John Marston

JACK DRUM'S ENTERTAINMENT, or
THE COMEDY OF PASQUIL AND KATHERINE

Also sometimes called, "Jacke Drum's Entertainment" and "John Drum's Entertainment." The title is from a popular expression used during the Early Modern Period in England; it originated as a military term for drumming someone out of the corps but took on the meaning of hauling someone out by the collar–and leaving that person with nothing.

1600

a synoptic, alphabetical character list

BRABANT JUNIOR
Younger of the two Brabant brothers, but he is the better man and he knows it, although, as the second son, he is not the legitimate heir. He recognizes that his older brother, Brabant Signior is a foolish spendthrift. He is, however, blind to the nature of Camelia, the woman with whom he is enamored. As a friend of Planet, Brabant Junior has a good advisor–whether or not he chooses to listen. Brabant sings outside of Camelia's window and is surprised when his lady's maid, Winifrede appears to tell him that her mistress does not appreciate his song, and he is even more surprised when Camelia immediately responds to John Ellis's call. Brabant is totally humiliated and begins to beat Ellis. He is stopped by Sir Edward but not before he bloodies Ellis's nose. He cannot believe that Camelia, who he believes to be wonderful, could fall for such a cowardly fool as Ellis. Later he watches as Camelia and Ellis kiss and sing of their love in front of him. When Camelia tells Brabant to go and seek his fortune, he tells her that he is aware of his standing as a second son, but that does not make him unworthy of her. Sounding very like her father, Sir Edward, he tells her that "Love should make marriage and not marriage love," but she rejects him utterly. When Planet tries to avenge his friend's rejection by Camelia, Brabant mistakes their faux relationship for the real thing. He believes that Planet is pursuing Camelia and he decides to have his Page kill Planet. He condemns all women for bringing men to this state and when he sees Camelia approach, he turns away so she'll think that he's Planet. When she begs him not to spurn her or scorn her but rather, love her in the name of his dearest friend, Brabant. When Brabant hears this, he realizes that Planet was not only innocent of betraying him, but that he had come to his defense and was, therefore, the most faithful of friends. Brabant then decides to kill himself, but Sir Edward happens upon the scene and stops him. Brabant explains that he has murdered Planet and is determined to kill himself for it. Brabant's older brother arrives and promises to have him pardoned, but Brabant Junior is intent on dying. Suddenly Planet and the young Page enter and tell Brabant that the Page merely discharged the pistol as Planet asked him to do and that Planet was never shot at all. The Page states that he thought Brabant was insane to have him kill his best friend. The Page then revealed Brabant's plan to Planet, who then helped the Page trick Brabant. At this good news, Sir Edward calls for dinner and the assembly retires to the Banquet Hall for a much needed feast.

BRABANT, MISTRESS
Wife of Brabant Signior. He use her as a means to play a joke on the Frenchman, fo de King. He tells fo de King that he is taking him to see a famous courtesan when, in fact, he is introducing fo de King to his own wife, Mistress Brabant. When Brabant leaves them alone and the Frenchman propositions her, she happily and confidently leads him to her bedroom.

BRABANT SIGNIOR
Eldest of the two Brabant brothers, he is a womanizer and a spendthrift. His brother believes him to be the biggest kind of fool, and he is proven to be so when he "gives" his wife to fo de King, thinking that he can predict her response–when, in fact, he has never known her at all. When he sees Pasquil (who is pretending to be dead), Mamon tells him that right before Pasquil died, he asked that Katherine now give her love to Mamon. When Winifrede fools fo de King and the Frenchman is left without a woman, Brabant promises him a courtesan in town–a courtesan that will turn out to be Brabant's own wife. He meets fo de King and, at Brabant's prompting, he begins to seranade her. When Mistress Brabant answers the door, her husband leaves her alone with fo de King who immediately begins to woo Brabant's wife and asks her to bed. Brabant's joke backfires and she willingly sleeps with the Frenchman, making a cuckold of Brabant Signoir: some scholars believe that this Brabant Signoir is a caricature of Ben Jonson. Brabant comes to his brother's aid when Brabant Junior believes that he has killed Planet. When it turns out that there was no murder, he joins Sir Edward, his brother, Planet, and John Ellis for dinner, drinking, and dancing.

