I.ii Harebrain, a suspicious and a jealous husband, tells two Watchmen that there is a plot to rob his house. In fact, this is only a ruse to make them watch to be certain no one gains access to his wife. Harebrain may have reason for worry. Penitent Brothel is infatuated with Mistress Harebrain. Harebrain has his wife watched constantly for fear she might cuckold him. The only person he will allow alone with his wife is Frank Gullman, a courtesan who makes a living posing as a modest virgin so that her mother/bawd may make a business of selling her maidenhead. Harebrain is deceived by Gullman's pretense. Hairbrain has even gone so far as to "have convey'd away all her wanton pamphlets, as Hero and Leander, Venus and Adonis; oh, two luscious mary-bone pies for a young married wife." In fact, Gullman is acting as go-between for the lady in helping to set up an assignation.

Two foolish knights, Inesse (a property term "in being" and Possibility (a property term "inchoate" woo Frank Gullman. She is a kept woman, though, under the patronage of Bounteous Progress.

Penitent Brothel has hired Frank Gullman to convince Mistress Harebrain to sleep with him. Mistress Harebrain is all too willing, but because of Harebrain's security, she cannot devise a way to consummate their assignation. Harebrain all the while has hired Frank Gullman, the virgin, to tell his wife constantly of the turmoil and damnation of the adulterous life in order to dissuade Mistress Harebrain from any thoughts she might have of cuckolding him. Gullman, instead, uses her time alone with Mistress Harebrain to educate her how to gull her husband—leaving books open in her room which treat on the horrors of adultery, and refusing to be brought into the company of men by pleading "modesty" and an unwillingness to be in anyone's company but her husband's.

II.i We meet Sir Bounteous Progress, a man who says rightly of himself, "there's not one knight i'th' shire able to entertain a lord i'th' cue, or a lady i'th' nick like me, like me." Gunwater, Sir Bounteous's steward, announces the arrival of a Lord Owemuch.

Follywit, knowing of his grandsire's munificence to any nobleman, has disguised himself as Lord Owemuch, and Hoboy and Mawworm are disguised as his footman and servant. They beg the liberality of Bounteous Progress's house, which he is all too happy to extend. Much discussion is made over Bounteous Progress's chief servant, Gunwater, who has a rich gold chain denoting his office in the household. Progress shows "Owemuch" his will leaving Follywit everything. He has his organ played for them. They all exit as a song is sung to the organ music.

II.ii Progress and the disguised Follywit reenter. Progress has fed them and gives them lodging. Follywit soliloquizes that he will rob the house, but he is certain to admit that he knows he is only borrowing that which will in time come to him anyway.

II.iii is a six-line scene in which Gullman the courtesan sends her man to Penitent Brothel to tell him she has a plan to bring him together with Mrs. Harebrain.

II.iv Deep night back at Bounteous Progress' house. The rascals rise, tie up the servants and, in disguise as robbers, bring Progress down, tell him that they have tied up and robbed Owemuch, then proceed to tie up and rob Progress. After Progress is deposited back in his room, Follywit has his footman tie he and his servant up—on the pretext that the footman escaped binding by sleeping out with the horses. Next morning the footman releases Progress, who goes and releases "Owemuch" in a flurry of apologies. "Owemuch's" magnanimous acceptance of Progress's apology sets him well in his host's esteem. When a servant (Mawworm) tells Progress that Owemuch was robbed of two hundred pounds, Progress gives him that sum to mitigate his guest's damage.

II.v In the meantime, Gullman has devised to counterfeit an illness and Brothel will play her physician. The plot is to have Mistress Harebrain visit her sick friend and, out of sight of her husband, bed Brothel.

II.vi Bounteous Progress, now freed, apologizes to Follywit, now disguised again as Lord Owemuch, and "repays" him the two hundred pounds that was supposedly stolen from him in the night.

III.i Harebrain uses the arrival of Inesse and Possibility as an opportunity to test his wife's fidelity to him. While awaiting her arrival, they talk of Gullman's sudden illness. Harebrain is most distressed by it as are both of the young fops. When Mrs. Harebrain sends word that she prefers not to be in the company of any man but her husband, Harebrain is convinced of her fidelity. He sends the two men away and calls her to him. When she arrives, he tells her she might go visit her sick friend Gullman. He tries to send his man with her, but she still pretends not to desire the company of any man but her husband, not even a serving man. She convinces him to accompany her "but to th' door, sir, I would entreat no farther." Harebrain is completely fooled by the pretense.

