WESTWARD HO

1604

a synoptic, alphabetical character list

AMBUSH
A Sergeant, sent to arrest Monopoly. At Clare's direction, he keeps Monopoly at his house rather than in jail. He admits to Tenterhook that Clare gave him her diamonds in return for Monopoly, and accompanies him to Brainford to retrieve her.

BIRDLIME
A bawd who manages Luce. She offers to help Mistress Justiniano become the Earl's mistress, as she has done for Clare Tenterhook and the Earl's nephew, Monopoly, but is dismayed when Mistress Justiniano refuses. She tries to keep separate Honeysuckle, Tenterhook, and Wafer when they all arrive to visit Luce at the same time, pretending to each that Luce is his exclusively. She fails, and the three men are about to leave when Justiniano arrives to inform them of his disguises and the wives' plot. In revenge, Birdlime takes Clare's diamonds, given to Luce by Tenterhook, to Brainford, in an attempt to rescue the wives' reputations. She is detained by a drunken Gosling, but manages to attend the wives, and reveals Clare's diamonds, proves Tenterhook (and the other husbands) guilty of whoremongering. The women ungratefully condemn her as a bawd, though, and she leaves angrily.

BONIFACE
Honeysuckle's apprentice.

BOY
Wafer's apprentice.

CAPTAIN WHIRLPOOL
A gallant who attends the afternoon tavern-party and participates in the assignation at Brainford, but he and Sir Gosling become too drunk to perform. The wives then refuse to complete the assignation, and he is humiliated by Justiniano.

CHAMBERLAIN
Keeper of the inn at Brainford to which the gallants and wives travel.

CHRISTIAN
Birdlime's maidservant, nicknamed "Opportunity" by Luce.

CLARE TENTERHOOK
Tenterhook's wife, in love with Monopoly. She agrees to Justiniano's invitation to meet the gallants, but leaves the tavern-party suddenly upon learning that Monopoly is back in town. She urges her husband to have Ambush arrest Monopoly for debt, but bribes Ambush with her diamonds to bring him to her privately, and brings Monopoly to the assignation at Brainford. She and the other wives travel with the gallants to Brainford, but are disappointed in the men, who insist on either drinking or smoking to excess. Left alone with the other wives, she suggests they agree to abandon the gallants; she will pretend to be ill so that they will pay for conveyance home. Confronted by her husband, she is rescued by Birdlime, whose possession of the diamonds proves Tenterhook (and the other husbands) to be hypocritical whoremongers. She and the other wives ungratefully condemn Birdlime for enticing their husbands, and then forgive and reconcile with the men.

CLUTCH
Ambush's Yeoman.

EARL
An elderly nobleman, in love with Mistress Justiniano. Birdlime delivers her to his house for an assignation, but he is dismayed that she intends only to ask him to forgive Justiniano's debts. He offers to do so only if she'll live with him and let him earn her love, but she refuses. He arranges a second assignation with her, but is unaware that he entertains Justiniano disguised as his own wife. After enduring Justiniano's counterfeited murder of his wife and the witnessing of his adulterous grief by the Citizens, the Earl is penitent and praises Mistress Justiniano's virtue, gifting her with the jewels he had previously tried to bribe her with.

FABIAN SCARECROW
A "ghost character". Clare Tenterhook boasts of humiliating him in front of her husband and "Master Parenthesis."

FIDDLERS
Entertainers in the tavern at Brainford.

FRANK MONOPOLY
The Earl's nephew, a debt-ridden courtier. He carries on an affair with Clare Tenterhook. Arrested by Tenterhook, he is relieved to learn that Clare intends to visit him. At Brainford, he and Linstock alone are sober enough to keep company with the wives, but they drive them from the room when they smoke tobacco. The wives then refuse to complete the assignation, and he is humiliated by Justiniano and arrested by Tenterhook.

HANS
A Dutch tavern-drawer.

HONEYSUCKLE
A London citizen, husband to Judith, recently returned from living in France. He visits Luce but is dismayed to learn that she also entertains Tenterhook and Wafer. Informed by Justiniano of his disguises and the wives' plot, he accompanies the other husbands to Brainford, where he witnesses the gallants' humiliation and reconciles with his wife.

JUDITH HONEYSUCKLE
Honeysuckle's wife, a malicious wit. She and Mabel Wafer invite Clare Tenterhook to share their "writing master" (Justiniano in disguise). She welcomes his fondling and accepts his invitation, along with her friends, Mabel and Clare, to meet the gallants at an afternoon tavern-party. There, she agrees to the assignation at Brainford. Left alone with the other wives, she agrees to Clare's suggestion to abandon the gallants. She and the other wives ungratefully condemn Birdlime for enticing their husbands, and then forgive and reconcile with the men.

