Extant only in Egerton manuscript 1994. The play is licensed 15 Oct 1635, but no author is identified. This manuscript bears a number of different hands, one of which appears to be that of the author. The play's first editor, A. H. Bullen, attributed it to Glapthorne, and that attribution has never been seriously questioned.
THE LADY MOTHER
licensed 15 October 1635
a synoptic, alphabetical character list
ALEXANDER LOVELL
Alexander Lovell is Lady Marlove's Steward. He has risen from the trade class into this aristocratic household, where he pursues Lady Marlove's hand in the hope of improving his status. He is pretentious and flowery of speech, and perceived by Thorowgood to be a competitor for the hand of Lady Marlove. He enters reading from an epistle he intends to drop in her way, which offers a humorous and excessively romantic blazon of her attributes. His love is clearly unrequited. While drinking, he elaborates on the degree of love implied by Lady Marlove's glances, asserting that she cannot miss the worthiness of his manly parts, and exclaiming on his own pride and expectation under what he takes to be her obvious interest in him. He passes out, and while he sleeps, Timothy, Grimes, Crackby and Suckett apply plasters and a bloodied handkerchief to his head. When he awakens, Grimes concocts a far-fetched tale that he had seen Lovell emerge in a drunken stupor from a bawdy house where Lovell had beaten the whores, refused to pay them, and torn up the interior. Grimes concludes that Lovell left the whorehouse and assaulted a Captain who beat him roundly, after which Grimes treated the wayward Steward and brought him secretly home to sleep off his intoxication. Lovell encounters the newly jilted Thurston but is unaware of the agonized suitor's presence. Talking to himself, Lovell works out how Grimes has gulled him, while Thurston takes his monologue as a reasonable response to his own questions. When Thurston claps him on the shoulder to break him from his reverie, Lovell starts and runs off, convinced he's seen a ghost. He encounters the distracted lady Marlove after her rejection by Thurston, and is convinced that she, too, has encountered this ghost. He participates in the search for Belisia and Bonville, and is chastised by Lady Marlove for his impertinence, whereupon he takes refuge in the wine cellar. Upon being rejected by Thurston, she sends him to reward her son with a gold ring and a purse for challenging Thurston to a duel, but Lovell keeps them in case the Young Marlove is defeated. Lovell begs Lady Marlove's forgiveness at the end of the play and receives it, then goes off to the cellar to celebrate in private.
BELISIA
Belisia is Lady Marlove's daughter. She is a playful, affectionate, witty young woman, who delights in teasing her suitors and playing them against each other. Her affection is clearly focused on Bonville, and she is appalled when he accuses her of unchaste behavior. She forgives the unknown accuser from whom Bonville gained his false information, and expresses the hope that he'll find a worthier lover in the future, asserting her intention to sequester herself. A short time later, Belisia seeks out Bonville, asserts her innocence, bids him farewell, and begs him to keep his unjust accusations to himself. The newly chastised Bonville, who now knows that he accused her falsely, asks to come with her, apologizing for his unfair accusation and affirming his faith in her purity. She says she'll forgive him only if he reveals the source of the slander. When he reveals that it came from her mother, she sees this as a false accusation and a magnification of his transgression, and breaks with him in outrage. Thorowgood quickly reveals the truth of Bonville's story, explaining that her mother commissioned him to mislead her suitor. Out of filial duty she refuses to believe him, suggesting that Bonville hired him to affirm the story. Despite Clariana's warning, she maintains her faith in her mother's truthfulness. She then withstands and rejects the suit of Suckett, who apparently is not especially committed to this match. Belisia and Clariana are summoned by their mother and chastised for their uncivil refusal of the suits of Sir Geffery and Crackby, and admonished to welcome their unworthy suitors or suffer disinheritance. Crackby, nephew of Geffery, shifts his suit from Clariana to Belisia, but she rejects him as she has rejected Suckett. He presses aggressively, and tries to wrench a ring from her finger as a token of his success. Bonville arrives and rescues her, and she declares the ring, a gift from his, to be second only to her virtue in value to her. They are reconciled and renew their love vows. They plan to elope, confiding only in Clariana, who agrees to keep their secret and keep them apprised of Lady Marlove's reactions. They are rumored to have drowned while eloping, but this story is revealed to be a hoax at the end of the story. They enter in disguise with the other masquers after Young Marlove's trial, and reveal their identity when Lady Marlove confesses she would bless their union if they had only lived. Their marriage receives the blessing of Lady Marlove at the end of the play.
