FOOTNOTES:

Johan.A! syrs! I have payd some of them even as I lyst,665They have borne many a blow wilh my fyst,I thank God, I have walkyd them well,And dryven them hens. But yet, can ye tellWhether they be go? for by God, I fere me,That they be gon together, he and she,670Unto his chamber, and perhappys she wyll,Spyte of my hart, tary there styll,And, peradventure, there, he and sheWyll make me cokold, evyn to anger me;And then had I a pyg in the woyrs[284]panyer,675Therfor, by God, I wyll hye me thyderTo se yf they do me any vylany:And thus fare well this noble company.

Johan.A! syrs! I have payd some of them even as I lyst,665

They have borne many a blow wilh my fyst,

I thank God, I have walkyd them well,

And dryven them hens. But yet, can ye tell

Whether they be go? for by God, I fere me,

That they be gon together, he and she,670

Unto his chamber, and perhappys she wyll,

Spyte of my hart, tary there styll,

And, peradventure, there, he and she

Wyll make me cokold, evyn to anger me;

And then had I a pyg in the woyrs[284]panyer,675

Therfor, by God, I wyll hye me thyder

To se yf they do me any vylany:

And thus fare well this noble company.

Finis

Imprinted by Wyllyam Rastellthe xii day of Februarythe yere of our LordMCCCCandXXXIIICum privilegio

FOOTNOTES:[229]TheNew Eng. Dict.quotes from Fuller'sWorthies: "St. Anthonie is notoriously known for the patron of hogs, having a pig for his page in all pictures."[230]God's.[231]There are three Croomes in the manor of Ripple, Worcestershire, and the church of Ripple is dedicated to the B. Virgin, but Nash'sHistory of Worcestershire, says nothing of "Our Lady of Crome."[232]drag.[233]hair.[234]assuredly; text 'hardly.'[235]hundred.[236]the devil a bit.[237]shall I not? For this curious elliptical construction cf. l. 624, "And had ye no meate, Johan Johan? no had?" See also Udall'sR. D., I. iv. 32.[238]God's.[239]immediately.[240]dust her jacket, beat her. To walk = to full cloth.[241]This question must be answered.[242]scold.[243]cease.[244]characteristic.[245]avail.[246]cudgel.[247]remedy.[248]wager 6s.8d.Cf. Udall,R. D., I. iii. 27.[249]the relation of a child's sponsors at baptism to his parents.[250]go a "love"-making.[251]fish salted so hard that it had to be softened by beating before cooking.[252]literally, cat-calling.[253]Tyb's 'aside' perhaps only means "if he is not scolding nothing can please him," i.e. he likes scolding better than anything else. But Tyb is at present half-afraid, and it is at least possible that she means "if I haven't set him scolding this time, no occasion for being angry will content him."[254]This saint is not mentioned by the Bollandists; the name may be a contraction for one of the four St. Theodorics.[255]guess.[256]God's little wounds; cf. l. 648.[257]consult, question thee.[258]excessively.[259]the one.[260]The stands on which the 'board' of the table was fixed when needed.[261]This line is attributed in Rastell's edition to Johan, the next attribution being at l. 252, also to Johan. Lines 258, 259 are given to Tyb, ll. 260-262 to Johan, l. 263ato Johan, ll. 263b-266 to Tyb.[262]'I pray you,' etc., said to one of the spectators, whom she next pretends to mistrust, turning at l. 254 to another one.[263]dirtied.[264]Fix the board on the trestles, and that at once.[265]263, etc. In the FrenchFarse of Pernet qui va au vinthere are similar false starts and returnings, but in that case Pernet keeps coming back to watch his wife and her lover.[266]bald, shaven, not "bold."[267]shorn.[268]thought.[269]quarrel.[270]crying out, scolding.[271]Misprintedstynk.[272]Misprintedthough.[273]Misprintedme.[274]Apparently a misprint forshe; it was clearly to be provided by Tyb; cf. l. 618.[275]Cf.Play of Wether, l. 235. Udall'sR. D., I. iv. 33, etc.[276]No provision seems to have been made for Margery and Anne sharing in the pie.[277]Cf. "nyfuls,"Play of the Wether, l. 617.[278]Cf. l. 211.[279]salvation.[280]Cf. Pernet's:Vous irayje signer la table?Je scay bien le benedicite.[281]S. Modwena, an Irish virgin, who diedA.D.518. She is said to have been the patroness of Burton-upon-Trent, and Henry VIII.'s commissioners sent thence to London "the image of seint Moodwyn with her red kowe and hir staff, which wymen labouryng of child in those parties were very desirous to have with them to lean upon."[282]may I thrive.[283]for my backer. Cf.R. D.IV. vii. 75, IV. viii. 45.[284]worse.

