THE BRIDE

Summer, 1638

a synoptic, alphabetical character list

Printed in 1640 by R. H. for Laurence Blaikelocke, with Nabbes's name on the title page. The title page also says that the play was "Acted in the yeare 1638, at the private house in Drury-lane [i.e. the Cockpit] by their Majesties Servants [i.e. the King and Queen's Young Company, or Beeston's Boys]." Following the title page is a dedication by Nabbes "To the GENERALTY of His Noble friends, Gentlemen of the severall Honorable Houses the Inns of Court."

BLADES
Ruffians employed by Squirrel in his bawdy-house; he gives their names as "Rashbe, Spilman, Poinard, and others", but they are not named elsewhere. After hearing them carousing, Raven asks Squirrel to have them attack Theophilus and the Bride, whereupon they carry the Bride away and threaten to rape her. Theophilus successfully fights them and forces them to release the Bride and give up their weapons. They go and get Justice Ferret to complain about Theophilus's abuse of them, but disappear before pressing charges. Later they return and encounter Kickshaw, whom they rob and leave tied up.

BRIDE
The unnamed title character of the play. As the play begins, she is about to marry Goodlove despite his much greater age. However, when Theophilus expresses his affection for the Bride, she reciprocates his affections and the young couple flees, whereupon Goodlove reveals that he had intended all along to give the Bride to Theophilus. The couple arrives at Squirrel's tavern, where they argue when Theophilus expresses guilt over his abandonment of Goodlove and says he will not marry the Bride without the full consent of her parents and Goodlove. Raven arrives and urges them to flee to the country, falsely telling them that Goodlove has disinherited Theophilus. Before they can leave, the blades arrive (secretly prompted by Raven) and nearly carry off the Bride, but Theophilus fights them and forces them to surrender their weapons. Theophilus begins to suspect Raven's sincerity, and when Justice Ferrett arrives and tells him of Goodlove's plans, he resolves to return to Goodlove and find out the truth. Justice and Mistress Ferrett take the Bride to Horten's house, where she is left alone with Maligo and Rhenish. While they are fighting over her, Kickshaw escorts her off instead and tries to rape her, but she is saved when she comes across Theophilus. The couple run off together again, and finally show up again in the play's final scene. Then it is revealed that Theophilus has ingratiated himself with the Bride's father and gained his blessing, and Raven reveals that Theophilus is actually Goodlove's biological son.

DRAWER
A drawer in Squirrel's tavern who appears briefly in act two, first as a comic foil for Squirrel, and then in a brief comic misunderstanding with Theophilus.

FATHER
The father of the Bride. He first appears along with his wife (the Mother) and the Bride, on what is supposed to be Goodlove and the Bride's wedding day. When he learns that Theophilus has run off with the Bride instead, he runs off to look for the couple, whereupon Goodlove reveals that he has merely been pretending to marry the Bride in order to trick her parents into providing a bigger marriage portion. Later, in act five, the Father reappears with his wife and tells Goodlove that he has learned of the plot, and will not give any marriage portion at all. But after interrogating Raven and learning of his villainy, the Father reveals that Theophilus had earlier come to him and calmed his anger, and that he fully approves of his daughter's marriage to Theophilus.

FERRET, JUSTICE
A simple justice of the peace, dominated by a shrewish wife who often insults him viciously and rarely allows him to get in a word edgewise. Ferret has come with his wife to the wedding of his friend Goodlove and the Bride, but when Theophilus and the Bride run off together, Goodlove reveals to them that he had intended all along to give the Bride to Theophilus and make Theophilus his heir. Later the justice and his wife arrive at Squirrel's tavern to apprehend the blades, who escape. Ferret tries to tell Theophilus, the Bride, and Raven about Goodlove's true intentions, but his wife does so instead, causing Theophilus to go in search of Goodlove to confirm the story. The Ferrets escort the Bride to Horten's house to await Theophilus's return, but when Kickshaw arrives with his tale of being robbed by the blades, they leave with Horten to investigate. They later show up at Horten's house again, but when news arrives that Kickshaw has escaped with some of Horten's antiquities, they leave briefly to put out a warrant for his arrest. Ferret is present in the play's climactic scenes, but speaks no lines, in keeping with his meek and henpecked nature in the rest of the play.

