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The Puritan
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The Puritan
The Puritan, or the Widow of Watling Street, also known as The Puritan Widow, is an anonymous Jacobean stage comedy, first published in 1607. It is often attributed to Thomas Middleton, but also belongs to the Shakespeare Apocrypha due to its title page attribution to "W.S.".
The Puritan probably dates from the year 1606. Some of its incidents are drawn from a contemporary work called The Merry Conceited Jests of George Peele, which attributes to the writer George Peele a number of tricks and jokes that can be found in previous popular literature. It contains an allusion to an almanac that specifies 15 July as a Tuesday, which was true only of 1606 in the first decade of the 17th century (although the author may not have intended it to be accurate). Also the play's interest in corporal oaths may be related to the demands for oaths of allegiance from Catholics following the Gunpowder Plot.
The Puritan was entered into the Stationers' Register on 6 August 1607, under the title The Puritan Widow. It was published in quarto format before the end of the year by the printer George Eld, now under the title The Puritan, or The Widow of Watling Street. The title page of the quarto states that the play was performed by the Children of Paul's, one of the boys' acting companies of the era, and attributes its authorship to "W. S." These initials were first identified with William Shakespeare by Edward Archer in his 1656 play list, published in his edition of The Old Law. The Puritan was later added to the second impression of the Shakespeare Third Folio (1664) by publisher Philip Chetwinde, bringing the play into the Shakespeare Apocrypha.
The modern scholarly consensus rejects the identification of "W. S." with Shakespeare. The obscure Jacobean dramatists Wentworth Smith and William Smith have been proposed as alternative candidates, but solely on the strength of the common initials. However, most studies of the play consider the true author to have been Thomas Middleton, and this is supported by stylistic analysis. It is included in Oxford University Press's 2007 Collected Works of Middleton.
Scene 1: A garden behind Lady Plus' house
The opening scene introduces the family of Lady Plus, her son Edmond, and her daughters Francis ("Frank") and Moll. The family is of Puritan orientation. They have just returned from the funeral of Lady Plus's husband, and are accompanied by Sir Godfrey Plus, the dead man's brother. Lady Plus is vocal and demonstrative in her mourning, but two of her children, Edmond and Moll, are notably cool and cynical about their father's death. Sir Godfrey, with a cool and pragmatic spirit of his own, urges Lady Plus to consider remarrying, but she is appalled at the idea so soon after her husband's funeral. Lady Plus asks Edmond why is not weeping at his father's funeral. Edmond excuses himself by saying he is afraid of being mocked by his old schoolmates. In a bid to avoid the pain suffered by her grieving mother, Francis kneels and forswears marriage. Moll kneels too, but in an aside she says that she would never dream of forgoing marriage for her father's sake. In fact, she is very eager to get married as soon as possible. Everyone exits except Edmond. Left alone on stage, Edmond bids his father an unsentimental farewell. He makes plans to run his affairs following his father's example – in other words, he will cheat others ruthlessly and seek to please himself above all.
Scene 2: A street
The second scene introduces another set of characters, the play's rogues and con-men. George Pieboard is a poor and cynical scholar, reduced to living by his wits to survive. He is accompanied by a destitute, discharged soldier named Peter Skirmish. (Pieboard is the character based on George Peele, "peel" and "pieboard" being synonymous terms for the tool bakers use to move their wares into and out of their ovens.) Pieboard and Skirmish discuss the sorry state they have been reduced to. As an antidote to their poverty, Pieboard suggests that they work together to con Lady Plus, with Pieboard posing as a fortune teller and Skirmish posing as a conjurer (wizard). At the end of the scene, the pair witness another friend, Captain Idle, being taken to prison. They follow to learn the charges and to see what they can do.
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The Puritan
The Puritan, or the Widow of Watling Street, also known as The Puritan Widow, is an anonymous Jacobean stage comedy, first published in 1607. It is often attributed to Thomas Middleton, but also belongs to the Shakespeare Apocrypha due to its title page attribution to "W.S.".
The Puritan probably dates from the year 1606. Some of its incidents are drawn from a contemporary work called The Merry Conceited Jests of George Peele, which attributes to the writer George Peele a number of tricks and jokes that can be found in previous popular literature. It contains an allusion to an almanac that specifies 15 July as a Tuesday, which was true only of 1606 in the first decade of the 17th century (although the author may not have intended it to be accurate). Also the play's interest in corporal oaths may be related to the demands for oaths of allegiance from Catholics following the Gunpowder Plot.
The Puritan was entered into the Stationers' Register on 6 August 1607, under the title The Puritan Widow. It was published in quarto format before the end of the year by the printer George Eld, now under the title The Puritan, or The Widow of Watling Street. The title page of the quarto states that the play was performed by the Children of Paul's, one of the boys' acting companies of the era, and attributes its authorship to "W. S." These initials were first identified with William Shakespeare by Edward Archer in his 1656 play list, published in his edition of The Old Law. The Puritan was later added to the second impression of the Shakespeare Third Folio (1664) by publisher Philip Chetwinde, bringing the play into the Shakespeare Apocrypha.
The modern scholarly consensus rejects the identification of "W. S." with Shakespeare. The obscure Jacobean dramatists Wentworth Smith and William Smith have been proposed as alternative candidates, but solely on the strength of the common initials. However, most studies of the play consider the true author to have been Thomas Middleton, and this is supported by stylistic analysis. It is included in Oxford University Press's 2007 Collected Works of Middleton.
Scene 1: A garden behind Lady Plus' house
The opening scene introduces the family of Lady Plus, her son Edmond, and her daughters Francis ("Frank") and Moll. The family is of Puritan orientation. They have just returned from the funeral of Lady Plus's husband, and are accompanied by Sir Godfrey Plus, the dead man's brother. Lady Plus is vocal and demonstrative in her mourning, but two of her children, Edmond and Moll, are notably cool and cynical about their father's death. Sir Godfrey, with a cool and pragmatic spirit of his own, urges Lady Plus to consider remarrying, but she is appalled at the idea so soon after her husband's funeral. Lady Plus asks Edmond why is not weeping at his father's funeral. Edmond excuses himself by saying he is afraid of being mocked by his old schoolmates. In a bid to avoid the pain suffered by her grieving mother, Francis kneels and forswears marriage. Moll kneels too, but in an aside she says that she would never dream of forgoing marriage for her father's sake. In fact, she is very eager to get married as soon as possible. Everyone exits except Edmond. Left alone on stage, Edmond bids his father an unsentimental farewell. He makes plans to run his affairs following his father's example – in other words, he will cheat others ruthlessly and seek to please himself above all.
Scene 2: A street
The second scene introduces another set of characters, the play's rogues and con-men. George Pieboard is a poor and cynical scholar, reduced to living by his wits to survive. He is accompanied by a destitute, discharged soldier named Peter Skirmish. (Pieboard is the character based on George Peele, "peel" and "pieboard" being synonymous terms for the tool bakers use to move their wares into and out of their ovens.) Pieboard and Skirmish discuss the sorry state they have been reduced to. As an antidote to their poverty, Pieboard suggests that they work together to con Lady Plus, with Pieboard posing as a fortune teller and Skirmish posing as a conjurer (wizard). At the end of the scene, the pair witness another friend, Captain Idle, being taken to prison. They follow to learn the charges and to see what they can do.
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