CAMELIA
Gullible and greedy younger daughter of Sir Edward Fortune: sister to Katherine, but very unlike Katherine. Early in the play, Camelia believes herself to be in love with Brabant Junior, but her servant Winifred tells her that Brabant is not worthy of her love since he is a "younger brother" and cannot inherit the Brabant name or property. Camelia agrees to consider John Ellis instead, not knowing that her maid is in the employ of Ellis. She underestimates the love of Brabant who will continue to genuinely love her. She advises Brabant to pursue some kind of income and Planet tells her she isn't worth Brabant's love. In order to revenge his friend, Brabant Junior, Planet bribes Winifred to convince Camelia to woe him–the maid is wildly successful and Camelia drops Ellis for Planet and begins to chase him. When John Ellis asks Sir Edward for Camelia's hand in marriage, Camelia proceeds to humiliate and degrade him. She calls him a fool and an idiot. Sir Edward asks her to be more kind, but she only has eyes for Planet now–although he rejects her. His insults and refusal to love her make her even more interested in winning him and she pursues him aggressively. She has Winifred arrange a meeting. She wants to apologize to Planet, but mistakenly reveals herself to Brabant instead. Brabant then understands that Planet did not betray their friendship. Camelia ends up losing all of the men who had previously pursued her, but she is still part of Sir Edward's family and he envelops her into the warm feasting at the celebration for Katherine and Pasquil.

CHRISTOPHER
A "ghost character." Apparently a servant of Mamon.

EDWARD FORTUNE, SIR
An optimistic, happy, and prosperous man who prefers dancing to dwelling on money. He is the father of Katherine and Camelia and is approached by Mamon, the usurer who hopes to marry Katharine and inherit Sir Edward's money. Sir Edward enjoys music and drink and when Mamon criticizes this Sir Edward replies that to be a slave to money is to be the slave of a fool: "I had rather live rich to die poor than live poor to die rich." He wants his children to love him for himself and not for any wealth he might leave behind. Mamon thinks that Sir Edward ought to spend his money to gain titles and a place at Court, but Fortune scoffs at this view of life. Sir Edward, unlike most fathers in Early Modern dramas, believes that his daughters should be free to choose their husbands for love. He does not want to impose his authority on them–especially when it comes to marriage. Sir Edward is on the scene when Planet brings news of Pasquil's murder. After Katherine runs away, Sir Edward discovers that Pasquil is alive and well. In despair he departs with Drum to comfort himself with music and drink. He is on the scene when Brabant Junior discovers that he has not killed his friend, Planet, nor has Planet betrayed their friendship. During the resultant celebratory banquet, Sir Edward is reunited with a now-recovered Katherine and a now-sane Pasquil. They celebrate their happy reunion with singing, feasting, and drinking toasts.

FORTUNE
Family name of Sir Edward, Katherine, and Camelia.

FLAWNE
Mamon's page (servant). He drinks too much, probably because he has to work for the despicable usurer, Mamon. He refers to his master as the "devil" several times in the play and he never hesitates to tell Mamon what he thinks about him. After Mamon pours the poison onto Katherine and Pasquil destroys all of Mamon's "indentures" the notes of the people who owe him money, Flawne comes to tell Mamon that his house and all of his property are burning to the ground. No one has attempted to extinguish the blaze; on the contrary, they are warming their hands by the fire. Mamon, in complete despair, tells Flawne that he will die now that he is (financially) ruined, but Flawne tells the audience that he will put Mamon into the madhouse, Bedlam, where he can suffer the "sting of the Usurer's conscience" forever.

