Benjamin Jonson

BARTHOLOMEW FAIR

31 October 1614
Originally presented at the Hope Theatre.
Repeated the next day at court for James I (see Induction ll. 59-65).

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ADAMS

Only mentioned. Adams was a fellow-actor of Tarlton's. The stage-keeper in the Induction complains that the Author of the play does not observe the characteristics of real life in his theatrical Fair. When the stage-keeper creates a fictional image of Tarlton playing one of the cozening characters in Bartholomew Fair, he says that Adams would have played the rogue, probably Edgworth in the play.

ADAM OVERDO

Adam Overdo is a Justice of Peace, husband to Mistress Overdo, brother-in-law to Bartholomew Cokes, and guardian to Grace Wellborn. Justice Overdo has a peculiar idea of delivering justice. Since he cannot trust the incomplete and often biased reports of his officers regarding law infringement, he decides to adopt various disguises. He thinks that, by attending several potentially criminal situations, he might be better equipped to detect the wrongdoers and send them to justice. However, Justice Overdo seems to be a poor judge of character. At the Fair, he disguises himself as a madman in the hope of catching thieves. Yet, he thinks the cutpurse Edgworth is an honest young clerk, and attends two situations when Edgworth and his accomplice Nightingale collaborate to pinch Cokes' purse. Overdo cannot see the thefts, though he is present. Moreover, Overdo is accused of committing them, since he was around in his disguise as a mad preacher. In his second disguise as a porter, Overdo attends the puppet-play. He reveals himself only after Busy's interruption. Apparently, Overdo takes a bad puppet-play as the worst offense, even more harmful than robbery. Overdo gives up his intended moralizing speech when he discovers his wife dead-drunk at the Fair, dressed as a courtesan, and realizes that Quarlous has duped him. Reduced to silence, Overdo tries a final act of reconciliation by magnanimously inviting everybody to his home for supper.

ANDRONICUS

Only mentioned. Titus Andronicus is the protagonist in Shakespeare's eponymous tragedy. When Scrivener in the Induction reads the articles of the contract between the Author of Bartholomew Fair and the Spectators, he says that members of the audience are entitled to their own opinions of the play, which must be consistent and objective. The contract includes the examples of the plays featuring Jeronimo and Andronicus as models for the audience's constancy in criticism. The member of the audience who would have sworn that Andronicus (Titus Andronicus) is the best play ever written should have kept the same opinion for the past twenty-five or thirty years. The article in the contract is ironic, since by 1614 both The Spanish Tragedy and Titus Andronicus were old-fashioned, heavily rhetorical, and over-bloody Elizabethan revenge plays. However, Jonson's "twenty-five of thirty years" deliberately exaggerates the time in which these plays have been performed.

ANTICHRIST

Only mentioned. Littlewit and Mistress Littlewit report to Winwife about the zealous Puritan Busy, the other suitor to Dame Purecraft. Mistress Littlewit says that Busy blames Dame Purecraft for having let her daughter marry a Proctor, because a Proctor was "a claw of the Beast." Littlewit reports that Busy considers every line a Proctor writes to be a long black hair taken out of the tail of Antichrist. The irony addresses the Puritans' extremism, expressed in flourished language.

APOTHECARY'S WIFE

The apothecary's wife that longed to see the anatomy is a "fictional character." Mistress Littlewit's trick of pretending before Dame Purecraft that she has a craving for pig at the Fair has proved successful. Therefore, Littlewit wants to persuade his wife to pretend she longs to see other sights at the Fair. Littlewit makes the argument that his wife needs to see other things, as well as taste. He gives the fictional example of an apothecary's wife who longed to see the anatomy, pretending she had pregnant cravings. This example is inappropriate and incomplete, just as is the demand Mistress Littlewit makes. However, Dame Purecraft accepts as justifiable the request of a physiological longing for seeing things.

ARGALUS

Only mentioned. Argalus is a lover in Sir Philip Sidney's pastoral romance Arcadia. When Quarlous and Winwife argue over Grace's hand, she proposes a chance game by which she would choose her husband. Each suitor is supposed to write a secret code-name on a writing table, and the first person passing by should draw a name at random. The code-name Quarlous picks is Argalus. Argalus and Palemon are typical figures from romance, and it is ironic that Quarlous and Winwife should associate their names with such courtly paragons. When Trouble-all selects the winner, it is Palemon (Winwife).

ARTHUR of BRADLEY

Only mentioned. Arthur of Bradley was a figure in ballads who assumed the disguise of a madman. When Overdo, in his disguise as a madman, enters the area before Ursula's booth at the Fair, Mooncalf identifies him with Arthur Bradley. Mooncalf welcomes him to the Fair and Ursula offers him beer. Overdo says he wants ale for Arthur and beer for Bradley. Since ale and beer mean the same thing, so does the Justice represent one person under an assumed name. Overdo says he would be a middling thing between a fool and a madman.

AUTHOR

Author is the poet who wrote the play (Ben Jonson) and a "ghost character" in the Induction. When the stage-keeper comes before the audience, he says that the comedy is very conceited, but he is looking around lest the poet should hear his criticism. The stage-keeper says that the poet and his friend are behind the arras, and they might disapprove of such presentation of the play. The stage-keeper makes a parallel between the Fair in real life and the Bartholomew Fair on stage, saying that the play has none of the attractions of the real-life Fair. According to the stage-keeper, these master poets refuse to keep in touch with reality. When the stage-keeper tried to inform the poet about the play's insufficiency, Author kicked him, three or four times, about the tiring house. Probably the invisible Author felt it necessary to clear up the situation of his play's verisimilitude. The book-holder and the scrivener appear on stage, and the scrivener reads the articles of the contract between Author and Spectators. The contract stipulates that Author promises to show characters that exist in the real world Fair. Instead of a tooth-drawer, Author pledges to show a pig-woman with her tapster. Instead of a juggler with an ape, Author will bring in his theatrical Fair a wise Justice of Peace, a civil cutpurse, a singer of ballads, and a hypocrite. However, Author warns the spectators not to identify the play's characters with actual people. He admits to having observed certain decorum in the presentation of characters and life at the Fair. Therefore, his theatrical Fair must be as dirty as Smithfield and equally decrepit. Yet, Author wants the spectators not to infer that he deals in the same shady business as the Fair people. Author's theatrical Fair is a representation similar to and yet different from the Fair in real life.

BAAL

Only mentioned. In the Bible, Baal designated all fake gods and idols. When Busy interrupts the puppet-show, ranting against all forms of entertainment, including the theatre idol, he says the theatrical profession is damnable because it is an idol. In Busy's opinion, those who plead for the theatre actually vouch for Baal.

BACHELOR of MUSIC

The Bachelor of Music is a "ghost character." Overdo thinks a Justice of Peace must rely on other people's incomplete and improbable reports. Overdo complains that such biased reporting once made him mistake a decent young Bachelor of Music for a bawd. Despite this, Overdo is a poor judge of character, and he often misconstrues people's integrity and status.

BAWDS

The bawds at the Fair are "fictional characters." the stage-keeper in the Induction complains that the Author of the play does not observe the characteristics of real life in his theatrical Fair. Among other things, the stage-keeper says the poet does not have a bully to take care of the bawds at the Fair, as it used to be in the stage-keeper's time. Actually, the play Bartholomew Fair presents a bawd (Ursula), a pimp (Whit), and a prostitute (Punk Alice).

BOOK-HOLDER

The book-holder is a prompter and a character in the Induction. When the stage-keeper offers his advice drawing on his experience of the stage, regarding the use of characters and props from real-life Fair in the play Bartholomew Fair, the book-holder chases the stage-keeper away. When the stage-keeper exits, the book-holder says that Author has sent him before the audience, by way of a New Prologue, to draw up a contract between Author and the spectators. The book-holder invites the scrivener to read the articles of the contract.

BRETHREN

The Puritan Brethren of Banbury are "ghost characters." Banbury is a town in Oxfordshire, proverbially noted for Puritans and cakes. Littlewit informs Winwife that Dame Purecraft is entertaining Busy, whom Littlewit describes as an old elder who comes from Banbury. According to Littlewit, Busy praises the painful Brethren and says grace as long as his heart lasts him.

BRISTLE, DAVY

Davy Bristle is one of the watchmen. Bristle enters with Haggis, apparently to restore order at the Fair. Bristle tells Haggis that it appears they have come for nothing. It seems that Bristle is well acquainted with the Fair people, but is ignorant of their irony. Later, Bristle and Haggis bring Overdo/Madman to be put into the stocks. When he sees Overdo/Madman kissing the stocks in veneration, Bristle thinks he is a Catholic priest educated at the seminary, who takes the stocks to be a shrine. Bristle describes Overdo as a severe judge who can be angry at times. According to Bristle's peculiar logic, even when Justice Overdo is angry, be it right or wrong, he always has the law on his side. Bristle exits with Haggis, Poacher, and the other officers to take the madman (Overdo) and Busy before Justice Overdo. Following a drunken brawl, Bristle and the officers arrest Wasp, Northern, and Puppy. Since Whit suggests that Northern and Puppy will buy their freedom, Bristle puts only Wasp into the stocks. When Haggis enters with Overdo/Madman and Busy, they put the two prisoners into the stocks. While opening the stocks for the new prisoners, Wasp manages to escape, and Bristle and Haggis must run after him. When they return, Trouble-all creates confusion, Bristle starts fighting with the madman, and the officers forget to lock the stocks. While they are fighting, the prisoners escape. Seeing the empty stocks, Bristle blames it on witchcraft, saying that the madman was a devil and he is an ass.

BROME, RICHARD

Master Brome is a "ghost character in the Induction. Richard Brome was a servant, friend, and imitator of Ben Jonson, and a successful member of "the tribe of Ben." The stage-keeper in the Induction says that the comedy Bartholomew Fair is very conceited, but he is looking around lest the poet, or his man, Master Brome, should hear him. According to the stage-keeper, the poet and his friend are behind the arras, and they might disapprove of such presentation of the play. In 1614, Brome was still Jonson's servant. Later, he would become a playwright in his own right.

BURBAGE, RICHARD

Only mentioned. Richard Burbage (1573-1619) was one of the greatest Elizabethan actors, creator of many Shakespearean and Jonsonian characters. When Lantern/Leatherhead shows Cokes the puppets as the "actors," Cokes asks about his Burbage, meaning the best actor.

BUSY, ZEAL–OF–THE–LAND

Zeal-of-the-Land Busy is a Banbury Puritan, suitor to Dame Purecraft. Littlewit describes him as a former baker who had visions, has given over his trade AND become a zealous Puritan. Quarlous calls him a hypocrite and reports that he had debts and is a dull and arrogant fellow. It seems that Busy preaches renunciation of the pleasures of life while he secretly enjoys those pleasures in private. Busy is at Littlewit's house when Mistress Littlewit faints and says she wants to go to the Fair to eat pig. Busy follows the Littlewit party to the Fair, claiming that he will protect them from temptation. At the Fair, Busy is with the Littlewit party and enters Ursula's booth with the others to eat pig. After having ingested a huge quantity of pig, Busy rails against the vanities of the Fair. Littlewit pays Leatherhead to fetch the officers and charge Busy with disturbing the business, and the officers take the vociferous Puritan away. The officers intend to put Busy and Overdo/Madman in the stocks, but Haggis comes up with the idea of taking them before Justice Overdo. Since Justice Overdo cannot be found, they place Busy in the stocks with Overdo/Madman but do not lock them in. When Trouble-all diverts the officers' attention, Busy and Overdo/Madman run away. Busy exclaims they have been delivered by miracle. Busy enters the puppet-theatre and starts ranting against the vanity of the show. He launches into a dogmatic confutation with Puppet Dionysius and finally admits defeat only upon seeing under the puppet's costume and realizing that it is genderless. He accepts this and allows the play to go on. However, the puppet play remains unfinished, and a less zealous Busy is in the party invited to Overdo's house, where the play is expected to continue.

CERES

Only mentioned. In Greek mythology, Ceres was the goddess of fertility, mother of Proserpine. When Quarlous sees Trash at the Fair selling her gingerbread, he compares her to Ceres selling her daughter's picture in gingerbread.

CLERK

Justice Overdo's clerk is a "ghost character." Trouble-all is so obsessed with Justice Overdo that he tells Cokes he needs a written warrant from Adam Overdo, or from his clerk, in order to be able to guide him home.

COKELY

Only mentioned. Cokely was a Jacobean jester and entertainer. Speaking of the puppeteer (Lantern/Leatherhead), Trash describes him as a man who is invited at the great City suppers to represent Coryat and Cokely, making people laugh.

COKES, BARTHOLOMEW

Bartholomew Cokes is an esquire of Harrow, soon to be married to Grace Wellborn. Cokes comes to Littlewit's house, accompanied by Mistress Overdo and Grace, apparently to retrieve his marriage license. Cokes does not sparkle by his wit, and Grace is none too happy at the prospect of marrying a fool. Cokes goes to the Fair, in the company of Mistress Overdo, Grace, and Wasp. At the Fair, while Cokes listens to Overdo's anti-tobacco speech, Edgworth pinches Cokes' purse. In another scene at the Fair, Cokes admires all the junk that Leatherhead and Trash have for sale. In his naiveté, Cokes offers to buy the entire shop of Leatherhead, and Trash's gingerbread basket. Nightingale and Edgworth enter, and Cokes boasts his full purse, defying any cutpurse around. Nightingale pretends to have a spell against cutpurses. While Nightingale is singing, Edgworth tickles Cokes in the ear to make him draw his hand out of his pocket, and he pinches his purse. When Cokes notices that his purse is gone, he blames the Madman (Overdo disguised) for the theft. Cokes follows Overdo/Madman to the stocks, and he is thereby separated from his companions and becomes lost at the Fair. Cokes falls into a third trap designed by Nightingale and Edgworth, who steal his sword, cloak, and hat. Unable to find his way home, Cokes wanders to the puppet-theatre, where he sees Littlewit and asks him to lend him some money, which he uses to pay his entrance into the play. During the play, Cokes makes foolish remarks regarding the plot. In the final scene, when he learns that his marriage license is no more, Cokes seems to be easily placated with the promise of a puppet show. When Overdo invites everybody to his home for supper, Cokes tells them to bring the actors along and have the rest of the play performed there.

