A New Way to Pay Old Debts
Encyclopedia
A New Way to Pay Old Debts (c. 1625
, printed 1633
) is a play of English Renaissance drama
, the most popular drama of Philip Massinger
. Its central chararacter, Sir Giles Overreach, became one of the more popular villains on English and American stages through the 19th century.
. In its own era it was staged by Queen Henrietta's Men
at the Cockpit Theatre
in Drury Lane
. It was continuously in the repertory there and at the Red Bull Theatre
, under the managements of Christopher Beeston
, William Beeston
, and Sir William Davenant
, down to the closing of the theatres at the start of the English Civil War
in 1642.
Though Massinger's play shows obvious debts to Thomas Middleton
's A Trick to Catch the Old One
(c. 1605), it transcends mere imitation to achieve a powerful dramatic effectiveness — verified by the fact that, apart from the Shakespearean canon, it was almost the only pre-Restoration play that was continuously in the dramatic repertory through much of the modern era. After David Garrick
's 1748 revival, the play remained popular throughout the nineteenth century and into the twentieth. (It was praised by Thomas Jefferson
.) Edmund Kean
's version of Sir Giles, which debuted in 1816, was in particular a tremendous popular success, and drove the play's reputation through the remainder of the century.
The play remains in the active theatrical repertory; modern stagings are usually amateur or student productions, though the Royal Shakespeare Company
performed the play in 1983, directed by Adrian Noble
and with Emrys James
as Sir Giles.
by stationer Henry Seyle (his shop was "in S. Pauls Church-yard, at the signe of the Tygers head"). The 1633 quarto carries a dedication of "this trifle" to Robert Dormer, 1st Earl of Carnarvon
, Master Falconer of England (he'd succeeded to his hereditary title, Chief Avenor
and Keeper of the King's Hawks and Falcons, at the age of six). In this dedication, Massinger states that he "born a devoted servant to the thrice noble family of your incomparable Lady," that lady being Anna Sophia Herbert, daughter of Philip Herbert, 4th Earl of Pembroke
, then serving as Lord Chamberlain
. Massinger's connection to the Herbert family, derived from his father, is well known; whether Carnarvon responded in any positive way to the dedication is obscure.
The 1633 quarto was the only edition of the play in the seventeenth century. Its later popularity onstage guaranteed frequent reprints, with 52 editions between 1748 and 1964 (not counting collections); others have followed since.
, comedy of manners
, realism
, and social satire
, in a distinctive combination.
. In the Elizabethan era, Christopher Marlowe
was the great innovator in the villain play, with Tamburlaine and Doctor Faustus and The Jew of Malta
; Shakespeare's Richard III
is another obvious example in the sub-genre.
In A New Way to Pay Old Debts, Massinger took the villain play in a new direction of social realism: his villain is not a king or a conqueror but a credible figure from contemporary life. The play's dominating character, Sir Giles Overreach, is based on the real-life Sir Giles Mompesson
. (Sir Giles' assistant in villainy, Justice Greedy, was suggested by Mompesson's associate Sir Francis Michell.) The power of the role of Sir Giles may lie in Massinger's success in depicting a blatant villain who has a quality of everyday believability. Sir Giles is down-to-earth in his cold malice:
The audience is presented with a character they might meet in their own lives, to their own cost.
era, leading up to the outbreak of the Civil War. In Elizabethan plays like The Shoemaker's Holiday
(1599
), it was acceptable and even admirable that a young nobleman marry a commoner's daughter; other plays of the era, like Fair Em
(c. 1590) and The Merry Wives of Windsor
(c. 1597-9), share this liberal attitude toward social mobility
through marriage. In A New Way to Pay Old Debts, in contrast, Lord Lovell would rather see his family line go extinct than marry Overreach's daughter Margaret, even though she's young, beautiful, and virtuous. In Act IV, scene i, Lovell specifies that his attitude is not solely dependent on his loathing of the father's personal vices, but is rooted in class distinction. Lovell rejects the idea of his descendants being "one part scarlet" (aristocratic) and "the other London blue" (common).
