The city madam
by Philip Massinger
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A waspish city comedy attacking the vices of hypocrisy, greed, self-indulgence and social pretension. Wealthy merchant Sir John Frugal takes pity on his penniless brother Luke and invites him to live under his roof with John's own haughty wife and two foolishly conceited daughters. As Luke plots to steal from his brother, and his daughters arrogantly spurn worthy suitors, John plans to teach them all a lesson. Retiring to a monastic life, he leaves his brother Luke in charge of the show more household, before returning in disguise to watch havoc unfold... Philip Massinger's 1632 play The City Madam reworks Shakespeare's Measure for Measure. It was revived by the Royal Shakespeare Company as part of its fiftieth birthday season in 2011. show lessTags
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60+ Works 439 Members
Massinger is a prolific dramatist who wrote, or had a hand in, more than 50 plays. His specialty was tragicomedy, in which he imitated John Fletcher. His best-known play is "A New Way to Pay Old Debts" (1621), based on Middleton's "A Trick to Catch the Old One." Sir Giles Overreach reflects the historical Sir Giles Mompesson, a notorious show more capitalist and extortionist, who was tried in 1621. There is a good deal of snobbery in Massinger's play, and the class hatred of Sir Giles is frenzied and passionate. "A New Way to Pay Old Debts" has had an active theatrical history from its own day to the present, especially as a vehicle for the grandly histrionic role of Overreach. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
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