The Damoiselle
Encyclopedia
The Damoiselle, or the New Ordinary is a Caroline era stage play, a comedy
by Richard Brome
that was first published in the 1653
Brome collection Five New Plays, issued by Humphrey Moseley
, Richard Marriot
, and Thomas Dring
.
in 1637, there was competition among literary men (Sir William Davenant
and Thomas May
were prime candidates) for the honor of poet laureate
. The Damoiselle was first acted by Queen Henrietta's Men
at the Salisbury Court Theatre
.
." Again like most of Brome's comedies, the influence of Ben Jonson is readily detectable. In the view of one critic, "Brome's Damoiselle seems to be deliberately constructed as a mirror image" of Jonson's 1629
play The New Inn
.
The subject of usury is crucial to Brome's The Damoiselle, and links the play to a group of anti-usury plays that appeared in the 1630s. Though usury had been treated onstage many times previously — consider Robert Wilson
's The Three Ladies of London
, Marlowe
's The Jew of Malta
, and Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice
— John Blaxton's book The English Usurer, published in 1634, made the subject topical at the time.
, The New Academy
, and The Sparagus Garden
— The Damoiselle takes part in the trend toward "place realism" that was fashionable at the time, as evidenced by Shackerley Marmion
's Holland's Leaguer
(1631
), James Shirley
's Hyde Park
(1632
), and Thomas Nabbes
's Covent Garden (1633
) and Tottenham Court (1634
).
Brome sets some scenes in The Damoiselle in the "Temple Walks" of the Middle Temple
, one of the Inns of Court
. Brome exploits the legal atmosphere of the Walks to make points of satire and social criticism, and shows familiarity with the peculiarities of the place. (Phillis, for instance, can beg without fear of arrest, because she's in the Temple Walks and not in the public streets of London.)
generally, an "ordinary" is a public eating establishment, comparable to modern restaurants and cafeterias. One source defines ordinaries as "Eating-houses with table d'hôtes" [sic]. Ordinaries were generally classed with taverns as similar institutions, though taverns were primarily purveyors of alcoholic drinks and only secondarily of food, while ordinaries reversed that priority. (Like taverns, ordinaries could serve as venues for other activities as well; in his play Brome refers to "gaming" and "bawdry" and "other by-way[s] of expense.")
The ordinary was a relatively new and developing institution in the English Renaissance, and reflected the general social evolution away from medieval and rural social forms toward modern and urban alternatives. Many younger sons of gentlemen, left with limited incomes due to the rules of primogeniture
, fled the countryside for London, where they faced the challenge of maintaining a genteel lifestyle (or the appearance of it) with limited funds. The ordinaries catered to their needs, along a scale of prices charged and services provided.
References in the plays of the era (like this one) offer hints at the social atmosphere and ambience of the ordinaries. In one view, "Amongst the promiscuous associates of the ordinaries and the taverns — men of quality and poets upon the town, rich citizens and swaggering adventurers — there must unquestionably have been a constant collision of manners, which was sure to end in blows...."
Brome was not the only dramatist of his generation to notice the ordinary as an institution; William Cartwright wrote his play The Ordinary around 1635.
Vermine is shown conversing with his "sober discreet daughter" Alice; their conversation reveals that Vermine also has a son, a "riotous reprobate" called Wat who languishes in the Counter prison
. Vermine is attempting to arrange a marriage between Alice and a Cornish knight called Sir Amphilus, who is quickly shown to be old, crude, foolish, and ignorant; Alice calls him "a dunghill scarab, / A water-dog knight." (Cornishmen appear as figures of fun in other plays of the era; Chough in Middleton
and Rowley
's A Fair Quarrel
is one obvious example.) Alice's deliverance from this unwanted match suddenly appears: Sir Amphilus's servant reveals himself to be her brother Wat in a false beard. Sprung from prison, Wat offers to spirit Alice away; he claims to have a plan for her relief. Alice has little choice but to trust her brother and to follow him away from her father's house.
Sir Humphrey's son, Valentine Dryground, had just married Jane, the daughter of a successful London tradesman named Bumpsey and his wife Magdalen. Bumpsey is not happy over the match, since the Drygrounds' finances are precarious. Magdalen is expert at manipulating her capricious and eccentric husband: knowing that he will oppose whatever she says or does, she counsels him to do the opposite of whatever she wants. Bumpsey comes around to accepting the marriage of Valentine and Jane, and even bestows half his wealth, a sum of £500, on the young couple — with the provision that he will treat his share of the wealth as Valentine does his. If Valentine is prudent with the money, Bumpsey will be too, thus leaving his heirs a greater sum in the end; but if Valentine is prodigal, Bumpsey will imitate him, even to bankruptcy. When Valentine buys a new gown for Jane, Bumpsey immediately does the same for Magdalen.