The drama's class conflict can seem obscure to the modern reader, since Sir Giles Overreach appears as an upper-class, not a lower-class figure: he is a knight and a rich man with large country estates, who lives the lavish lifestyle of the landed gentry. There is even a family connection between hero and villain: Frank Welborn is the nephew of Sir Giles' late wife. Yet Sir Giles himself expresses the conflict by noting that he is a "city" man — he comes from the financial milieu of the City of London
with its worldly and materialistic values, the domain of nascent capitalism
in contrast to the older social order rooted in feudalism
. He observes that there is "More than a feud, a strange antipathy / Between us," the men of money, "and true gentry."
For a conservative moralist like Massinger, the upper classes, the "true gentry," have a right to run society insofar as they fulfill the moral and ethical obligations of their traditional roles. It is Overreach's rejection of those tradition moral and ethical standards, his embrace of ruthless competition, that makes him a villain.
, the play opens with its protagonist, Frank Welborn, being ejected from an alehouse by Tapwell and Froth, the tavernkeeper and his wife. Welborn has been refused further service ("No booze? nor no tobacco?"); he quarrels with the couple and beats them, but is interrupted by Tom Allworth. The conversations in the scene supply the play's backstory, indicating that Welborn and Allworth are both members of the local gentry who have fallen victim to the financial manipulations of Sir Giles Overreach. Welborn has lost his estates and been reduced to penury, while young Allworth has been forced to become the page of a local nobleman, Lord Lovell. Allworth offers Welborn a small sum, "eight pieces," to relieve his immediate wants, but Welborn indignantly rejects the offer from a junior contemporary; he says that as his own vices have led to his fall, he will rely on his own wits for his recovery.
Tom Allworth's widowed mother, Lady Allworth, retains her country house; she is visited there by neighbors and prospective suitors, including Sir Giles. While she has her servants greet these guests with appropriate hospitality, she remains "cloister'd up" in the seclusion of her mourning. When Sir Giles visits, he is accompanied by his two prime henchmen, the lawyer Jack Marall and Justice Greedy, the local justice of the peace
. Together, Greedy and the Lady's servants provide most of the play's comic relief
. Greedy is a lean man with an enormous appetite; a gourmand and a glutton, he is obsessed with food.
Lady Allworth instructs her son to avoid the dissolute Welborn; but Welborn forces his way into her presence, and reminds her of his relationship with her late husband. When the late Allworth had been down on his luck, Welborn had supported him, even seconding him in all his duels
. The recollection makes Lady Allworth repent her harsh attitude toward the reprobate Welborn, and she offers him financial help; he rejects this, but requests a favor of her instead. The request is made in a whisper; the audience discovers its nature as the plot progresses.
Overreach is shown with Marall, discussing his plan to marry his daughter Margaret to Lord Lovell. He also gives a first glimpse into the ruthless way he conducts his business affairs. Welborn seeks out Overreach, but Sir Giles refuses to speak with him; Marall mocks his poverty. Yet Marall has to change his tune when he sees Lady Allworth come out of mourning to meet Welborn. When she kisses Welborn, Marall is convinced that the two will marry. When Marall informs Overreach of what he's seen, however, Overreach refuses to believe him, and even beats him. Eventually, though, Overreach himself sees Welborn and Lady Allworth together, and accepts the "truth" of their connection. Sir Giles favors their marriage, since he is sure that once Welborn possesses the Lady's remaining property he can cheat the dissolute man of this property too.