JACK DRUM
A servant of Sir Edward Fortune, who calls Drum "a knave." Jack Drum opens the action of the play. He entertains the Morice dancers and then tells Fortune that they should not be hospitable to Mamon, but they should give him "Jack Drum's Entertainment;" in other words, they should send him on his way with nothing. Drum recognizes Mamon's greed and warns Sir Edward repeatedly about the dangers of associating with usurers. Winifred uses Drum in her plan to humiliate both Drum and the Frenchman, fo de King. She tells Drum that she wants to have sex with him, but she needs him to hide in a sack and be carried to her. Instead, fo de King picks up the sack and carries Drum to the inn. Both men are surprised to discover that Winifred is not there. Drum attends a celebratory entertainment at Sir Edward's after Katherine and Pasquil are reunited.

JOHN ELLIS
One of Camelia's courters. Foolish and self-indulgent, Ellis is given to speaking in ridiculous similes in the belief that they make him sound weighty and important. Instead, he sounds like a self-righteous fool. He bribes Camelia's maid, Winifrede to plead his case with Camelia. When the very fickle Camelia responds, he presses his advantage in front of Brabant Junior but is then too cowardly to fight his rival–this does not go unnoticed by Camelia although she continues to believe that she will marry him. Once Winifrede convinces Camelia that she deserves a better man than John Ellis, Camelia quickly drops him. She calls him an idiot and laughs at him in front of Planet and her father. Sir Edward offers Ellis some "sack and sugar" to comfort him. Ellis enters the last scene with Sir Edward and drinks to the health of the family.

JOHN fo de King, MONSIEUR
Called "a goatish Frenchman," by Drum, he has an overly-French accent when he speaks English–he is a great fool and has been "burnt" by love more than once. Mamon hires him to kill Pasquil; he tells Pasquil that he won't kill him, but he will keep Mamon's blood-money. Pasquil asks him to tell Mamon that he has done the deed and that Pasquil is dead. The Frenchman agrees. After a bawdy scene with Tweedle, Drum, and Winifred, he agrees to come back later that night and get Winifred who tells him she will be in a great sack. Later Tweedle gives him the sack that is supposed to contain Winifrede–but it is only Jack Drum. She has fooled both fo de King and Jack Drum. His disappointment is further taken advantage of by Brabant Signior, who promises him a woman, but will get him only Mistress Brabant–a woman who, Brabant believes, will not please fo de King. But Signior Brabant has made an error of judgment–and fo de King sleeps with Mistress Brabant and praises her lusty sexuality to her husband at dinner that night.

KATHERINE
The daughter of Sir Edward Fortune and sister to Camelia, Katherine is the better of the two daughters. Katherine is courted by Mamon for her father's money and for her beauty, but she pledges herself to her one true love, Ned Pasquil, in a hand-fast ceremony. Like her father, she will marry for love, not for money. She tells Mamon that she cannot love him, as aged and infirm as he appears to be. Her love scene with Pasquil is very like that of the hand-fast ceremony in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. Later, when Planet tells her that Pasquil has been murdered, Katherine runs away into the night, tearing her hair and weeping. Immediately after she disappears, Pasquil renters the scene, only to discover that Katherine is gone–he knows that she thinks that he is dead, but he does not know where to find her. In the meantime, thinking that Pasquil is dead, Katherine sinks into deep despair and frequents the spot where she believes Pasquil was killed. One night he finds her there just in time to keep her from committing suicide. At first, she thinks that she is seeing an apparition, but when he convinces her that he is really flesh and blood and not a vision, she collapses into his arms. Then, oddly enough, she sends him off to get her a robe. As soon as Pasquil is out of sight, the evil Mamon appears with a vial of poisoned oil. He pours it on her and leaves her to die. Pasquil returns to see her dying, but she doesn't want him to see her thus destroyed and she sends him off into the night. He chases Mamon and catches up with him. After he destroys Mamon's indenture papers, he hears of the destruction of Mamon's property. Pasquil is satisfied and takes his leave of the now destroyed usurer. At Sir Edward's dinner, Katherine appears again, miraculously recovered from the poisoning by Mamon. She sees Pasquil who is roaming the hall in madness over what he believes is Katherine's horrific death. Sir Edward asks that music be played and Pasquil looks up and sees Katherine. He regains his wits and they embrace. Their reunion is celebrated with a feast.