JUSTINIANO
An Italian merchant, violently jealous of his wife, Mistress Justiniano. He informs her that, having ruined his estate, he will hide out at Stode; actually, he remains in London, posing as a Latin-spouting writing-teacher named "Master Parenthesis," to observe both the follies of other London cuckolds and the unfaithfulness of his wife. He invites Judith Honeysuckle to an afternoon tavern-party along with her friends, Mabel and Clare. He presides over the party, helps the gallants to arrange an overnight assignation at Brainford with the wives, and offers to create a cover story. Disguised again as a collier, he delivers the cover story of Wafer's sick child. The assignation set, he reveals to the audience that he actually does have enough money to get out of debt, and plans to inform the ladies' husbands in time to prevent their being cuckolded. Having seen true unfaithfulness, he also begins to regret his own unfounded jealousy and resolves to accept Mistress Justiniano's offer to prove her chastity to him. As himself, he arrives at Luce's to reveal his disguises and the assignation plot to the husbands. He then attends the Earl, disguised as his wife and, after making the Earl admit that he tried to debauch Mistress Justiniano, claims that he has poisoned her, displaying her apparently dead body. The three Citizens arrive; Justiniano accuses them of being accomplices in her death so that the Earl will allow them to be seized and brought in. Justiniano then admits the ruse, charging the Citizens to be witnesses to the Earl's admission that he intended to corrupt a chaste wife. He then informs the husbands of their wives' assignation, and accompanies them (with Mistress Justiniano) to Brainford. There, he dissuades them from setting the authorities on the gallants, suggesting instead that they confront the wives and gallants privately, forgive the wives, and return home, reputations intact.

LINSTOCK
A gallant who attends the afternoon tavern-party and participates in the assignation at Brainford. There, he and Monopoly alone are sober enough to keep company with the wives, but they drive them from the room when they smoke tobacco. The wives then refuse to complete the assignation, and he is humiliated by Justiniano.

LUCE
A prostitute who entertains Honeysuckle, Tenterhook, and Wafer. She demands that Tenterhook give her Clare's diamonds as payment for previous services, and gives them to Birdlime to use for rescuing Clare.

MABEL WAFER
Wafer's frequently pregnant wife. She and Judith Honeysuckle invite Clare Tenterhook to share their "schoolmaster," from whom they are learning to write. She agrees to meet the gallants at an afternoon tavern-party. There, she agrees to the assignation at Brainford, and to pretend that her youngest child is sick to cover up their absence. Left alone at Brainford with the other wives, she agrees to Clare's suggestion to abandon the gallants. She and the other wives ungratefully condemn Birdlime for enticing their husbands, and then forgive and reconcile with the men.

MASTER PARENTHESIS
Justiniano's disguise of a Latin pedant and "pen man," or writing instructor.

MOLL JUSTINIANO
Justiniano's young wife (also referred to as "Merchant's Wife" in speech prefixes), who feels she has married down. Sick of her husband's unfounded jealousy, she listens to Birdlime's offer to bring her paying lovers, and threatens Justiniano that his waste of their estate will force her to become the mistress of the Earl. However, when Birdlime delivers her to his castle, she admits that she's only visited to ask the Earl to forgive Justiniano's debts. When he presses her to be his mistress in return, she reluctantly says she'll consider it, but informs her husband of the situation. She assists Justiniano in his ruse to expose the Earl, and agrees to accompany Justiniano and the Citizens to reclaim their wives.

OPPORTUNITY
Nickname given to Christian, Birdlime's maidservant, by Luce.

PHILIP
Tenterhook's cashier, called "Servant" in the playtext.

SCRIVENER
Assists Tenterhook in his bonds.

SERVANTS
The Earl's men, who seize the Citizens.

SIR GOSLING GLOW–WORM
A gallant who attends the afternoon tavern-party and participates in the assignation at Brainford, but he and Sir Gosling become too drunk to perform. After drunkenly leading fiddlers through town, he is beaten by the locals.

TAILOR
Brings the gown with which Birdlime hopes to bribe Mistress Justiniano to become the earl's mistress.

TENTERHOOK
A money-lender and creditor to Monopoly, who cuckolds him with Clare Tenterhook. He visits Luce but is dismayed to learn that she also entertains Honeysuckle and Wafer. Informed by Justiniano of his disguises and the wives' plot, he receives his wife's diamonds from Ambush, but is forced by Luce to give them to her as payment for her previous services. He accompanies the other husbands to Brainford, where he witnesses the gallants' humiliation and reconciles with his wife.

WAFER
A London merchant. He visits Luce but is dismayed to learn that she also entertains Tenterhook and Honeysuckle. Informed by Justiniano of his disguises and the wives' plot, he accompanies the other husbands to Brainford, where he witnesses the gallants' humiliation and reconciles with his wife.

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