COLUMBUS

Only mentioned. In 1492, Christopher Columbus stepped ashore on an island in what has become known as the Americas. In the final revelation scene, Justice Overdo reveals himself under the Porter's disguise. He prepares to deliver his exemplary justice to the people at the Fair, and compares his grand discoveries to those of Columbus.

CONEY-SKIN WOMAN

The coney-skin woman of Budge Row is a "ghost character." Budge Row was a street in London where fur was sold. When Mistress Littlewit appears wearing a velvet cap, her husband admires it. He says it is much prettier than the one she used to wear, made of rough country beaver with a copper band, like the coney-skin woman's. Presumably, the coney-skin woman was a dealer in furs from Budge Row. "Budge" means lambskin fur.

CONSTABLE

The foolish constable who fails to report the lawbreakers to his superiors is a "ghost character." Overdo adopts the disguise of a madman because he believes that he cannot trust the probity of those who are responsible for reporting delinquency. Overdo holds the opinion that people in his position see and hear with other people's eyes. Therefore, Overdo thinks, a Justice of Peace must rely on the improbable report of a foolish constable. If this constable wishes to slander a gentleman out of spite, by virtue of his position the justice is forced to believe him. Bristle and Haggis are members of the watch, but a constable does not appear in the comedy.

CORIAT

Only mentioned. Thomas Coriat, or Coryate, was a Jacobean traveler and entertainer (1577-1617). His Coryat's Crudities (1611) described his extensive European journey. Speaking of the puppeteer (Lantern/Leatherhead), Trash describes him as a man who is invited at the great City suppers to represent Coryat and Cokely, making people laugh.

CORN-CUTTER

At the Fair, the corn-cutter offers to cut people's corns on their feet and toes. Like the other participants at the Fair, he advertises his trade.

COSTER-MONGER

Coster-monger shouts his wares at the Fair, inviting people to buy his pears from his cart. Edgworth arranges with Coster-monger to help the thieves trick Cokes a third time. Thus, Coster-monger enters crying his pears in Cokes' presence. When Coster-monger passes before Nightingale, the rascal trips him and makes him fall with his basket of pears. Cokes helps Coster-monger pick the pears and gives his sword, cloak, and hat to Nightingale, who runs away with them. While Cokes cries that he has been robbed, Coster-monger asks the gentleman to pay for his products. Instructed by Edgworth, Coster-monger goes to Ursula's booth, where he is to collect his pay for his part in the trick.

CUNNING-MAN

The cunning-man in Cow Lane is a "ghost character." He is a soothsayer who, according to Mistress Littlewit, has predicted Dame Purecraft's future. He cast her nativity water and prophesied that she must marry a madman within the week. Under the suggestion of the prophecy, Dame Purecraft falls in love with the madman, Trouble-all, and ends up marrying Quarlous, who has wooed her disguised as Trouble-all.

CUPID

The god of love in Greek mythology appears in Littlewit's derisive puppet-play. Being metamorphosed into a drawer, Cupid strikes Hero in love with a pint of sherry instead of his magic arrows.

CUTTING, VAL

Val Cutting is a roarer. According to Edgworth, Cutting helps Captain Whit to roar. In addition, Cutting is a "circling boy," and his role is that of a thief's bully or decoy. At the Fair, Cutting is in the company of Wasp, Knockem, Northern, Puppy, and Whit. They play a game of "vapours," which is nonsense: every person has to oppose the last person that spoke, whether it concerned them or not. In fact, it is a confusion-generating activity enhanced by a large amount of drinking. During the commotion created by the drunken brawl, Edgworth steals the marriage license out of Wasp's box, while Knockem and Whit steal all the men's cloaks. Since the game of "vapours" invariably ends in a fight, all men draw their swords, taking off their cloaks. So, Knockem gathers all the cloaks and Whit takes them away. After the brawl, Cutting leaves with Quarlous.

DAGON

Only mentioned. Dagon was the god of the Philistines, and the term is used of an idol in general. When Busy interrupts the puppet-show, ranting against all forms of entertainment, including the theatre idol, he compares the puppet-play with a Dagon and an idol.

DAME ANNESSH CLARE

Only mentioned. Annis Clare was a rich London widow, and a spring was named after her. When Whit invites Mistress Littlewit to sample Ursula's porcine wears, he says the lady will have the clean side of the table, and a dry glass washed with water from Dame Annessh Clare. Since Whit's accent is "stage Irish," he seems to have a problem with pronouncing sibilants and the name is distorted, but recognizable.

DAME PURECRAFT

Dame Purecraft is a rich widow, mother to Win Littlewit. Winwife and Busy are her suitors. Littlewit says his mother-in-law is a hypocrite, who has maintained him and his wife in style for the seven years since they have been married. When Mistress Littlewit wants to go to the Fair, she pretends to faint before Dame Purecraft, who becomes worried about her daughter's condition. Win pretends she has a craving for pig, and Dame Purecraft agrees to accompany her daughter and Littlewit to the Fair. At the Smithfield Fair, Dame Purecraft's primary occupation is to reinforce the injunctions of purity preached by Busy. Dame Purecraft and the Littlewit party quench their desire for pig at Ursula's booth. When the they leave Ursula's booth, Dame Purecraft reports to Busy that her daughter has some new longing to see some sights in the Fair. When the officers take Busy away for being overzealous and impeding trade, Dame Purecraft follows them. Dame Purecraft finds Busy in the stocks, next to Overdo disguised as a madman. She watches as Trouble-all, in his madness, creates confusion and the prisoners escape. Dame Purecraft declares that she has fallen in love with the madman (having earlier received a prophecy that she should marry a madman). Dame Purecraft enters the puppet-theatre with Quarlous (now disguised as Trouble-all). Dame Purecraft reveals herself as a rich widow who is in love with him, and she performs a complete confession of her sins. In her relationship with the false madman, Dame Purecraft ceases to be a hypocrite. When Quarlous reveals himself and thanks Justice Overdo for his wife, Dame Purecraft appears pleased with the marital arrangement.

DAMON

Only mentioned. Damon and Pythias are two legendary faithful friends of ancient Greece, who were ready to die for each other. Their names are symbols of friendship. Cokes reads the playbill of the puppet play to be performed at the Fair, which says "The ancient modern history of Hero and Leander, otherwise called The Touchstone of True Love, with as true a trial of friendship between Damon and Pythias, two faithful friends o' the Bankside." When Lantern/Leatherhead shows Cokes the puppets as the "actors," the puppeteer says the one with a beard is Damon. Puppet Damon has a role in the play-within-the-play. In his imaginary game with the silly objects purchased from Leatherhead, Cokes assigns the representation of Damon to the drum.

DAVY

Davy is a "fictional character" in the Induction. "Little Davy" was a well-known bully in Elizabethan London. The stage-keeper in the Induction complains that the Author of the play does not observe the characteristics of real life in his theatrical Fair. Among other things, the stage-keeper says the poet does not have a "little Davy" to take care of the bawds at the Fair, as it used to be in the stage-keeper's time. Actually, the play Bartholomew Fair does present a pimp, Whit, but he is rather a con man than a bully.

DEACONS

The Deacons of the congregation of Puritan Brethren are "ghost characters." When Dame Purecraft wants to prove her love for the madman Trouble-all (Quarlous in disguise), she makes a complete confession of her transgressions. Besides telling him that she is a rich widow, Dame Purecraft says that she is by office an assisting sister of the Deacons, and a consumer, instead of a distributor, of alms. Apparently the Deacons and their assistants shared the money raised from charity.

DELIA

Only mentioned. Delia is the name of the lady in Samuel Daniel's sonnet sequence. At the puppet-theatre, in an attempt to impress upon her that she is a romantic lady, not an ordinary wife, Edgworth tells Mistress Littlewit that she is a greater lady than Delia ever was. However, since he refers to a fictional character in a sonnet sequence, Edgworth points to the spuriousness of Mistress Littlewit's impersonation.

DIONYSIUS

Only mentioned. King Dionysius, a tyrant of Syracuse who turned into the friend of the two protagonists Damon and Pythias. Cokes reads the playbill of the puppet play to be performed at the Fair, which says "The ancient modern history of Hero and Leander, otherwise called The Touchstone of True Love, with as true a trial of friendship between Damon and Pythias, two faithful friends o' the Bankside." When Lantern/Leatherhead shows Cokes the puppets as the "actors," the puppeteer says that one puppet is the ghost of King Dionysius in the habit of a scrivener. Puppet Dionysius has a role in the play-within-the-play. In his imaginary game with the silly objects purchased from Leatherhead as a hobbyhorse seller, Cokes assigns the representation of the ghost of Dionysius to the pipe.

DRAKE, SIR FRANCIS

Only mentioned. Sir Francis Drake (1543-96) was the first Englishman to sail around the world. In the final revelation scene, Justice Overdo reveals himself under the Porter's disguise. He prepares to deliver his exemplary justice to the people at the Fair, and compares his grand discoveries to those of his countryman Drake.

EDGWORTH, EZEKIEL

Ezekiel Edgworth is a cutpurse and a con man. Edgworth keeps company with Nightingale, Corn-cutter, Tinderbox-man, and other participants at the Fair. When Overdo/Madman asks Mooncalf about Edgworth, whose appearance is that of a smooth young man, the servant misrepresents the cutpurse's personality to Overdo. Thus, Overdo believes Edgworth is an honest clerk. Meantime, Edgworth is whispering to Nightingale to take all the purses and other goods they stole to Ursula's booth, where they will meet at night to share. While Cokes listens in admiration to Overdo's anti-tobacco speech, Edgworth picks Cokes' purse. He gives the purse to Nightingale, and slips off discreetly during the confusion created when the madman (Overdo disguised) is accused of the robbery. In the encounter with Cokes' second purse, Edgworth lies in waiting while Nightingale pretends to sing a spell against cutpurses. Though Cokes is cautious and keeps his hand in his pocket, Edgworth tickles him in the ear with a straw and makes him draw his hand out of his pocket. When he sees Overdo trying to steal away, for fear of being accused of the robbery a second time, Edgworth points to the madman as the culprit. Since Quarlous and Winwife saw the theft, and Quarlous threatened him with disclosure, Edgworth agrees to steal the box containing Grace's marriage license from Wasp. While Wasp is in merry company during a drunken brawl, Edgworth steals the marriage certificate from the box. Edgworth goes to the puppet-theatre with Whit, Knockem, and Mistresses Overdo and Littlewit, masked. Edgworth courts the masked Mistress Littlewit. Justice Overdo reveals his disguise, telling Edgworth to stay next to him, since Overdo still believes Edgworth an honest young man. The cutpurse thinks he has been discovered, but he remains silent, and becomes one of the guests for dinner at Overdo's house.

EPILOGUE

The Epilogue addresses his Majesty, who is entreated to judge the comedy. Since the King knows the scope and the extent of the writers' attributes, which must not be expanded into license, the sovereign is asked to say whether the actors have used the king's permit appropriately. The Epilogue declares that only the King has the power to judge the play, being free from the envy existing among theatre people. If this particular play has managed to please the King, then the troupe is happy and their purpose has been accomplished. This was probably delivered during the court presentation following the opening at the Hope playhouse.

FIDDLERS

The fiddlers of London are "ghost characters." When Quarlous shows his displeasure at the fact that Winwife has been up so early, and is already at Littlewit's house to court Dame Purecraft, Quarlous says disparagingly that only a scattered covey of fiddlers would have been up at such an early hour.

FIELD, NATHAN

Only mentioned. Nathan Field (1587-1619) was an actor, dramatist, and friend of Jonson. He was probably a member of the original cast of Bartholomew Fair. When Lantern/Leatherhead shows Cokes the puppets as the "actors," Cokes asks about his Burbage, meaning the best actor. The puppeteer does not seem to understand the reference, so Cokes is more explicit, asking about his best actor, his Field. It seems likely that Lantern/Leatherhead prefers Field, and that is why he probably feigned to misunderstand the reference to Burbage. It has also been suggested that Field played either Leatherhead or Cokes.

FILCHER

Goodman Filcher is a doorkeeper at the puppet theatre in the Fair. Filcher and Sharkwell help the puppeteer (Leatherhead) to erect the puppet theatre. Lantern\Leatherhead tells them to beat the drum in order to attract customers. Apparently, Filcher's role is to observe the audience and to keep order, while Sharkwell collects the money. When he sees Cokes, Filcher invites him in, telling him that they will take his money within. When Littlewit wants to enter the theatre, Filcher says he must pay, but Sharkwell recognizes him as the author of the play and lets him go in free.

FURIES

Only mentioned. When Quarlous and Winwife see Ursula angry, because Mooncalf has not brought her tobacco yet, Winwife says she looks like the mother of the Furies. Quarlous says she is too fat to be a Fury, and she rather looks like some walking sow. In Greek mythology, the Furies were the goddesses of vengeance.

GENTLEMAN

The Gentleman who is slandered in the report drawn by a biased and foolish constable is a "ghost character." Overdo thinks that a Justice of Peace must rely on the improbable report of foolish constables. If these constables wish to slander a gentleman out of spite, by virtue of their position the justice is forced to believe them.

GRACE WELLBORN

Grace Wellborn is Adam Overdo's ward, soon to be married to Bartholomew Cokes. Grace is not enthusiastic about the marriage because Cokes is a fool, but her uncle has got her into a legal situation in which she must either marry Cokes or relinquish her lands. Grace accompanies Cokes and his sister to Littlewit's house so Cokes may retrieve their marriage certificate. Though unwilling, Grace agrees to go with her foolish fiancé and his sister to the Fair. At the Fair, Grace is in the Cokes party when Edgworth pinches Cokes' first and second purse. When Grace explains the reason why she needs to be in possession of the marriage certificate, Quarlous proposes that Edgworth steal the box containing the it from Wasp. Grace's guardian, Justice Overdo wanted to marry her off to his brother-in-law, or else she was obliged to pay value of her land. The legal situation is such that Grace must either marry Cokes or forfeit her land unless, as Quarlous suggests, she can prove that Cokes is her inferior and that marriage to him would be a "disparagement." Quarlous and Winwife become Grace's suitors, and they quarrel over her hand. Grace devises a game in which each suitor should write a code name on a writing-tablet, and let the first person passing by choose between them. Trouble-all makes the random choice, and Winwife is chosen. Grace and Winwife enter the puppet-theatre of the Fair and attend the puppet play. In the final revelation scene, Grace hears that Quarlous has won her by a warrant from Justice Overdo, yet she must refuse the marriage because Winwife is the winner of the fortune game. Therefore, she must give away her land to Quarlous. Hearing that she is to be married to an impecunious but lucky man, Grace remains speechless. Grace and Winwife are among the guests invited to Overdo's house for supper.