Margaret Overreach has no interest in marrying Lord Lovell, since she is in love with Tom Allworth, as he is with her. Lord Lovell knows of his page's affections, and is willing to act as a go-between for the two. Young Allworth is nervous at this, suspecting that his patron will not be able to resist Margaret's charms; but Lovell is an honorable man, and sincerely promotes their match. Overreach thinks that Allworth is carrying messages between the Lord and his daughter, though the young page is actually pursuing his own romance. Together, the young couple manage to fool Sir Giles into thinking that Lovell wants a reluctant Margaret to elope with him; Overreach pressures his daughter to conform, and even sends hurried written instructions to a compliant clergyman at the village of Gotham
, to marry his daughter to "this man." Of course he means Lovell, though the ambiguity favors the young lovers.
To facilitate the marriage of Welborn and Lady Allworth, Sir Giles advances Welborn a thousand pounds. He also discusses his plans with Lovell, revealing more of his intentions and his dark character, so that Lovell breaks into a "cold sweat" listening to him. (With each of his appearances in the play, Overreach's expressions of his villainy become more flagrant and overwrought, leading up to the denouement of the final scene.) Marall sees Welborn's apparent ascension in fortune, and, chafing at Overreach's insulting and brutal treatment of him, decides to switch allegiances; his command of Overreach's legal papers gives Marall a key advantage in seeking his own revenge.
When Overreach believes that Lovell and Margaret are married, he enters a state of near rapture: "My ends! my ends are compass'd!...I can scarce contain myself, / I am so full of joy; nay, joy all over!" The play's final scene shows his sudden reversal, when he realizes that he has been fooled and that Margaret has married Allworth. Enraged, he demands that Welborn provide security for the loan of £1000 from the Lady's estates; Welborn rejects this, and demands that Overreach return possession of his lands. Sir Giles dismisses this as folly — but discovers that the text of his deed to Welborn's lands has mysteriously faded away (thanks to the trickery of Marall). Overreach is ready to work his revenge with his sword, but Welborn, Lovell, and the Lady's servants altogether are too formidable for him. He storms out...but returns in a distracted state of mind. The stresses of his reversal of fortune have caused him to lose his sanity, and he is taken into protective custody.
Welborn decides to demonstrate his reformation by taking a military commission in the regiment Lovell commands. Lovell and Lady Allworth have agreed to marry. Allworth and Margaret state that they will turn control of Overreach's estates to Lord Lovell, to make reparations for all the to the people Sir Giles has cheated and oppressed.
1625 in literature
The year 1625 in literature involved some significant events.-Events:*January 1 - The King's Men act Henry IV, Part 1 at Whitehall Palace....
, printed 1633
1633 in literature
The year 1633 in literature involved some significant events.-Events:*On May 21, Ben Jonson's masque The King's Entertainment at Welbeck is performed....
) is a play of English Renaissance drama
English Renaissance theatre
English Renaissance theatre, also known as early modern English theatre, refers to the theatre of England, largely based in London, which occurred between the Reformation and the closure of the theatres in 1642...
, the most popular drama of Philip Massinger
Philip Massinger
Philip Massinger was an English dramatist. His finely plotted plays, including A New Way to Pay Old Debts, The City Madam and The Roman Actor, are noted for their satire and realism, and their political and social themes.-Early life:The son of Arthur Massinger or Messenger, he was baptized at St....
. Its central chararacter, Sir Giles Overreach, became one of the more popular villains on English and American stages through the 19th century.
Performance
Massinger most likely wrote the play in 1625, though its debut on stage was delayed a year as the theatres were closed due to bubonic plagueBubonic plague
Plague is a deadly infectious disease that is caused by the enterobacteria Yersinia pestis, named after the French-Swiss bacteriologist Alexandre Yersin. Primarily carried by rodents and spread to humans via fleas, the disease is notorious throughout history, due to the unrivaled scale of death...
. In its own era it was staged by Queen Henrietta's Men
Queen Henrietta's Men
Queen Henrietta's Men was an important playing company or troupe of actors in Caroline era London. At their peak of popularity, Queen Henrietta's Men were the second leading troupe of the day, after only the King's Men.-Beginnings:...
at the Cockpit Theatre
Cockpit Theatre
The Cockpit was a theatre in London, operating from 1616 to around 1665. It was the first theatre to be located near Drury Lane. After damage in 1617, it was christened The Phoenix....
in Drury Lane
Drury Lane
Drury Lane is a street on the eastern boundary of the Covent Garden area of London, running between Aldwych and High Holborn. The northern part is in the borough of Camden and the southern part in the City of Westminster....
