Tuesday, September 18, 2007

Chaste Maid/Honest Whore

I'm thinking about a couple of things - In Chaste Maid: Tim's relationship with his tutor allows a satirical portrayal of the value of education and seems to point to Tim's immaturity. What caught my attention was his response to his mother about marrying the Welsh Gentlewoman: "Why, then, my tutor and I will about her as well as we can." Is the inclusion of his tutor a reflection of their (Tim and his tutor's) earlier exercises in debate, a further indication of his immaturity (he can't do anything without his close friend) or is it meant to suggest something else about their relationship, the nature of education and/or a wife's "purity?" This leads me to - The Honest Whore: I find the forced marriage between Matheo and Bellafront somewhat curious. It is suggested that their marriage will "make an honest woman" of Bellafront and yet, clearly from the plays we've read (and in real life!) being married doesn't necessarily make one "honest" (I'm thinking foremost of Mrs. Allwit). So, is this marriage just a dramatic move to tidy up loose ends (the pairing in marriage of those of relatively equal "purity" - Bellafront with Matheo, as Hippolito with Infelice) or is there something else going on here? Both Tim and Matheo end up being forced into marriage with "whores." So maybe I'm only thinking about one thing. . . Hmm.

1 comment:

John Y. said...

It seems to me that the Welsh Gentlewoman's lack of sexual discipline parallels Tim's lack of linguistic discipline. (His Latin, after all, is porous, as the play suggests her chastity is.)