GREAT LADY

The great lady is a "fictional character." In the Induction, the scrivener reads the articles of the contract between Author and the spectators. The contract stipulates that Author warns the spectators against identifying characters in the play with actual people. In conclusion, the pig-woman (Ursula) must not be taken to represent a great lady of real life. Ironically, Ursula does have some of the mannerisms of authoritative ladies, commanding everybody around and being carried away in her chair as if it were a throne.

GROCER

The grocer in London is a "ghost character." When Quarlous hears from Littlewit a description of Busy's over-zealous religious personality, he says that Busy is a hypocrite. Quarlous gives an example of a grocer in Newgate market, cheated by Busy, then a baker. According to Quarlous, the grocer trusted Busy with some currants, but then broke with him, probably because Busy failed to pay for the order.

HAGGIS, TOBY

Toby Haggis is a member of the watch. Haggis appears with Bristle to restore order at the Fair, apparently at Whit's summons. After having proved their superior intelligence in front of the Fair people, Haggis and Bristle leave. Later, Haggis and Bristle bring in the madman (alias Overdo) to be put into the stocks. When Trouble-all keeps asking for a warrant from Justice Overdo, Haggis discusses with Bristle the stern justice that Overdo delivers. When Poacher and other officers bring in Busy to be put on the stocks, Haggis says they will take both prisoners before Justice Overdo. Haggis and the officers leave with Overdo/Madman and Busy, but they cannot find Justice Overdo. Wasp manages to get away by using a trick, and Haggis and Bristle must run after him, leaving the two prisoners in the stocks. When they return, Bristle says he forgot if he had locked the stocks. Since Trouble-all is confusing them with his questions, Bristle and Haggis leave the lock open and the prisoners escape while the officers are fighting with the madman. Seeing that the prisoners have escaped Haggis and the other members of the watch blame it on witchcraft, and they do not follow the runaways.

HEIRS

The heirs who are cozened by Busy are "ghost characters." When Dame Purecraft wants to prove her love for the madman Trouble-all (Quarlous in disguise), she makes a complete confession of her transgressions. Besides telling him she is a rich widow, Dame Purecraft says that the Puritan Elder Busy would marry her, but she knows him to be a capital knave. According to Dame Purecraft's report, one of his illicit ways of gaining his fortune is by making the rich Brethren of the Puritan congregation appoint him a guardian to their estates. When the owners die, Busy is left in trust of the estate, and he converts the trust into his own property.

HERCULES

Only mentioned. Hercules was the strongest and most celebrated hero of classical mythology. Eurystheus ordered him to perform the tasks known as the twelve labors of Hercules. In the final revelation scene, Justice Overdo reveals himself under the Porter's disguise. He prepares to deliver his exemplary justice to the people at the Fair, and compares his great labors in the field of delivering justice with the labors of Hercules.

HERO

Only mentioned. Hero and Leander were two legendary lovers who died tragically. Though Ovid wrote about Hero and Leander in his Metamorphoses, the puppet play is a travesty of Marlowe's poem Hero and Leander and of Richard Edwards' old-fashioned play. Cokes reads the playbill of the puppet play to be performed at the Fair, which says "The ancient modern history of Hero and Leander, otherwise called The Touchstone of True Love, with as true a trial of friendship between Damon and Pythias, two faithful friends o' the Bankside." When he speaks to Cokes about the play, Littlewit, the author of the puppet-play, imagines Hero as a wench of the Bankside. While she is going to Old Fish Street one morning, Leander falls in love with her. In his imaginary game with the silly objects purchased from Leatherhead as a hobbyhorse seller, Cokes assigns the representation of Hero to the fiddle.

HOBBY-HORSE MAN

The hobbyhorse man at a real-life Fair is a "fictional character." the stage-keeper in the Induction complains that the Author of the play does not observe the characteristics of real life in his theatrical Fair. Among other things, the stage-keeper says the poet does not have a hobbyhorse man creeping from behind the canvas to take his leap into the she-neighbor's lap. Actually, the play does have a character as a hobbyhorse man (Leatherhead in disguise), but he does no such things.

JAMES I

Only mentioned. King James I is part of a hypothetical elect audience at a Fair in real life. The stage-keeper in the Induction complains that the Author of the play does not observe the characteristics of real life in his theatrical Fair. Among other things, the stage-keeper says the poet does not have a Juggler with an educated ape to come over the chain for the King and the personalities attending the Fair. In the play, the King's authority is invoked when Overdo says he has taken the disguise of a madman to spy on the wrongdoers and take them to justice, in the name of the King and the Commonwealth. The play's Prologue and Epilogue are addressed to the King, and he was in the audience of Bartholomew Fair. The comedy was first acted by the Lady Elizabeth's Men at the Hope Theatre, Bankside, on 31 October 1614, and was played at Court the following day.

JERONIMO

Only mentioned. Jeronimo is a character in Kyd's The Spanish Tragedy. When Scrivener in the Induction reads the articles of the contract between the Author of Bartholomew Fair and the spectators, he says that members of the audience are entitled to their own opinions of the play, which must be consistent and objective. The contract includes the examples of the plays featuring Jeronimo and Andronicus as models for the audience's constancy in criticism. The member of the audience who would have sworn that Jeronimo (The Spanish Tragedy) is the best play ever written, should have kept the same opinion for the past twenty-five or thirty years. The article in the contract is ironic, since by 1614 both The Spanish Tragedy and Titus Andronicus were old-fashioned, heavily rhetorical, and over-bloody Elizabethan revenge plays. However, Jonson's "twenty-five of thirty years" deliberately exaggerates the time in which these plays have been performed.

JOHN LITTLEWIT

John Littlewit is a Proctor. According to the stage-keeper in the Induction, Littlewit is an officer at the Court of Arches, the ecclesiastical court of appeal, and he lives near St. Bartholomew Hospital in Smithfield. At his house, Littlewit reads the marriage license he has drawn between Bartholomew Cokes and Grace Wellborn. When Cokes comes to retrieve his marriage license, Littlewit ridicules the foolish young man. When the Cokes party goes to the Fair, Littlewit tells his wife to join him there. Littlewit is the author of a puppet-play, which is a burlesque of the genre, and he wants to see it performed at the Fair. At the Fair, Littlewit enters with his party to eat pig at Ursula's. When he exits Ursula's booth, Littlewit pays Leatherhead to rid him of Busy. When the officers arrest Busy on the charge of impeding the trade in the Fair, Littlewit feels free to enjoy the Fair alone. Telling his wife to stay with Knockem and Whit, whom he considers trustworthy persons, Littlewit goes to check on the puppet-show. Littlewit enters the puppet-theatre at the Fair and sees Cokes, to whom he lends some money. Littlewit introduces the puppeteer to Cokes, and presents his version of the parody of Hero and Leander as a puppet-play. Littlewit exits to fetch his wife to see the show. He re-enters the puppet-theatre only when the play is no longer on, asking everyone if they have seen his wife. When Overdo reveals Mistress Littlewit under the disguise of a lady of pleasure, Littlewit remains wisely silent. Littlewit and his wife will be among the guests for supper at Overdo's house.

JUGGLER

The Juggler in the Induction is a "fictional character." the stage-keeper in the Induction complains that the Author of the play does not observe the characteristics of real life in his theatrical Fair. Among other things, the stage-keeper says the poet does not have a Juggler with an educated ape to come over the chain for the King and the personalities attending the Fair.

JUNIUS BRUTUS

Only mentioned. Lucius Junius Brutus lived in the sixth century BC and was nephew to Tarquinius Superbus. In order to escape execution at the hands of Tarquinius Superbus, he disguised himself as an idiot. Junius Brutus was also famous as an inflexible judge. When Overdo enters the Fair disguised as a madman, in order to detect the wrongdoers and bring them to justice, he compares himself to Junius Brutus. Justice Overdo's two-fold identification with this Roman personage is manifested in his profession as a judge, and his idea of disguising himself as an idiot.

KINDHEART

Kindheart is a "fictional character" in the Induction. Kindheart was an itinerant tooth-drawer in Elizabethan times. The stage-keeper in the Induction complains that the Author of the play does not observe the characteristics of real life in his theatrical Fair. Among other things, the stage-keeper says the poet does not have a Kindheart among his characters, as it used to be in the stage-keeper's time. The stage-keeper holds the view that the stage-world and the real world are one, and he thinks the tooth-drawer might pull people's teeth, if anybody's teeth happened to ache during the play.

KING of SPAIN

Only mentioned. The King of Spain is part of a hypothetical elect audience at a Fair in real life. The stage-keeper in the Induction complains that the Author of the play does not observe the characteristics of real life in his theatrical Fair. Among other things, the stage-keeper says the poet does not have a Juggler with an educated ape to come over the chain for the King, the Prince, and back again for the Pope and the King of Spain attending the Fair.

KNOCKEM, JORDAN

Jordan Knockem is a horse-dealer and a ranger of Turnbull. Knockem is an accomplice of Edgworth in stealing the customers' purses. When Knockem sees Quarlous and Winwife, he invites them for a pipe of tobacco. In the ensuing fight, spurred by Knockem and Ursula, Edgworth attempts to rob Quarlous and Winwife, but he reports they had no money. After the fight, Knockem leaves with Mooncalf and Leatherhead. When Knockem spies the Cokes party approaching Ursula's booth, he invites the customers in, praising the cooking and the ale. While Ursula thinks they are not good drinking clients, Knockem tells her they are hypocrites and good gluttons. At the Fair, Knockem is in the company of Wasp, Cutting, Northern, Puppy, and Whit. They play a game of "vapours," which is nonsense: every person has to oppose the last person that spoke, whether it concerned them or not. During the commotion created by the drunken brawl, Knockem and Whit steal all the men's cloaks. After the brawl, Knockem leaves. Knockem, Whit, and Ursula plot to persuade Mistress Overdo and Mistress Littlewit to disguise as ladies of pleasure for the gallants. Knockem enters the puppet-theatre with Whit, Edgworth, and Mistresses Overdo and Littlewit, masked. In the final scene, when Overdo reveals himself, Knockem and Wasp want to steal away, but Overdo tells them to stay. Knockem will be one of the guests for supper at Overdo's house.

KNOX, JOHN

Only mentioned. John Knox was the Scots' religious leader. When Mistress Littlewit calls her husband a fool-John, Quarlous takes the allusion to refer to the Puritans' excessive religious zeal. Quarlous launches in a long speech about the sexual unattractiveness of the widows Winwife pursues. These widows lead a religious life full of deprivation. At one point, Quarlous describes the life of the Puritans, who listen to arid sermons on the issue of predestination, while their strict wives moderate the discussion with a cup of wine and a sentence out of Knox. These wives provide the pool of rich widows available for Winwife's selection.

LADY

The lady who longed to spit in the great lawyer's mouth is a "fictional character." Littlewit makes the argument that his wife needs to see other things at the Fair. He gives the fictional example of a lady that, pretending she had pregnant cravings, desired to spit in the lawyer's mouth after an eloquent pleading. This example is inappropriate and unbecoming, just as the demand Mistress Littlewit makes. However, Dame Purecraft accepts as justifiable the request of a physiological longing for seeing things.

LANTERN

Lantern is the name Leatherhead assumes as a puppeteer. While he erects the puppet-theatre with Filcher and Sharkwell, Lantern/Leatherhead instructs Filcher to beat the drum and attract the customers. When Cokes enters the puppet-theatre, and Littlewit follows shortly after, Leatherhead whispers to Littlewit to call him Lantern in this puppeteer impersonation. Lantern/Leatherhead presents the prologue of the puppet-play Hero and Leander, which is a burlesque of the genre. The puppeteer intervenes in the dialogue with the puppet-characters. He has an argument with Puppet Cole, who strikes him over his head. Lantern/Leatherhead responds to Cokes' comments during the play. When Puppet Damon and Puppet Pythias start fighting, Lantern/Leatherhead joins in, and even fuels the fight. Lantern/Leatherhead as narrator continues the story, saying that the tragic encounter raised up the ghost of Dionysius, in the form of a schoolmaster, who chides the two friends for their rash behavior. The puppet-play is interrupted when Busy walks into the show, ranting against the vanity of the theatre idol. Lantern/Leatherhead suggests that his Puppet Dionysius should undertake a philosophical disputation with the Puritan. Lantern/Leatherhead plays the interpreter between the language of the theatre, represented by the Puppet Dionysius, and the real world. Actually, he only repeats the questions Puppet Dionysius asks. When Busy admits defeat, Lantern/Leatherhead urges him to let the play go on. When Overdo reveals himself, Lantern/Leatherhead is speechless. He will be one of the guests for supper at Overdo's house.

LEANDER

Only mentioned. Hero and Leander were two legendary lovers who died tragically on the shore of the Hellespont. Though Ovid wrote about Hero and Leander in his Metamorphoses, the puppet play is a travesty of Marlowe's poem Hero and Leander and of Richard Edwards' old-fashioned play. Cokes reads the playbill of the puppet play to be performed at the Fair, which says "The ancient modern history of Hero and Leander, otherwise called The Touchstone of True Love, with as true a trial of friendship between Damon and Pythias, two faithful friends o' the Bankside." When he speaks to Cokes about the play, Littlewit, the author of the puppet-play, imagines Leander as a dyer from the Bankside who spies Hero at Trig Stars and falls in love with her. Instead of Abydos, the original place of the legendary Leander, the Prologue of the puppet-play presents him as the son of a dyer at Puddle Wharf. In his imaginary game with the silly objects purchased from Leatherhead as a hobbyhorse seller, Cokes assigns the representation of Leander to the fiddle-stick.

