]; [FLAVELLO] kneels.*

1304[Flavello]*I was not bound till now;

I have no power to move or stir a limb.

O sacred Queen, use mercy in adjudging me

To present† death, to quit me of the torment

That rages all upon me, all within me.

The sight of you has shot more pains into me

Than I have drops of blood. O let me die.

1305EulaliaI cannot give thee death, nor will my prayers

Be prevalent† for thy cure, poor sinful man,

Till thou* lay’st ope’† the cause of thy disease –

Thy heinous† sin – by fair and free confession.

1306[Flavello]*I hope no cure and therefore ask no life

But the King’s justice to afford me death

That is no less deservèd than desired;

For I confess, this my device† was but*

To make my way to you, t’ have murdered you.

Wrought† thereunto by Alinda’s instigation.

More I confess: the evidence against you,

Whereby you were deposed, was false.

Enter [FABIO, STROZZO],* DOCTOR and MIDWIFE [with GUARD of Palermo].*

And all these witnesses,* which now do bring

Addition to my* torment, did I hire

Both for their perjury past, and for their late

Attempt upon your life, with the queen’s money.

1307EulaliaDo you confess it?

1308[All the Offenders]*Heaven pardon our misdeed: it is most true.

1309EulaliaHeaven grant you all your cures.

1310[All the Offenders]*All blessings on the queen.

1311EulaliaAll was confessed before by Fabio and Strozzo,

And you do well to seem so penitent.

I do forgive you, and will plead† your pardon unto the King.

1312[Flavello]*Your sacred mercy, madam, shall save a life, then,

To be spent in praises and prayers for your grace.*

1313EulaliaGo, and pray for grace to mend your lives.[Exeunt OFFENDERS.]

So, let’s† now to the King.

1314LodovicoNow look you about you,* cast† your coats, and instantly

Haste to the Curate, he’s preparing sports†

In speech and dance to entertain the King.

Go and assist him; that must be the way

To gain your pardons.

1315AndreaCome, then, let’s away;

No longer brothers of the bench we’ll be,

But of the revels for his majesty.*[They all exit.]*

5.4*

[Recorders.]*
Enter KING, HORATIO, SFORZA [and] PETRUCCIO.

1316KingThese troubles over, let us now

Survey this part of my possession

I never saw before. I could contemplate

This late† neglected piece of my estate†

To be the happiest:† sure, it is no less

To those that think on earth there’s happiness.

The air disperseth pleasure and the earth

Of fresh delight to every step gives birth;

Here plenty grows, and above it content

O’erspreads† the face of all the continent.

Eulalia, thou art happy, and didst rise

Not fall from court into this paradise,*

Nor can it move† my admiration much:

Thy virtue wrought the change, and made it such.*

1317SforzaMy lord, the King is sad, what shall we do?

1318HoratioI am as sad as he, and should be dead

If he were dead, and therefore no fit member†

To make him merry, I. Try your vein† with him;

Tell him your daughter’s dying, that may cheer him.

1319SforzaAre you so tart,† court blain-worm?†

1320KingYet can I smile in midst of grief to think

How the court malice hath been waived† and punished

By rustical† simplicity.

1321PetruccioThe sun

Appears again in the King’s smiles: observe.

1322HoratioI thank your majesty, that sweet smile revived me.

1323KingWho smiled?

1324HoratioNot I, I’m sure. Did you, or you?

There could be no such thing. Who dares be merry

When the King’s sad?Shawms.

1325PetruccioYes, here are some now coming – I hear ’em –

That are merry in hope to make the King so.*

Enter CURATE, richly robed and crowned with bays,† playing on a fiddle, many SCHOOLBOYS with scarves† and nosegays,† etc., then follow GONZAGO, dressed and crowned as Queen of the Girls,* following her at last EULALIA supported by LODOVICO and ANDREA, [FLAVELLO],* STROZZO, FABIO, D[OCTOR], [and] MIDWIFE.The former* being all passed over the stage: they kneel to the KING.

1326KingO my Eulalia!*

1327EulaliaStill the most humble handmaid†

To your high majesty.

1328KingThy words are sweet

Yet to my guilty sense they are no less

Than thunderbolts,* framed† of the wrongs I shot

Against the heavenly region† of thy mind,

And ’tis but justice that the repercussion†

Do strike me dead.

1329EulaliaNo passion,† mighty sir.