[229]TheNew Eng. Dict.quotes from Fuller'sWorthies: "St. Anthonie is notoriously known for the patron of hogs, having a pig for his page in all pictures."

[230]God's.

[231]There are three Croomes in the manor of Ripple, Worcestershire, and the church of Ripple is dedicated to the B. Virgin, but Nash'sHistory of Worcestershire, says nothing of "Our Lady of Crome."

[232]drag.

[233]hair.

[234]assuredly; text 'hardly.'

[235]hundred.

[236]the devil a bit.

[237]shall I not? For this curious elliptical construction cf. l. 624, "And had ye no meate, Johan Johan? no had?" See also Udall'sR. D., I. iv. 32.

[238]God's.

[239]immediately.

[240]dust her jacket, beat her. To walk = to full cloth.

[241]This question must be answered.

[242]scold.

[243]cease.

[244]characteristic.

[245]avail.

[246]cudgel.

[247]remedy.

[248]wager 6s.8d.Cf. Udall,R. D., I. iii. 27.

[249]the relation of a child's sponsors at baptism to his parents.

[250]go a "love"-making.

[251]fish salted so hard that it had to be softened by beating before cooking.

[252]literally, cat-calling.

[253]Tyb's 'aside' perhaps only means "if he is not scolding nothing can please him," i.e. he likes scolding better than anything else. But Tyb is at present half-afraid, and it is at least possible that she means "if I haven't set him scolding this time, no occasion for being angry will content him."

[254]This saint is not mentioned by the Bollandists; the name may be a contraction for one of the four St. Theodorics.

[255]guess.

[256]God's little wounds; cf. l. 648.

[257]consult, question thee.

[258]excessively.

[259]the one.

[260]The stands on which the 'board' of the table was fixed when needed.

[261]This line is attributed in Rastell's edition to Johan, the next attribution being at l. 252, also to Johan. Lines 258, 259 are given to Tyb, ll. 260-262 to Johan, l. 263ato Johan, ll. 263b-266 to Tyb.

[262]'I pray you,' etc., said to one of the spectators, whom she next pretends to mistrust, turning at l. 254 to another one.

[263]dirtied.

[264]Fix the board on the trestles, and that at once.

[265]263, etc. In the FrenchFarse of Pernet qui va au vinthere are similar false starts and returnings, but in that case Pernet keeps coming back to watch his wife and her lover.

[266]bald, shaven, not "bold."

[267]shorn.

[268]thought.

[269]quarrel.

[270]crying out, scolding.

[271]Misprintedstynk.

[272]Misprintedthough.

[273]Misprintedme.

[274]Apparently a misprint forshe; it was clearly to be provided by Tyb; cf. l. 618.

[275]Cf.Play of Wether, l. 235. Udall'sR. D., I. iv. 33, etc.

[276]No provision seems to have been made for Margery and Anne sharing in the pie.

[277]Cf. "nyfuls,"Play of the Wether, l. 617.

[278]Cf. l. 211.

[279]salvation.

[280]Cf. Pernet's:Vous irayje signer la table?Je scay bien le benedicite.

[280]Cf. Pernet's:

Vous irayje signer la table?Je scay bien le benedicite.

Vous irayje signer la table?

Je scay bien le benedicite.

[281]S. Modwena, an Irish virgin, who diedA.D.518. She is said to have been the patroness of Burton-upon-Trent, and Henry VIII.'s commissioners sent thence to London "the image of seint Moodwyn with her red kowe and hir staff, which wymen labouryng of child in those parties were very desirous to have with them to lean upon."

[282]may I thrive.

[283]for my backer. Cf.R. D.IV. vii. 75, IV. viii. 45.

[284]worse.

