No Wit, No Help Like a Woman's

Thomas Middleton
[?James Shirley, reviser]

NO WIT, NO HELP LIKE A WOMAN'S

circa 1611–1627
(revised 1638)
The urged date, 1613, is conjectural. If one accepts that III.i.279-82 refers to the year 1638 (the year of James Shirley's revival of the play) and subtract the other number alluded to in that line, 25, one gets 1613 as one possible date of original performance. Conversely, the proverbs quoted by Weatherwise are from Thomas Bretnor's 1611 almanac. We know that in 1618 Middleton wrote The Inner Temple Masque wherein an almanac is referred to—and that almanac is from 1618. If Middleton is consistent in his use of contemporary almanacs, then the play's date could be set as early as 1611.

Synopsis available, click here
Go to "Notes of Interest"
Go to "Plays to be Compared"

AIR
A disguise assumed by Weatherwise when the four disgruntled former suitors of Lady Goldenfleece (Pepperton, Lambstone, Overdone, Weatherwise) intrude upon the wedding feast of the newly remarried widow. Somewhat remarkably, and in keeping with Weatherwise's interest in almanacs and other arcane subject, the four elements embrace at the end of this pseudo-masque.

BEVERIL
Brother to Mistress Low-Water who, like his sister and brother-in-law, has fallen on hard times. The family's fortunes are rehabilitated through Kate Low-Water's resourcefulness when she disguises herself as a youthful male gallant and wins the heart of the wealthy widow Goldenfleece, to the dismay of her four persistent and wealthier suitors. On their wedding night, Kate refuses to go to bed with her new wife. Sending Beveril in her stead, the assembled guests discover the two in flagrante delicto and Kate immediately claims she cannot remain married to Goldenfleece and demands payment. After some negotiation, she says that she will be satisfied with half the widow's fortune. In order to save face, Goldenfleece marries Beveril, instantly improving his fortunes.

DUTCH BOY
A servant to the Dutch Merchant. Savorwit uses the boy's inability to speak English to persuade Twilight that his wife is dead and, therefore, will not return to England. Upon further examination from Oliver Twilight and the Dutch Merchant, the boy's actual report that Lady Twilight is alive is discovered.

DUTCH MERCHANT
As a well-traveled merchant, this Dutchman verifies that he has seen Lady Twilight in Antwerp and that she is not dead, as the family has been led to believe. Although Savorwit denies this information and uses the unintelligible Dutch of the merchant's boy to verify this, upon further inspection, Twilight believes the merchant. Later, the merchant also confirms the supposed parentage of Grace as Twilight's daughter, alarming Philip who married her in Antwerp two months prior unaware that they were siblings.

EARTH
A disguise assumed by Pepperton when the four disgruntled former suitors of Lady Goldenfleece (Pepperton, Lambstone, Overdone, Weatherwise) intrude upon the wedding feast of the newly-remarried widow. Somewhat remarkably, and in keeping with Weatherwise's interest in almanacs and other arcane subject, the four elements embrace at the end of this pseudo-masque.

FIRE
A disguise assumed by Sir Gilbert Lambstone when the four disgruntled former suitors of Lady Goldenfleece (Pepperton, Lambstone, Overdone, Weatherwise) intrude upon the wedding feast of the newly-remarried widow. Somewhat remarkably, and in keeping with Weatherwise's interest in almanacs and other arcane subject, the four elements embrace at the end of this pseudo-masque.

FOOTMAN
The messenger of Sir Gilbert Lambstone. He appears only once, delivering a letter to Mistress Low-Water in Lambstone's unsuccessful attempt to court her.

GILBERT LAMBSTONE, SIR
A London knight, one of the four suitors of the rich widow, Lady Goldenfleece. With the emergence of the disguised Kate Low-Water as Lady Goldenfleece's favorite, the suitors realize that they have wasted their time, money, and energy pursing the widow. Disgruntled, they disrupt Goldenfleece's wedding feast by masquerading as the four elements (Gilbert portrays Fire) and presenting a pseudo-masque.