1330HoratioO my sweet Queen! But I am thunder-struck.*

1331Andrea [Aside] Old lad,* art there? Still sick o’th’ King’s disease?*

1332EulaliaIf I may presume of any favour,

Vouchsafe a glance on these.*

1333[Flavello], Strozzo, Fabio, Doctor and Midwife *Beseech your Highness.

Enter CURATE, GONZAGO in his hand veiled,* [and] three or four LASSES.

1334CurateThus have you seen, great King, in best array,†

Nostri discipuli* have made holiday,†

Whilst I their pedagogue† or petty† king

Present in† hand this little royal thing,

Ycleped† their queen or mistress; certe fallor*

For that’s the royal schoolmistress, as we call her,

And this her under-usher. Veiled is she,

Dreading the power of shining* majesty

Might dazzle her dancing, for nunc est saltandum,*

And here are lads and lasses that at random†

Have left their works, as we the school and templum,†

To follow us: ’tis regis ad exemplum.*

The youths are muffled† for their better graces;

Though you may like their feet, you’d blame† their faces.

But I’ll not trouble you with long oration,

Because I had but short precogitation.†

Dance

1335HoratioHis highness thanks you, and hath here disposed†

An hundred ducats† in this purse enclosed.

Drink it amongst ye to the King’s well faring,*

And see there be no falling out† i’th’ sharing.

So make your exit.

1336CurateNon simus ingrati*

Rex et* regina semper sint beati.* CURATE and LASSES [exit].*

1337Eulalia [To OFFENDERS] Stay you a while.

FABIO, STROZZO, [FLAVELLO], DOCTOR and MIDWIFE [remain]; they all kneel.*

[To KING] You know my story,* sir, and who have been

My strong† abusers, and by me converted;

Therefore let me petition, royal King.

You have by these* discovered the abuse†

That led you into error, and that light*

Which makes discovery of their black misdeeds

Will show you to a throne of greater mercy**

Than you can give.

1338KingI must confess I need it.

Be’t† as thou wilt, Eulalia.

1339Eulalia [To OFFENDERS] Go then,

And thank the King.

1340All Offenders *Long live the King and Queen.OFFENDERS [exit].*

1341LodovicoHere’s goodness now.

1342HoratioI would* the devil had ’em that thought ill of her.

1343AndreaAnd, good King, pardon me and my pure brother judges, and sages of the dorp† here, that would have hanged those manufactors.†

1344King’Tis quickly granted.*

1345AndreaAnd I’ll as quickly make them run mad with joy.

1346EulaliaMy next suit is – for now I’m set a-begging –

You’ll pardon your Alinda.

1347KingShe is not mine;*

Should she recover, as heaven’s will be done.*

1348EulaliaRecover? Fear not, sir, this trance hast drowned

Her frenzy† and she’ll live a sober† life.

1349KingI shall forgive her,*

But she must no more, in her recovery,

Be consort† or acquaintance† unto me.

But where’s posterity† now? Oh, my boy!

1350EulaliaSir, you have had but homely† entertainment

Yet in my humble dwelling. Now I’ll show you

(Since you appear so tender† and so good

A father) the sweet comfort of a son.

[To LODOVICO] Pray fetch the prince.

1351KingYou cannot raise from death.Exit LODOVICO.

1352EulaliaCan you forgive Petruccio,* that deceived you

In his feigned† death to save a real life?

1353KingForgive? He won me in preserving Sforza;

Let me but see my son, I’ll honour† him.

Enter LODOVICO with GONZAGO.*

1354HoratioSee the most princely virtue that survives.

1355KingLives my Gonzago?

1356GonzagoIf you, my royal father, be not displeased

With me, or my good mother, I shall live.*

1357HoratioAnd long live my sweet Prince.

1358KingLet not my joy confound me! Where’s Petruccio?

1359LodovicoSforza and he are bringing the entranced

Alinda, your fair Queen, to your presence.

1360KingShe is no queen of mine.

1361HoratioNo, hang her, hang her. This, this is the Queen.

A very queen of hearts:* a better title

Crowns not the best of women in our days.

1362KingGood Lodovico, may the merited† fame† of thy fidelity

While there are kings on earth show† them to gratify

All trusty servants. Love him, Gonzago.

1363HoratioLove him? My loyalty preserved,

I shall not desire the Prince’s love myself

If he not giv’t† to faithful Lodovico,

My true yoke-fellow†* in state and commonwealth.