MAID, COUNTRY
Appears briefly carrying eggs but Pasquil breaks them and she runs away very distressed that she has lost her wares.

MAMON
A money-lender or "Usurer with a great nose", Mamon is described by Jack Drum as a "yellow-toothed, sunk-eyed, gowtie-shanked usurer." Drum warns Sir Edward about allowing a man such as Mamon into his confidence. He recognizes the predatory nature of Mamon and understands that Sir Edward's beneficent nature will not allow him to judge Mamon, even though Mamon wants to marry Katherine, Sir Edward's daughter. Katherine, however, is clearly not interested and so Mamon attempts to convince her by pointing out that, although he looks old, he is a great lover. Since Mamon has an admittedly poor singing voice, he has his servant Flawne serenade Katherine. She remains unimpressed. He hires John fo de King to kill his rival for Katherine, Pasquil, but fo de King is unable to carry out the assigned mission. When Pasquil is not murdered, Mamon decides to kill Katherine himself. If he can't have her, he'll make sure no one else can either. He follows her and pours poison on her and then he disappears into the night. Pasquil pursues Mamon and overtakes him, destroying his financial papers (the papers that record his debtors' names and the amounts they owe him),and leaving Mamon in despair crying over and over that he is "undone." At that point Flawne enters the scene to tell Mamon that his house is burning to the ground with all of Mamon's property. No one tries to extinguish the fire, but instead, they are happily warming their hands. Mamon ends up in Bedlam, mad and alone.

MORRIS, THE
Spelled "The Morice." A troupe of musicians and singers who travel (with a fool) as street performers. Sir Edward pays them generously for their performance, but Mamon questions the wisdom of spending money on frivolous things.

NED PASQUIL
Katherine's true love. Pasquil means "Truth" and, like Fortune, Puffe and Mamon, his name reflects this character's qualities. Pasquil speaks the finest verse in the play. He loves Katherine and is her obvious match and exchanges vows with her. Unknown to either of them, Mamon is in the wings spying on them. When Pasquil discovers that Mamon has hired a man to kill him, Pasquil feigns death in order to trick Mamon in the hopes of later revenge. When Mamon comes to gloat, Pasquil arises and strikes the old man. In the meantime, however, Brabant tells the Fortunes that Pasquil has been murdered. Upon hearing this, Katherine disappears into the night. Pasquil goes in search of her with his young Page. He finds her roaming the area where she believes he was attacked. As he watches her, she prepares to stab herself. He stops her by revealing himself and, when she thinks she is seeing his ghost, he assures her that he is not dead. After an embrace, Katherine sends Pasquil to her house to get her a decent robe. It is at this point that Mamon reappears. He pours poison oil on Katharine and disappears; Pasquil returns to find Katherine dying. He chases and overtakes Mamon, takes the indenture papers from the older man, and tears them to pieces. Later, he uses a country maid's basket of eggs to demonstrate how Katharine was destroyed. Making references to tragic tales in classical literature, he tells everyone that "his heart is burst with miserie." He goes mad, but when he sees the recovered Katherine in the Banquet Hall of her father's house, he immediately regains his wits, embraces her, and is accepted into the family by a very happy Sir Edward.

PAGE to BRABANT JUNIOR
Servant to Brabant Junior. He is told to prepare a pistol and shoot Planet. After the shooting, Brabant gives him money so that he can escape to Scotland before the murder is discovered; Brabant later discovers that the Page did not kill Planet and did not escape to Scotland. .

PAGE to BRABANT SIGNIOR
Servant to Brabant Signior. As a part of Brabant's plan, the Page brings a summons to Brabant Signoir so that Brabant can leave fo de King alone with his wife, Mistress Brabant.

PAGE to PASQUIL
When Katherine disappears, this Page helps Pasquil to look for her.