GRACE
Sunset's daughter, though she is believed to be Twilight's. Along with Jane, Grace is moderately alarmed by Goldenfleece's riddle at the play's outset that she refuses to elaborate on. Unbeknownst to the other characters, Grace is already married to Philip Twilight, a match which portends disaster when the Dutch Merchant informs the couple that they are, in reality, brother and sister–a fact confirmed by Lady Twilight who believes Grace to be her daughter. On the verge of the public celebration of the couple's nuptials, Goldenfleece reveals the riddle hinted at earlier, and confirms that Grace is in fact Sunset's daughter and therefore free to marry Philip Twilight.

JANE
Twilight's daughter, though she is believed to be Sunset's. Along with Grace, Jane is moderately alarmed by Goldenfleece's riddle at the play's outset that she refuses to elaborate on. Concerned, Jane seeks the assistance of Kate Low-Water in deciphering Goldenfleece's cryptic statements. At the behest of her supposed father, Sunset, she is betrothed to her erstwhile servant, Sandstone. When Goldenfleece reveals the riddle that she had hinted upon earlier, Jane discovers that she is, in fact, the daughter of Sir Oliver Twilight, a fact that markedly improves the financial situation of both her and her new husband.

KATE LOW-WATER
The resourceful wife of Low-Water, Kate. In an effort to improve her family's ebbing finances and those of her brother, Beveril, Kate contrives to extort money from the wealthy widow Goldenfleece. Disguised as a man, her youthful exuberance wins the widow much to the dismay of her four other–financially superior–suitors. On their wedding night, however, the disguised Mistress Low-Water refuses to go to bed with her new bride and sends Beveril in her stead. The assembled guests discover the two in flagrante delicto, and Kate immediately claims she cannot remain married to Goldenfleece and demands payment. After some negotiation, she says that she will be satisfied with half the widow's fortune. In order to save face, Goldenfleece marries Beveril, instantly improving his fortunes as well.

LADY ELIZABETH GOLDENFLEECE
The only character uniting the drama's two plots, Goldenfleece's cryptic riddle concerning the respective parentage of Jane and Grace alerts both characters as well as the audience to the likelihood of ancestral misprision, which becomes the driving force behind the rest of the play. This rich widow counts four well-to-do gentlemen among her suitors–Sir Gilbert Lambstone, Weatherwise, Pepperton, and Overdone. These four suitors, however, are rejected in favor of the youthful Kate Low-Water (disguised as a man). On their wedding night, however, Kate Low-Water refuses to go to bed with her new bride and sends Beveril in her stead. The assembled guests discover the two in flagrante delicto and Kate (still pretending to be the husband) claims she cannot remain married to Goldenfleece and demands payment. After some negotiation, she says that she will be satisfied with half the widow's fortune. In order to save face, Goldenfleece marries Beveril, instantly improving his fortunes as well. Just before Philips's scandalous marriage to his supposed sister Grace is publicly disclosed, Goldenfleece divulges the earlier riddle, revealing that Grace is, in fact, Sunset's daughter and Jane (the supposed daughter of Sunset) is actually Twilight's child.

LADY TWILIGHT
The wife of the wealthy gentleman Sir Oliver Twilight. She is believed by both her husband and son to be dead as the play opens, a rumor that Savorwit attempts to perpetuate through a conversation with the Dutch Merchant's boy. Lady Twilight's sudden appearance quells this rumor and marks her jubilant reunion with her son, Philip. The Dutch Merchant informs mother and son (falsely) that Grace is Twilight's daughter, a fact allegedly confirmed when Lady Twilight interrogates Grace herself. Because Grace and Philip had been married clandestinely in Antwerp two months previously, the family prepares for the humiliation that will attend the fact that Philip has, in fact, married his sister. The scandal is averted, however, when Goldenfleece reveals at her wedding feast that Grace is actually Sunset's daughter and it is Jane who is, in fact, Twilight's.

LOW-WATER
As his name implies, this decayed gentleman has suffered a significant fall in his fortunes. Unable or unwilling to attempt to remedy this himself, his wife Kate sets about rehabilitating the family's fortunes by disguising herself as a man and winning the wealthy widow, Lady Elizabeth Goldenfleece. On their wedding night, however, Mistress Low-Water refuses to go to bed with her new bride and sends her brother, Beveril, in her stead. The assembled guests discover the two in flagrante delicto and Kate immediately claims she cannot remain married to Goldenfleece and demands payment. After some negotiation, she says that she will be satisfied with half the widow's fortune. In order to save face, Goldenfleece marries Beveril, instantly improving his fortunes as well.

