Bartholomew Fair by Ben Jonson

First produced: 1614; first published, 1631

Type of work: Drama

Type of plot: Satire

Time of plot: Early seventeenth century

Locale: Smithfield, London

Principal Characters

• John Littlewit, a minor city official
• Win-the-Fight or Win, his wife
• Dame Purecraft, her mother, a widow
• Zeal-of-the-Land Busy, a Puritan, suitor of Dame Purecraft
• Winwife, Busy’s rival, a London gallant
• Quarlous, Winwife’s friend, a gamester
• Bartholomew Cokes, a foolish young squire
• Grace Wellborn, Cokes’s fiancé
• Humphrey Waspe, Cokes’s servant
• Adam Overdo, a justice of the peace
• Dame Overdo, his wife
• Ursula, owner of a booth at Bartholomew Fair
• Trouble-All, a madman

The Story

Winwife, a London gallant, comes courting Dame Purecraft, a widow who lives with her daughter, Win-the-Fight, and her son-in-law, John Littlewit, a proctor. Littlewit discloses to Winwife that Dame Purecraft was told by fortune-tellers that she will marry, within a week, a madman. In this connection, Littlewit suggests to Winwife that he deport himself in the manner of his companion Tom Quarlous, a city madcap.

Quarlous, entering in search of Winwife, kisses Win-the-Fight several times until Winwife cautions him to desist. Littlewit, who is not too acute, actually encourages Winwife and Quarlous to be free with his wife. Littlewit also reveals to his visitors that Dame Purecraft has a new suitor, one Zeal-of-the-Land Busy, a Puritan from Banbury. Busy has taken lodgings in Littlewit’s house.

Humphrey Waspe, the testy old servant of young Bartholomew Cokes, a foolish gentleman of the provinces, comes to Littlewit to pick up a marriage license for his master. Soon afterward, Cokes appears in company with two women. One is Mistress Overdo, his natural sister and the wife of Justice Adam Overdo; the other is Grace Wellborn, Cokes’s fiancé and Overdo’s ward. It is clear that Waspe is the servant of an extremely light-headed young man. Cokes declares his intention of squiring Grace to Bartholomew Fair before they return to Middlesex. Waspe objects but finally resigns himself to the inevitable. Winwife and Quarlous, sensing fun at hand, decide to go along. Not wishing to miss the fun, Littlewit declares that he will go too. Dame Purecraft and Busy both rationalize Puritan strictures against attending fairs and give the young couple permission to go so that Win might eat roast pig; Busy and the widow declare their intention of going with them to Bartholomew Fair.

In disguise and with a notebook in his pocket, Justice Overdo goes to the fair to seek out criminals and to record lawlessness. Suspecting Ursula, a seller of beer and roast pig, Overdo stops at her booth to test her. As he drinks, various shady personalities enter the booth. He asks Mooncalf, Ursula’s handyman, for information about them all, but Mooncalf’s replies are always vague. Overdo conceives a feeling of sympathy for one Edgeworth, a young cutpurse, although not suspecting Edgeworth’s profession. Overdo decides he should rescue the young man from such knavish company.

At Ursula’s booth, where Winwife and Quarlous condescendingly stop for a drink, Quarlous becomes involved in a fight with Knockem, a horse trader. Ursula, running from her kitchen to throw hot grease on Winwife and Quarlous, stumbles, and the grease burns her leg. Knockem declares that he will operate her booth while she sits by to oversee the business.

Cokes and his party arrive at the fair and make their way to Ursula’s booth, where Overdo warns them against the evils of tobacco and ale. Edgeworth steals Cokes’s purse and gives it to his confederate, Nightingale, a ballad monger. Mistress Overdo observes that Overdo, who is in disguise, speaks much in the manner of her own husband, Justice Adam Overdo. Missing his purse, Cokes declares indiscreetly that he has another one and that he defies cutpurses by placing it on his belt where the other one had been. Waspe, suspecting Overdo to be the cutpurse, thrashes the justice. As Overdo cries for help, Cokes and his party leave Ursula’s booth.