Nicholas UdallROISTER DOISTEREdited with Critical Essay andNotes by Ewald Flügel, Ph.D.,Professor in Stanford University

Edited with Critical Essay andNotes by Ewald Flügel, Ph.D.,Professor in Stanford University

Life.—Nicholas Udall was born in 1506, of a good family residing in Hampshire. As a lad of fourteen he entered Corpus Christi College, Oxford, and took his bachelor's degree there in May, 1524.[285]The years of his University life came at a period of great religious fermentation, and young Udall was, according to an old tradition,[286]one of the young enthusiasts in whom the humanistic tilling of Erasmus had prepared the soil for Lutheran doctrines from Wittenberg. We may, therefore, imagine young Udall to have been one of those of whose heretical perversities Warham complains to Wolsey.[287]Apparently Udall, as he grew older, grew if not calmer at least more cautious, and succeeded later in gaining the favour of Mary the Princess, and in retaining that of Mary the Queen. While at college, he formed a lasting friendship with John Leland, a friendship of which some poems of the latter give us a pleasing testimony.[288]Leland, of almost the same age as Udall, had taken his first degree at Cambridge in 1522, and according to an old custom, he continued his studies at Oxford, where Udall's generosity won his heart.[289]In May, 1533, a number of verses were composed by them in joint authorship, for a pageant at the coronation of Anne Boleyn.[290]In the same year Udall seems to have settled at London as a teacher. He may even have contemplated becoming a monk—like Thomas More thirty years earlier; he certainly dates his preface to theFlowers from Terencefrom the Augustinian Monastery at London, on the last of February, 1534. In the followingJune he received the degree of Master of Arts from Oxford, and appears in the latter part of the same year as "Magister Informator" at Eton, succeeding Master Richard Coxe.[291]In this capacity he received payments between the last terms, 1534 and 1541.[292]

We can scarcely judge at this late day of the character of Udall's educational services, but the fact that he was generally on good terms with his pupils may reasonably be inferred from the preface to the edition of theFlowers, printed in 1545.

We may further infer with regard to his mastership at Eton, that he was himself influenced by the Eton custom of performing a play at Christmas. It appears even possible that the clause in a "consuetudinary" of Eton (about 1560), allowing the Latin school comedy to give place to an English one, if it were "witty and graceful,"[293]may have been a result of Udall's mastership. And it is probable thatRoister Doisterwas originally one of such plays unpretentiously offered by Udall to his boys,[294]modestly put aside after the performance and printed long afterwards. If all this be true, Udall's mastership deserves immortal fame in the annals of English literature. But the immortality is unfortunately of a different nature. Udall is stigmatized by one ungrateful pupil as a secondOrbilius plagosus, the realization of Erasmus's executioner. Tusser's often quoted doggerel runs:

"From Paules I went to Eaton sentTo learn streight waies, the latin phraies,When fiftie three stripes giuen to meeAt once I had:For fault but small, or none at all,It came to pas, thus beat I was,See Udall see, the mercie of thee,To me poore lad."[295]

"From Paules I went to Eaton sent

To learn streight waies, the latin phraies,

When fiftie three stripes giuen to mee

At once I had:

For fault but small, or none at all,

It came to pas, thus beat I was,

See Udall see, the mercie of thee,

To me poore lad."[295]

We cannot now decide upon the merits of the case, but we are inclined to think that Tom Tusser the boy was as shiftless as Thomas Tusser theman later proved to be, and that, although he may have been a fine "querister," his "latin phraies" would frequently offend the ear of the conscientious humanist. Let us suppose that Thomas deserved his fifty-three stripes twice over, but did not realize that ὁ μὴ δαρεὶς ἄνθρωπος οὐκ παιδεύεται.[296]

In March, 1541,[297]some abuses were exposed that had lately disgraced the school. A robbery of plate and silver images was detected, to which two late Eton scholars and a servant of Udall's confessed; and Udall himself became "suspect to be counsel of the robbery." The judicial report states that Udall "having certain interrogatoryes ministred unto hym toching the sayd fact and other felonious trespasses whereof he was suspected, did confess that he did comitt a heinous offence with the sayd cheney [a "scoler" of Eton] sundry tymes hertofore and of late the vjᵗʰ day of this present monethe in this present yere at London: whereupon he was committed to the Marshalsey."