OLIVER TWILIGHT, SIR
A rich old knight is the true father of Philip and Jane. Jane, however, is believed to be Sunset's daughter. Sir Oliver believes that his daughter is Grace. Twilight is interested in contracting the marriage of Grace as expediently and inexpensively as possible, conditions that rule out Weatherwise as suitor because he demands a portion of the family wealth. Sir Oliver believes his wife is dead as the play opens, and this rumor is perpetuated by his servant Savorwit though it is refuted by a Dutch Merchant who claims to have seen her alive in Antwerp. Lady Twilight's sudden appearance confirms the Dutch Merchant's tale. The Dutch Merchant informs mother and son (falsely) that Grace is Twilight's daughter, a fact allegedly confirmed when Lady Twilight interrogates Grace herself. Because Grace and Philip had been married clandestinely in Antwerp two months previously, the family prepares for the humiliation that will attend the fact that Philip has, in fact, married his sister. The scandal is averted, however, when Goldenfleece reveals at her wedding feast that Grace is actually Sunset's daughter and it is Jane who is, in fact, Twilight's.

OVERDONE
One of the four suitors of the rich widow, Lady Goldenfleece. With the emergence of the disguised Kate Low-Water as Lady Goldenfleece's favorite, the suitors realize that they have wasted their time, money, and energy pursing the widow. Disgruntled, they disrupt Goldenfleece's wedding feast by masquerading as the four elements (Overdone portrays Water) and presenting a pseudo-masque.

PEPPERTON
One of the four suitors of the rich widow, Lady Goldenfleece. With the emergence of the disguised Kate Low-Water as Lady Goldenfleece's favorite, the suitors realize that they have wasted their time, money, and energy pursing the widow. Disgruntled, they disrupt Goldenfleece's wedding feast by masquerading as the four elements (Pepperton portrays Earth) and presenting a pseudo-masque.

PHILIP
The son of Sir Oliver Twilight and lover of Mistress Grace whom he has clandestinely married in Antwerp two months prior to the action represented in the play. The sudden appearance of Lady Twilight, his mother, who was believed dead, marks both a jubilant reunion and the potential for great shame when the same Dutch Merchant who reported that his mother was alive also informs mother and son (incorrectly) that Grace is, in fact, the daughter of Sir Oliver Twilight. Despite the shame that this revelation would inevitably cause, Philip's confidant, Savorwit, reassures him that these issues of mistaken identity will work themselves out. The scandal is averted when Goldenfleece reveals at her wedding feast that Grace is actually Sunset's daughter and it is Jane who is, in fact, Twilight's.

PICKADILLE
Lady Goldenfleece's fool. The clown's satirical comedy consists primarily of poking fun at the many suitors courting his wealthy mistress.

SANDFIELD
Servant to Mistress Jane. He regularly commiserates with Philip. When, through the manipulation of Savorwit, Weatherwise's suit to Jane is blocked, Sandfield becomes the most eligible suitor to Sunset's supposed daughter, Jane, because he will accept her hand in marriage without a portion or dowry. These nuptials are celebrated at the home of the wealthy widow, Elizabeth Goldenfleece, who informs the assembled guests that Jane is, in fact, the daughter of Sir Oliver Twilight, a revelation that greatly improves the new couple's fortunes

SAVORWIT
The meddling servant of Sir Oliver Twilight. Savorwit attempts to conceal the fact that his master's wife is, in fact, alive when the evidence of her death is refuted by a Dutch Merchant and by Lady Twilight's actual appearance later in the play. Clearly privy to the facts of Grace and Jane's parentage, Savorwit advises their two suitors, Philip and Sandfield, respectively, to be careful as they woo. Savorwit watches and comments with satirical amusement when the Twilights debate the parentage of their supposed daughter, Grace. He also, paradoxically, reassures Philip when the Dutch Merchant reveals (falsely) that Grace is Twilight's daughter and that Philip has incestuously married his sister. Savorwit's positive outlook, however, proves justified when Goldenfleece reveals at the wedding ceremony that Grace is, in fact, Sunset's daughter and Jane is Twilight's child.