PAGE to PUFFE
A funny character, this Page sings for Katherine at the direction of Puffe, and then, when she quickly closes the window, he tells his master that he has "puffed" her away.

PLANET
A handsome, self-assured man, a student of philosophy and a true friend of Brabant Junior, he warns Brabant that Camelia is not all she appears to be. When Brabant is humiliated by Camelia and Ellis, Planet intervenes and tells the group that Pasquil is dead, murdered by "Rogues." Katherine runs out tearing at her hair. He tells Camelia that she is really not worth Brabant's love. When she fails to react to him and leaves, he offers Winifrede "a hundred pounds a year" to help him with his (pretend) courting of Camelia. When Winifrede agrees, he is delighted. He witnesses the humiliation of fo de King and Drum and then is party to Brabant's plan to further humiliate the Frenchman. Winifrede is wildly successful in convincing Camelia, not only to discard Ellis for Planet, but she tells her that Camelia herself must do the courting. Camelia then debases herself by openly begging Planet to love her. He shows her nothing but disdain and openly humiliates her. At Winifred's urging, he agrees to meet Camelia; unknown to Planet, Brabant thinks that his friend is now a rival and that night he follows Planet in order to kill him. But thanks to the quick thinking of Brabant's Page, he fires the pistol into the air, and although Brabant thinks that Planet is dead, the murder is yet another ruse. Planet reveals himself alive to Brabant, Sir Edward, Brabant Signior, and Ellis and he joins all of the company and Sir Edward for a celebratory feast.

PLAYER, CHILD
After the Tyre-man's apology, a child player appears on stage to protest. He claims that the author really wants to present his entertainment, but he wants it to be done right. He does not want to bore the audience but present them with a "pleasing scenes."

PUFFE, MASTER
A comic character, he exhales with a loud "puff" every so often as a natural part of his speech pattern–thus the name. He wants to court Katherine and hopes to marry her. He has his Page sing under her window and when she appears, he declares his intentions. She quickly dismisses him. Once he realizes that he can never have Katherine, he abandons all hope of love and swears to his friends that nothing is left for him but death.

TIMOTHY TWEEDLE
A piper and friend (side-kick) of Jack Drum. Tweedle brags about his expertise with the pipe and with women, but it isn't clear whether he means his pipe attracts women or women are attracted by his sexual prowess. Whenever Drum appears in the play, Tweedle is usually with him–he too is at the final festivities.

TYRE–MAN
The "tiring house" man: a kind of stage manager. This character announces in the "Introduction" to the play, that he is presenting "John Drum's entertainment," but there's a problem backstage because the author of the play is trying to keep the actors (or boys) from coming on stage. The Tyre-man apologizes to the audience in advance for any problems.

WINIFREDE
Maid to Camelia. She represents the stereotypically witty servant girl (who reappears frequently in Restoration Drama). Winifred listens to Camelia's explanation of her attraction to Brabant and then convinces her mistress to think about loving John Ellis instead. Ellis has paid Winifrede to plead his case to Camelia. Winifrede appears in a bawdy scene with Drum, fo de King, and Tweedle, but she shows a definite preference for the Frenchman. She proposes that he come back later with a sack and he can carry her to a more private place. She also agrees to help Planet win Camelia's love. Before she begins to work with Planet, however, she promises to entertain Jack Drum. First he has to agree to be carried in a sack to the "Farm and Holloway" and once there, she will come and meet him. Then she laughs at the thought of what she is about to do. Tweedle tells her that Camelia is calling her, and then gives the sack containing Drum to the Frenchman, who thinks it is Winifrede. Once Winifrede has finished with her joke, she turns back to her mission with the gullible Camelia. She tells Camelia that she is now the only heir to Sir Edward's fortune and that now she needs to make a better match than John Ellis. Planet is the only man who is now worthy of such a wife–but Camelia must woo him. Planet not only completely rejects Camelia's wooing, but he insults her horribly and rejects her repeatedly. Winifrede arranges a rendezvous between Planet and Camelia and there sees Brabant threaten to kill himself. She runs for help.

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