Udall was discharged from his office, but did not remain long in prison (as would have been the case if he had been proved guilty of a "felonious" crime); and an influential personage unknown to us made efforts to bring about his "restitucion to the roume of Scholemaister in Eton." Udall thanked this patron in an interesting letter, which seems to corroborate the words of the indictment, but states that the "heinous offence" was committed in London (notin Eton), and that it resulted in heavy debts. The most careful consideration of the letter leads me to believe that Udall had nothing to do with thetheft, but had neglected his duties as teacher, and had not given the right example of "frugall livyng."[298]Most likely he had only followed the royal example; had enjoyed too much "Pastyme with good companye!"

In the same letter Udall petitions for a place where he could show his "amendment," and which would enable him also "by litle and litle ... to paye euery man his own."[299]

We do not know of the result of this letter, but it seems that Udall went "north" in the autumn of the same year. At any rate, in October, 1542, Robert Aldrich, Bishop of Carlisle, received letters "by the hande of Mr. Vdall";[300]and Leland in a charming little song addressed to his "snow-white friend," refers to Udall as residing among the "Brigantes, where Mars now has the rule."[301]

In the same autumn appeared Udall's translation of Erasmus'sApophthegms[302]and—after his return south—he was connected for the following three years with a great literary undertaking, which was not only favoured by the Court, but progressing under its auspices and with its collaboration,—Princess Mary taking the most active part. This was the English translation of Erasmus'sParaphrase of the New Testament.[303]

Under Edward VI., Udall devoted himself to theological works; he stood up for the royal prerogative in religious matters in hisAnswer to the articles of the commoners of Devonshire and Cornwall(summer 1549[304]); he took his share in a memorial volume published in 1551, after Bucer's death, and he translated in the same year Peter Martyr'sTractatusandDisputatio De Eucharistia. A royal patent[305](of 1551) granted him the "privilege andlycense ... to preint the Bible in Englyshe as well in the large volume for the use of the churches wᵗʰin this our Realme ... as allso in any other convenient volume."

This privilege was not the only sign of royal favour: we find Udall in November, 1551, presented by the King to a prebend in Windsor,[306]and later (in March, 1553) to the Parsonage of Calborne, in the Isle of Wight.

After such favours received from Edward, and such services in the Protestant camp, we should expect to find Udall in disgrace under Queen Mary, and sharing with his fellow-Protestants at least the bitter fate of exile, but Mary had apparently preserved a grateful memory for her former fellow-worker in the Erasmian translation. If, indeed, she did not use him as a theologian, she remembered his dramatic talents, and so we find that a special warrant was issued, December 3, 1554, which shows us Udall in the rôle of playwright. The Office of the Queen's Revels was directed by the warrant referred to, to deliver to Udall such "apparel" at any time as he might require for the "setting foorth of Dialogues and Enterludes" before the Queen, for her "regell disporte and recreacion." In the beginning of the document[307]appears an allusion to Udall as having shown previously "at soondrie seasons" his "dilligence" in arranging "Dialogues and Enterludes"—important documentary evidence of his connection with the "Revels," a connection apparently begun with the pageant for which he furnished such poor verses at Anne Boleyn's coronation.

This evidence for the fact that Udall was known as a writer of "plays" before 1554 is singularly corroborated by the quotation of Roister's letter to Custance (Act III., Scene iv.) as an example of "ambiguity" in the 1553 edition of Wilson'sRule of Reason.[308]

As to the nature of Udall's "Dialogues," "Enterludes," and "devises," we are not entirely without information. The very date of the warrant would indicate the occasion for Udall's services (December 3, 1554), if we had not a more definite statement. He was commissioned to get up the Christmas shows before Mary and Philip.

Udall was in a dangerous position, since any reference to the Protestant sympathies of the nation might have cost his life, but he realized the situation, and with good tact presented "divers plaies," the "incydents" of which were very innocent:[309]"A mask of patrons of gallies like Venetian senators, with galley-slaves for their torche-bearers; a mask of 6 Venuses or amorous ladies with 6 Cupids and 6 torche-bearers to them," and some "Turkes archers,"[310]"Turkes magistrates," and "Turkie women," "6 lions' hedds of paste and cement," and a few other harmless paraphernalia.