III.ii While waiting for Mistress Harebrain to show up, Brothel acts as physician to Gullman in front of Bounteous Progress, who has come to bed Gullman. Sir Bounteous is described by Gullman as "the knight that privately maintains me; a little short old spiny gentleman in great doublet," and "my sole revenue, meat, drink, and raiment." When Progress is made to believe that he has made her pregnant, he gives her a great deal of money to ensure her recovery. After he leaves, Sirs Inesse and Possibility come in to visit her. Brothel and Gullman play upon her "illness" to extort money for expensive remedies (gold, pearl, amber, etc.), which the foolish fops readily give in hopes of being "repaid" when she regains her health.

Mistress Harebrain holds up her deception by having her husband escort her to Gullman's house. Once at Gullman's, she and Brothel go off together while the "ill" Gullman pretends a near-death bed conversation with Mistress Harebrain (who is supposedly too far gone in grief to speak)—all to fool the eavesdropping Harebrain that

1. Mistress Harebrain never leaves the room, and
2. Mistress Harebrain is a kind soul to her dear friend.

III.iii When Follywit discovers that his grandsire keeps a quean, he despairs of being put out of his inheritance by her. He devises a plot to get money from his grandsire and to discredit the whore (whose identity he does not know).

IV.i In the meantime Brothel has read a book which causes him, as adulterer, to fear for his eternal soul. A succubus enters, attired as Mistress Harebrain, and tries to seduce him. He rejects "her" and drives "her" away only to discover later that Mistress Harebrain never came into his house, and indeed had not left her house for two days. He suspects the creature he saw was, indeed, a devil sent to tempt his soul.

IV.ii Follywit, disguised as a courtesan, comes to Progress's house. Gunwater, mistaking Follywit for Gullman, makes an assignation with her and gives Follywit his gold chain of office in earnest of his meeting with "her". Then, while Gunwater is out fetching Progress, Follywit robs the coffer and bolts. When Progress comes in he discovers the robbery and calls Gunwater. When Gunwater laments his lost chain Progress realizes that his bawd was sleeping with his servant. He determines never to trust her again, though, for pride, he will dissemble, acting as if nothing had happened.

IV.iv Brothel goes to Mistress Harebrain to tell her of the succubus. They are both frightened for their souls. He makes her swear that she will always be true to her husband, and she does so—but not before Harebrain sneaks in and eavesdrops. Harebrain believes that Brothel is his best friend and his wife the truest of women, because all he hears is the admonition and vow of chastity. He tells Brothel that Progress is giving a great feast soon and invites him along as his best friend.

IV.v Follywit has chanced upon Gullman and, believing her to be a virgin, barters with her mother for her hand—telling the truth about his expectation of fortune. Earlier, the mother had told Gullman that if a rich man who loved her should ask, she should marry him. The deal is struck and Follywit and Gullman are married. Follywit still believes she is a modest virgin. He tells his bride and new mother to meet him at his grandsire's feast, where he has yet another trick to play.

V.i At the feast all arrive except for Follywit and his band of rogues. They come in disguised as players, the Lord Owemuch's Men, and are given leave to present their comedy The Slip to the guests. Follywit begs of Progress a chain, with which to play the justice, a ring, and a watch for Time to carry on. Progress lends these items to Follywit.

V.ii While Follywit is delivering his prologue to the play, his henchmen make off with the loot. But the henchmen are caught by a constable and brought back. Follywit, dressed as the justice, makes the guests believe that the constable is part of their troop, and a bad actor. They tie up the constable, to the considerable delight of the guests, and make their escape. Follywit and his group re-enter as themselves and, after a bit of pretending that they had seen the robbers escaping, Follywit produces the chain, ring, and watch and returns it to Progress. Progress is perturbed with Follywit, but Follywit swears that he is made honest by marrying a virtuous virgin. When Progress discovers that Follywit's "virgin" is Gullman, he considers himself well avenged for his grandson's pranks. Follywit is at first unnerved by the news that he has married a courtesan, but when Progress gives them a thousand marks as a wedding gift, and Gullman swears that her past is behind her and she will be a true wife, Follywit considers himself well served.

The last lines sum up the play's moral:

Who lives by cunning, mark it, his fate's cast;
When he has gull'd all, then is himself the last.