LEATHERHEAD

Leatherhead is a hobbyhorse seller. While the people at the Fair begin to erect their booths and stalls, Leatherhead advertises his wares as everybody else. Leatherhead and Trash are present during most situations of stealing and deceiving people. When Quarlous and Winwife get into a fight provoked by Knockem to distract their attention, so that Edgworth might pinch their purses, Leatherhead and Trash attend the scene. When Ursula is wounded in the fight, Leatherhead carries Ursula in a chair to her booth, together with Knockem and Mooncalf. In another scene at the Fair, Leatherhead, Trash, and others sit at their booths and stalls, when the officers enter, apparently to restore order. Whit asks Leatherhead the time, but the peddler treats the officers with contempt, telling them he has a business to run. Leatherhead offers his wares to the Littlewit party. These consist of rattles, drums, babies, little dogs and birds for ladies, purses, and pipes. Cokes wants to buy everything he has for sale, and Leatherhead is eager to please him. Leatherhead witnesses the two scenes in which Cokes is robbed. When the Littlewit party leaves Ursula's booth, and Busy rails against the vanities of the Fair, Leatherhead fetches the officers. Having been paid by Littlewit to rid him of the zealous Puritan, Leatherhead pretends that Busy's zeal impedes the trade in the Fair. While packing his seller's stall, Leatherhead tells Trash nobody will recognize him under his new disguise. Leatherhead is disguised as a puppeteer, using the name of Lantern.

LITTLEWIT

Family name of John and Win.

LYNCEUS

Only mentioned. In Greek mythology, Lynceus was one of the Argonauts, famous for his keen eye. When Overdo enters the Fair disguised as a madman, in order to detect the wrongdoers and bring them to justice, he says he defies anyone who could recognize him under his disguise. Even if this person had met Lynceus, the eagle's eye, still they could not have recognized Justice Overdo in his madman's disguise. Overdo's logic is doubtful, transferring Lynceus' excellent seeing quality to someone who only met the legendary hero.

MADCAP–GENTLEMAN

The young madcap-gentleman supposed to marry Dame Purecraft according to the prophecy is a "fictional character." Mistress Littlewit announces Winwife that her mother believes the cunning-man's prediction that she must marry a madman very soon and she even went to the madhouse in search of one. Littlewit observes that the prediction might be equivocal, and it might mean that Dame Purecraft is to marry a young madcap-gentleman. Littlewit believes that Quarlous fits the description. Ironically, Dame Purecraft ends up married to Quarlous, who conquers her disguised as the madman Trouble-all.

MADMAN

Overdo is disguised as a Madman at the Fair. While the people at the Fair begin to erect their booths, Overdo overhears the argument between Leatherhead and Trash, in which the hobbyhorse man threatens the gingerbread woman to report her to Justice Overdo. Overdo is glad that his name spreads terror among the people of the Fair. Though he attends many events at the Fair, Overdo/Madman is susceptible to gross misrepresentations and false reports. When he hears Ursula calling Knockem a cutpurse, he asks information from Mooncalf, who says that Ursula is just joking. Similarly, Overdo/Madman thinks Edgworth is an honest young man, a report corroborated by Mooncalf as well. However, Overdo does not see the three robberies happening before his eyes, all conducted by Edgworth, and he is in fact accused of two them himself. The first is during a fight, provoked by Knockem as a diversion, so that Edgworth could pinch Quarlous and Winwife's purses. This robbery did not succeed, because the two young men did not carry money. While Overdo/Madman delivers his anti-tobacco speech, Edgworth pinches Cokes' purse. Wasp thinks the mad orator is an accomplice of the thieves and starts beating him. In another part of the Fair, Overdo/Madman enters alone, admitting that he deserved the beating because he has been the cause of Cokes' purse being lost. When another diversion is created for the Cokes party, during which Edgworth pinches Cokes' second purse, Overdo/Madman anticipates that he is going to be accused of the theft and steals away. However, Mistress Overdo observes that the madman is trying to escape and draws the others' suspicion upon him. He is taken away and put into the stocks next to Busy, but the prisoners manage to escape when the officers are distracted by Trouble-all.

MAGELLAN

Only mentioned. The first European to sail across the Pacific Ocean and the first to discover a route by which ships could sail a complete circle around the world, Ferdinand Magellan was the Portuguese navigator for whom the Strait of Magellan is named. In the final revelation scene, Justice Overdo discovers himself under the Porter's disguise. He prepares to deliver his exemplary justice to the people at the Fair, and compares his grand discoveries to those of Magellan.

MARROW-BONE MAN

The early-rising marrowbone man selling his wares in the marketplace is a "ghost character." When Quarlous shows his displeasure at the fact that Winwife has been up so early, and is already at Littlewit's house to court Dame Purecraft, Quarlous says disparagingly that only the marrowbone man would have been up at such an early hour.

MASTER of the REVELS

A "ghost character." The Master of the Revels was the official of the Court whose duties included licensing all plays. Busy interrupts the puppet-show, ranting against all forms of entertainment, including the theatre idol. Lantern/Leatherhead replies he has the official approval of the Master of the Revels to put on the puppet-show. Busy distorts the reference, calling the Court official the "Master of the Rebels," enforcing his idea that all actors are rebels against the good faith.

MERCURY

Only mentioned. Quarlous compares Edgworth to Mercury. This is an appropriate nickname for the cutpurse since the messenger-god was swift of foot and thieving.

MERMAID MEN

The men hanging about the taverns Three Cranes, Mitre, and Mermaid are "ghost characters." When Littlewit admires his wife's fashionable dress, he says there is no man in the diocese that ever had the fortune to win such a Win. The pun is on his wife's name, and Littlewit observes he has used a conceit. He blames himself for it and condemns all the pretenders to wit, such as the Mermaid men. According to Littlewit, these men are tasteless, no salt and mustard to them all. They may pretend to be witty, but they are not, and cannot stand the challenge of a "justice of wit" as he is. Since Mermaid Tavern was Jonson's particular haunt, the reference can be taken as self-ironic.

MINISTER

The silent minister is a "fictional character." When Dame Purecraft wants to prove her love for the madman Trouble-all (Quarlous in disguise), she makes a complete confession of her transgressions. Besides telling him she is a rich widow, Dame Purecraft says that the virgins whom she had helped to get rich by marrying them off to the wealthy widowers of the congregation would never dare to report her. Since she counseled them to steal from their husbands and transfer the money into their accounts, Dame Purecraft is sure their interest is to keep silent. In her turn, Dame Purecraft would never pronounce reprobation or damnation unto them, because she has everything to gain from her silence. The bond of illicit dealings is so strong between these women that Dame Purecraft uses a convincing comparison for the law of silence. Rather than breaking their bargain, the women may sooner turn a scolding blabbermouth into a silent minister. The improbability of such a transformation shows the strength of the bond between Dame Purecraft and the enriched widows for the purpose of illicit dealings.

MIRROR of MAGISTRATES

The fictitious judge who might be a paragon of magistrates is a "fictional character." In the Induction, the scrivener reads the articles of the contract between Author and the spectators. The contract stipulates that Author warns the spectators against identifying characters in the play with actual people. In conclusion, the Justice of Peace (Overdo) must not be taken to represent a fictional and ideal "Mirror of Magistrates," an exemplary judge. The reference is probably an allusion to A Mirror of Magistrates, a sixteenth-century collection of exemplary stories about the fall of rulers. A work by Whetstone of this title advised the magistrate to disguise himself and frequent places of entertainment to discover what happened there, as Justice Overdo does (to so little effect) in Bartholomew Fair. Ironically, in his pomposity, Overdo refers to himself as a mirror of magistrates.

MOONCALF

Mooncalf is Ursula's tapster. At the Fair, while the people begin to erect their stalls and booths, Ursula demands her chair, her morning ale, and her pipe from Mooncalf. When Overdo appears in his disguise as a madman, Mooncalf identifies him as a Puritan preacher. Overdo/Madman hears the furious Ursula calling Knockem a cutpurse, and he asks Mooncalf about it. Mooncalf says Knockem is a ranger, and Ursula's accusation is just a part of her mannerism. It seems that Mooncalf's reports to Overdo are constant sources of misrepresentation. When Overdo/Madman asks Mooncalf about Edgworth, whom he sees as an honest clerk, Mooncalf calls Edgworth "a civil young gentleman." Mooncalf notices that the madman (Overdo) looks very sad, probably because nobody talks to him, and he offers some tobacco to Overdo. Mooncalf seems genuinely well meaning, but his benevolent actions end in gross misrepresentations. During the fight provoked by Knockem, with the purpose of distracting Quarlous and Winwife and having Edgworth rob them, Ursula is scalded and Mooncalf seems sincerely worried. He tends to the wound at once, and sends Trash to fetch some cream. Mooncalf leaves with Knockem, Whit, and Ursula into the booth to attend to the customers.

MORRIS-DANCERS

The morris-dancers that seem to conspire against the Puritans by scorning them are "ghost characters." Busy believes that all the dancers have associated with the stage-players and the poets in a conspiracy of contempt against the Brethren and the Cause, using the mean instruments of their show.

NEBUCHADNEZZAR

Only mentioned. The zealous Puritan Busy addresses invectives to Leatherhead, calling his hobbyhorse a rank idol. In Busy's opinion, the hobbyhorse man was the proud Nebuchadnezzar of the Fair. Nebuchadnezzar was a Babylonian ruler, mentioned in the Bible, who enforced the worshipping of idols.

NEPTUNE

Only mentioned. When Quarlous sees Knockem at the Fair, Winwife recognizes him as the roaring horse-courser. Since Winwife tries to persuade his friend to avoid the rascal, Quarlous says he would talk to Knockem, even if he cries louder than a storm provoked by Neptune.

NIGHTINGALE

Nightingale is a ballad singer and an accomplice to Edgworth. At the Fair, Nightingale advertises his wares as everybody else, only in rhymed couplets. He invites customers to buy new ballads. Making a show of selling his ballads, Nightingale whispers to Edgworth about the disposal of the stolen goods. It seems that Nightingale distracts the customers' attention with his singing, while Edgworth pinches their purses. Then, Nightingale takes over the stolen things and takes them to Ursula's booth. Nightingale attends the fight provoked by Knockem with the purpose of distracting Quarlous and Winwife, and having Edgworth rob them. While Cokes listens in admiration to Overdo's anti-tobacco speech, Edgworth picks Cokes' purse and gives it to Nightingale with the instruction to take it to Ursula's. Nightingale leaves discreetly. Later, while Nightingale sings his song, a spell against cutpurses, Edgworth steals Cokes' second purse. Edgworth gives the purse to Nightingale. Without giving the others time to say something, Edgworth starts abusing the poet, telling him to go away. Thus, Nightingale exits the crime scene with the stolen purse. When Cokes enters alone and rather lost, Nightingale tells the naïve young man that he is practicing a new tune, Nightingale makes Coster-monger trip and fall with his basket of pears. When Cokes offers to help him pick up the pears, Nightingale volunteers to hold Cokes' cloak and sword, running away with the things.

NORTHERN

Northern is a clothier. According to Edgworth, he comes from the north and is fond of drinking. At the Fair, Northern is in the company of Wasp, Knockem, Cutting, Puppy, and Whit. They play a game of "vapours," which is nonsense: every person has to oppose the last person that spoke, whether it concerned them or not. In fact, it is a confusion-generating activity enhanced by a lot of drinking. During the confusion created by the drunken brawl, Edgworth steals the marriage license out of Wasp's box, while Knockem and Whit steal all the men's cloaks. Since the game of "vapours" invariably ends in a fight, all men draw their swords, taking off their cloaks. Thus, Knockem gathers all the cloaks and Whit takes them away. After the brawl, the officers take Northern, Puppy, and Wasp away. Since Whit suggests to Bristle that Northern and Puppy will buy their freedom, it is understood that they were released as the officers put only Wasp into the stocks.

OFFICERS

The corrupt officers who fail to report the lawbreakers of the City to the Lord Mayor of London are "ghost characters." When Overdo enters the Fair disguised as madman, in order to detect those who break the law and bring them to justice, he mentions that another man of high wisdom, apparently the Lord Mayor of London, used the disguise trick. Since he could not trust his corrupt officers to report what went wrong in the city, the Mayor would adopt a disguise as a humble citizen and spy on the delinquents.

ORPHEUS

Only mentioned. When Quarlous sees Leatherhead at the Fair trying to sell his wares, probably with a fiddle in his hand, Quarlous says the hobbyhorse man looks like Orpheus among the beasts, with his fiddle and all. In Greek mythology, Orpheus was the musician who could tame wild beasts with his music. The inappropriate association of Orpheus with the peddler, and Orpheus's lyre with a rudimentary fiddle, is probably meant to emphasize the incongruity of the Fair world.

OVERDO

The family name of Adam and Mistress Overdo.

OVERDO, MISTRESS

Mistress Overdo is Justice Overdo's wife and sister to Bartholomew Cokes. Mistress Overdo enters Littlewit's house with Cokes and Grace, and then exits with them to the Fair. At the Fair, Mistress Overdo is of the Cokes party most of the time. When Cokes announces that one of his purses is missing, Mistress Overdo is trying to restrain Wasp, who is beating Overdo/Madman, accusing him of the theft. When Edgworth steals Cokes' second purse, Mistress Overdo draws the suspicion on the preaching fellow (Overdo again). Mistress Overdo strays away from the Cokes party at the Fair and is discovered drinking in Ursula's booth. The inebriated Mistress Overdo attends the scenes in which Knockem, Northern, Puppy, Cutting, Whit, and Wasp get into a fight, but does not see when Edgworth steals the marriage license from Wasp, or when Knockem and Whit steal the men's cloaks. When the watch exits with the brawlers, Mistress Overdo wants to use the privy and exits with Ursula to relieve herself. When Punk Alice finds Mistress Overdo inside Ursula's booth, she thinks Mistress Overdo is a prostitute and starts beating her. After Knockem and Whit chase the harlot away, they persuade Mistress Overdo and Mistress Littlewit to change their clothes, dressing them up as courtesans. Mistress Overdo enters the puppet-theatre area with Mistress Littlewit. Both women are masked and accompanied by Knockem, Edgworth, and Whit. Whit takes charge of the inebriated Mistress Overdo, helping her to a chair. Mistress Overdo falls asleep and stays so during the puppet-show. When Overdo reveals himself, Mistress Overdo wakes up saying she is sick. Reducing her husband to silence, Mistress Overdo is the reason why the righteous Justice Overdo renounces his grand purpose of imparting justice and takes a more conciliatory position, inviting everyone to his house for supper.