How long Udall served the queen in this capacity we do not know. In 1555, towards the end of his career, we find him at his old calling as master of Westminster School.[311]When in November of the following year the old monastery was again opened, naturally Udall's services became superfluous, and he was doubtless discharged; and so indeed the darkness enshrouding the last months of his life may cover a period of great distress. He died in December, 1556, and found his last resting place in St. Margaret's, Westminster; where almost thirty years before Skelton had found first a sanctuary and then a grave.

It seems that the queen did not erect a monument over the ashes of her old friend, at least none is registered by the industrious Weever;[312]but Udall does not need a monument from Queen Mary, he has erected it himself—ære perennius—in the annals of English literature.

Date of the Play.—Roister Doisterwas formerly assigned to the time of Udall's mastership at Eton (1534-41).[313]In more recent years, however, this date has been rejected, and Professor J. W. Hales has tried to show that "this play was in fact written in 1552, and more probably written for Westminster school."[314]

The arguments of Professor Hales, as far as I can see, might be summarized thus:

1. The fact that Wilson—an old Eton boy himself, who left the school in 1541, and ought to have known of the play if it had ever been performed there—doesnotinsert the "ambiguous letter" in his first and second editions of theRule of Reason(1551, 1552), whereas he inserts it in the edition of 1553, "suggeststhat thiscomedy was written between the appearances of the second and the third editions."

In favour of this theory speak further—according to Professor Hales—

2. The fact that Bale does not mention any of Udall's comedies in the 1548 edition of hisCatalogus;

3. The fact that "about 1552" Udall was in high esteem as a "comic dramatist";

4. The fact that Udall quotes a number of proverbial phrases which he got from Heywood's proverbs, published first in 1546;

5. The fact that the usury statute of 37 Henry VIII. was repealed in 1552, "of some moment" as far as the "reference [in the play] to excessive usury" is concerned.

The first argument is doubtless the strongest, but I venture to argue that the quotation of 1553 doesnotprove that the play waswrittenin 1552, but only that Wilson was unableto use a copy of the playbefore 1553; whether this copy was a manuscript copy, ora printed(and now lost) edition of the play, we cannot decide;most probably Wilson's quotation was made from an early edition of Roister, printed in 1552.

The fact that Wilson left Eton in 1541 seems to make it probable that he remembered the "ambiguous" passage from his school days.

The second argument is very slight, for Bale does not give acompletelist of Udall's works either in edition 1548 or in edition1557; nor does he mention Udall's connection with the coronation pageants of 1533; and a modest school comedy would naturally not at once become public property.

Thethirdargument is based on a serious anachronism.We do not know anythingof Udall's fame as a "comic dramatistabout 1552." The warrant of December 3, 1554, is dated, and cannot be used for "about 1552." Besides, the nature of Udall's "dialogues and interludes" for the "regell disporte and recreacion," as explained on p. 93, above, excludes any possibility of connecting these "Dialogues" with the comedy.

The number of proverbial phrases which Udall uses in common with Heywood'sProverbs(the early date of which, 1546, is rather a myth) proves no dependence of Udall on Heywood. Their use proves merely that Udall, as well as Heywood, talked the London English of his time, and that both were familiar with phrases common in the early sixteenth century. Any possible number of such phrases could not prove any "dependence."

With regard to the allusion inRoister Doisterto the Usury Statute, one may readily see that the reference isnotto a date later than the repeal, in 1552, of 37 Henry VIII., c. 9, but to aperiod between 1545 and 1552. In Act V., Scene vi., lines 21 to 30, Custance blames Roister humorously,notfor taking interest at all, but for takingtoo much(fifteen to one!), and for taking itright awayinstead of waiting until the year was up. The passage, therefore, does not refer to the law passed 5 and 6 Edward VI., c. 20 (1552), which repeals 37 Henry VIII., c. 9, and orders that "no person shall lend or forbear any sum of money for any maner of Usury or Increase to be received or hoped for above the Sum lent, upon pain to forfeit the Sum lent, and the Increase, [with] Imprisonment, and Fine at the king's pleasure." The passage refers to 37 Henry VIII., c. 20 (1545), to a law which allows ten per cent interest: "The sum of ten pound in the hundred, and so after that rate andnot above," and which forbids the lender "to receive, accept or take in Lucre or Gain for the forbearing or giving Day of Paymentof one whole yearof and for his or their money," for any other "Period" but the year, not "for a longer or shorter time." Cf. the technical term "gain" in line 30.