Busy leads Littlewit, Win, and Dame Purecraft into the fair, after cautioning them to look neither to left nor right and to avoid the sinful booths as they march toward Ursula’s booth to get roast pig. While they wait to be served, Overdo reappears, still determined to observe the goings on, but without preaching. Cokes and his party, burdened with trinkets, also return to the booth. Waspe is miserable because Cokes is spending his money on every foolish article offered him. When a toyman and a gingerbread woman argue over customer rights, Cokes buys the wares of both and even retains the toyman to provide entertainment at the forthcoming marriage. Nightingale and Edgeworth fear that Cokes will spend all of his money before they can get at him again. Nightingale sings a ballad while Edgeworth lifts the second purse from the enchanted Cokes’s belt. Winwife and Quarlous look on with amusement. When Cokes realizes his loss and cries out, Overdo, who is standing nearby, is seized as a suspect. Waspe, sure that Cokes will lose everything he possesses, takes into his care a black box containing the marriage license.

Quarlous, meanwhile, discloses to Edgeworth that he has been detected stealing Cokes’s purse. In exchange for secrecy, Edgeworth promises to steal the contents of the black box.

Busy and his friends eat pork at Ursula’s booth. Encountering the toyman and the gingerbread woman, Busy, in a moment of religious zeal, attempts to seize the wicked toys and upset the tray of gingerbread figures. The toyman calls police officers, who take Busy, followed by Dame Purecraft, away to be put in the stocks. Littlewit and Win are now free to enjoy the fair as they choose.

Overdo, also in the stocks, overhears to his shame that he has a reputation for harshness in meting out justice. He does not reveal himself when the officers take him and Busy away to face Justice Overdo.

While Cokes is looking for the toyman and the gingerbread woman, in hopes of getting his money back from them, he is intercepted by Nightingale and Edgeworth, who trick him out of his hat, jacket, and sword. Wretched Cokes begins to understand at last that he was grievously abused at the fair.

In another part of the fair, Winwife and Quarlous, who attract Grace away from her group, draw swords to decide a dispute as to who should have Cokes’s attractive young fiancé. Grace bids them not to fight; at her suggestion, each writes a word on a tablet. The first passerby is to choose the word he likes the better. The one whose word is thus chosen will win the hand of Grace, who decides that Cokes is not the man for her. This business is interrupted, however, when Edgeworth urges both men to watch him steal the marriage license from Waspe, who is with the crowd in Ursula’s booth.

Waspe and his companions, including Mistress Overdo, are drinking ale; all are quite intoxicated. When Waspe gets into a scuffle with Knockem, Edgeworth takes the license from the black box. Quarlous laughs at the drunken antics of one of the group and has to fight. Officers enter and seize Waspe for disturbing the peace.

Littlewit, who has written the story of the puppet show, leaves Win at Ursula’s booth while he joins the puppeteers. While she waits, Win meets Captain Whit, a bawd, who tells her that he knows how she can live a life of endless pleasure and wealth.

Unable to find Justice Overdo at his lodgings, the officers return their prisoners to the stocks. Waspe, brought to the stocks, manages to escape before his legs can be confined. When a madman engages an officer in a scuffle, Overdo and Busy also escape, the lock of the stocks being left unclasped. Dame Purecraft suddenly falls in love with the madman Trouble-All, a lawyer who is distracted because of a past misunderstanding with Justice Overdo.

Later Quarlous, disguised as the madman and pursued by Dame Purecraft, returns to Winwife and Grace. Meanwhile, the real madman chooses Winwife’s word, “Palemon.” Grace then declares that she will become Winwife’s spouse. Overdo, disguised as a porter, comes upon Quarlous. Anxious to help the man whom he brought to distraction, Overdo gives him a seal and warrant for anything within reason that he might desire.

Cokes finds his way to the puppet theater, where he borrows money from Littlewit. When Captain Whit, Knockem, and Edgeworth come to the theater, they have with them Win, masked, and Mistress Overdo, who is sick from too much ale. Captain Whit offers Win to Overdo for his pleasure. Waspe also comes to the theater and joins his young master. The play is presented; it is an idiotic blending of the legends of Hero and Leander and Damon and Pythias. During the showing, Busy enters and threatens to break up the theater. Persuaded to argue the sinfulness of the puppet theater with one of the puppets, he is soundly defeated in the argument.

Quarlous, still disguised as the madman, comes with Grace to the theater. Littlewit, who went in search of Win, returns without her. The true madman and Ursula enter. When all are together, Overdo declares his intention of punishing all who engaged in rascality. When Quarlous questions his judgment and reveals Edgeworth as a cutpurse and not an innocent youth, as the justice supposed, Overdo decides there is such a thing as false judgment and that humanity is weak. Quarlous wins the hand of Dame Purecraft. Reassured that restitution will be made all around, Overdo invites everyone to his house for dinner.

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