PALEMON

Only mentioned. Palemon is the friend of Arcite in the Knight's Tale by Chaucer. Palemon and Arcite are rival lovers in Chaucer. When Quarlous and Winwife argue over Grace's hand, she proposes a chance game by which she would choose her husband. Each suitor is supposed to write a secret code-name on a writing table, and the first person passing by should draw a name at random. The code-name Winwife chooses is Palemon, but he refers to the play Two Noble Kinsmen (1613) by John Fletcher and William Shakespeare, which draws on the plot from Chaucer's Knight's Tale. Palemon and Argalus are typical figures from romance, and it is ironic that Winwife and Quarlous should associate their names with such courtly paragons. When Trouble-all selects the winner, Palemon is the chosen name.

PLAYERS

The rumor-spreading players of London are "ghost characters." Speaking ironically of the university with hanging about at the London taverns, Littlewit says they are not witty at all, compared to him. Drawing on his tavern experience during his student-days, Littlewit says he used to give the law to all the poets in town, for the price of a mug of beer. Apparently, the poets needed his legal services because they were the players' gossip. Admiring his wife's fashionable dress, Littlewit says proudly that other men can have wives as fine as those of the players, and as well dressed.

POACHER

Poacher is a beadle, one of the three members of the watch. Poacher, together with the officers, arrest Busy for disturbing trade at the Fair and they bring him before Haggis to be put in the stocks. Poacher tells Master Busy that they are able to rule his legs, though they cannot stop his tongue. When Haggis has the idea of taking both prisoners (Overdo/Madman and Busy) before Justice Overdo, Poacher leaves with Haggis, Bristle, and the two prisoners. Poacher enters with Bristle to put the alleged brawler Wasp in the stocks, beside the other two prisoners (Overdo/Madman and Busy). Wasp manages to escape by a trick and Busy and Haggis run after him. In the confusion created by Trouble-all, Poacher and the other officers leave the stocks open and Overdo and Busy escape as well. Seeing that the prisoners have disappeared, all the members of the watch are frightened, blaming the mysterious disappearances on witchcraft.

POD

Master Pod was a master puppeteer and a "ghost character." He initiated Lantern/Leatherhead in this art. His former apprentice says that Master Pod had given light to the art in his time, and then Lantern/Leatherhead has taken over since his master's death. The Folio edition of Bartholomew Fair has a marginal note by Jonson: "Pod was the Master of motions before him." Lantern/Leatherhead claims to have been an apprentice to an actual puppeteer. Some scholars have interpreted Lantern/Leatherhead and his puppetry as a satirical attack on Inigo Jones and his spectacular stage effects and décors.

POETS

The poets of London are "ghost characters." Speaking ironically of the university with hanging about at the London taverns, Littlewit says they are not witty at all, compared to him. Drawing on his tavern experience during his student-days, Littlewit says he used to have six-shilling beer and give the law to all the poets in town. In his view, therefore, he was better than the professional wits. It appears that Littlewit used to offer his legal advice to the poets in town, for the price of a pint of beer.

POPE

Only mentioned. The Catholic Pope is part of a hypothetical elect audience at a Fair in real life. The stage-keeper in the Induction complains that the Author of the play does not observe the characteristics of real life in his theatrical Fair. Among other things, the stage-keeper says the poet does not have a Juggler with an educated ape to come over the chain for the King, the Prince, and back again for the Pope and the personalities attending the Fair.

PORTER

There are two Porters in the play:

PRINCE

Only mentioned. The Prince is part of a hypothetical elect audience at a Fair in real life. The stage-keeper in the Induction complains that the Author of the play does not observe the characteristics of real life in his theatrical Fair. Among other things, the stage-keeper says the poet does not have a Juggler with an educated ape to come over the chain for the King, the Prince, and the personalities attending the Fair.

PROLOGUE

The Prologue addresses the King's Majesty. He welcomes the King to the Fair, telling him to expect such people and jokes as are to be found in a noisy fair. Beside the zealous preacher, hobbyhorses, and puppet plays, the king must expect to see the kind of rage that has been the cause of worry for him. The allusion is to the game of "vapors," which ends in quarreling and confusion, but that it is all for the audience's delight.

PUNK

The punk set upon her head at a real-life Fair is a "fictional character." The stage-keeper in the Induction complains that the Author of the play does not observe the characteristics of real life in his theatrical Fair. Among other things, the stage-keeper says the poet does not have a punk set upon her head, with her stern upward. According to the stage-keeper, the young masters at the Inns of Court would drench her with water. Actually, Bartholomew Fair does feature a punk (Punk Alice), but she is not set upon her head.

PUNK ALICE

Punk Alice is a prostitute at the Fair. She has business in Ursula's booth, since Ursula is a bawd. Ursula reports that Punk Alice entered her booth while Mistress Overdo was relieving herself. Thinking that Mistress Overdo was a prosperous prostitute, who was stealing her clients, Punk Alice starts beating the Justice's wife. Punk Alice enters beating Mistress Overdo and abusing her verbally while Ursula tries to pacify the prostitute. Whit and Knockem eject Punk Alice.

PUPPET COLE

Puppet Cole is the boatman in the puppet-play. According to the plot, narrated by Lantern/Leatherhead, Puppet Cole was rowing his boat on the Thames, in the region of the Bankside, when Leander sees Hero in his boat and falls in love with her. Puppet Leander addresses Puppet Cole in rude terms, and Puppet Cole responds likewise, telling Puppet Leander that the girl's name is Hero, but Puppet Leander understands "Nero." Puppet Cole repeats the name. When Puppet Leander exits (apparently to change his clothes), Puppet Cole engages in a fight with Lantern/Leatherhead, who wants Puppet Cole to stay and take Leander across the river to his sweetheart. Puppet Cole says he is no pander and strikes Lantern/Leatherhead over the head. Finally, Puppet Cole rows Puppet Leander across the river, calling him rude names.

PUPPET DAMON

Puppet Damon is a character in the puppet-play. According to the plot, narrated by Lantern/Leatherhead, Damon goes to the tavern to find Hero, apparently to pay her for services rendered the last week, since Hero is a whore. Pythias follows him and the two puppets start arguing. Puppet Damon blames Puppet Pythias for having slept with Hero as well, and the two presumed friends abuse each other. Finally, Puppet Damon and Puppet Pythias take their fight on the puppeteer, who is a third person in the middle. After beating him over the head, Puppet Damon exits with Puppet Pythias to the tavern to have breakfast with Hero. Puppet Damon and Puppet Pythias enter the tavern while Puppet Leander is kissing Puppet Hero. The two friends carry a gammon of bacon under their cloaks and call for some wine. Puppet Damon and Puppet Pythias see Puppet Leander kissing Puppet Hero, and Puppet Damon says Hero is a whore. The puppets start fighting, and Puppet Damon insults Puppet Leander.

PUPPET DIONYSIUS

Puppet Dionysius is a character in the puppet-play. When the puppets are fighting over Hero at the tavern, Puppet Dionysius, as the ghost of Dionysius, enters in the form of a schoolmaster, complete with fur gown and cap. Puppet Dionysius says he has returned from the grave to chide his friends for their heedless conduct. At this point, Busy interrupts the puppet-play, ranting against the theatre idols. Lantern/Leatherhead proposes that Puppet Dionysius should take the theatre's part in a philosophical disputation with the religious puritan. In a question and answer pattern, according to a mock-syllogistic manner, Puppet Dionysius develops an argument in defense of the theatre against Busy's Puritan concepts. Lantern/Leatherhead acts as a translator between the world of the theatre, represented by Puppet Dionysius, and the real world, represented by the audience, with the religious contestant in between. Busy confronts the puppet with the usual Puritan attack, saying that it is sin for men to be seen playing women. Puppet Dionysius lifts up his costume to reveal that he is perfectly genderless. When Busy admits he is confuted, Puppet Dionysius urges him to convert. The puppet-play cannot go on as expected, because Overdo reveals his disguise and invites everybody to his house for supper. It is inferred that Puppet Dionysius will resume his part when the play re-starts at Overdo's house.

PUPPET HERO

Puppet Hero is a character in the puppet-play. According to the plot, narrated by Lantern/Leatherhead, it is inferred that Hero is a whore going to a tavern on the Bankside in a boat. In the tavern, Puppet Hero falls in love with Puppet Leander when Puppet Jonas, the drawer (alias Cupid) drenches her with a pint of sherry. In her romantic drunken declaration of love, Puppet Hero tells Puppet Leander that she will be forever his goose, and he will be her gander. Puppet Hero kisses Puppet Leander. When Puppet Damon and Puppet Pythias enter and see Puppet Hero kissing Puppet Leander, they call her a whore. The puppets start fighting, and Puppet Hero tells Puppet Damon to kiss the whore on the ass. It appears that the movement causes Puppet Hero to complain of her hunches being hurt and call off the fight.

PUPPET JONAS

Puppet Jonas is a character in the puppet-play. Puppet Jonas is Cupid, who is transformed into a drawer. At the tavern on the Bankside, Puppet Jonas throws a pint of sherry at Puppet Hero, causing her to fall in love with Puppet Leander. Puppet Jonas joins the final drunken brawl between the puppets, incensing Puppet Leander to beat Puppet Damon and Puppet Pythias.

PUPPET LEANDER

Puppet Leander is the lover in the puppet-play. According to the plot, narrated by Lantern/Leatherhead, Leander sees Hero in the boat and falls in love with her. Puppet Leander addresses Puppet Cole in rude terms, asking him about the maid he landed at Trig Stairs. When Puppet Cole tells Puppet Leander that her name is Hero, Puppet Leander misunderstands "Nero." Puppet Leander exits, apparently to change his clothes for the amorous encounter with Hero, as narrated by Lantern/Leatherhead. Puppet Leander appears in the boat, telling Puppet Cole to row diligently, while Puppet Cole calls him names. Puppet Leander enters the Swan tavern, apparently to meet Hero. Hero falls in love with Leander instantly, because Cupid, in the form of Puppet Jonas, the drawer, has drenched her with a pint of sherry. In his romantic declaration of love, Puppet Leander tells Puppet Hero she is the sweetest of geese and he will swim over the river and tread his goose that night. Puppet Leander kisses Puppet Hero, when Puppet Damon and Puppet Pythias enter. The puppets start fighting, and Puppet Leander insults Puppet Damon.

PUPPET PYTHIAS

Puppet Pythias is a character in the puppet-play. According to the plot, narrated by Lantern/Leatherhead, Damon goes to the tavern to find Hero, apparently to pay her for services rendered the last week, since Hero is a whore. Pythias follows him and the two puppets start arguing. Puppet Damon blames Puppet Pythias for having slept with Hero as well, and the two presumed friends abuse each other. Finally, Puppet Damon and Puppet Pythias take their fight out on the puppeteer, who is caught in the middle. After beating him over the head, Puppet Pythias exits with Puppet Damon to the tavern to have breakfast with Hero. Puppet Pythias and Puppet Damon enter the tavern while Puppet Leander is kissing Puppet Hero. The two friends carry a gammon of bacon under their cloaks and call for some wine. Puppet Damon and Puppet Pythias see Puppet Leander kissing Puppet Hero. Puppet Damon says Hero is a whore and Puppet Pythias says so too. The puppets start fighting, and Puppet Pythias insults Puppet Leander.

PUPPY

Puppy is a wrestler. According to Edgworth, he is a Western man (Cornish?) who has come to wrestle before the Lord Mayor at the Fair. A wrestling contest in front of the tent of the Lord Mayor, Alderman, and sheriffs was one of the events of St. Bartholomew's Day. At the Fair, Puppy is in the company of Wasp, Knockem, Cutting, Northern, and Whit. They play a game of "vapours," which is nonsense: every person has to oppose the last person that spoke, whether it concerned them or not. In fact, it is a confusion-generating activity enhanced by a lot of drinking. During the confusion created by the drunken brawl, Edgworth steals the marriage license out of Wasp's box, while Knockem and Whit steal all the men's cloaks. Since the game of "vapours" invariably ends in a fight, all men draw their swords, taking off their cloaks. Thus, Knockem gathers all the cloaks and Whit takes them away. After the brawl, the officers take Puppy, Northern, and Wasp away. Since Whit suggests to Bristle that Puppy and Northern will buy their freedom, it is understood that they were released, since the officers put only Wasp into the stocks.

PURSUIVANT

The honest and zealous pursuivant in Overdo's description is a "ghost character." A Pursuivant is an official with powers to execute warrants for arrest. When Overdo enters the Fair disguised as madman, in order to detect those who break the law and bring them to justice, he says he adopts this wise stratagem because he cannot trust the probity of those who are responsible with reporting the delinquents. Overdo holds the opinion that people in his position see and hear with other people's eyes. Therefore, Overdo thinks, a Justice of Peace must rely on other people's incomplete and improbable reports. Overdo complains that such a report made him mistake an honest zealous official for a seminary, a recusant priest trained in Europe in a Catholic seminary. Despite these examples, however, it seems that Overdo is a poor judge of character, and he often misconstrues people's integrity and status. He thinks Edgworth is an honest young man, but he is a cutpurse.

PYTHIAS

Only mentioned. Damon and Pythias are two legendary faithful friends of ancient Greece, who are ready to die for each other. Their names are symbols of friendship. Damon and Pythias (1565) is a play by Richard Edwards. Cokes reads the playbill of the puppet play to be performed at the Fair, which says "The ancient modern history of Hero and Leander, otherwise called The Touchstone of True Love, with as true a trial of friendship between Damon and Pythias, two faithful friends o' the Bankside." When Lantern/Leatherhead shows Cokes the puppets as the "actors," the puppeteer says that this pretty one is Pythias. Puppet Pythias has a role in the play-within-the-play. In his imaginary game with the silly objects purchased from Leatherhead as a hobbyhorse seller, Cokes assigns the representation of Damon to the pipe.