If, therefore, Custance's joke can be taken as an indication of the time when the play was written, it would be an indication of the period between 1545 and 1552, or, at any rate,before1552.[315]

I should, however, not be inclined on account of this reference to usury to date the play between 1545 and 1552. I would rather regard the allusion as a later insertion, which ought not to weaken the force of the internal evidence in favour of the old theory, according to which the play belongs to the Eton period of Udall's life, to the years between 1534 and 1541.

Date of the Early Edition.—The Stationers Company'sRegistersshow (ed. Arber, 1, 331) four pence as

"Recevyd of Thomas hackett for hys lycense for pryntinge of a play intituled Rauf Ruyster Duster,"

and the unique copy of the play which has come down to us has been regarded as the solitary relic of this edition. Title-page and colophon are lacking.

Hackett, however, printed between October (November?), 1560, and July, 1589; and Arber dates the unique copy: "? 1566."

This copy is now in the possession of Eton College. On the first fly-leaf are written the words: "The Gift of the RevdThosBriggs to Eton Coll. Library, Decr1818." As shown above, the quotation of the "ambiguous" letter in the 1553 edition of Wilson'sLogiquespeaks, however, in favour of an edition earlier than that of the unique copy; and this earlier edition might be dated "1552?".[316]

Place of Roister Doister in English Literature.—Roister Doisteris the only specimen of Udall's dramatic art preserved by Fate, but it is sufficient to justify us in assigning to the author his place as father of English Comedy.

The causes that brought a "Latinist," a schoolmaster, a theological writer to such a position are interesting to consider. Primarily, of course, it is his genius, his "Froh-natur," his way of looking at the world, and his art of representing this picture of the world, to which we oweRoister Doister, but besides this we may be certain that Udall's classical training, the condition of the Latin School-comedy of his time, and, finally, his clear insight into the character of the national play helped him to the place that he holds.

If Udall had been merely a pedantic schoolmaster, one of whose duties it was to superintend an annual Christmas play, he would have been satisfied with an adaptation of—let us say—theMiles Gloriosus, or he would merely have translated theMilesas theAndriahad been translated before; perhaps he would even have been satisfied with a performance of the play in the Latin. On the other hand, had he never been obliged to drill boys in Terence, his plays would have remained "interludes" of the old type, and at best, he would now receive honourable mention by the side of Heywood. It was his very position as teacher of the classics, his humanism (apart from the annual necessity of advising the "enterluders" at Christmas time) which must have pointed out to him the way in which the "enterlude" might be outgrown, the way that would lead to a new category of plays: the "comedy."

Udall (if the prologue toRoister Doisteris his own, as we have no reason to doubt)[317]seems to have been somewhat doubtful at first about the designation of his play; he calls it at the beginning "thys enterlude"; but he realized the new departure which he had taken, and calls it later "Our Comedie or Enterlude." By the use of thisword,—the first time applied correctly to anEnglishcomedy,—Udall indicates his aspirations, his sources and classical models: those plays which were the comediespar excellence, the comedies of Terence, and—especially since the discovery of the twelve "new" plays in 1429—those of Plautus. Udall shows himself a genuine disciple of the Renaissance; he "imitates" in that true way in which "imitation" has always ultimately proved "originality": he shows that he had absorbed the spirit of the Roman comedy, that he fully understood the easy movement, the sparkling and refined dialogue, the succinct but full delineation of character, and the clear development of a plot. But besides all this he possessed enough patriotic feeling not to overlook the merits of the modest national "interlude" of England. He did not too anxiously avoid carrying out here and there even a farcical motive; but with the higher ideal before him, he succeeded in fusing the classical and the national elements into a new category, becoming thus the father of English comedy.

Udall's position appears clearly if one compares his work withGammer Gurtons Nedleon the one hand, and—regarding them as a type—with Heywood's farces on the other.