FERRET, MRS.
The shrewish and talkative wife of Justice Ferret. She often insults her husband viciously and usually talks on his behalf, rarely allowing him to get in a word edgewise. The Ferrets have come to the wedding of Goodlove and the Bride, but when Theophilus and the Bride run off together, Goodlove reveals to them that he had intended all along to give the Bride to Theophilus and make Theophilus his heir. Later the justice and his wife arrive at Squirrel's tavern to apprehend the blades, who escape. But Mistress Ferret tells Theophilus, the Bride, and Raven about Goodlove's true intentions, causing Theophilus to go in search of Goodlove to confirm the story. The Ferrets escort the Bride to Horten's house to await Theophilus's return, but when Kickshaw arrives with his tale of being robbed by the blades, they leave with Horten to investigate. They later show up at Horten's house again, but when news arrives that Kickshaw has escaped with some of Horten's antiquities, they leave briefly to put out a warrant for his arrest. In the play's climactic scenes, Mistress Ferret's only role is to tell Raven that Kickshaw has fled, shortly before Kickshaw shows up on his own.

GOODLOVE
An old wealthy merchant, stepfather of Theophilus and uncle of Raven. As the play opens, he is engaged to marry the Bride, and is reassuring Theophilus that she will bring a large portion to increase his estate. But Theophilus is secretly in love with the Bride, and when she reciprocates his feelings, the two of them run off together. As it turns out, Goodlove was aware of Theophilus's feelings, planned to turn the Bride over to him anyway, and was only pretending to marry the Bride to get a bigger portion out of her parents. He tells Raven to find the couple and bring them back, but instead Raven tells them that Goodlove is angry with them and that they should flee to the country. Much later, while searching for Theophilus, Goodlove comes upon the injured Raven and soon begins to suspect that he is not telling the truth. When Theophilus and the Bride finally arrive in the play's final scene, Raven's villainy is exposed, and Raven discloses that Theophilus is in fact Goodlove's biological son, not just his stepson.

HORTEN
An owner of rarities and antiquities. He first appears when Maligo and Rhenish arrive to see his antiquities, but soon Justice and Mistress Ferrett arrive with the Bride, whom they want to cheer up by also showing her Horten's antiquities. When Kickshaw arrives complaining of being robbed, Horton leaves with the Ferretts to deal with the situation, leaving the Bride with the merchants. He returns when Goodlove brings the injured Raven to his house, but leaves again on hearing that Kickshaw has robbed him. He returns a final time for the climactic series of scenes, during which he identifies his stolen antiquities in Kickshaw's pockets.

KICKSHAW
A French cook who speaks with a comically broad accent and is hired to work at the wedding of Goodlove and the Bride. When the wedding is cancelled, he absconds with some plate and later shows up at Squirrel's tavern dressed as a gentleman. There he encounters the blades, who rob him and taunt him with a greasy wench before leaving him tied up. Squirrel finds and releases him, keeping his cloak as payment for the reckoning. Kickshaw reports the robbery to Justice Ferret, but is distracted by his infatuation with the Bride, whom he ends up escorting away while Maligo and Rhenish are fighting over her. While trying to rape the Bride, Kickshaw chases her into the arms of Theophilus, effecting the lovers' reconciliation. He then awakens the apparently dead Raven while trying to rob him, and is blackmailed into helping Raven with his schemes. Kickshaw escapes from the room in Horton's house where he is being held, taking with him several rarities, but is caught by the Bride's father and brought forth in the play's penultimate scene. He tells the truth about what he has done, forcing Raven to confess his own villainous plots.

MALIGO
A clownish Spanish merchant, who always appears with his Dutch counterpart, Rhenish. The two merchants have been hired by Goodlove to provide the wine for his wedding, and when the wedding is cancelled he promises them double pay if they will stay around until the next day. The merchants later show up at the house of Horten to see his antiquities, but when the Bride arrives, they are lovestruck and fight over which one will get to escort her on a walk. They are both left empty-handed when Kickshaw escorts her off instead.

MOTHER
Mother of the Bride. She first appears along with her husband (the Father) and the Bride, on what is supposed to be Goodlove and the Bride's wedding day. When they learn that Theophilus has run off with the Bride instead, they runs off to look for the couple, whereupon Goodlove reveals that he has merely been pretending to marry the Bride in order to trick her parents into providing a bigger marriage portion. She reappears with her husband in act five, but speaks no lines; she is only an observer as her husband helps uncover Raven's villainy and accepts Theophilus as his new son-in-law.

PLASTER
A humorous surgeon brought by Horten in act five to treat Raven's wounds. He speaks mostly in Latin, and is gently mocked by Goodlove and Horten before Goodlove pacifies him by paying him a handsome sum for his services.