The Bumpseys provide one portion of the play's comic relief; Sir Amphilus provides another. The Cornish knight appears after Alice has absconded — but he is more concerned about the death of his mare and the theft of his dog than the loss of his intended spouse.
In disguise, Sir Humphrey Dryground opens a new ordinary in London (the source of the play's subtitle); for its first three days in business, the ordinary offers free meals to its clientele, thus winning an enthusiastic following among the young gentlemen of the city. News spreads that "Osbright," the manager of the ordinary, is raffling off the virginity of his daughter Frances; a hundred gentlemen invest £20 each for chances in the raffle. Frances has been raised in France, and speaks broken English; she is the "damoiselle" of the title. She gives lessons in French deportment to other ladies; Magdalen and Jane Bumpsey become her students, allowing for comedy on the contrasts of French and English manners. Wat Vermine is working for "Osbright," helping him to arrange his raffle (it was Dryground/Osbright who bailed Wat from the Counter). But the young gentlemen investing in the raffle become an unruly "rabble," abusing Wat and threatening to duck him or throw him in the Thames
.
The bankrupt Brookall haunts the Temple Walks, encountering various denizens of the legal world there. A lawyer wants him to serve as a witness to a legal document, which Brookall denounces as a solicitation of perjury for a fee. He meets Vermine, who is busy looking for his daughter Alice, and castigates the usurer until Vermine flees. A young beggar girl named Phillis is shown pursuing her trade among the Walks. Valentine Dryground pretends to be a friend of Brookall's son, and claims that the son has sent his father forty pieces of gold prior to leaving the city on mysterious travels. Brookall, instantly suspicious, rejects the money and jumps to the conclusion that his son is dead. When Valentine denies this, Brookall challenges him to a duel.
The duel is called off, however, when Brookall overhears Valentine abusing Vermine and realizes that they are in sympathy. Osbright/Dryground exposes his raffle as a scheme designed to restore Brookall's fortunes, and appeals to the "rabble" for their approval and aid. Some acquiesce; for those who do not, Dryground refunds their £20 fees, and is left with a profit of £500 for Brookall. Phillis the beggar girl is shown to be the long-lost daughter of Dryground and Brookall's sister; Drygound is re-united with both mother and daughter. And "Osbright's" daughter "Frances" is revealed to be Brookall's son Frank is drag disguise; he and Alice have fallen in love and are to be married. Wat Vermine, now repentant for past misdeeds, is to marry Phillis, and Vermine comes around to accepting and blessing the marriages of his children. Brookall is restored to his fortune, and the three families, Brookalls, Drygrounds, and Vermines, are united in their offsprings' marriages.
Comedy
Comedy , as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse or work generally intended to amuse by creating laughter, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins are found in...
by Richard Brome
Richard Brome
Richard Brome was an English dramatist of the Caroline era.-Life:Virtually nothing is known about Brome's private life. Repeated allusions in contemporary works, like Ben Jonson's Bartholomew Fair, indicate that Brome started out as a servant of Jonson, in some capacity...
that was first published in the 1653
1653 in literature
The year 1653 in literature involved some significant events.-Events:* James Shirley's masque Cupid and Death is performed on March 26.* Pierre Corneille retires from the theatre for six years.* John Evelyn buys Sayes Court, Deptford....
Brome collection Five New Plays, issued by Humphrey Moseley
Humphrey Moseley
Humphrey Moseley was a prominent London publisher and bookseller in the middle seventeenth century.Possibly a son of publisher Samuel Moseley, Humphrey Moseley became a "freeman" of the Stationers Company, the guild of London booksellers, on 7 May 1627; he was selected a Warden of the Company on...
, Richard Marriot
John and Richard Marriot
John Marriot and his son Richard Marriot were prominent London publishers and booksellers in the seventeenth century. For a portion of their careers, the 1645–57 period, they were partners in a family business....
, and Thomas Dring
Thomas Dring
Thomas Dring was a London publisher and bookseller of the middle seventeenth century. He was in business from 1649 on; his shop was located "at the sign of the George in Fleet Street, near St...
.