QUARLOUS

Quarlous is a gamester and companion to Winwife. Quarlous enters Littlewit's house, apparently to look for Winwife, when Cokes enters with Grace to retrieve the marriage license. Quarlous ridicules the foolish young man. Cokes leaves with his party to go to the Fair, and Quarlous follows after him. At the Fair, Quarlous and Winwife see Knockem and Whit, to whom they seem to be acquainted. During the confusion created before Ursula's booth, Edgworth tries to steal Quarlous's and Winwife's purses, but it emerges that they carried no money. Quarlous and Winwife are at the Fair, before Ursula's booth, when Edgworth steals Cokes' second purse. Quarlous and Winwife see the theft and confront Edgworth with it. Quarlous blackmails Edgworth and forces him to steal the box with Grace's marriage license from Wasp. Quarlous and Winwife enter fighting for Grace's hand. Grace wants to pacify them, suggesting that they should let fate decide between the two suitors. Quarlous and Winwife write a secret code-name on a tablet and Trouble-all, who happens to pass by, chooses blindly between the two names. It is inferred that Quarlous, eager to know what was written in Grace's book, departs from Winwife and Grace and follows Trouble-all. Seeing that the only name the madman could say was Justice Overdo, Quarlous has the idea of disguising himself as the madman. As Trouble-all, Quarlous receives an official carte blanche from Justice Overdo, which he uses in the final revelation scene. Revealing himself, Quarlous uses Overdo's blank warrant, determining the judge to give his ward Grace to him in marriage. However, since Winwife is Grace's winner-husband resulting from the game, Grace must relinquish her land to Quarlous. Quarlous seems pleased with the arrangement of marrying the rich Dame Purecraft.

QUINTUS HORACE

Only mentioned. Quintus Horatius Flaccus was the first-century BC Latin poet, author of Odes, Epodes, Epistles, and Satires. When Overdo enters the Fair disguised as a madman, in order to detect the wrongdoers and bring them to justice, he says he defies anyone who could recognize him under his disguise. Even if that person had met the Epidaurus serpent, as Quintus Horace calls him, still they could not have recognized Justice Overdo in his madman's disguise. Horace, in his Satires, mentions the serpent, which people thought to have keen sight and to be an incarnation of Aesculapius, whose temple was at Epidaurus. Overdo's logic is doubtful, transferring the serpent's excellent seeing quality to someone who only met the legendary beast, as reported in Horace.

RAG-RAKERS

The early-rising rag-rakers of London, scavengers rummaging in the dunghills, are "ghost characters." When Quarlous shows his displeasure at the fact that Winwife has been up so early, and is already at Littlewit's house to court Dame Purecraft, Quarlous says disparagingly that only the rag-rakers would have been up at such an early hour.

RHYMERS

The rhymers, or poets, that seem to conspire against the Puritans by scorning them are "ghost characters." Busy interrupts the puppet-show, ranting against all forms of entertainment, including the theatre idol. The Puritan believes that all the poets have associated with the stage-players and the dancers in a conspiracy of contempt against the Brethren and the Cause, using the mean instruments of their show.

SCHOOLMASTERS

Cokes' foolish schoolmasters are "ghost characters." Wasp thinks he is indispensable to his young master and he disapproves of the education Cokes has been given. According to Wasp, Cokes' foolish schoolmasters had done nothing but run up and down the country with their pupil to beg sausages and cake-bread of his tenants. They almost spoiled him, and taught him nothing else but to sing foolish songs. Wasp seems to believe that Cokes is a simpleton because of his education.

SCRIVENER

Two scriveners figure in the course of the play.

SERVANT-MONSTER

The servant-monster unlikely to appear in the theatrical Fair is a "fictional character." The reference is to Caliban from Shakespeare's The Tempest. In the Induction, the scrivener reads the articles of the contract between Author and the spectators. The contract stipulates that Author warns the spectators against identifying characters in the play with actual people, or with characters in other plays of the period. In conclusion, the Author says his play does not feature a servant-monster in his fictional Fair.

SHARKWELL

Sharkwell is a doorkeeper at the puppet-theatre in the Fair. Sharkwell and Filcher help the puppeteer (Leatherhead) erect the puppet theatre. Lantern/Leatherhead tells them to beat the drum in order to attract customers. Apparently, Sharkwell's role is to collect the money, and the puppeteer instructs him to procure two pence per person from any gentlefolk. Sharkwell promises to take three pence if he can. When Littlewit wants to enter the theatre and Filcher refuses him admission unless he pays, Sharkwell recognizes Littlewit as the author of the play and says he must come in gratis, because Master Littlewit is a voluntary and the author.

SOLOMON

Solomon is Littlewit's servant and a "mute character." When his master wants to go to the Fair with his wife, accompanied by Dame Purecraft and Busy, Solomon brings their coats. Littlewit says that Solomon is to join them, the more the merrier, but Solomon has no part at the Fair. It is to be inferred that he was either diverted some place in the Fair, or he is a silent companion to the Littlewit party.

SPANISH LADY

The Spanish lady is a "ghost character." When Mistress Littlewit enters elegantly dressed, her husband admires her fashion. He says her fine high shoes are like those of the Spanish lady. The allusion is to a fashionable English widow who dressed in Spanish style, with high-heeled shoes.

SPECTATORS

The spectators are the audience of the play Bartholomew Fair, performed at the Hope. They are part of the contract drawn between Author and the spectators, which is read by the scrivener. The contract stipulates that the spectators should remain in place, with patience, for two hours and a half, while Author promises to offer them an entertaining play. The contract indicates that every person in the audience has the right to censure the play, in relation to its value for money, provided that the judgment belonged to the specific person's opinion, not derived from contagion with considerations of others. In addition, the said holders of opinion will preserve it intact during the following days. The contract specifies that the spectators should not consider the opinions of the person sitting next to them, even if this person is a professional critic.

STAGE-KEEPER

The stage-keeper is the principal stagehand and a character in the Induction. The stage-keeper addresses the audience, telling them to have a little patience, because the character that should begin the play, Master Littlewit, has a fallen stitch in his black silk stocking. Until it is mended, the stage-keeper must entertain the audience. Drawing on his life's experience on the stage, since he was a the stage-keeper in Queen Elizabeth's time, the stage-keeper complains that the Author of the play would not take his advice and bring some characters from the real-life Fair on stage. Moreover, when the stage-keeper told him so, the poet kicked him three or four times around the tiring-house, as a sign of gratitude for his helpful hints. The stage-keeper wants the audience to judge him, asking them if it had not been better to have some jugglers, or bawds, or hobbyhorse men. Actually, the Fair in the play does present such people. When the book-holder and the scrivener enter, they chase the stage-keeper out. The book-holder tells the stage-keeper he is too familiar to the audience, and he is in no position to pass judgment on the play. Since his job is to sweep the stage, or gather up the broken apples for the bears within, it is hardly expected from such a young man as the stage-keeper to pretend to appreciate the play.

STAGE-PLAYERS

The stage-players that seem to conspire against the Puritans by scorning them are "ghost characters." Busy interrupts the puppet-show, ranting against all forms of entertainment, including the theatre idol. The Puritan believes that all the stage-players have associated with the poets and the dancers in a conspiracy of contempt against the Brethren and the Cause, using the mean instruments of their show.

STATESMAN

The concealed statesman is a "fictional character." In the Induction, the scrivener reads the articles of the contract between Author and the spectators. The contract stipulates that Author warns the spectators against identifying characters in the play with actual people. In conclusion, the seller of mousetraps (Tinderbox man) must not be taken to represent a concealed statesman from real life.

TARLTON, RICHARD

Only mentioned. Richard Tarlton was a leading comedian of Queen Elizabeth's reign, who died in 1588. The stage-keeper in the Induction complains that the Author of the play does not observe the characteristics of real life in his theatrical Fair. The stage-keeper thinks he can impart of his considerable experience in the theatre, because he had kept the stage in Master Tarlton's time as well. The stage-keeper wished that Tarlton had lived to play in Bartholomew Fair. The stage-keeper creates a fictional picture of the well-known actor interpreting one of the cozening characters in Bartholomew Fair.

TAYLOR, JOSEPH

Only mentioned. Joseph Taylor was an actor who was probably in the original cast of Bartholomew Fair at the Hope Theatre in 1614. John Taylor was a poet who had won a wit combat (by default) at the Hope Theatre. When Lantern/Leatherhead shows Cokes the puppets as the "actors" of the play, he says they are dumb, and he is the voice for all of them. Cokes replies that, since one man is the mouth for all of them, one Taylor could beat all these helpless actors with a hand bound behind him. The allusion is threefold. First, it refers to any tailor (and tailors were supposed to be timid) who could beat the defenseless actors. Second, it refers to Joseph Taylor, who played in Bartholomew Fair, probably the part of Lantern/Leatherhead. Third, it refers to the poet John Taylor, who won a fight of wits, and therefore was not expected to be particularly strong, being able to beat the puppet-actors easily. In all situations, Cokes imagines a scene in which much quarreling and beating is involved, which is not far from the actual representation of the puppet-play.

TINDERBOX-MAN

At the Fair, Tinderbox-man sells mousetraps and a contraption he calls "a tormentor for a flea." Like the others at the Fair, he advertises his trade.

TRASH, JOAN

Joan Trash is a gingerbread woman at the Fair. In the morning, while people at the Fair begin to erect their booths and stalls, Trash argues with Leatherhead about the location. Leatherhead tells her not to settle too close to him, threatening her to disclose that her gingerbread is made of stale bread and honey. Trash does not relent and claims that she has paid for her ground, so she is entitled to sell her wares. Leatherhead threatens to report her to Justice Overdo, but Trash is not intimidated. Trash is on hand when Knockem provokes a fight in order to distract Quarlous and Winwife's attention and have Edgworth rob them. When Ursula is hurt in the fight, Trash goes to fetch some cream for the burn. Later, Trash, Leatherhead, and others sit at their booths and stalls, when Whit, Haggis, and Bristle enter. When Bristle wants to know the time, Leatherhead answers with contempt, while Trash responds ironically. When the Cokes party enter, Cokes wants to buy everything on offer, including Trash's entire gingerbread basket. Angered at Leatherhead's competition, Trash alludes to his other impersonation as a puppeteer. Cokes decides to buy Leatherhead's entire shop, whose contents shall furnish the masque at the puppet-show, and Trash's gingerbread basket, which shall provide the banquet. Trash says her basket costs four shillings and eleven pence, ground and all, and the foolish Cokes gives her five shillings more. Trash is again present when Cokes is being duped. Afterwards, she packs up her wares and leaves with Leatherhead.

TROUBLE-ALL

There are two manifestations of Trouble-all in the play.

UNCLE HODGE

Only mentioned. Uncle Hodge is said to have accepted a wager that a cat could pull him across a pond. A rope was tied round him and the other end fastened to a cat, but men in hiding did the actual pulling, but they made it appear that the cat was responsible. This was a standard practical joke in Jonson's day. Wasp tells Littlewit, Winwife, and Quarlous about his adventures while he accompanied Cokes and Grace Wellborn to London, since the young man wanted to show the City to his bride-to-be. Wasp says he would never repeat the experience, or he would better be drawn with a cat through the great pond at home, as Cokes' Uncle Hodge was. Wasp makes Uncle Hodge a relative of Cokes to suggest the young man's foolishness.

URSULA

Ursula is a pig-woman and a bawd. In the morning at the Fair, while people begin to erect their booths and stalls, Ursula comes out of her booth, commanding Mooncalf to bring her a chair, her beer, and her pipe. Ursula participates in the fight generated by Knockem, with a view of distracting Quarlous and Winwife's attention and stealing their purses. Ursula uses the scalding-pan as a weapon and is hurt in the fight. Knockem, Mooncalf, and Leatherhead carry the bulky Ursula to her booth to have her wounds tended to. When the Littlewit party is before Ursula's booth, she comments negatively on the customers, saying they are not good drinkers. Ursula leaves with Whit and Knockem into her booth to attend to the customers. After the Littlewit party leaves Ursula's booth, and when the Cokes party enters, Mistress Overdo remains inside Ursula's booth. When Mistress Overdo says she wants to relieve herself, Ursula takes her inside, since the booth seems to be used both as an eating place and a privy. The booth is also a hiding place for stolen goods, and Ursula hides the cloaks and swords stolen by Knockem from the foolish fighters inside her booth. While Mistress Overdo is in the booth, Ursula comes out and sees that Littlewit has left his wife behind in the company of Knockem and Whit. Complaining that she is rather short of prostitutes for that evening, Ursula tells Knockem to convince Mistress Littlewit to dress as a lady of pleasure, while the pig-woman takes it upon herself to persuade Mistress Overdo. Ursula enters the puppet-theatre, following Trouble-all, who is wearing a pan that she accuses him of having stolen from her. Overdo prepares to arraign her, together with the other wrongdoers, but, in the end, Ursula is among the guests invited to Overdo's house for supper.

VIRGINS

The poor young virgins for whom Dame Purecraft plays the matchmaker are "ghost characters." When Dame Purecraft wants to prove her love for the madman Trouble-all (Quarlous in disguise), she makes a complete confession of her transgressions. Besides telling him she is a rich widow, Dame Purecraft says she is a special maker of marriages between the poor young virgins and the wealthy bachelors or widowers of the congregation. After the marriage, Dame Purecraft persuades the young wives to steal from their husbands and transfer the money into their accounts. It is inferred that a large sum is going into Dame Purecraft's purse for her counseling.