. It was continuously in the repertory there and at the Red Bull Theatre
Red Bull Theatre
The Red Bull was a playhouse in London during the 17th century. For more than four decades, it entertained audiences drawn primarily from the northern suburbs, developing a reputation for rowdy, often disruptive audiences...
, under the managements of Christopher Beeston
Christopher Beeston
Christopher Beeston was a successful actor and a powerful theatrical impresario in early 17th century London. He was associated with a number of playwrights, particularly Thomas Heywood.-Early life:...
, William Beeston
William Beeston
William Beeston was a 17th century actor and theatre manager, the son and successor to the more famous Christopher Beeston.-Early phase:...
, and Sir William Davenant
William Davenant
Sir William Davenant , also spelled D'Avenant, was an English poet and playwright. Along with Thomas Killigrew, Davenant was one of the rare figures in English Renaissance theatre whose career spanned both the Caroline and Restoration eras and who was active both before and after the English Civil...
, down to the closing of the theatres at the start of the English Civil War
English Civil War
The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists...
in 1642.
Though Massinger's play shows obvious debts to Thomas Middleton
Thomas Middleton
Thomas Middleton was an English Jacobean playwright and poet. Middleton stands with John Fletcher and Ben Jonson as among the most successful and prolific of playwrights who wrote their best plays during the Jacobean period. He was one of the few Renaissance dramatists to achieve equal success in...
's A Trick to Catch the Old One
A Trick to Catch the Old One
A Trick to Catch the Old One is a Jacobean comedy written by Thomas Middleton, first published in 1608. The play is a satire in the sub-genre of city comedy....
(c. 1605), it transcends mere imitation to achieve a powerful dramatic effectiveness — verified by the fact that, apart from the Shakespearean canon, it was almost the only pre-Restoration play that was continuously in the dramatic repertory through much of the modern era. After David Garrick
David Garrick
David Garrick was an English actor, playwright, theatre manager and producer who influenced nearly all aspects of theatrical practice throughout the 18th century and was a pupil and friend of Dr Samuel Johnson...
's 1748 revival, the play remained popular throughout the nineteenth century and into the twentieth. (It was praised by Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson was the principal author of the United States Declaration of Independence and the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom , the third President of the United States and founder of the University of Virginia...
.) Edmund Kean
Edmund Kean
Edmund Kean was an English actor, regarded in his time as the greatest ever.-Early life:Kean was born in London. His father was probably Edmund Kean, an architect’s clerk, and his mother was an actress, Anne Carey, daughter of the 18th century composer and playwright Henry Carey...
's version of Sir Giles, which debuted in 1816, was in particular a tremendous popular success, and drove the play's reputation through the remainder of the century.
The play remains in the active theatrical repertory; modern stagings are usually amateur or student productions, though the Royal Shakespeare Company
Royal Shakespeare Company
The Royal Shakespeare Company is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The company employs 700 staff and produces around 20 productions a year from its home in Stratford-upon-Avon and plays regularly in London, Newcastle-upon-Tyne and on tour across...
performed the play in 1983, directed by Adrian Noble
Adrian Noble
Adrian Keith Noble is a theatre director, and was also the artistic director and chief executive of the Royal Shakespeare Company from 1990 to 2003.-Education and career:...
and with Emrys James
Emrys James
Emrys James , was a Welsh Shakespearean actor. He also performed in many theatre and TV parts between 1960 and 1989, and was an Associate Artist of the Royal Shakespeare Company...
as Sir Giles.