Date and performance
No firm evidence for the original date of The Damoiselle has survived. The play is generally dated to 1637–38 on the basis of internal evidence, especially the Prologue's reference to poets who want to be called "Sir Laureate." After the death of Ben JonsonBen Jonson
Benjamin Jonson was an English Renaissance dramatist, poet and actor. A contemporary of William Shakespeare, he is best known for his satirical plays, particularly Volpone, The Alchemist, and Bartholomew Fair, which are considered his best, and his lyric poems...
in 1637, there was competition among literary men (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...
and Thomas May
Thomas May
Thomas May was an English poet, dramatist and historian of the Renaissance era.- Early life and career until 1630 :...
were prime candidates) for the honor of poet laureate
Poet Laureate
A poet laureate is a poet officially appointed by a government and is often expected to compose poems for state occasions and other government events...
. The Damoiselle was first acted 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 Salisbury Court Theatre
Salisbury Court Theatre
The Salisbury Court Theatre was a theatre in 17th-century London. It was located in the neighbourhood of Salisbury Court, which was formerly the London residence of the Bishops of Salisbury. Salibury Court was acquired by Richard Sackville in 1564; when Thomas Sackville was created Earl of Dorset...
.
Genre
Like most of Brome's comic works, The Damoiselle can be placed in the broad category of "city comedyCity comedy
City comedy, also called Citizen Comedy, is a common genre of Elizabethan, Jacobean, and Caroline comedy on the London stage from the last years of the 16th century to the closing of the theaters in 1642...
." Again like most of Brome's comedies, the influence of Ben Jonson is readily detectable. In the view of one critic, "Brome's Damoiselle seems to be deliberately constructed as a mirror image" of Jonson's 1629
1629 in literature
The year 1629 in literature involved some significant events.-Events:*April 6 - Tommaso Campanella is released from custody in Rome, and gains the confidence of Pope Urban IV....
play The New Inn
The New Inn
The New Inn, or The Light Heart is a Caroline era stage play, a comedy by English playwright and poet Ben Jonson.The New Inn was licensed for performance by Sir Henry Herbert, the Master of the Revels, on 19 January 1629, and acted later that year by the King's Men at the Blackfriars Theatre...
.
The subject of usury is crucial to Brome's The Damoiselle, and links the play to a group of anti-usury plays that appeared in the 1630s. Though usury had been treated onstage many times previously — consider Robert Wilson
Robert Wilson (dramatist)
Robert Wilson , was an Elizabethan dramatist who worked primarily in the 1580s and 1590s. He is also believed to have been an actor who specialized in clown roles....
's The Three Ladies of London
The Three Ladies of London
The Three Ladies of London is an Elizabethan era stage play, first published in 1584. It is unusual and noteworthy as a philo-Semitic response to the prevailing anti-Semitism of Elizabethan drama and the larger contemporaneous English society....
, 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...
's 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...
, and Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice
The Merchant of Venice
The Merchant of Venice is a tragic comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1596 and 1598. Though classified as a comedy in the First Folio and sharing certain aspects with Shakespeare's other romantic comedies, the play is perhaps most remembered for its dramatic...
— John Blaxton's book The English Usurer, published in 1634, made the subject topical at the time.
Place realism
Like other Brome plays of the 1630s — The Weeding of Covent GardenThe Weeding of Covent Garden
The Weeding of the Covent Garden, or the Middlesex Justice of Peace, alternatively titled The Covent Garden Weeded, is a Caroline era stage play, a comedy written by Richard Brome that was first published in 1659...
, The New Academy
The New Academy
The New Academy, or the New Exchange is a Caroline era stage play, a comedy written by Richard Brome. It was first printed in 1659.-Performance and publication:...
, and The Sparagus Garden
The Sparagus Garden
The Sparagus Garden is a Caroline era stage play, a comedy by Richard Brome. It was the greatest success of Brome's career, and one of the major theatrical hits of its period.-Performance and publication:...
— The Damoiselle takes part in the trend toward "place realism" that was fashionable at the time, as evidenced by Shackerley Marmion
Shackerley Marmion
Shackerley Marmion , also Shakerley, Shakerly, Schackerley, Marmyon, Marmyun, or Mermion, was an early 17th-century dramatist, often classed among the Sons of Ben, the followers of Ben Jonson who continued his style of comedy...
's Holland's Leaguer
Holland's Leaguer
Holland's Leaguer is a Caroline era stage play, a comedy written by Shackerley Marmion. It premiered onstage in 1631 and was first published in 1632...
(1631
1631 in literature
The year 1631 in literature involved some significant events.-Events:*January 9 - Love's Triumph Through Callipolis, a masque written by Ben Jonson and designed by Inigo Jones, is staged at Whitehall Palace....
), James Shirley
James Shirley
James Shirley was an English dramatist.He belonged to the great period of English dramatic literature, but, in Lamb's words, he "claims a place among the worthies of this period, not so much for any transcendent genius in himself, as that he was the last of a great race, all of whom spoke nearly...