BONVILLE
Bonville is frustrated in his pursuit of Lady Marlove's daughter Belisia. Belisia awaits her mother's consent to marry Thorowgood before giving her hand to Bonville. Informed by Thorowgood that Belisia is a whore, Bonville leaps to defend her honor, challenging him to fight a duel, until Thorowgood reveals that the information comes from Lady Marlove herself. Overcome with anguish and disgust, Bonville is approached by the unknowing (and actually pure) Belisia, who ministers to his unexplained anguish with willing kisses. Bonville puzzles over the apparent sweetness of her kisses, then vents his disgust and accuses her of unchastity and adultery. They break off their engagement. Bonville approaches Lady Marlove and asks about her daughter's chastity, and Marlove reaffirms that Belisia has been unchaste. Making a rapid recovery, he shifts his suit from the daughter to the mother, pressing a suit for the hand of the seemingly receptive Lady Marlove. After leading him on briefly, Lady Marlove chastises Bonville for his mutability, and reveals that she invented Belisia's unchastity to test his devotion - a test he has clearly failed. Belisia seeks out Bonville, asserts her innocence, bids him farewell, and begs him to keep his unjust accusations to himself. Overcome with remorse at his failed devotion and false accusation against Belisia, Bonville asks to come with her, apologizing for his unfair accusation and affirming his faith in her purity. When she presses him for the source of the slander, he reveals that it came from her mother. She sees this as a false accusation and a magnification of his transgression, and breaks with him in outrage. When he encounters the uncivil Crackby attempting to gain a love token from Belisia by force, he rescues her and they renew their love vows. They confide in Clariana that they plan to elope, and she agrees to help them. The lovers are reported drowned, but this is eventually revealed to be a hoax perpetrated by Thorowgood to teach Lady Marlove a lesson. They enter in disguise with the other masquers after Young Marlove's trial, and reveal their identity when Lady Marlove confesses she would bless their union if they had only lived. Their marriage is given Lady Marlove's blessing at the end of the play.
BOY, SINGING
The Singing Boy has no part written for him, but would presumably sing a song on stage at the request of Grimes.
BUNCH
Bunch is Sir Geffery's servant. He accompanies him and comments on the exchanges of the other characters.
CLARIANA
Clariana is daughter to Lady Marlove. She mocks her sister's suitors, and teases Belisia for her love of Bonville, insisting she finds nothing appealing in him. When pressed for a reason, with sisterly devotion she explains that he belongs to Belisia, and that is enough to eliminate his appeal for Clariana. When Bonville, and then Thorowgood, claim to have gotten their slanderous information about Belisia from Lady Marlove, Clariana warns her that perhaps she is too ready to reject the possibility that their mother is the soource. In response to the love suit of Thurston, Clariana explains that despite her undying affection for him, his mere presence threatens her chastity, and she is resolved never to see him again. It is later revealed that her mother has instigated this rejection because she loves him herself. Belisia and Clariana are summoned by their mother and chastised for their uncivil refusal of the suits of Sir Geffery and Crackby, and admonished to welcome their unworthy suitors or suffer disinheritance. Crackby, nephew of Geffery, shifts his suit from Clariana to Belisia, leaving the field open for his uncle. Despite her mother's warning, when the frustrated Sir Geffery renews his marriage suit for Clariana's hand, she continues to reject him. When Belisia is happily reunited with Bonville, Clariana expresses pleasure at their happiness, but laments her own continued ill fortune. She agrees to keep their plans to elope a secret. When her mother summons her and confesses her love for Thurston, Clariana steps aside and submits to her mother's superior right to this suitor. Her mother then commissions her to win Thurston's heart for her. She makes a concerted attempt to win Thurston for her mother, then exits to die of grief. She accompanies her mother on a heartbroken search for the bodies of Belisia and Bonville, and is with her when news arrives that Young Marlove has killed Thurston. With everyone out of the way, Clariana secretly marries Thurston. At the end of the trial of Young Marlove for the murder of Thurston, Grimes, Timothy, Clariana, Belisia, Bonville, and Thurston enter in disguise and offer to perform a masque to instruct the condemned Lady Marlove. They perform a dance, then reveal themselves to her, explaining that Thurston and Young Marlove had concocted the plot to reveal Lady Marlove's error to her, and her mother is forced to yield to her daughter's now incontrovertible right.
CONSTABLE
A Constable. He enters as Lady Marlove is threatening to end her life and informs her that Young Marlove has killed Thurston. When she informs him that she is an accessory, he takes into custody Lady Marlove, Young Marlove, and Lovell.
