A non-speaking character. The champion of Venus played by Citwit in the masque. He only dances.
AGENT of MERCURY
A non-speaking character. The champion of Venus played by Dainty in the masque. He only dances.
ANDREW MENDICANT
A knight. After the death of his wife, he sold his country house along with all of his land and livestock to finance a series of projects designed to make quick money. Because of his reliance on court suits he has been dubbed the "court beggar." At the beginning of the play, he rejects new projects, but he believes that the only way to regain his money will be to marry Charissa to Ferdinand, a royal favorite. Mendicant persuades Lady Strangelove to allow the supposedly mad Ferdinand to convalesce in her house, but he also begs his estate in case he does not recover. When Raphael is unable to secure a jointure equal to the £10,000 with which Mendicant hopes to supplement Charissa's dowry from Ferdinand's estate, he forbids Frederick from seeing her. Enraged that Gabriel should allow the two lovers to meet, he wounds him and throws him out of the house. Believing that his daughter will be married to Ferdinand, he admits a priest to the house who actually marries her to Frederick. When the trick is revealed, he flies into a fit, covers himself with patents, petitions, suits and projects and wears a windmill on his head. These adornments are stripped from him in a culminating dance, and he returns to his senses and blesses the marriage.
BILLY
Lady Strangelove's boy is ultimately revealed to be Billy, Philomel's illegitimate son. Citwit cheerfully accepts the child as if he were his own. He plays Cupid in the concluding masque but is unable to remember his lines.
BOY
A servant of Lady Strangelove, he delivers various messages to her. He is ultimately revealed to be Billy, Philomel's illegitimate son. Citwit cheerfully accepts the child as if he were his own. He plays Cupid in the concluding masque but is unable to remember his lines.
CHARISSA
Daughter to Andrew Mendicant. She is in love with Frederick, but her father is determined to marry her to someone with a sizable estate. She is secretly married to Frederick in the final scene.
CITWIT
An overbearing gentleman of the city. He insults people in their absence, flatters them in their presence and always avoids a fight. He helps rescue Lady Strangelove when Ferdinand attacks her and helps her take her revenge on the Doctor. He is in love with Philomel. When she is courted by Dainty, Swainwit finally manages to push him into fighting. He challenges Dainty to fight by repeating every slander he has heard during the play. When Citwit serendipitously calls him a pickpocket, Dainty thinks he has been discovered and confesses. Citwit happily marries Philomel and is unperturbed by the revelation that she had a child out of wedlock. He plays Activity in the concluding masque.
COURAGE
A non-speaking character. The champion of Venus played by Swainwit in the masque. He only dances.
COURTWIT
A gentleman of the court. He is Lady Strangelove's "favorite" because he flatters her and brings various people to entertain her, to which end he invites Citwit and Swainwit to her house. He helps rescue Lady Strangelove when Ferdinand attacks her and helps her take her revenge on the Doctor. He writes the poetry for the concluding masque and plays a Muse of Apollo.
CUPID
The Boy's role in the masque. "Venus and Cupid; my mother and I" is the only line of his speech the Boy can remember.
DOCTOR
He helps Ferdinand feign madness and allows him to attack and nearly rape Lady Strangelove. In retribution, she threatens to have him castrated, whereupon he reveals that Ferdinand is not mad. He composes music for the concluding masque and plays Jupiter.
FERDINANAD
A royal favorite who makes his money with forged grants from the King. He has deliberately sabotaged Andrew Mendicant's business dealings in the hopes that once he is destitute Charissa will become his whore. He pretends that he has been driven mad by Lady Strangelove's rejection of his love and is taken to her house to convalesce. When Lady Strangelove comes to him, he attacks and nearly rapes her. When Frederick threatens to kill him, he reveals his plan and offers to help him achieve Charissa. He does so by continuing to feign madness but giving the impression that if he regains his senses he will marry Charissa. This persuades Mendicant to admit a priest and Frederick (disguised as a Doctor) to his house. He provides Frederick with £3,000 to supplement his jointure. He ultimately marries Lady Strangelove.
FREDERICK
A young gallant with no estate. He is in love with Charissa, and to avenge the wrong done to her, he disguises himself as a doctor, gains access to Ferdinand and threatens to kill him. Whereupon, Ferdinand reveals that he is not mad and offers to help Frederick achieve Charissa. Ferdinand continues to feign madness but gives the impression that if he regains his senses he will marry Charissa. This persuades Mendicant to admit a priest and Frederick (disguised as a Doctor) to his house. There, Frederick and Charissa are secretly married.