's Hyde Park
Hyde Park (play)
Hyde Park is a Caroline era comedy of manners written by James Shirley, and first published in 1637.Hyde Park was licensed for performance by Sir Henry Herbert, the Master of the Revels, on April 20, 1632, and acted at the Cockpit Theatre by Queen Henrietta's Men...
(1632
1632 in literature
The year 1632 in literature involved some significant events.-Events:*On February 14, Tempe Restored, a masque written by Aurelian Townshend and designed by Inigo Jones, is performed at Whitehall Palace....
), and Thomas Nabbes
Thomas Nabbes
Thomas Nabbes was an English dramatist.He was born in humble circumstances in Worcestershire, and educated at Exeter College, Oxford in 1621...
's Covent Garden (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....
) and Tottenham Court (1634
1634 in literature
The year 1634 in literature involved some significant events.-Events:*January 1 - The King's Men perform Cymbeline at the court of King Charles I of England.*January 22 - The King's Men perform Davenant's The Wits at the Blackfriars Theatre....
).
Brome sets some scenes in The Damoiselle in the "Temple Walks" of the Middle Temple
Middle Temple
The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers; the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn and Lincoln's Inn...
, one of the Inns of Court
Inns of Court
The Inns of Court in London are the professional associations for barristers in England and Wales. All such barristers must belong to one such association. They have supervisory and disciplinary functions over their members. The Inns also provide libraries, dining facilities and professional...
. Brome exploits the legal atmosphere of the Walks to make points of satire and social criticism, and shows familiarity with the peculiarities of the place. (Phillis, for instance, can beg without fear of arrest, because she's in the Temple Walks and not in the public streets of London.)
"Ordinaries"
In the sense that the word is used in The Damoiselle and in English Renaissance dramaEnglish 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...
generally, an "ordinary" is a public eating establishment, comparable to modern restaurants and cafeterias. One source defines ordinaries as "Eating-houses with table d'hôtes" [sic]. Ordinaries were generally classed with taverns as similar institutions, though taverns were primarily purveyors of alcoholic drinks and only secondarily of food, while ordinaries reversed that priority. (Like taverns, ordinaries could serve as venues for other activities as well; in his play Brome refers to "gaming" and "bawdry" and "other by-way[s] of expense.")
The ordinary was a relatively new and developing institution in the English Renaissance, and reflected the general social evolution away from medieval and rural social forms toward modern and urban alternatives. Many younger sons of gentlemen, left with limited incomes due to the rules of primogeniture
Primogeniture
Primogeniture is the right, by law or custom, of the firstborn to inherit the entire estate, to the exclusion of younger siblings . Historically, the term implied male primogeniture, to the exclusion of females...
, fled the countryside for London, where they faced the challenge of maintaining a genteel lifestyle (or the appearance of it) with limited funds. The ordinaries catered to their needs, along a scale of prices charged and services provided.
References in the plays of the era (like this one) offer hints at the social atmosphere and ambience of the ordinaries. In one view, "Amongst the promiscuous associates of the ordinaries and the taverns — men of quality and poets upon the town, rich citizens and swaggering adventurers — there must unquestionably have been a constant collision of manners, which was sure to end in blows...."
Brome was not the only dramatist of his generation to notice the ordinary as an institution; William Cartwright wrote his play The Ordinary around 1635.
Synopsis
The play's opening scene shows Sir Humphrey Dryground, a member of the landed gentry, mortgaging his last estate to an old usurer called Vermine. The exchanges between the two are far from cordial: Sir Humphrey reproaches Vermine for his greed and ruthlessness, especially for his role in bankrupting a gentleman named Brookall. Vermine in turn notes that Sir Humphrey himself wronged Brookall in a more personal way, seducing, impregnating, and then abandoning the man's sister. Dryground expresses his remorse over his past actions; he says that his "project" in mortgaging his estate involves reparations to Brookall, and he proposes an arranged marriage between the ruined Brookall's son and Vermine's daughter Alice. Vermine rejects the idea; as they part he reminds Dryground not to miss payment on the mortgage, or Dryground will follow Brookall into financial ruin.Vermine is shown conversing with his "sober discreet daughter" Alice; their conversation reveals that Vermine also has a son, a "riotous reprobate" called Wat who languishes in the Counter prison
Wood Street Counter
The Wood Street Counter, or Wood Street Compter, was a small prison within the City of London in England. It was primarily a debtors prison, and also held people accused of such misdemeanors as public drunkness, although some wealthier prisoners were able to obtain alcohol through bribery...