CRACKBY
Crackby is a young citizen. He presses a suit for the hand of Clariana, who wittily rebuffs him and emphasizes his unworthiness and lack of nobility. He complains of the dissipating effects of the country, and longs for a return to his native environment, the city, where he is able to indulge in the pleasures and practices he values. He attempts to gain economic support for himself and Suckett from his tightfisted uncle, Sir Geffery, who refuses to countenance his request. Timothy, Grimes, Crackby and Suckett find Lovell passed out in a drunken stupor, and apply plasters and a bloodied handkerchief to his head as a jest. He goes to Lady Marlove, in the company of Sir Geffery, to complain of her daughters' unmannerly rejection of their suits. He takes up the suit again when Lady Marlove threatens her daughters with disinheritance if they don't comply with these unworthy suits, but is once again rebuffed and leaves unsatisfied. During the trial of Young Marlove, Crackby claims to have successfully assaulted Clariana's virtue and therefore to be equally responsible for her 'condition'. This is pure fabrication, of course.
GEOFFREY, SIR
Sir Geffery (sic), driven to seek marriage only for sexual convenience, is rebuffed in his suit to Lady Marlove, and immediately requests permission to pursue a suit for one of her daughters instead, which she grants him, assuming he'll have no better luck with them. He returns later to complain of her daughters' lack of interest, and of their unmannerly rejection of these suits. He again chastises Lady Marlove for rejecting him, but when their mother summons the daughters and insists that they accept these suitors, he quickly returns to his pursuit of Clariana. Clariana refuses to comply with her mother's demands, and again rebuffs Sir Geffery, who exits unsatisfied. During the trial of Young Marlove for the death of Thurston, Geffery testifies that Clariana was with child at the fault of Thurston, and this was the reason for Lady Marlove's anger at him. When the deaths all prove false, and it is revealed that Thurston has wed Clariana, Geffery sees the field clear for himself and once again sues for Lady Marlove's hand. He is once again rejected, and finally joins in the nuptial celebrations at the end of the play.
GRIMES
Grimes is Thorowgood's servant. He offers much of the humor in the play, as his descriptions and characterizations of others serves to establish their identities. He begins with the description of Lovell as a man who pretends to greater wealth and social quality than he actually possesses. Timothy, Grimes, Crackby and Suckett find Lovell passed out in a drunken stupor, and apply plasters and a bloodied handkerchief to his head. When he awakens, Grimes concocts a far-fetched tale, that he had seen Lovell emerge in a drunken stupor from a bawdy house where Lovell had beaten the whores, refused to pay them, and torn up the interior. Grimes concludes that Lovell left the whorehouse and assaulted a Captain who beat him roundly, after which Grimes treated the wayward Steward and brought him secretly home to sleep off his intoxication. At the end of the trial of Young Marlove for the murder of Thurston, Grimes, Timothy, Clariana, and Thurston enter in disguise and offer to perform a masque to instruct the condemned Lady Marlove. They perform a dance, then reveal themselves to her, explaining that Thurston and Young Marlove had concocted the plot to reveal Lady Marlove's error to her.
HUGH, SIR
Sir Hugh conducts the trial of Young Marlove, first interrogating Sir Geffery, who informs him that he believes Lady Marlove wanted Thurston killed because he had gotten her daughter with child. Shortly into the trial, the Recorder takes over the questioning and brings the trial to a conclusion.
MAGDALEN
Magdalen serves as an intermediary between Lady Marlove and the other characters, informing them of her whereabouts and actions. She participates in the search for Belisia and Bonville after they elope.
MARLOVE, LADY
Lady Marlove encourages the suit of Bonville. She warns him that if he isn't careful another suitor will displace him in her affections. She laments her unrequited love, leaving the object of affection unnamed, and presses Thorowgood to take up her latest commission, after which, she has promised, she will respond to his request for her hand.
