The works of Thomas Middleton, Volume 3 (of 5)

In Short

This volume gathers six Renaissance stage plays that plunge into the raw, turbulent streets and grand chambers of early modern Europe. Through double-dealing lovers, disguised fathers, shadowy witches, and hot-headed duellists, the dramatists explore the thin line separating virtue from hypocrisy. The collection moves rapidly between gritty social realism and sharp satire, tracking characters as they navigate sudden ruin, illicit romance, and absurd legal loops. Its lasting appeal rests in its sheer theatrical energy: the dialogue crackles with street slang, quick-witted banter, and intense tragicomic passion, capturing the chaotic vitality of Jacobean London through fictionalized continental settings.

The Story

The collection opens with the two-part saga of The Honest Whore. In the first part, Count Hippolito mourns his seemingly dead love, Infelice, while the courtesan Bellafront falls deeply in love with him and resolves to abandon her scandalous life. Despite Hippolito’s rejection, Bellafront embraces true penitence, turning away her old admirers and enduring public scorn. Meanwhile, the Duke of Milan keeps Hippolito and Infelice apart through elaborate deceits, but the lovers eventually reunite and marry in a lunatic asylum where all the main players gather under various disguises.

In the second part, Bellafront is married to the worthless, gambling Matheo, who strips their home of its last possessions to pay his debts and tries to force her back into her old trade. Her estranged father, Orlando Friscobaldo, secretly steps in to save her. Disguising himself as a humble serving-man, Orlando enters Matheo’s household to observe his daughter’s true transformation. He feeds them quietly and shields them from despair, even as Hippolito—now married to Infelice—presents Bellafront with aggressive, unwanted advances. The drama culminates when the Duke rounds up the city’s light women and rogues for judgment, where Orlando reveals his true identity, validates his daughter's unwavering fidelity, and saves Matheo from the gallows.

In The Witch, the scene shifts to Ravenna, where Sebastian returns from abroad to discover that his betrothed, Isabella, has been tricking into marrying Antonio. To reclaim her, Sebastian enters the household in disguise, while Antonio’s sister, Francisca, secretly gives birth to an illegitimate child and hides the disgrace through absurd cover-ups. Brooding over revenge and political intrigue, various courtiers seek out the wicked witch Hecate to buy charms, poisons, and love-potions. After a chaotic series of false deaths, poisoned wine, and dark rituals, the tangled knots unravel, saving the innocent and punishing the deceitful.

The comic intrigue continues in The Widow, where the gentlewoman Valeria is pursued by a troupe of suitors, including the crafty Francisco. Through mistaken identities, stolen clothes, and wild tricks—including a scene where Francisco disguises himself as a woman to evade pursuers and win an inheritance—the play mocks the greed of foolish husbands and predatory suitors.

A Fair Quarrel focuses on the rigid code of duelling. Captain Ager receives a deadly insult from a noble Colonel who calls him the "son of a whore." Driven by honor, Ager prepares to fight, but when he asks his mother for the truth, her protective lie forces him to cancel the challenge to avoid fighting for an unjust cause. Only when the Colonel calls him a coward does Ager feel his honor restored enough to fight, wounding the Colonel and eventually earning his respect and sister's hand.

Finally, More Dissemblers Besides Women satirizes religious hypocrisy. A Duchess who swore seven years of perpetual widowhood suddenly finds herself head-over-heels for a young general, while a Cardinal praises her false chastity. Meanwhile, a young lord attempts to escape his own romantic promises by mingling with a band of thieves and gipsies, exposing the widespread deception hidden beneath high rank.

How It Unfolds

The mourning lover sets his altar Hippolito shuts out the daylight in his private room, surrounding himself with a skull, a picture of his lost Infelice, and a single candle to grieve his dead love.

The courtesan turns her life around Bellafront rejects her wealthy suitors and corrupt friends, choosing severe poverty over her former trade after a sharp rebuke from Hippolito opens her eyes.

The father puts on a servant's coat Orlando Friscobaldo strips off his fine cloak and dons a domestic servant's uniform, entering his daughter’s broken home in secret to feed her without revealing his identity.

The dark arts are summoned in Ravenna Desperate courtiers trek to the dark haunts of Hecate to purchase spells, love potions, and lethal brews to settle their romantic rivalries.