. Vermine is attempting to arrange a marriage between Alice and a Cornish knight called Sir Amphilus, who is quickly shown to be old, crude, foolish, and ignorant; Alice calls him "a dunghill scarab, / A water-dog knight." (Cornishmen appear as figures of fun in other plays of the era; Chough in 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...
and Rowley
William Rowley
William Rowley was an English Jacobean dramatist, best known for works written in collaboration with more successful writers. His date of birth is estimated to have been c. 1585; he was buried on 11 February 1626...
's A Fair Quarrel
A Fair Quarrel
A Fair Quarrel is a Jacobean tragicomedy, a collaboration between Thomas Middleton and William Rowley that was first published in 1617.-Performance and Publication:...
is one obvious example.) Alice's deliverance from this unwanted match suddenly appears: Sir Amphilus's servant reveals himself to be her brother Wat in a false beard. Sprung from prison, Wat offers to spirit Alice away; he claims to have a plan for her relief. Alice has little choice but to trust her brother and to follow him away from her father's house.
Sir Humphrey's son, Valentine Dryground, had just married Jane, the daughter of a successful London tradesman named Bumpsey and his wife Magdalen. Bumpsey is not happy over the match, since the Drygrounds' finances are precarious. Magdalen is expert at manipulating her capricious and eccentric husband: knowing that he will oppose whatever she says or does, she counsels him to do the opposite of whatever she wants. Bumpsey comes around to accepting the marriage of Valentine and Jane, and even bestows half his wealth, a sum of £500, on the young couple — with the provision that he will treat his share of the wealth as Valentine does his. If Valentine is prudent with the money, Bumpsey will be too, thus leaving his heirs a greater sum in the end; but if Valentine is prodigal, Bumpsey will imitate him, even to bankruptcy. When Valentine buys a new gown for Jane, Bumpsey immediately does the same for Magdalen.
The Bumpseys provide one portion of the play's comic relief; Sir Amphilus provides another. The Cornish knight appears after Alice has absconded — but he is more concerned about the death of his mare and the theft of his dog than the loss of his intended spouse.
In disguise, Sir Humphrey Dryground opens a new ordinary in London (the source of the play's subtitle); for its first three days in business, the ordinary offers free meals to its clientele, thus winning an enthusiastic following among the young gentlemen of the city. News spreads that "Osbright," the manager of the ordinary, is raffling off the virginity of his daughter Frances; a hundred gentlemen invest £20 each for chances in the raffle. Frances has been raised in France, and speaks broken English; she is the "damoiselle" of the title. She gives lessons in French deportment to other ladies; Magdalen and Jane Bumpsey become her students, allowing for comedy on the contrasts of French and English manners. Wat Vermine is working for "Osbright," helping him to arrange his raffle (it was Dryground/Osbright who bailed Wat from the Counter). But the young gentlemen investing in the raffle become an unruly "rabble," abusing Wat and threatening to duck him or throw him in the Thames
River Thames
The River Thames flows through southern England. It is the longest river entirely in England and the second longest in the United Kingdom. While it is best known because its lower reaches flow through central London, the river flows alongside several other towns and cities, including Oxford,...
.
The bankrupt Brookall haunts the Temple Walks, encountering various denizens of the legal world there. A lawyer wants him to serve as a witness to a legal document, which Brookall denounces as a solicitation of perjury for a fee. He meets Vermine, who is busy looking for his daughter Alice, and castigates the usurer until Vermine flees. A young beggar girl named Phillis is shown pursuing her trade among the Walks. Valentine Dryground pretends to be a friend of Brookall's son, and claims that the son has sent his father forty pieces of gold prior to leaving the city on mysterious travels. Brookall, instantly suspicious, rejects the money and jumps to the conclusion that his son is dead. When Valentine denies this, Brookall challenges him to a duel.
The duel is called off, however, when Brookall overhears Valentine abusing Vermine and realizes that they are in sympathy. Osbright/Dryground exposes his raffle as a scheme designed to restore Brookall's fortunes, and appeals to the "rabble" for their approval and aid. Some acquiesce; for those who do not, Dryground refunds their £20 fees, and is left with a profit of £500 for Brookall. Phillis the beggar girl is shown to be the long-lost daughter of Dryground and Brookall's sister; Drygound is re-united with both mother and daughter. And "Osbright's" daughter "Frances" is revealed to be Brookall's son Frank is drag disguise; he and Alice have fallen in love and are to be married. Wat Vermine, now repentant for past misdeeds, is to marry Phillis, and Vermine comes around to accepting and blessing the marriages of his children. Brookall is restored to his fortune, and the three families, Brookalls, Drygrounds, and Vermines, are united in their offsprings' marriages.