GABRIEL
Servant and kinsman to Andrew Mendicant. He ridicules the projectors who visit Mendicant and sides with Charissa in her love for Frederick. When he allows the two lovers to converse secretly, Mendicant wounds him and throws him out of the house. He then accompanies Frederick on his attempt to avenge Charissa on Ferdinand. After helping Ferdinand marry Charissa secretly, he reconciles with Mendicant.
HONEST MOLL
A "ghost character." Presumably a fence for stolen goods. When Citwit's watch is stolen, he says he will see Honest Moll about it. Later in the scene, he suggests that Mendicant should propose a monopoly for selling stolen goods back to their rightful owners.
JACK DAINTY
Also identified as Daynty. He presents himself as a painter, but is in fact a pickpocket. He helps rescue Lady Strangelove when Ferdinand attacks her. He courts and wins Philomel, but when Citwit is finally provoked into fighting him, he concedes and confesses that he is a pickpocket. He returns the stolen goods, and his victims pardon him. Mendicant even allows him to keep his purse, blaming himself for its theft. Lady Strangelove puts him in charge of painting the scenery for her masque, in which he also plays an Agent of Mercury.
JUPITER
A non-speaking character. The champion of Venus played by the Doctor in the masque. He only dances.
LADY STRANGELOVE
A widow. She is reputed for courting a multitude of suitors but always ultimately rejecting them. Her rejection of Ferdinand apparently drives him mad. Raphael attempts to reform her, but she drives him away by appearing to court him. She then vows that she will no longer admit any potential suitors to her house (though she does allow Ferdinand to convalesce there). Instead, the house will be devoted to arts and sciences. She puts Courtwit and his comrades in charge of organizing a masque for her. She is attacked and nearly raped by Ferdinand after the Doctor entreats her to visit him. Suspecting that Ferdinand is not actually mad, she threatens to castrate the Doctor, whereupon he confesses the truth. She then arranges to have Ferdinand taken to Mendicant's house accompanied by a priest and Frederick in disguise. She tells Mendicant that Ferdinand now seems likely to marry Charissa when he recovers his wit. She provides Philomel with a £1,000 dowry and ultimately marries Ferdinand.
MUSE of APOLLO
A non-speaking character. The champion of Venus played by Courtwit in the masque. He only dances.
PHILOMEL
Servant to Lady Strangelove. Originally from the country, she is courted by Citwit and shares a long kiss with Swainwit (who is trying to provoke Citwit), but she is most in love with Dainty until he is revealed as a pickpocket. She finally agrees to marry Citwit. She plays Venus in the masque.
PRIEST
A non-speaking character. He is brought into the Mendicant house under the pretense of marrying Ferdinand to Charissa but, actually, to marry Frederick to her.
PROJECTORS, FIRST, SECOND and THIRD
Three projectors visit Andrew Mendicant with fanciful schemes for making money, including proposing a tax on female children to encourage the production of soldiers and proposing the construction of a floating theatre on the Thames to increase the revenue of watermen. They are stripped of their robes and left in rags during the final dance.
PROLOGUE
Defends the play by announcing that though it is not the "new strain of wit," Brome is writing in an established style. He asks that the audience not "vex the poet [who is] full of age and care."
RAPHAEL WINTERPLUM
Uncle to Frederick. Raphael has vowed that he shall live a bachelor and spends his time moralizing to women about their folly and vices. He attempts to reform Lady Strangelove from her habit of courting and rejecting men but is driven away when she feigns love for him. He tries to comfort the apparently mad Ferdinand with greetings from his friends at court. He convinces Mendicant to allow Frederick to see Charissa by promising that he will guarantee a jointure to match her dowry. However, he is only able to match the £1,000 she has inherited from her uncle, not the £10,000 Mendicant hopes to add from Ferdinand's estate. Hoping to trouble Mendicant with a rumor that Ferdinand has regained his senses, he returns to the house only to learn that Ferdinand has, in fact, regained his senses and Frederick has married Charissa.
SERVANT
One of Lady Strangelove's servants who brings Ferdinand to Frederick (disguised as a doctor). He warns against untying Ferdinand.
SOW GELDER
Actually a musician in Lady Strangelove's house. She has him pose as a sow gelder and pretend to prepare to castrate the Doctor. During the preparation, he sings a song.
SWAINWIT
Also identified as Swaynwit. A gentleman of the country and kinsman to Courtwit. He is blunt and plainspoken. He dislikes Citwit's pompous and cowardly demeanor and is constantly trying to provoke him into a fight. He helps rescue Lady Strangelove when Ferdinand attacks her and helps her take her revenge on the Doctor. He plays Courage in the concluding masque.
VENUS
The role played by Philomel in the masque. Venus comes to England with her five champions when she sees "How faintly Hymen did his office here."