In the meantime, she receives word that her son will arrive the next day. In an offstage conference with Thorowgood, she informs him that her daughter Belisia is a whore, and bids him tell Bonville, Belisia's suitor. Bonville leaps to defend her honor, drawing on Thorowgood, until Thorowgood informs him that the information comes from Lady Marlove herself. Bonville approaches Lady Marlove to inquire about Belisia's chastity, and Lady Marlove affirms that her daughter is unchaste. When Bonville shifts his suit from Lady Marlove's putatively wayward daughter to the Lady herself, and presses a marriage suit, Lady Marlove leads him on briefly, then chastises him for his mutability, and reveals that she invented Belisia's unchastity to test his devotion - a test he has clearly failed. When Thurston, rebuffed by Clariana, seeks an explanation from Lady Marlove about her daugher's behavior, she offers condolences, refuses to force her daughter to accept him against her will, and praises Thurston's devotion and virtue. In an apparently mad passion, he offers to shift his suit to her, and insists he sees signs of interest in her treatment of him. She agrees to his suit and seals the contract with a kiss, at which point he reveals that he finds her willing response loathsome, and could never imagine loving her. She is heartbroken at his rejection, and wonders if she has imagined the entire episode. She is immediately accosted by Sir Geffery and Crackby, who complain of their treatment at the hands of her daughters, who have, they say, uncivilly rejected their suits. She summons her daughters and insists that they accept the two unworthy suitors, threatening to disinherit them if they refuse. Lady Marlove summons her daughter Clariana, and confesses her love for Thurston, her daughter's former suitor, whom Lady Marlove instructed her compliant daughter to reject. When she learns of her mother's love for Thurston, Clariana steps aside and submits to her mother's superior right to this suitor. Her mother then commissions her to win Thurston's heart for her. She makes a concerted attempt to win Thurston for her mother, then exits to die of grief. When the hopeful Lady Marlove approaches him, Thurston reveals that he is unable to keep his promise to Clariana, and aggressively condemns and rejects the mother. In anger, she sends for her son, Young Marlove, and insists that he defend her honor. When Thorowgood informs her that Belisia and Bonville have drowned trying to elope, she haunts the river and threatens to kill herself. Young Marlove enters, claiming to have killed Thurston, egged on by Alexander Lovell. Disgusted with herself for all the harm she has caused, she offers herself in his place to the Constable, claiming that accessories are as guilty as the murderer in such cases. At the trial, she claims full responsibility for the crime, and begs the judge, Sir Hugh, to allow her son to go free while she suffers punishment. The Recorder sympathizes with her, but judges her, her son, and her Steward all guilty in the death of Thurston. At the end of the trial, Grimes, Timothy, Clariana, Belisia, Bonville, and Thurston enter in disguise and offer to perform a masque to instruct the condemned Lady Marlove. They perform a dance, then reveal themselves to her, explaining that Thurston and Young Marlove had concocted the plot to reveal Lady Marlove's error to her. Thurston informs her that he and Clariana are married, and Lady Marlove accepts the inevitable. She agrees at last to marry the faithful and devoted Thorowgood.
MUSICIANS
The Musicians perform a pleasing song for Grimes, Timothy, Suckett, and Crackby, but refuse Suckett's request to purchase it. They satisfy his desire to see them dance, but he uses doubletalk to avoid paying them. They remain on stage to play for the inebriated Lovell in hopes of obtaining payment from him.
RECORDER
The Recorder assists at the trial of Young Marlove. He quickly takes over the questioning of the witnesses, displacing Sir Hugh, and endeavors to sort out the case. Lady Marlove, attempting to save her son, insists that all blame should fall on her. Then, attempting to save her, Thorowgood claims to have advised her to commission her son in the deed, so blame should fall entirely on him. Challenged to confess, Young Marlove indicates that Alexander Lovell, his mother's Steward, was the main instigator of the duel, implying that he, too, should be punished. Finally, the Recorder determines that Lovell, Young Marlove, and Lady Marlove must all be executed for the crime.
SUCKETT
Suckett serves primarily as a foil for the concerns and interests of Crackby, with whom he appears throughout the play. Suckett presses a suit for Belisia's hand and is rebuffed. He attempts to aid Crackby in his suit for Clariana. Timothy, Grimes, Crackby and Suckett find Lovell passed out in a drunken stupor, and apply plasters and a bloodied handkerchief to his head as a jest. During the trial, Suckett affirms Crackby's claims to have successfully assaulted Clariana.
