Verse play · c. 1552
Ralph Roister Doister
The vain braggart Ralph Roister Doister, egged on by the parasite Matthew Merygreeke, sets out to win the rich widow Christian Custance, who is already promised to the merchant Gawyn Goodlucke. His love letter is read aloud with the punctuation turned so that it insults her, his mock funeral and his gifts come to nothing, and in the end Custance and her maids beat off his assault on her house. Often called the first English comedy, the play follows Plautus and Terence but is set among English townsfolk, with songs and a closing prayer for the Queen.
Contents · 30 parts
- Prologue28 lines
- Actus j, Scæna j67 lines
- Actus j, Scæna ijabout 210 lines
- Actus j, Scæna iijabout 170 lines
- Actus j, Scæna iiijabout 170 lines
- Actus j, Scæna v24 lines
- Actus ij, Scæna j47 lines
- Actus ij, Scæna ij25 lines
- Actus ij, Scæna iijabout 110 lines
- Actus ij, Scæna iiij59 lines
- Actus iij, Scæna j15 lines
- Actus iij, Scæna ijabout 120 lines
- Actus iij, Scæna iijabout 190 lines
- Actus iij, Scæna iiijabout 170 lines
- Actus iij, Scæna vabout 120 lines
- Actus iiij, Scæna j25 lines
- Actus iiij, Scæna ij19 lines
- Actus iiij, Scæna iijabout 150 lines
- Actus iiij, Scæna iiij29 lines
- Actus iiij, Scæna v69 lines
- Actus iiij, Scæna vj60 lines
- Actus iiij, Scæna vijabout 140 lines
- Actus iiij, Scæna viij98 lines
- Actus v, Scæna j23 lines
- Actus v, Scæna ij37 lines
- Actus v, Scæna iij19 lines
- Actus v, Scæna iiij32 lines
- Actus v, Scæna v34 lines
- Actus v, Scæna vj71 lines
- Certaine Songs71 lines