Go Back to Top

Notes of Interest:

Each conversion is made via some form of disguise:

1. Penitent Brothel, when confronted with the succubus disguised as Mistress Harebrain, vows not to enter into the sin of adultery any farther and repents.
2. Brothel's revelation of the incident to Mistress Harebrain affects the same resolution in her.
3. The eavesdropping Harebrain, believing that he is hearing earnest confessions of his wife's love for him and Brothel's affirmation of the rightness of her love for Harebrain is deceived into thinking Brothel is his good friend—which now he truly is—but he has no suspicion that it is also the man who has done exactly as he feared and cuckolded him.
4. When Follywit comes disguised as his grandsire's courtesan he first fools the butler, Gunwater, into parting with his gold chain, his treasured badge of office—when the deception is later discovered, one feels as though Gunwater has learned his lesson.
5. When Follywit, disguised as Gullman, robs Progress, the old man has no choice but to think his mistress is a thief and so distrusts the courtesan.
6. When Follywit discovers the courtesan pretending to be a virgin has deceived him, he is shaken—but he also converts from a life of folly.

This play represents one of the New Comedy plays of the Renaissance. In New Comedy one is apt to find several elements common:

• young lovers deceiving the old;
• a witty intriguer or a clever seducer, a cuckolder, who fools the old;
• a country wench coming to town followed by her father who tries to keep her from falling into disrepute;
• scapegoats who are punished in the end, usually not the intriguer;
• old men blocking young love, young ambition.

The "Prodigal Son" story is central to this play. Follywit is like the son fallen into sloth. The most important line in this context is found at II.ii.6-7 where the silk and gold tapestry depicting the prodigal son fails to depict the swine. The message is that there need be no complete fall (that is, no need to sleep with the swine) for Follywit (the partial prodigal son) in order to be redeemed—it may also reflect the conclusion, that we are not to think that Frank Gullman is Follywit's penance—that he is not sleeping with swine when he takes his new wife to bed.

There is a difficulty with the assignation scene between Mistress Harebrain and Penitent Brothel (III.ii). The lovers must be allowed to exit, but Frank Gullman and Harebrain must be left onstage, both in view of the audience and both out of view of one another. Harebrain is eavesdropping upon what he thinks to be a conversation between his wife and Gullman while Gullman plays up both roles for his benefit. It is possible that the stage was curtained at his point down the center and the characters are on either side of the curtain. This would allow the lovers to sneak off through one of the side doors on Gullman's side of the stage while Harebrain stood on the other side listening to Gullman's performance. Or it could have been so simple a device as a tall chair on stage behind which Harebrain crouches. There is no stage direction to lend assistance.

There is an interesting discussion of the uncertainty of the acting profession at V.i.25-33.

In the play, The Slip, there is an interesting use of reality intruding upon the fantasy world of the play. When the constable enters with the men, Follywit's fellows, who have been caught trying to rob Progress, Progress and his guests think the constable is part of the act, and a bad actor at that. The audience of the play laughs as the actors tie up the constable, gagging the voice of reality within the world of the fantasy. It is a moment worthy of Pirandello.

This play may be the alter-piece to The Revenger's Tragedy. If so, it provides the comic expression of much the same plot. Here the main intriguer is caught up in his own deception, though he had been in complete control up to the point of his own gulling. In RT the intriguer is also hoised on his own petard and the revenger is himself the object of revenge. Thus the plays demonstrate both the comic and tragic expression of the same plot movement.

Plays to be compared:

Shakespeare's 1 Henry IV (for the resemblance of Follywit to Falstaff);

Jonson's Volpone (for the resemblance of Follywit to Volpone and Face; for the plot device workings of the deceiver; for Gullman using her feigned illness as does Volpone to extort money);

Middleton & Rowley's The Changeling (for the subplot of husband locking up his wife for fear of being cuckolded);

Marston's The Fawn (for the resemblance of the Harebrain subplot with the Zuccone subplot--only here Harebrain has reason to be suspicious of his wife's fidelity);

Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream (for line echoes);

Marston's Sophonisba (for the succubus action and its power to convert, or at least make the lustful think twice);

Peele's The Old Wives Tale and Beaumont's The Knight of the Burning Pestle (for the theme of reality imposing itself into the fantasy world--as it does in Kn of BP and which finds its antithesis in OWT--the constable scene here, where the real constable thrusts himself into The Slip is analogous to Ralph being thrust into the children's play and is reversed in OWT when the fantasy world of Madge imposes itself into the reality of her cabin).

Go Back to Top