THOROWGOOD
Thorowgood is passionately in love with Lady Marlove. He is stalled in his marriage suit to her as she continually postpones her answer. As the play begins, he awaits her latest commission, after which, she has promised, she will respond to his request for her hand. In offstage conference with Lady Marlove, Thorowgood is informed that Belisia is a whore, and is sent to tell Bonville, Belisia's suitor. Bonville leaps to defend her honor, drawing on Thorowgood, until Thorowgood reveals that the information comes from Lady Marlove herself. After Belisia and Bonville break off their engagement, Thorowgood goes to Belisia to reveal that he was the source of the accusation, which he got from her mother, but she accuses him of supporting Bonville's untruth for pay. After Clariana has inexplicably broken off her engagement with Thurston, Thorowgood accompanies Thurston in a later encounter with Clariana, wherein the heartbroken young woman, at her mother's request, pleads her mother's love suit to Thurston, her baffled former suitor. Thorowgood, still in love with Lady Marlove, informs her that her daughter Belisia and her suitor Bonville have drowned crossing a river as they attempted to escape her tyranny and flee to Bonville's mother. This is a plot concocted by Thorowgood and others to teach Lady Marlove a lesson, which is revealed in the closing Act of the play. In the meantime, he attempts to save her from execution at the hands of the law, when she confesses that she has caused the death of her beloved Thurston, who is reported to have been killed at her behest by her son, Young Marlove. At the end of the play, with all false reports of death having been cleared up, and with Thurston secretly wed to Clariana, Thorowgood at last wins Lady Marlove's hand in marriage.
THURSTON
Thurston loves Clariana. He arrives with Young Marlove, his friend, and makes known to Lady Marlove his interest in Clariana, who has already accepted his suit. When he pursues her, she breaks with him, explaining that his mere presence threatens her chastity, and that she will never see him again. Having foresworn divine advice, Thurston turns to Lovell, the Steward, as a likely source of sagacity. Talking to himself, and completely unaware of Thurston's presence. Lovell works out how Grimes Gulled him, while Thurston takes his monologue as a reasonable response to his own questions. Baffled and heartbroken, Thurston questions Lady Marlove about her daughter, and Lady Marlove assures him that although she recognizes Thurston's worth and does not understand her daughter's decision, she will not force Clariana to keep her vow against her will. Thurston vows to marry the most ill-favored and ill-reputed woman he can find, as a punishment to Clariana. When Lady Marlove praises his devotion and worth, Thurston immediately shifts his suit from the unresponsive daughter to the apparently receptive mother, insisting that he sees signs of interest in her treatment of him. When Lady Marlove agrees to his suit and seals the contract with a kiss, Thurston reveals his revulsion and chastises her for her willing agreement. He is persuaded by the unhappy Clariana to devote himself to her mother, Lady Marlove, who has commissioned her daughter to win him over. Thurston agrees, out of love for Clariana, but when the hopeful Lady Marlove approaches him, Thurston reveals that he is unable to keep his promise, and aggressively condemns and rejects the mother. He encounters Young Marlove just after Lovell has delivered Lady Marlove's commission for Young Marlove to challenge Thurston to a duel. The two former friends exit together, presumably to fight. In a plot concocted in off stage by him and Young Marlove, Thurston weds Clariana secretly when the other characters are on trial for murdering him - a false story circulated by him and Young Marlove. At the end of the trial, Grimes, Timothy, Clariana, Belisia, Bonville, and Thurston enter in disguise and offer to perform a masque to instruct the condemned Lady Marlove. They perform a dance, then reveal themselves to her, explaining that Thurston and Young Marlove had concocted the plot to reveal Lady Marlove's error to her. When the marriage is revealed, Lady Marlove accepts it despite her own interest in Thurston, and agrees to wed the still-devoted Thorowgood.
TIMOTHY
Timothy serves as an intermediary between other characters and Lady Marlove, informing her of their intentions and actions. Timothy, Grimes, Crackby and Suckett find Lovell passed out in a drunken stupor, and apply plasters and a bloodied handkerchief to his head. Timothy participates in the search for Belisia and Bonville after they elope. At the end of the trial of Young Marlove for the murder of Thurston, Grimes, Timothy, Clariana, and Thurston enter in disguise and offer to perform a masque to instruct the condemned Lady Marlove. They perform a dance, then reveal themselves to her, explaining that Thurston and Young Marlove had concocted the plot to reveal Lady Marlove's error to her.
YOUNG MARLOVE
Young Marlove introduces his friend Thurston to Lady Marlove. He supports his suit for the hand of Clariana. He is later instructed by Lady Marlove to defend her honor by killing the insulting Thurston, who has shown disgust rather than interest in response to her passion for him. Thurston encounters Young Marlove just after Lovell has delivered Lady Marlove's commission for Young Marlove to challenge his friend to a duel. The two former friends exit together, presumably to fight. Young Marlove claims to have fulfilled his commission and killed his friend, Thurston, an act to which he says he was urged by Alexander Lovell, his mother's Steward. It is eventually revealed that he did not actually fight with and kill Thurston, but cooperated with Thurston by claiming to have killed him, in a plot to teach his mother a lesson.