WASP, HUMPHREY

Humphrey (Numps) Wasp is Cokes' servant. Wasp enters Littlewit's house to retrieve the marriage license between Bartholomew Cokes and Grace Wellborn. Although Wasp pretends to be the helpless Cokes' protector, he fails to see when Edgworth pinches his master's purse in two instances, and himself falls prey to the con men at the Fair. At the Fair, Wasp enters with the Cokes party when Overdo/Madman is delivering his anti-tobacco speech. When Cokes observes that his purse is missing, Wasp blames the orator, whom he thinks to be an accomplice to the thieves. Wasp starts beating Overdo/Madman and all ends in confusion. In another scene at the Fair, Cokes wants to buy all he sees, and Wasp tries to temper him. When Cokes complains that his second purse has been stolen, Wasp blames Overdo/Madman for the second theft as well. Wasp leaves with Cokes to take the culprit to the stocks. Wasp is next in the company of Cutting, Knockem, Northern, Puppy, and Whit, playing a game of "vapours." During the confusion created by the game, ending in a drunken brawl, Edgworth steals the marriage license out of Wasp's box, while Knockem and Whit steal all the men's cloaks. The officers arrest the brawlers and they put Wasp into the stocks. Wasp manages to escape by using a trick. While the officers are occupied with the other two prisoners, Wasp puts his shoe on his hand and slips it in for his leg. Taking advantage of another moment of inattention, Wasp manages to escape. Wasp enters the puppet-theatre in search of his master and attends the puppet show. When Cokes confronts him with the loss of the marriage certificate, Wasp replies that he will never speak again.

WATCHMAN

The sleepy watchman who fails to report the lawbreakers to his superiors is a "ghost character." When Overdo enters the Fair disguised as madman, in order to detect those who break the law and bring them to justice, he says he adopted this wise stratagem because he cannot trust the probity of those who are responsible with reporting the delinquents. Overdo holds the opinion that people in his position see and hear with other people's eyes. Therefore, Overdo thinks, a Justice of Peace must rely on the improbable report of a sleepy watchman for information.

WHIT

Captain Whit is a bawd and a con man. He also works as a paid informer for the watch, but he is actually a pimp. At the Fair, Whit enters with Haggis and Bristle, whom he apparently called to restore order after the quarrel before Ursula's booth. Seeing that the rioters are gone, Whit tells the officers to avoid being seen in his company. When the Littlewit party approaches Ursula's booth, Whit invites them in to eat pig and drink ale. In another scene at the Fair, Whit is in the company of Wasp, Knockem, Northern, Puppy, and Cutting. They play a game of "vapours," which is nonsense: every person has to oppose the last person that spoke, whether it concerned them or not. During the commotion created by the ensuing drunken brawl, Edgworth steals the marriage license out of Wasp's box, while Knockem and Whit steal all the men's cloaks. Whit puts the stolen goods away in Ursula's booth. When the watch enter to restore order, Whit tells them the brawlers must be arrested. Whit whispers to Haggis that Puppy and Northern will pay him five shillings to get free. Whit arranges with Ursula to take Mistress Overdo inside to relieve herself. Whit, Knockem, and Ursula plot to turn Mistress Overdo and Mistress Littlewit into ladies of pleasure for the gallants. Whit enters the puppet-theatre with Edgworth, Knockem, and Mistresses Overdo and Littlewit masked. Whit takes charge of Mistress Overdo, helps her to a chair, and attends the puppet play. When Overdo/Porter asks about the masked ladies, Whit tells him he can have them both for twelve pence. In the revelation scene, just when Justice Overdo prepares to arraign the bawd Whit, he realizes that his wife is one of the six-penny women. Whit escapes trial and punishment.

WIDOWS

The rich widows for whom Dame Purecraft plays the matchmaker are "ghost characters." When Dame Purecraft wants to prove her love for the madman Trouble-all (Quarlous in disguise), she makes a complete confession of her transgressions. Besides telling him she is a rich widow, Dame Purecraft says she is a special maker of marriages between the decayed Puritan Brethren and the rich widows of the congregation. The marriage contract stipulates that the widows are to transfer a third part of their wealth, when they are married, into accounts for the relief of the poor elect. It is inferred that a large part of the charity money is seeping into Dame Purecraft's purse.

WIFE

Trouble-all's wife is a "ghost character." According to Bristle, Trouble-all is so obsessed with Justice Overdo that his wife cannot get him make his water or change his shirt without a warrant from Justice Overdo.

WIN–THE–FIGHT LITTLEWIT

Win Littlewit is Littlewit's wife, daughter to Dame Purecraft. Her name is a Puritan name given by her godfather, Busy. At Littlewit's house, Mistress Littlewit appears elegantly dressed, and her husband compliments her on the fashionable gown. When Littlewit invites his wife to the Fair, but is afraid that Dame Purecraft would not approve of this vain excursion, Mistress Littlewit agrees to play the hypocrite. Win pretends to faint and convinces her mother that she has a craving for pig, which must be eaten only at the Fair. Mistress Littlewit goes with Littlewit to the Fair, followed by Dame Purecraft and Busy. At the Fair, Mistress Littlewit and the Littlewit party eat at Ursula's booth. When they come out, after having ingested a large quantity of pig, Littlewit wants his wife to pretend to have a craving to see some more sights at the Fair. However, when Littlewit gets rid of Busy and Dame Purecraft, Mistress Littlewit is not certain what she wants to do at the Fair, and Littlewit takes her back to Ursula's. Telling his wife to stay with Knockem and Whit, whom he considers trustworthy persons, Littlewit goes to observe the puppet-show. At Ursula's, Knockem and Whit persuade Mistress Overdo and Mistress Littlewit to change their clothes, dressing them up as courtesans. Mistress Littlewit enters the puppet-theatre with Mistress Overdo. Both women are masked and accompanied by Knockem, Edgworth, and Whit. Edgworth courts Mistress Littlewit, and the naïve Mistress Littlewit thinks that she is playing a game impersonating a great lady. When Justice Overdo removes Mistress Littlewit's mask and her husband recognizes her, she remains silent. Littlewit and his wife will be among the guests for supper at Overdo's house.

WINWIFE, NED

Ned Winwife is a gentleman, suitor to Dame Purecraft and rival to Busy. Winwife comes to Littlewit's house early in the morning, to pursue his suit to Dame Purecraft. When the Cokes party exits to the Fair, followed by the Littlewit party, Quarlous convinces his friend that the Fair could give many opportunities for Winwife's pursuit of Dame Purecraft. At the Fair, Winwife and Quarlous see Knockem and Whit, to whom they seem to be acquainted. During the confusion created before Ursula's booth, Edgworth tries to steal Winwife's and Quarlous's purses, but it emerges that they carried no money. Winwife and Quarlous are at the Fair, before Ursula's booth, when Edgworth steals the Cokes' second purse. Winwife and Quarlous see the theft and confront Edgworth with it. Quarlous blackmails Edgworth and forces him to steal the box with Grace's marriage license from Wasp. In an aside, Winwife observes that Quarlous has made an unfortunate bargain with the cutpurse and he is likely to repent. Quarlous and Winwife enter fighting for Grace's hand. Grace wants to pacify them, suggesting that they should let fate decide between them. Winwife and Quarlous write a secret code-name on a tablet and Trouble-all chooses randomly between the two names. Winwife stays in Grace's company while Quarlous drifts away. Winwife and Grace enter the puppet-theatre area of the Fair. Winwife is wondering what has become of Quarlous. Quarlous disguised as Trouble-all enters and, through a trick, discloses that Winwife is the winner of Grace's hand. Winwife and Grace attend the puppet play. In the final revelation scene, Winwife finds out that, though he is the winner of a wife, she is not rich at all, because Grace had to relinquish all her land to Quarlous because of the bond from Justice Overdo. Winwife makes no comment to this situation. He and Grace will be among the guests at Overdo's house for supper.

WORTHY MAN

Thomas Hayes, Lord Mayor of the City of London, is a "ghost character." When Overdo enters the Fair disguised as a madman, in order to detect the wrongdoers and bring them to justice, he mentions a "worthy and worshipful man, sometime a capital member of this City, who used to do the same disguise trick." The indirect reference is to the Lord Mayor of London who, according to Overdo, would take the habit of a porter, or a dog-killer, or a seller of tinderboxes. In these humble disguises, he would go through the taverns of the town, check the quality of the goods and confiscate them if they did not meet the right standards, giving them to the poor. Since he would not trust his corrupt officers' reports about what went wrong in the city, the worthy man liked to see things for himself.

WRITER, RIVAL

The rival writer to the Author of the play Bartholomew Fair is a "ghost character." The stage-keeper in the Induction complains that the Author of the play does not observe the characteristics of real life in his theatrical Fair. He adds that, if some unnamed writer he knows had been required to write this play, he would have used all the tricks in the book and brought all the colorful people from the real-life Fair on stage.

Synopsis:

The play begins with an Induction. The Stage-Keeper tells the audience that there is not enough ribald material in the play to please him. The Book-Holder (i.e. Prompter) comes out with a Scrivener and sends the Stage-Keeper on his way. The Scrivener reads an Agreement between the playwright and the audience suggesting that each member of the audience has liberty to like as much of the play as he has paid for.

I.i: Littlewit, a proctor (lawyer), has a license for the marriage between the foolish Bartholomew Cokes and Overdo's ward, Mistress Grace Wellborn. Littlewit is pleased with his knack for punning.

I.ii: Winwife enters to court Littlewit's widowed mother-in-law, Purecraft. Littlewit informs Winwife that Purecraft is utterly under the rule of a Banbury man (that is, a religious zealot) named Zeal-of-the-land Busy. Also, Littlewit tells Winwife that, if he is to win Purecraft, he must behave in the fashion of a madman. Purecraft has been told that she would marry a madman by a "cunning-man" (that is, a soothsayer, probably a charlatan as Subtle and Face in The Alchemist). Purecraft believes in such prognostications and has determined that she will marry only a madman.

I.iii: Quarlous enters. Littlewit introduces Quarlous to his wife, Win. Littlewit is not the least jealous of other men's attentions to his wife and encourages Quarlous and Winwife to kiss Win out of fashion and courtesy. When Quarlous learns that Winwife's quarry, Purecraft, is altogether guided by a Banbury man named Busy, he says that he knows the man. Busy was a baker once and is now a devoted hypocrite in the furtherance of his religion. Littlewit wants to devise a way of getting Win to the Fair because he has written a puppet play that will be presented at there today.

I.iv: Wasp, Cokes' man, comes for the license between his master and Grace. Wasp is an irascible old codger—"a terrible testy old fellow" as Littlewit describes him. The license is given to him in a case. We learn that Cokes is the brother of Mistress Overdo, the Justice's wife, and he is to marry Grace, the Justice's ward.

I.v: Cokes, Mistress Overdo, and Grace enter. It becomes clear that Cokes is an ass, a veritable fool, wholly childlike. Winwife and Quarlous notice that Grace is unhappy with her intended husband. Cokes is determined to visit Bartholomew Fair. He fancies that it is named after him—Bartholomew Cokes. Grace says in an aside that she would gladly marry anyone but Cokes. After Cokes, Grace, Mistress Overdo, and Wasp leave for the Fair, Quarlous and Winwife decide to follow them and watch Cokes' foolishness. Win and Littlewit also want to go to the Fair, but there is a problem. Busy thinks the Fair is a sinful place and will not allow Purecraft to go. Win won't go without her mum. Littlewit tells Win to pretend to have a pregnant woman's craving to eat roasted pig (a grave transgression amongst the zealots). None but good Fair pig will satisfy her craving, she insists.

I.vi: Purecraft is taken in by her daughter's craving. She entreats Busy to find some way that they might satisfy the craving without committing a sin. Busy says that they might go and eat pig only to strengthen their zeal—they are not to enjoy the pig they eat. He says that it is also a way to profess their hatred for Judaism publicly.

II.i: At the Fair. The people of the Fair set up their stalls on stage as the scene progresses. Overdo has disguised himself as a madman to see first-hand the "enormities" of the Fair. He is the Justice of the powder pies (the temporary court at the Fair made to hear cases arising on the grounds). He is tired of hearing of the Fair's "enormities" from loutish constables and will see for himself what mischief is there. But he will go in the guise of a madman.

II.ii: Leatherhead, the hobbyhorse man and puppeteer, and Trash, the gingerbread woman, talk about the Fair. Overdo is glad to hear them speak his name in reverence and fear. Nightingale, the ballad seller, enters and asks Ursula, the fat pig woman, whether she has seen Edgworth, the cutpurse. Ursula's man, Mooncalf, believes he recognizes the disguised Overdo as a madman named Arthur of Bradley, a noted orator. Overdo glories that his plan is working.

II.iii: Jordan Knockem enters. He is a horse courser. He loves the "vapours"—inciting verbal arguments (the Jonsonian humours character, a version of the "roaring boy").

II.iv: Edgworth enters with a lot of money in his pocket and buys for everyone. Overdo mistakes the cutpurse for a fine young man who has been led astray by the villains in Ursula's tent. He determines to protect and save Edgworth from his disreputable associates.

II.v: Winwife and Quarlous have raced Bartholomew Cokes' entourage to the Fair and wait for them. Knockem recognizes them. Winwife wants to avoid him, but Quarlous sees adventure in roaring with Knockem. They fall into an exchange of vitriolic abuse with Ursula. Quarlous strikes Knockem. Ursula chases off Winwife and Quarlous with a scalding pan, which she falls upon and scalds her leg. Knockem promises to watch her tent (under her supervision) until she is recovered.

II.vi: Overdo, playing upon his oratorical character of Arthur, speaks a polemic against drink and tobacco. He intends his speech to benefit Edgworth, whom he hopes to salvage from this den of iniquity. Cokes, Wasp, Mistress Overdo, and Grace enter and listen along with Edgworth to the madman's speech. Mistress Overdo is impressed with the madman's resemblance to her husband.

During the speech Edgworth picks Cokes' purse and "drops" it to Nightingale. Cokes discovers the theft and says there are none who look like cutpurses in the crowd but Wasp. Wasp, who needs little encouragement to anger, tells Cokes that he thought Cokes would come to no good at the Fair all along. Cokes shows him another purse—this one filled with gold rather than silver. He defies the cutpurse to strike again so he might catch him. To this end he fastens the golden purse where the silver had been. Wasp surmises that the speaker (Overdo in disguise) was the bait (the cutpurse's assistant who distracts the victim's attention). Wasp beats the disguised Overdo.

III.i: Whit, Haggis, and Bristle enter. They are angry for not having seen the fight at the end of Act II.

III.ii: Quarlous and Winwife enter. Whit offers Quarlous one of his whores and is sent away. Littlewit, Win, Busy, and Purecraft enter to eat pig. Busy tells them not to look at the Fair but rather to proceed directly to the pig roaster's hut. Ursula is upset with Knockem for bringing in such customers as the zealots. Knockem replies that these hypocritical types will eat more pig and drink more ale than people who have no religious objections will eat and drink.