Publication
The play was first published in 1633 in quartoBook size
The size of a book is generally measured by the height against the width of a leaf, or sometimes the height and width of its cover. A series of terms is commonly used by libraries and publishers for the general sizes of modern books, ranging from "folio" , to "quarto" and "octavo"...
by stationer Henry Seyle (his shop was "in S. Pauls Church-yard, at the signe of the Tygers head"). The 1633 quarto carries a dedication of "this trifle" to Robert Dormer, 1st Earl of Carnarvon
Robert Dormer, 1st Earl of Carnarvon
Robert Dormer, 1st Earl of Carnarvon was an English peer. He was the son of Sir William Dormer, and thus a grandson of Robert Dormer, 1st Baron Dormer. His mother was Alice Molyneux, daughter of Sir Richard Molyneux, 1st Bt. and Frances Gerard...
, Master Falconer of England (he'd succeeded to his hereditary title, Chief Avenor
Avener
An avener, or avenor, was the chief officer of the stables of a king, and the officer in charge of obtaining positions for horses belonging to the king. The Latin version of the word was avenarius, from the Latin avena, meaning "oats" or "straw"...
and Keeper of the King's Hawks and Falcons, at the age of six). In this dedication, Massinger states that he "born a devoted servant to the thrice noble family of your incomparable Lady," that lady being Anna Sophia Herbert, daughter of Philip Herbert, 4th Earl of Pembroke
Philip Herbert, 4th Earl of Pembroke
Philip Herbert, 4th Earl of Pembroke and 1st Earl of Montgomery KG was an English courtier and politician active during the reigns of James I and Charles I...
, then serving as Lord Chamberlain
Lord Chamberlain
The Lord Chamberlain or Lord Chamberlain of the Household is one of the chief officers of the Royal Household in the United Kingdom and is to be distinguished from the Lord Great Chamberlain, one of the Great Officers of State....
. Massinger's connection to the Herbert family, derived from his father, is well known; whether Carnarvon responded in any positive way to the dedication is obscure.
The 1633 quarto was the only edition of the play in the seventeenth century. Its later popularity onstage guaranteed frequent reprints, with 52 editions between 1748 and 1964 (not counting collections); others have followed since.
Genre
Dramaturgically, A New Way to Pay Old Debts The play contains elements of melodramaMelodrama
The term melodrama refers to a dramatic work that exaggerates plot and characters in order to appeal to the emotions. It may also refer to the genre which includes such works, or to language, behavior, or events which resemble them...
, comedy of manners
Comedy of manners
The comedy of manners is a genre of play/television/film which satirizes the manners and affectations of a social class, often represented by stock characters, such as the miles gloriosus in ancient times, the fop and the rake during the Restoration, or an old person pretending to be young...
, realism
Realism (arts)
Realism in the visual arts and literature refers to the general attempt to depict subjects "in accordance with secular, empirical rules", as they are considered to exist in third person objective reality, without embellishment or interpretation...
, and social satire
Satire
Satire is primarily a literary genre or form, although in practice it can also be found in the graphic and performing arts. In satire, vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ideally with the intent of shaming individuals, and society itself, into improvement...
, in a distinctive combination.
The villain
The play also falls into the category of the "villain play," a drama in which the dominant figure is not a traditional protagonist or hero but his antagonist, a figure of evil. In the context of English Renaissance drama, the villain play grew out of the "ranting Herod" of the Medieval morality playMorality play
The morality play is a genre of Medieval and early Tudor theatrical entertainment. In their own time, these plays were known as "interludes", a broader term given to dramas with or without a moral theme. Morality plays are a type of allegory in which the protagonist is met by personifications of...
. In the Elizabethan era, Christopher Marlowe
Christopher Marlowe
Christopher Marlowe was an English dramatist, poet and translator of the Elizabethan era. As the foremost Elizabethan tragedian, next to William Shakespeare, he is known for his blank verse, his overreaching protagonists, and his mysterious death.A warrant was issued for Marlowe's arrest on 18 May...
was the great innovator in the villain play, with Tamburlaine and Doctor Faustus and The Jew of Malta
The Jew of Malta
The Jew of Malta is a play by Christopher Marlowe, probably written in 1589 or 1590. Its plot is an original story of religious conflict, intrigue, and revenge, set against a backdrop of the struggle for supremacy between Spain and the Ottoman Empire in the Mediterranean that takes place on the...