An unwanted infant gets passed along Aberzanes sneaks an illegitimate baby out of the house in a basket, bribing an old woman to drop the child in a stranger's porch to avoid a scandal.

The duellist demands the bare truth Captain Ager confronts his own mother to ask if her virtue is intact before he will risk his life in a duel over her reputation.

A trickster borrows a woman's dress Francisco puts on a lady's gown to escape a sticky situation, inadvertently drawing aggressive courtships from foolish gentlemen who fail to see through the costume.

The gipsies break into song A rogue band of gipsies marches through the countryside with stolen poultry, singing wild choruses and tricking credulous travelers out of their purses.

The Duchess discards her solemn vows After seven years of celebrated widowhood, the Duchess abruptly abandons her dark mourning clothes for bright yellow silks the moment an attractive lord enters the court.

The People

• Bellafront: A former courtesan who seeks absolute redemption. She wants to live an honest, virtuous life with her husband, but she is continually tested by extreme poverty, a abusive spouse who demands she return to her old work, and unwanted temptation from high-born lords. She finishes the story vindicated, her integrity proven beyond doubt.
• Orlando Friscobaldo: Bellafront’s blustering, fiercely proud father. He claims to utterly despise his daughter for her past sins, yet his deep paternal love drives him to dress as a lowly serving-man so he can quietly protect her from starvation and despair.
• Hippolito: A noble count who begins as a heartbroken lover weeping over a portrait, but later succumbs to hypocrisy when he relentlessly pursues the reformed Bellafront despite being happily married to Infelice.
• Captain Ager: A deeply principled young soldier who refuses to draw his sword in an unjust cause. He values truth above martial pride, risking his social standing to ensure his honor is completely pure before entering a duel.
• The Duchess: A high-ranking woman celebrated across the state for her vows of perpetual chastity. Beneath her solemn exterior, she quickly abandons her widow's weeds the moment a dashing courtier catches her eye.
• Hecate: A ruthless, commanding witch who operates on the fringes of Ravenna, selling lethal charms, love spells, and dark favors to self-serving nobles.

In Its Own Voice

"False colours last after the true be dead: Of all the roses grafted on her cheeks, Of all the graces dancing in her eyes... look, a painted board Circumscribes all!"

Hippolito gazes upon the portrait of his lost love, lamenting how a wooden panel retains its bright paint while real life and beauty fade into the grave.

"I had rather be a beast, and not dishonour my creation, than be a doting father, and, like Time, be the destruction of mine own brood."

Orlando Friscobaldo vents his frustration over his daughter's disgrace, masking his deep paternal affection beneath a rough, unforgiving exterior.

"We take no care for candle rents... At makes and fairs we cozen Poor country folks by dozen; If one have money, he disburses; Whilst some tell fortunes, some pick purses."

A band of roving gipsies sings a merry, carefree chorus as they march through the countryside, celebrating their lawless lifestyle of petty theft and fortune-telling.

What It's Really About

Beneath the quick plots and chaotic disguises, these plays investigate the deep divide between public reputation and private morality. The playwrights constantly juxtapose high-minded declarations of virtue against the messy realities of human desire. Nobles who boast of their untouchable honor turn out to be corrupt or hypocritical, while social outcasts—such as a reformed courtesan or an old father disguised in a servant's coat—demonstrate true loyalty, self-sacrifice, and moral courage.

The work also critiques the rigid social structures of Jacobean society. It shines a sharp light on the commercialization of romance, the precarious state of women dependent on unstable men, and the foolish vanity of honor codes that force men into deadly duels over empty words. Virtue in these plays is not an inherited title or a public vow, but an agonizing choice maintained through hardship and deceit.

Why Read It Today

This collection is a fantastic choice for readers who love energetic storytelling, sharp social satire, and theatrical history. While the language presents some hurdles—featuring Jacobean slang, complex legal puns, and archaic idioms—the dramatic pacing remains remarkably swift. Reading these plays feels like stepping into the crowded, noisy streets of early modern Europe, where low-life rogues, pedantic scholars, fake gipsies, and dramatic lords constantly collide.

What stays with you is the sheer vividness of the characters and the modern feel of their flaws. Orlando Friscobaldo's gruff, hidden love for his struggling daughter offers genuine emotional depth, while the biting satires on courtly hypocrisy remain uncomfortably sharp. For anyone willing to navigate the period dialect, this volume offers a rich, entertaining window into the dynamic world of Renaissance theatre.