SUNSET
The true father of Grace, whom everyone believes to be Twilight's daughter. As his name suggests, he, like Twilight, is approaching old age. Sunset plans to marry his supposed daughter Jane to Sandfield, a plan that presents no significant problems for any of the characters involved. At the combined wedding feast, Lady Elizabeth Goldenfleece reveals that Jane is, in fact, Twilight's daughter and that Sunset's true daughter is Grace, the supposed daughter of Sir Oliver. Philip Twilight, therefore, becomes the Sunset's son-in-law through his marriage to Grace.

TENANTS
These six characters have functional uses befitting their names, renting from Weatherwise and presenting the twelve astrological signs in a banquet in honor of Goldenfleece.

WATER
A disguise assumed by Overdone when the four disgruntled former suitors of Lady Goldenfleece (Pepperton, Lambstone, Overdone, Weatherwise) intrude upon the wedding feast of the newly-remarried widow. Somewhat remarkably, and in keeping with Weatherwise's interest in almanacs and other arcane subject, the four elements embrace at the end of this pseudo-masque.

WEATHERWISE
One of the four suitors to the wealthy widow, Lady Goldenfleece. Weatherwise, throughout the play, is obsessed with almanacs and other arcane subjects, to the point that he has his six tenants present the twelve astrological signs at a banquet during his courtship of Goldenfleece. With the emergence of the disguised Kate Low-Water as Lady Goldenfleece's favorite, the suitors realize that they have wasted their time, money, and energy pursing the widow. Disgruntled, they disrupt Goldenfleece's wedding feast by masquerading as the four elements (Weatherwise portrays Air) and presenting a pseudo-masque. Weatherwise also presents the play's epilogue.

ZODIAC
The six tenants who rent from Weatherwise present the twelve astrological signs in a banquet in honor of Lady Goldenfleece.

Synopsis:

I.i Philip Twilight and his servant Savourwit are in a tangle. Philip's friend Sanfield is in love with old Sunset's daughter Jane. Old Oliver Twilight has designs on that same Jane to be his son Philip's wife. Sanfield believes that Philip is trying to steal his love. Philip confesses to Sanfield that he has no interest in Jane. He is, in fact, already married secretly to the girl who is masquerading as his sister Grace.

The real story is that Philip's mother and sister were kidnapped ten years earlier and are being held in Denmark (?) A ransom note came at last asking six hundred crowns for the mother's release. Oliver Twilight (generally a miserly man) paid the sum at once and sent Philip and Savourwit to collect the old woman. As soon as they landed in Antwerp, Philip was smitten by a barmaid. He spent the six hundred crowns wooing her. He married her and brought her home to London where he, Savourwit, and the girl conspired to tell Oliver that the girl was the long-lost daughter Grace. They told Oliver that the mother had died.

Sanfield is satisfied by this explanation and believes that Philip has no designs on Jane. The problem now is that Oliver wants Philip to marry Jane and has picked Sanfield to marry the girl he thinks to be Grace. Savourwit hits upon a notion that the two men should pretend to marry the two girls as Oliver would have them do, but actually marry the opposite girls as they would—Jane to Sanfield and Grace to her already—husband Philip. They can fool Oliver during the day and sleep with their own wives at night. The plan is immediately approved.

There is a wealthy widow in town, Lady Goldenfleece. A knight, Sir Gilbert Lambstone, courts her, as does a fellow named Pepperton, and an old man named Overdone. She has grown wealthy from her deceased husband's usurious dealings—dealings that stripped the Low-waters of their wealth and position and placed them in a state of penury. In the hearing of the two girls she lets slip that she has a secret concerning Jane and Grace, but she declines to tell them what that secret is because she has taken an oath regarding the matter.