Recorders.*
Enter SFORZA and PETRUCCIO, bringing ALINDA in a chair,* veiled.*

1364KingBut here’s the man, Gonzago, whom thou owest

A love of equal value to thy life.

1365PetruccioI cannot, sir, in duty, never the less**

But fall before your mercy, which I pray for,

That durst assume† the hardness† to control†

Your majesty’s* command.

1366HoratioThere is a loyalty after my own heart,* now.

Here a new song.* EULALIA* unveils ALINDA.

1367EulaliaBlessed heaven! She lives and wakes, I hope, in health.

1368SforzaIf she awake to virtue, she is welcome

Into the world again, but if she rise

With an ambitious thought* of what she was,

Or meet the light with a presumptuous† look

That renders† her in thought but worthy of it,*

By this blessed presence I will yet take leave†

To sink her under earth* immediately.

1369EulaliaPatience, good Sforza, see what she will do.

1370AlindaWhere have I been? Or how am I brought hither?

Or where I am I know not. But that shall notMusic ceased.

Be unto me a wonder,† for I know

Were it revealed it could not be so strange

A story* as myself was to the world.*

How have I wandered in the way of error,†

Till I was worn into an airy* vapour,

Then wrapped into a cloud, and thence distilled

Into the earth to find a new creation.*

’Tis found, and I am found in better state

Than I was in before I lost my duty;

For in this second birth* I find a knowledge

How to preserve it. Therefore if an heart

Dissolved in its tears may move your pity

My noble father (if I may say father),*

Whose blessing and forgiveness I entreat,

Let not your frown destroy my future hopes.

1371SforzaWhat a rich† sound were this now, were it real!

1372EulaliaAs you may think I honour virtue, Sforza,

I do believe ’tis really unfeigned.

1373SforzaIt is heaven’s goodness to your grace then, madam,

The more to vindicate† your injured virtue

And manifest your merits to the world.

Thou art mine own again, Alinda.

1374Eulalia *Note† her further.

1375AlindaMy suit is next to you, King, Queen, and Prince,*

Whose love, whose piety, whose innocence

I have too much abused, that to appeal

My trespasses at† large by due confession

I should appear but more impertinent to each eye and ear.

My suit is, therefore, though you not forget

I ever was, you will be pleased to think

There is not an Alinda in the world.

So give me leave to leave it, and in this

I beg my father’s aid, to be removed

Back to my country, Naples,* and in that,

Into the Magdalene nunnery* at Lucera,*

To spend this life in tears for my amiss

And holy prayers for eternal bliss.Veils herself.*

1376SforzaSo thou art mine forever.*

1377KingShe has anticipated my great† purpose,†*

For on the reconcilement of this difference

I vowed my after-life unto the monastery

Of holy Augustinians* at Solanto.*

1378[All]*O mighty sir!

1379King’Tis not to be gainsaid.†

So haste we to Nicosia, where (my son)

In lieu of* former wrongs, I’ll yield thee up

My crown and kingdom.* Your* virtuous mother

(Whom may you forever honour for her

Piety), with these true† statesmen, will enable

You to govern well.*

1380HoratioWho makes a doubt of* that?

1381KingAnd let your study, sir,* be ever watchful

To cherish virtue as to punish vice.

And see that you considerative be

Of* Sforza in the wrongs he felt by me;

His was the greatest loss.

1382SforzaSir, I have won;

My wrongs are drowned in her conversion.†

1383KingGood Sforza, see her placed as she desires

In that religious order. I have now

Plighted my troth* to heaven, and so has she.

1384[All]*O may, sir, such wedlock† ne’er broken be.

1385KingNow with such melting† silence as sweet souls

From bodies part† to immortality,

May we for better life divided be.*[They all exit.]*

The Epilogue.*n3274 The play’s epilogue makes a conventional plea for applause, though it is relatively unusual in being attributed to a particular character. Lodovico’s status within the play as Eulalia’s chief supporter makes him an appropriate spokesman for the play, which is elided with Eulalia herself.

1386LodovicoThrough much distress, and many perilous ways,

Our queen at last with more than conquering bays†

Is crowned with hearts.* But now she falls again,

And we, except her glory you maintain.

Our good depends on you, then, thus it stands:

She cheers our hearts if she but gain your hands.

Edited by Lucy Munro