III.iii: Overdo decides to make no more orations. He fears being beaten again and also fears causing another theft. He is still determined to help that poor young Edgworth escape his evil company. Winwife overhears the disguised Justice and wonders why that old fool talks to himself so much (Jonson making a metadramatic, teasing comment about the tradition of soliloquizing).

III.iv: The Cokes party comes in with Wasp, laden with all the toys Cokes has purchased for himself. Cokes is enchanted by Leatherhead's merchandise. While Cokes runs from the hobbyhorses to the gingerbread, Winwife and Quarlous again notice how unhappy Grace appears.

III.v: Overdo follows Edgworth and Nightingale in, he greatly fears (as does Old Knowell in Every Man in His Humour) that Edgworth is given to poetry (because he consorts with the songster). Overdo fears he may therefore be beyond all help.

Cokes demands a song of Nightingale. While Nightingale sings a warning about cutpurses, Edgworth steals Cokes' gold purse. Winwife and Quarlous see Edgworth steal the money. They also see the purse "dropped" to Nightingale. Cokes again discovers the theft. Wasp rails at Cokes for being so easy a mark and takes the license from Cokes for safekeeping.

Overdo, fearing he'll be thought an accomplice again, tries to sneak away. He is seen stealing off, and Cokes calls for the officers to arrest him, which they do.

Overdo is carried off with the Cokes train (without Grace) following. Quarlous and Winwife stop Edgworth and tell him that they saw everything. They promise to keep his secret safe if Edgworth will steal the license from Wasp and bring it to them. Edgworth says he'll not only pinch the license, but he will also pinch it out of the case so that it will not be immediately missed. Quarlous and Winwife learn from Grace that she is more an indentured servant than ward to Overdo and must marry Cokes against her will.

III.vi: As Busy and Purecraft are paying for the pig they've eaten (and we learn Busy ate the most), Win and Littlewit devise a plan to see the Fair. Littlewit wishes Win to see the puppet play he has written. Win is to feign another craving: this one to see the Fair. Busy says that they may attend the Fair only if they loathe all that they see. When Busy begins a tirade against the Fair, Littlewit gives Leatherhead a shilling to make him stop. Leatherhead brings in the officers just as Busy is upsetting the gingerbread tent. Busy is arrested and taken off to the stocks (where Overdo is headed). As Purecraft follows the officers taking Busy to the stocks, Littlewit and Win are free to see the Fair and Littlewit's puppet play. First, Win has to use the privy.

IV.i: As Overdo is being put into the stocks, Trouble-all, a madman at the Fair, enters and demands a warrant from Overdo for their actions. The madman was a minion of the powder pies last year and went mad when Overdo dismissed him. Now he won't do anything without a warrant from Overdo. Overdo secretly pities the madman and determines to help both him and "poor" Edgworth. Trouble-all reminds the watchmen (Haggis and Bristle) of their duties, and they take Overdo to Justice Overdo in order to obtain a warrant to put him in the stocks. Overdo secretly determines to be a more compassionate Justice from this point on.

After Overdo is taken away, Poacher and his officers enter to put Busy in the stocks. Haggis advises them to take Busy along to Overdo's court. Purecraft meets Trouble-all and is intrigued that he is mad.

IV.ii: Edgworth and Nightingale come upon Trouble-all, who demands of them a warrant for their actions. Edgworth is at first frightened because they are planning to fleece Cokes again, but he soon realizes that it is just the madman who confronts them. When Cokes comes by, Nightingale trips the costermonger. Cokes gives his cloak, sword, and hat to Nightingale in order to help pick up the apples. Nightingale steals off with the clothing. When Cokes discovers the new theft he runs for an officer. Edgworth now must find Wasp and steal the license for Winwife and Quarlous.

Cokes comes upon Trouble-all. Cokes is now lost at the Fair as a child might be. He turns to the madman and when he hears Trouble-all ask for a warrant from Overdo, Cokes believes the madman can take him to his brother-in-law the Justice. He pleads with the mad Trouble-all to take him back home.

IV.iii: Quarlous and Winwife are wooing Grace. They tell her of the plot to steal her marriage license. It is but a matter of filling in one of their names in place of Cokes', and she is free of the obligation to marry the fool. She may then marry one of them. She says that she cannot decide so lightly. She sets up a test whereby each man writes a word in a book. The first person by will choose which word he likes the best and the suitor who wrote that word will marry Grace. Quarlous chooses the word Argalus from Arcadia (the romantic lover) and Winwife chooses the word Palemon from The Two Noble Kinsmen. They promise to abide by the choice.

Trouble-all is the next person by. Grace persuades him to choose one of the two words. The madman protests that "Adam Overdo" is by far the best word there is. He finally chooses and goes about his way. Edgworth comes in to say he is about to steal the license. He laments that it is no fun without someone to see him work. Quarlous goes with Edgworth to see the deed done while Winwife stays with Grace.

IV.iv: Wasp is engaged in "vapours" with Knockem, Northern, Puppy, Cutting, Whit, and Mistress Overdo. The game requires the last person who speaks to be refuted by the next. Wasp and Knockem come to blows, during which time Edgworth steals the license from its case. The officers come to the fight and take Wasp away for brawling. Mistress Overdo is in need of a privy and is told that Win Littlewit is using it just now.

IV.v: Littlewit leaves Win with Captains Knockem and Whit while he sees whether his puppet play is ready. While he is away, Whit and Knockem convince Win and Mistress Overdo that they should make cuckolds of their husbands. It's the fashionable thing to do. They are persuaded, and Whit and Knockem determine to be their pimps.

Quarlous receives the license from Edgworth. Quarlous goes looking for Trouble-all. He wants to discover which word the madman chose, his or Winwife's. Before he can go, though, Wasp is brought to the stocks. Quarlous has some fun over this. Busy and Overdo are brought back to the stocks. The Watch is amazed that Overdo could not be found in court. When they put Busy and Overdo in the stocks, Wasp takes advantage of its being open to put his shoe on his hand and insert that as his foot before the stocks are locked down again. Wasp then slips his hand out and escapes. The Watch chases after him.

Trouble-all enters. When Quarlous discovers he is mad, he decides to disguise himself as Trouble-all to learn from Grace which word was chosen.

The Watch re-enters and tries the lock. They cuff Trouble-all, which starts a fight. The Watch leaves without locking the stocks, so Busy and Overdo escape also. Purecraft, having witnessed all, determines that she must love Trouble-all as the madman whom the cunning-man prophesied.

V.i: The puppet theatre is erected. Leatherhead makes some contemporaneous comments about puppet shows.

V.ii: Overdo enters dressed as a porter. He is still determined to do right by Edgworth and Trouble-all. Quarlous enters disguised as Trouble-all, whom he has inebriated at Ursula's and stolen his clothes. Purecraft offers her love to him, which he brushes aside. In this disguise he is able to discover that Winwife has won Grace with his Palemon.

Purecraft again approaches Quarlous, still thinking he's mad Trouble-all. She says that she has great wealth because she has learned to cozen everyone in her disguise as a zealot. She learned it from Busy, who is really only a fool. Quarlous decides that he could do a lot worse than marry this rich widow, so he accepts her. Overdo approaches Quarlous—also believing him to be Trouble-all—and tells him who he really is under the porter disguise. He offers him anything to make amends. Quarlous requests a carte blanche with Overdo's hand and seal to it, which he receives. Overdo is relieved and now wants only to do right by Edgworth.

V.iii: Cokes, followed by boys, finds his way to the puppet house. He meets his friend Littlewit and is introduced to Leatherhead (now called Lantern so as to escape detection).

There is a wonderful discussion of the theatre (as may be found in many of Jonson's plays). They are going to play Hero and Leander with the puppets.

V.iv: Mistress Overdo comes to the puppet house ill and in the finery of a whore. Win is also dressed like a strumpet, but she is wearing a lady's mask. Edgworth courts the disguised Win.

The puppet play takes place. It is a parody of the Marlowe poem, the Hellespont becomes the Thames; Leander becomes a dyer's son on the Northside and Hero a tart from Bankside.

V.v: Busy breaks in and denounces the puppet play in medias res. He disputes his position with the Puppet Dionysius. He loses when the puppet lifts its skirts to reveal that it is sexless. Busy is thereby converted from his zeal. Overdo unmasks and orders everyone to remain where he is.

V.vi: Quarlous (as Trouble-all) and Purecraft enter. Overdo upbraids the guilty and is surprised at discovering Win under the whore's mask. Trouble-all (the real one) enters dressed in nothing but Ursula's dripping pan—all the clothing he could find when he woke up. He is stupefied to discover Mistress Overdo dressed as a whore. Quarlous seizes the occasion to tell Overdo that no one is perfect and he should forgive rather than judge.

Quarlous has used the carte blanche for license to marry Purecraft. He has used Littlewit's license to extort money from Winwife by placing "Quarlous" in place of "Cokes." Winwife must buy the indenture from Quarlous in order to marry Grace. Wasp is chagrinned that Cokes has not only discovered he has been in the stocks today, but has also lost the license even though he had mocked Cokes for being a fool.

All are forgiven and invited to Overdo's house for supper. Cokes asks for the puppets to be brought along so the act may be finished after supper.

Characterization:

The main interest in the characters is the skillful manner with which Jonson has interrelated them in their varied plots.

Win and Mistress Overdo are bawds to Ursula's men, Whit and Knockem.

Busy, Overdo, and Wasp are pilloried by the Watch—Haggis, Bristle, and Poacher.

Littlewit is Cokes' Proctor, Win's husband, Purecraft's son-in-law, and Leatherhead's playwright.

Win is Littlewit's wife, Purecraft's daughter, and Edgworth's intended bawd.

Purecraft is Busy's disciple, Winwife's intended bride, Trouble-all's admirer, and Quarlous' bride.

Busy is Purecraft's mentor, the scourge of the Fair.

Winwife is Quarlous's friend. Etc., etc., etc.

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Notes of Interest:

This play is considered one of two Renaissance plays with the most successful multiple plots. See Levinson's The Multiple Plot. The other play Levinson offers is Middleton's A Chaste Maid in Cheapside. However, Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream also deserves to be on this list. While Middleton and Shakespeare each successfully manages four plots, Jonson interweaves five:
  1. The Overdo plot (disguised duke-type);
  2. The Cokes plot (fool's marriage);
  3. The Purecraft plot (widow's marriage);
  4. The Littlewit plot (gulling the zealot); and
  5. The Edgworth plot (rogue literature).
The Induction is an interesting look into the theatre of the time—especially the Hope. Because this play was performed in 1614, it was presented in the first season of the Hope. The Hope is a special playhouse because of its removable stage (taken out when the area was used for bear baiting). The bears are referred to in the Induction at l.47.

The Induction also makes clear reference to two of Shakespeare's plays—A Winter's Tale and The Tempest at l.117. Another of Shakespeare's late plays—The Two Noble Kinsmen—is also referred to at IV.v.65. (n.b.These references suggest that these plays were relatively current and new in 1614. This observation alone seems to ruin the anti-Stratfordian arguments (except for those who will insist that Jonson was in on the hoax); still, what would the audience think of these references if the plays were old by 1614?)

Acts IV and V may be called "The Stocks Act" and "The New Disguise Act" respectively. Act IV brings in all the business of the stocks and Overdo, Busy, and Wasp and ends when the last escape is made. Act V finds Overdo in his new disguise as a porter (after the madman disguise fails); Quarlous disguises as Trouble-all; Leatherhead becomes Lantern; Win is disguised as a whore behind a lady's mask; Mistress Overdo is also dressed up as a whore.

The temporary law court is referred to throughout as the "Powder Pies" which is a corruption of the French pieds poudre, which means "dusty feet." The term derives from the complainants, who came directly to court from the place of their transgression—the dust still on their feet.

II.i.87 et seq. gives a lavish account of how the Fair hawkers cozened their customers.

Like Webster and Marston, Jonson here demonstrates a fondness for discussing the artificiality of stage conventions. For example, there is a self-conscious moment in III.iii. After Overdo, disguised as the madman Arthur of Bradley, makes a soliloquy to the audience, Winwife and Quarlous wonder aloud why the man talks so much to himself. Then in III.iv Quarlous asks Wasp whether he is "Overparted" (that is, does he think he has a role too difficult for his acting talents).

Again, as in Every Man in His Humour, Jonson makes an older character flout a young man's interest in poetry. Poetry is, in Overdo's mind, a corrupting influence (III.v) as it was in Old Knowell's philosophy.

The disguised Overdo winds up being a parody of the "disguised duke" plot (Cf. Measure for Measure and The Malcontent). Here, instead of discovering disorder and bringing order to the community, Overdo discovers that he is a principle cause of the disorder. He is a bit of a rascal in the people's eyes. Instead of his unmasking in Act V bringing about the denouement, as it would in the conventional use, he is stymied by the discovery of his wife in a whore's dress. It is up to Quarlous to bring about the happy ending. Overdo is left to invite everyone to supper and forgive rather than to right the day's mischief.

Act V brings in with it several interesting comments upon contemporary theatre. The discussion between "Lantern", Littlewit, and Cokes details much theatre background and even mentions several of the principle actors of the day—Burbage, Field, and Ostler. A discussion of children's theatres is also here (although such theatres were in the wane as much as seven years before this play was written.)

The puppet play is an excellent parody of Marlowe's "Hero and Leander" and perhaps also of the puppet theatre genre. Cokes' additional commentary during the play can be favorably compared to Polonius' foolish comments in Hamlet while the chief player delivers the "Hecuba" speech as well as the running commentary to be found in Act V of A Midsummer Night's Dream during the rude mechanicals' performance of Pyramis and Thisby.

Plays to be compared:

Jonson's Every Man in his Humour (for the business of an old man flouting a young man's interest in poetry— and for a polemic against tobacco earning a beating) and his Volpone (for both plays' action of stealing someone's clothes to make up a disguise—Brainworm steals Formal's clothes; Mosca steals a commendatore's clothes for Volpone's disguise; Quarlous steals Trouble-all's clothes); Shakespeare's Measure for Measure and Marston's The Malcontent (for examples of the "disguised duke" plot parodied by Overdo).

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