Sir Oliver has preferred an odd fellow named Weatherwise—a man who lives by the almanac and the stars—to marry the girl he believes to be Grace. His preference revolves around Weatherwise not requiring a dowry in the marriage. Oliver is a miserly though a kindly man. Savourwit convinces Sir Oliver that Sanfield, who is a well-propertied man, also loves "Grace" and would gladly marry her without a dowry. When Sir Oliver hears that there is a better suitor to his daughter (one who fulfills his need not to supply a dowry), he instantly prefers Sanfield. Sir Oliver ejects Weatherwise, who turns his attentions to courting the widow, Lady Goldenfleece.

I.ii We meet Mistress Low-water. She feels sorry for herself for having been financially ruined by the Goldenfleeces. Jane comes to her to ask her to help find out what secret Lady Goldenfleece knows regarding Jane and Grace. Mistress Low-water is the acknowledged wit of the play. While they talk, a messenger comes from Sir Gilbert Lambstone. Lambstone apparently wants Mistress Low-water for his mistress after he has married the widow. He promises to restore her money from the widow's coffers if Mistress Low-water will sleep with him. She scorns the note at first but then pockets it up in a way that suggests she will use it against Lambstone. She develops a larger plan and asks her husband to second her in her intrigue. He agrees.

I.iii finds Sir Oliver sealing up the agreement between Sanfield and "Grace." He is happy that both of his children will be married on the same day as he will have to pay for only one reception. A Dutch Merchant with a little boy enters to tell Sir Oliver that his wife is still alive and sends to know when the ransom will be paid. "Grace" is called. She denies the Merchant's claims when he says he recognizes the girl from a bar in Antwerp. The Merchant is then called away on business and leaves the Dutch boy behind. Sir Oliver finds Savourwit and confronts him with the evidence. Savourwit pretends ignorance of the plot and questions the boy in Dutch upon the particulars of the Dutch Merchant. He "translates" what the boy says to corroborate his own story and cast the Merchant into doubt—relating that the boy says the Merchant is a madman and a drunkard who cannot be believed. Having thrown Oliver off the track, Savourwit leaves to warn Philip that they have been found out. The Dutch Merchant returns and, questioning the boy at Oliver's request, learns how Savourwit has gulled Oliver. Oliver is most upset.

II.i opens in Weatherwise's house where he is holding a banquet for the widow and all suitors. The banquet has a zodiacal theme. Mistress Low-water enters dressed as a young gallant and Low-water as her serving man. She crashes the party on the color of being one of the widow's suitors. This "gallant" picks a fight with Lambstone. The "gallant" gives Lambstone's letter (sent to Mistress Low-water) to Lady Goldenfleece. Lady Goldenfleece rejects Lambstone. She abjures all thought of marrying for titles, riches, or sex, and swears to marry for love alone when next she marries.

Philip and Savourwit are in the street, afraid to go home and face Sir Oliver. Sanfield is consoling them. The long-lost mother enters with Beveril, who is Mistress Low-water's brother and who paid her ransom when he came across her in his travels. Savourwit advises Philip to tell her all and beg for mercy. Philip tells her of spending the ransom and marrying a girl he has passed off for his sister and telling his father that she was dead. The mother laughs it all off as the follies of youth and conspires to back up her son's story to Sir Oliver. Beveril is informed of the sorry state of affairs Mistress Low-water has fallen into because of the Goldenfleeces. It is rumored that the Low-waters have left town in shame. Beveril is very upset.

II.iii is set in Lady Goldenfleece's house. The Low-waters are waiting for Lady Goldenfleece to meet them—of course, they are still disguised as "gallant" and "servingman." Weatherwise, Pepperton, and Overdone enter and, through a little act put on by the Low-waters, are made to believe that Lady Goldenfleece has preferred the "gallant." The suitors despair and leave. When Lady Goldenfleece enters the "gallant" makes a bold pass at her—and her "servingman" checks her advances before things go too far (before the "gallant" can be exposed as a woman). The ploy works and, as the suitors come back, Lady Goldenfleece announces that she will marry the "gallant."

The "gallant" orders up a huge wedding, complete with masque, and sends for a scholar to devise the masque. Much to her surprise it is her brother, Beveril, who is brought. She convinces him to devise the masque, even though he is hesitant about aiding the woman who undid his sister (he does not recognize Mistress Low-water in her disguise). Beveril is admonished not to betray his hostility to Lady Goldenfleece. When Beveril meets Lady Goldenfleece for the first time, however, he falls in love with her despite himself. Lady Goldenfleece seems to like him as well.

