Family serves as a microcosm of London economics in A Chaste Maid in Cheapside. More specifically, the unseen children of this play provide a unique space for social commentary on goods exchange. We are given a few instances of the effects of this structure by way of Tim, Moll and the Touchwood brothers. I am intrigued by the fates of the other children: the newborn abandoned by a wench who pretends it's mutton; Sir Walter's bastards by Allwit's wife; Touchwood Senior's legitimate and fatherless children, his several illegitimate children, and particularly the promising fetus of Oliver Kix's wife. How do these "implied" citizens of London affect the play's outcome? What can they reveal about the economic value of children - specifically with reference to the "proper" number of offspring to produce? Given how these children are described (in terms of monetary gain and loss), how does this reflect the value of adults? If we take a psychological slant here, what can be said of the self-worth and confidence of the parents (actual as well as hopeful) who refuse to challenge a system so enmeshed in the commodity of their children?
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