; Shakespeare's Richard III
Richard III (play)
Richard III is a history play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in approximately 1591. It depicts the Machiavellian rise to power and subsequent short reign of Richard III of England. The play is grouped among the histories in the First Folio and is most often classified...
is another obvious example in the sub-genre.
In A New Way to Pay Old Debts, Massinger took the villain play in a new direction of social realism: his villain is not a king or a conqueror but a credible figure from contemporary life. The play's dominating character, Sir Giles Overreach, is based on the real-life Sir Giles Mompesson
Giles Mompesson
Giles Mompesson was an English malefactor and, officially, "notorious criminal" whose career was one based on speculation and graft. He has come to be regarded as a synonym for graft and official corruption due to his use of nepotism to gain positions of licensing businesses and pocketing the fees...
. (Sir Giles' assistant in villainy, Justice Greedy, was suggested by Mompesson's associate Sir Francis Michell.) The power of the role of Sir Giles may lie in Massinger's success in depicting a blatant villain who has a quality of everyday believability. Sir Giles is down-to-earth in his cold malice:
-
-
-
- I'll therefore buy some cottage near his manor,
- Which done, I'll make my men break ope his fences,
- Ride o'er his standing corn, and in the night
- Set fire on his barns, or break his cattle's legs.
- These trespasses draw on suits, and suits expenses,
- Which I can spare, but will soon beggar him. (Act II, scene i)
-
-
The audience is presented with a character they might meet in their own lives, to their own cost.
Class conflict
The play illustrates the hardening of class distinctions that characterized the early StuartHouse of Stuart
The House of Stuart is a European royal house. Founded by Robert II of Scotland, the Stewarts first became monarchs of the Kingdom of Scotland during the late 14th century, and subsequently held the position of the Kings of Great Britain and Ireland...
era, leading up to the outbreak of the Civil War. In Elizabethan plays like The Shoemaker's Holiday
The Shoemaker's Holiday
The Shoemakers' Holiday, or the Gentle Craft is an Elizabethan play written by Thomas Dekker. It was first performed in 1599 by the Admiral's Men. It falls into the sub-genre of city comedy.The play was first published in 1600 by the printer Valentine Simmes...
(1599
1599 in literature
-Events:* Undated - Opening of the Globe Theatre.*June 4 - Middleton's Microcynicon and Marston's Scourge of Villainy are publicly burned, as ecclesiastical authorities crack down on the craze for satire of the past year. The Bishop of London and the Archbishop of Canterbury tighten their...
), it was acceptable and even admirable that a young nobleman marry a commoner's daughter; other plays of the era, like Fair Em
Fair Em
Fair Em, the Miller's Daughter of Manchester, is an Elizabethan era stage play, a comedy written c. 1590. It was bound together with Mucedorus and The Merry Devil of Edmonton in a volume labelled "Shakespeare. Vol...
(c. 1590) and The Merry Wives of Windsor
The Merry Wives of Windsor
The Merry Wives of Windsor is a comedy by William Shakespeare, first published in 1602, though believed to have been written prior to 1597. It features the fat knight Sir John Falstaff, and is Shakespeare's only play to deal exclusively with contemporary Elizabethan era English middle class life...
(c. 1597-9), share this liberal attitude toward social mobility
Social mobility
Social mobility refers to the movement of people in a population from one social class or economic level to another. It typically refers to vertical mobility -- movement of individuals or groups up from one socio-economic level to another, often by changing jobs or marrying; but can also refer to...
through marriage. In A New Way to Pay Old Debts, in contrast, Lord Lovell would rather see his family line go extinct than marry Overreach's daughter Margaret, even though she's young, beautiful, and virtuous. In Act IV, scene i, Lovell specifies that his attitude is not solely dependent on his loathing of the father's personal vices, but is rooted in class distinction. Lovell rejects the idea of his descendants being "one part scarlet" (aristocratic) and "the other London blue" (common).