The good taste and higher art ofRoister Doisterare at once evident: the play is free from the undeniable vulgarity ofGammer Gurton, and in delineation of character is distinctly superior. The plot, simple as it is, is never as meagre as in the clever dialogues of Heywood; and as much as Udall surpasses Heywood in construction of the plot, I think he surpasses him in delineation of character. For even if, as Ward says,[318]in Heywood's witty plays, the "personified abstractions" of the moralities have been entirely superseded by "personal types," these personal types have not yet matured into individual persons, into men of flesh and blood, as they have in Udall's play.

I take, of course, for granted Udall's absolute superiority over that category of interludes which—bastards of the "Moralities"—seem to have had no other purpose than to introduce dogmaticalmoralizations, seasoned perhaps with a tavern scene or with some other farcical coarseness, and at best ending with an "unmotived" conversion of the sinner or sinners.

Plot and Characters.—Udall's plot is so simple that its development becomes clear at a glance; it consists of the unsuccessful wooing of Ralph Roister Doister for the hand of Dame Christian Custance, evolved amid various entanglements, and ultimately unsuccessful, not so much because Custance is at the time of Roister's first advances already engaged to another man, as because Roister's folly is so enormous that no success can be possible.

Now the figure of an avowed fool in love would give excellent scenes for a farce, but would not yield the complications of character and situation necessary for a comedy; and in order to bring about this essential complexity, there is introduced a second motive for action in this fool's own character,—that of vainglory. There is also introduced a personage who shall season the play by his wit and produce the necessary entanglements. This is Mathew Merygreeke, who grows gradually under the poet's hands, until he occupies the most prominent place in the play, at least as far as our interest in the different characters is concerned. Despite all that has been said to the contrary, Merygreeke is Udall's own creation,—a figure in itself deserving of high praise. Undoubtedly this character was at first conceived as a mere modern parasite, of a much higher type, however, than the Sempronio, for instance (inCalisto and Meliboea), but as the play advanced the figure outgrew its original limits, and although in the first scenes Merygreeke is scarcely out of the eggshell of the parasite, he proves very soon to be a new character: a character belonging to the class of Pandarus, a "Friend" playing the part of kindly Fate, a Vice certainly mischievous and cruel enough, but directing everything to a good end; as full of humour and fun as of character, and, at the bottom of his heart, of good-nature.

Merygreeke comes indeed to Roister at first "for his stomach's sake" and wants a new coat, but he has on the whole only a few traits of the parasite,[319]and these might be left out without injuringthe play in the least. As soon as he sees Roister in love, his humour gains the upper hand; he realizes at once what a capital source of fun this "love" on the part of a vain fool might become, and he determines to bring about such complications as will yield the greatest quantity of amusement. His purpose may, indeed, at first have been merely egotistical, to have the fun himself; but he is forgiven because all the other persons of the play—as well as the audience—are liberally invited to the feast. Merygreeke may appear at times as a false friend and thus as an immoral character, but his flattery is so exaggerated, his lies are so improbable, so enormous, so amusing to all sane people,—Roister so fully deserves (indeed provokes) the cruel treatment,—that any possible wrath of a moralizing censor is entirely disarmed. Supreme folly stands outside the common moral order of things. Even if Merygreeke had not disclosed his motives, we could see from the respect which is shown him by Custance and Trusty, that he is far from being a treacherous parasite. And after all he does not betray his friend. He rather helps him to what he really desires. And what Roister most desires in this world is, after all, not the possession of the fair widow, but the satisfaction of his vanity. How quickly does he forget his love in the delusion fostered by Merygreeke, that Goodluck and Custance desire to live in peace with him because they fear him. The lie is in harmony with poetic justice.

Merygreeke has been characterized[320]as "the Artotrogos of Plautus, the standing figure of the parasite of the Greek new comedy and its Latin reproductions." But, though Merygreeke was doubtless originally planned as the parasite of the play, and though here and there to the very end of the play we find allusions which corroborate this, I note, first, that the classical parasite[321]lacks the element of modern humour, of witty but, after all, good-natured enjoyment of the mischief which he stirs up; secondly, that Merygreeke is free from endless and—to us—tedious allusions to the "stomach"; and, thirdly, from the vulgar, and almost uninteresting, selfishness, revealed in such words as these of Gnatho:

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