III.i The suitors form a conspiracy, taking Lambstone into their circle again, to discredit and disgrace Lady Goldenfleece in revenge for being jilted. They meet Beveril, who does not know who they are, and, hearing of the masque, insist upon being allowed to perform it themselves to "honor" their dear friend, Lady Goldenfleece. They plan, of course, to use the masque as the platform for their revenge. The masque is to be the four elements—earth, air, water, and fire. After the suitors leave, the Low-waters enter unseen and overhear Beveril expounding upon his attraction to the widow. Mistress Low-water determines to "provide" for her brother's desires in her plot.

IV.i begins with Sir Oliver being reunited with his long-lost wife. He tries to cast aspersions upon Philip's actions, but Lady Twilight (Oliver Twilight's wife) confirms his story. She says that the rumor was that she was, indeed, dead. She pretends to recognize "Grace" as the daughter she was separated from at the time of the kidnapping. When the Dutchman swears to have seen "Grace" in a tavern in Antwerp, Lady Twilight says that she heard that her daughter had been taken to Antwerp. Oliver's faith in Savourwit and Philip is restored. After Oliver leaves, Lady Twilight begins to recognize something in "Grace." Upon further questioning it becomes apparent that "Grace" really is Grace the long-lost daughter. Philip is horrified to learn that he has accidentally married his sister and has been sleeping with her for the past three months. A ring Grace has makes identification sure. It is the ring Lady Twilight gave her.

IV.ii is set during the wedding banquet of Lady Goldenfleece and the "gallant." All the characters are gathered together at the feast. The masque is presented. Fire (Lambstone) appears out of a globe that bursts into flame before he appears, Air (Weatherwise) appears out of a cloud descending from the ceiling, Water (Overdone) and Earth (Pepperton) appear from either side of the understage. Each takes his turn chastising the unfaithfulness of women and widows in particular. Beveril, his masque ruined, enters with three servants as the four winds and strip the suitors of their disguises. Lady Goldenfleece is thankful for Beveril's help in saving the party and rewards the suitors by pitying them.

V.i finds Lady Goldenfleece trying to get her new husband into bed. The gallant refuses to go, swearing that he is more than a cock sparrow. Lady Goldenfleece at last retires to bed alone. A note is sent to Beveril via Low-water. It is a forgery supposedly from the widow. In it Beveril is begged to come to the widow's chamber and council her on the "gallant's" unwillingness to go to bed with her. Once Beveril enters her chamber, though, the "gallant" enters with Sir Oliver, Sunset, and the rest, announces that he suspects the widow is unfaithful to him on their wedding night, and rushes into the chamber to discover her with Beveril.

With this as evidence the 'gallant" demands an annulment. He swears to ruin the widow for this blot to his honor. The widow pays the "gallant" off with half of her estate. The "gallant" refuses to release the widow until he sees her honestly joined. Lady Goldenfleece, angered, takes Beveril to be her husband in order to insult the "gallant" by marrying the man believed to be "his" cuckolder. Only after all is done and witnessed does Mistress Low-water reveal herself. Lambstone, appropriately chagrined, leaves. Goldenfleece and Beveril have good mates in each other, and the Low-waters have regained their wealth.

Philip, however, is still lamenting his marriage to his sister. Oliver— ignorant of the turn in his son's fortunes—offers to have him married to Sunset's daughter Jane at the same time Beveril marries Lady Goldenfleece. Lady Goldenfleece says they cannot marry. It seems that Jane is really Grace and vice versa. Lady Sunset exchanged them when they were babies, hoping to have her Jane raised in a prosperous household (not then realizing that the Sunsets would prosper as they did). All is resolved. Philip is not married to his sister after all, but to the woman everyone thought to be Grace, and Sanfield is then free to marry the girl he loves—the real Grace whom everyone thought to be Sunset's daughter Jane.

Weatherwise has the epilogue.

Characterization:

Mistress Low-water is Middleton's prototype for the leading-character woman. This probably is the first play in which he explores the female psychology (for which he will be celebrated in his latter plays, especially The Changeling). She is the "Fletcherian girl" the "romantic heroine."