The drama's class conflict can seem obscure to the modern reader, since Sir Giles Overreach appears as an upper-class, not a lower-class figure: he is a knight and a rich man with large country estates, who lives the lavish lifestyle of the landed gentry. There is even a family connection between hero and villain: Frank Welborn is the nephew of Sir Giles' late wife. Yet Sir Giles himself expresses the conflict by noting that he is a "city" man — he comes from the financial milieu of the City of London
City of London
The City of London is a small area within Greater London, England. It is the historic core of London around which the modern conurbation grew and has held city status since time immemorial. The City’s boundaries have remained almost unchanged since the Middle Ages, and it is now only a tiny part of...
with its worldly and materialistic values, the domain of nascent capitalism
Capitalism
Capitalism is an economic system that became dominant in the Western world following the demise of feudalism. There is no consensus on the precise definition nor on how the term should be used as a historical category...
in contrast to the older social order rooted in feudalism
Feudalism
Feudalism was a set of legal and military customs in medieval Europe that flourished between the 9th and 15th centuries, which, broadly defined, was a system for ordering society around relationships derived from the holding of land in exchange for service or labour.Although derived from the...
. He observes that there is "More than a feud, a strange antipathy / Between us," the men of money, "and true gentry."
For a conservative moralist like Massinger, the upper classes, the "true gentry," have a right to run society insofar as they fulfill the moral and ethical obligations of their traditional roles. It is Overreach's rejection of those tradition moral and ethical standards, his embrace of ruthless competition, that makes him a villain.
Synopsis
Set in rural NottinghamshireNottinghamshire
Nottinghamshire is a county in the East Midlands of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west...
, the play opens with its protagonist, Frank Welborn, being ejected from an alehouse by Tapwell and Froth, the tavernkeeper and his wife. Welborn has been refused further service ("No booze? nor no tobacco?"); he quarrels with the couple and beats them, but is interrupted by Tom Allworth. The conversations in the scene supply the play's backstory, indicating that Welborn and Allworth are both members of the local gentry who have fallen victim to the financial manipulations of Sir Giles Overreach. Welborn has lost his estates and been reduced to penury, while young Allworth has been forced to become the page of a local nobleman, Lord Lovell. Allworth offers Welborn a small sum, "eight pieces," to relieve his immediate wants, but Welborn indignantly rejects the offer from a junior contemporary; he says that as his own vices have led to his fall, he will rely on his own wits for his recovery.
Tom Allworth's widowed mother, Lady Allworth, retains her country house; she is visited there by neighbors and prospective suitors, including Sir Giles. While she has her servants greet these guests with appropriate hospitality, she remains "cloister'd up" in the seclusion of her mourning. When Sir Giles visits, he is accompanied by his two prime henchmen, the lawyer Jack Marall and Justice Greedy, the local justice of the peace
Justice of the Peace
A justice of the peace is a puisne judicial officer elected or appointed by means of a commission to keep the peace. Depending on the jurisdiction, they might dispense summary justice or merely deal with local administrative applications in common law jurisdictions...
. Together, Greedy and the Lady's servants provide most of the play's comic relief
Comic relief
Comic relief is the inclusion of a humorous character, scene or witty dialogue in an otherwise serious work, often to relieve tension.-Definition:...
. Greedy is a lean man with an enormous appetite; a gourmand and a glutton, he is obsessed with food.
Lady Allworth instructs her son to avoid the dissolute Welborn; but Welborn forces his way into her presence, and reminds her of his relationship with her late husband. When the late Allworth had been down on his luck, Welborn had supported him, even seconding him in all his duels
Duel
A duel is an arranged engagement in combat between two individuals, with matched weapons in accordance with agreed-upon rules.Duels in this form were chiefly practised in Early Modern Europe, with precedents in the medieval code of chivalry, and continued into the modern period especially among...
. The recollection makes Lady Allworth repent her harsh attitude toward the reprobate Welborn, and she offers him financial help; he rejects this, but requests a favor of her instead. The request is made in a whisper; the audience discovers its nature as the plot progresses.
Overreach is shown with Marall, discussing his plan to marry his daughter Margaret to Lord Lovell. He also gives a first glimpse into the ruthless way he conducts his business affairs. Welborn seeks out Overreach, but Sir Giles refuses to speak with him; Marall mocks his poverty. Yet Marall has to change his tune when he sees Lady Allworth come out of mourning to meet Welborn. When she kisses Welborn, Marall is convinced that the two will marry. When Marall informs Overreach of what he's seen, however, Overreach refuses to believe him, and even beats him. Eventually, though, Overreach himself sees Welborn and Lady Allworth together, and accepts the "truth" of their connection. Sir Giles favors their marriage, since he is sure that once Welborn possesses the Lady's remaining property he can cheat the dissolute man of this property too.
Margaret Overreach has no interest in marrying Lord Lovell, since she is in love with Tom Allworth, as he is with her. Lord Lovell knows of his page's affections, and is willing to act as a go-between for the two. Young Allworth is nervous at this, suspecting that his patron will not be able to resist Margaret's charms; but Lovell is an honorable man, and sincerely promotes their match. Overreach thinks that Allworth is carrying messages between the Lord and his daughter, though the young page is actually pursuing his own romance. Together, the young couple manage to fool Sir Giles into thinking that Lovell wants a reluctant Margaret to elope with him; Overreach pressures his daughter to conform, and even sends hurried written instructions to a compliant clergyman at the village of Gotham
Gotham, Nottinghamshire
Gotham is a village in Nottinghamshire, England, south of Nottingham and north-east of Kegworth. Gotham has a population of about 1,600. It is administered as part of the Rushcliffe district of Nottingham, and has a parish council....
, to marry his daughter to "this man." Of course he means Lovell, though the ambiguity favors the young lovers.
To facilitate the marriage of Welborn and Lady Allworth, Sir Giles advances Welborn a thousand pounds. He also discusses his plans with Lovell, revealing more of his intentions and his dark character, so that Lovell breaks into a "cold sweat" listening to him. (With each of his appearances in the play, Overreach's expressions of his villainy become more flagrant and overwrought, leading up to the denouement of the final scene.) Marall sees Welborn's apparent ascension in fortune, and, chafing at Overreach's insulting and brutal treatment of him, decides to switch allegiances; his command of Overreach's legal papers gives Marall a key advantage in seeking his own revenge.
When Overreach believes that Lovell and Margaret are married, he enters a state of near rapture: "My ends! my ends are compass'd!...I can scarce contain myself, / I am so full of joy; nay, joy all over!" The play's final scene shows his sudden reversal, when he realizes that he has been fooled and that Margaret has married Allworth. Enraged, he demands that Welborn provide security for the loan of £1000 from the Lady's estates; Welborn rejects this, and demands that Overreach return possession of his lands. Sir Giles dismisses this as folly — but discovers that the text of his deed to Welborn's lands has mysteriously faded away (thanks to the trickery of Marall). Overreach is ready to work his revenge with his sword, but Welborn, Lovell, and the Lady's servants altogether are too formidable for him. He storms out...but returns in a distracted state of mind. The stresses of his reversal of fortune have caused him to lose his sanity, and he is taken into protective custody.
Welborn decides to demonstrate his reformation by taking a military commission in the regiment Lovell commands. Lovell and Lady Allworth have agreed to marry. Allworth and Margaret state that they will turn control of Overreach's estates to Lord Lovell, to make reparations for all the to the people Sir Giles has cheated and oppressed.