Lady Goldenfleece also represents a change for Middleton in how he presents his female characters. Unlike former widow characters in earlier plays such as Michaelmas Term (Thomasine) and A Trick to Catch the Old One (the "false widow"), this widow is not an object to be bartered away like merchandise, nor is she greedy after titles, sex, or money. She is a more fully realized character. Even her enemy Mistress Low-water treats her with respect and even pities her when she learns how she is used by Lambstone.

Low-water is a "following spirit" to his wife and has very little character of his own.

Lambstone allows Middleton to make his rejection of the "title-hungry widow" character patent when he has Lady Goldenfleece so violently reject him.

Weatherwise represents Middleton's interest in the "learned" pseudo sciences. He is an astrologer. He must have been thought the comic center of this play for Middleton to have accorded him so much space in the text and to have given to him the epilogue, but his appeal does not seem to have aged well.

Oliver Twilight, the miser, is filled out more than his miserly character might otherwise have been. He is both sympathetic and fully-realized. Like Bounteous Progress from A Mad World, My Masters, Sir Oliver Twilight represents Middleton's reluctance to rely on stock characters when he can give a character a realistic—or at least a more sympathetic—portrayal.

Savourwit is an especially interesting character. Many of his lines are delivered in asides directly to the audience. He provides the true comic center of the play throughout. He is the witty intriguer. It is surprising that Weatherwise should be given the epilogue when Savourwit seems the more obvious choice.

Pickadill, the only character described as "fool" in the dramatis personae, has surprisingly little to do in the play. His foolery can be easily removed, and he seems wholly extraneous to the plots.

Go Back to Top

Notes of Interest:

This play is interesting especially in its use of interwoven plot. As is apparent in A Chaste Maid in Cheapside, Middleton is a plot experimenter. This play is difficult to define in terms of "main" plot and "sub" plot. The Twilight/Sunset plot is Middleton's borrowed plot, and it is the plot that begins the action of the play. It is also the final plot to be resolved. By rights, and by traditional structuring, it should be the main plot. But it is the Low-water plot that takes up most of the play's focus and seems to be most interesting both to the audience and author.

Further, the Low-water story line is Middleton's own original plot and seems to have run away with the author's imagination to the detriment of the intended "main" plot. Perhaps Middleton intended to have two "main" plots running in tandem. The plots are interdependent. Weatherwise begins by courting "Grace" in the first plot then switches to court Lady Goldenfleece in the second plot. Lady Goldenfleece of the second plot knows the secret to resolve the first plot. Beveril is brother to one character and marries another in the second plot, but is the redeemer of Lady Twilight and the guest of Sir Oliver Twilight in the first plot. Both plots converge in the masque scene and are present at the climactic scene when the "gallant" "exposes" the widow's "lechery." Both plots are resolved with all the major characters from both plots onstage to see the resolution. This comic structure will become the backbone of Restoration and Eighteenth-century comedy.

This play, though far from Middleton's best, marks a definite change from his earlier city comedies and looks forward to his later tragicomedies and interest in female psychology. It can therefore be classified as a transition play more accurately than any other can. It has all the elements of city comedy:

wooing a city widow;
lecherous knight;
witty servant;
avaricious businessman;
gulled young man;
practical merchantman;
husband duped by wife;
son tricking father;
London setting;
satirical tone;
insight into city customs

It is however ultimately a romance in its atmosphere. The romance element indicates the influence of Fletcher exercised during this period of Middleton's career (many say detrimental influence). This play is therefore a transition between Middleton's city comedies of the first decade of the seventeenth century and his romances and tragicomedies of the second decade of the seventeenth century.

Because of the dating of this play coinciding with the date of A Chaste Maid (the only play we know to have been produced at the Swan) it is possible that this play was originally played at the Swan. It might also prove to be one of the first Middleton plays to premiere on the Globe when Middleton switched to writing for the King's Men.

Plays to be compared:

Middleton's Second Maid's Tragedy (for line echo at V.ii which is repeated in NW/HLW at II.iii.252-55 indicating that 2dMT is very possibly Middleton's).

Go Back to Top